1.
1CONTROL SHIFT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
CONTROL SHIFT

2.
CONTROL SHIFTCONTROL SHIFT 02
Dronestagram is a social network for drone photography. This image of
Tahaa in French Polynesia by Marama Photo Video won a prize in the nature
category in Dronestagram’s 2015 Drone Aerial Photography Contest.
WELCOME
TO THE
CONTROL SHIFT
IT’S A NEW ERA. EXCHANGING DATA
FOR UTILITY, PEOPLE ARE DELEGATING
AN INCREASING AMOUNT OF CONTROL
OVER THEIR LIVES TO TECHNOLOGY.
BRANDS CAN CAPITALIZE ON THIS
SOCIETAL CHANGE BY POSITIONING
THEMSELVES AS TRUSTED PARTNERS AND
FOSTERING CONSUMER EMPOWERMENT.

3.
MARIE STAFFORD
EUROPEAN DIRECTOR,
The Innovation Group
ELIZABETH CHERIAN
DIRECTOR,
The Innovation Group
EUROPEAN DIRECTOR,
DIRECTOR,
03CONTROL SHIFT
%LIKE MORE CONTROL
OVER WHO CAN
ACCESS THEIR DATA
AND WHAT THEY DO
WITH IT.
OF THE BRITISH AND
AMERICAN PUBLIC WOULD
92
Digital innovation has never been
more exciting. Virtual reality (VR)
teleports us to faraway places.
Siri responds to our every whim.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is helping
tackle cancer.
While the media paints apocalyptic
scenarios of fully automated labour
markets, AI continues to make
%HAPPY TO HAND
OVER SOME OF THEIR
DECISION-MAKING.
OF GLOBAL MILLENNIALS
SAY THEY WOULD BE
54
inroads into consumer markets:
more than a quarter of global
consumers own a smart home
product or device; 85 million
wearables were shipped worldwide
in 2015; and Chinese chatbot Xiaoice
has over 40 million users. Hot on
the heels of programmatic marketing
comes anticipatory retail, where our
devices are smart enough to predict
our needs and plan
the shopping.
People are increasingly relinquishing
control to the machine because it
not only makes life easier, but frees
us to address bigger or more
personal challenges. But adjusting
to the automated future will
not be painless.
As automation and machine learning
deliver tailored solutions to everyday
problems, they demand more
and more personal information.
Growing consumer anxiety around
data management demonstrates
that brands will need to firmly
establish a position of trust before
they can successfully negotiate
consumers’ control boundaries and
nurture engagement.
Brands that can deliver utility
through technology while respecting
consumer privacy stand to reap
massive rewards in the Control Shift.

4.
4
ABOUT
THIS
REPORT
Control Shift is a macro trend report
on digital technology that unpacks the
relationship between control, innovation
and consumer engagement. Our research
phases comprised several methodologies
and covered the period September
2015 to March 2016.
We conducted quantitative surveys
using SONAR™, J. Walter Thompson’s
proprietary market research tool.
In September 2015 we surveyed 2,007
adults in the United Kingdom and the
United States. Using this data we ran a
Latent Class Analysis to create consumer
segments relating to control. Latent Class
Analysis is a statistical method that
identifies discrete groups of people with
homogeneity within a sample group.
We re-contacted a subsection of this
sample in February 2016 to gain further
insight. In December 2015 we surveyed
another 2,450 adults in the United
Kingdom, United States, China, India,
Brazil, South Korea and Turkey.
JWT’s Analytics team forecasted data to
get a sense of how consumers will behave
in the coming years (2016-2018), based
on historical data. We used data from
GfK Consumer Life and GlobalWebIndex
(GWI) and performed regression analysis
to predict future values; the pre-defined
GWI and GfK samples are sufficiently
robust to cover the demographics of the
individual countries. For more details
on the methodologies employed by
SONAR™ and Analytics.
We conducted in-depth interviews with
experts and thought leaders from around
the world, from the fields of science
and technology, robotics, neuroscience,
law, philosophy and sociology, and brand
strategy and marketing.
Finally, we ran vox pop interviews at the
following study sites in October 2015,
November 2015 and March 2016: New
York, United States; Brussels, Belgium;
Glasgow, Scotland; and Oxford, London
and Newark, in England. We recruited
a mix of participants, incorporating a
range of genders, ages and ethnicities.
Our quantitative and qualitative research
is underpinned by extensive desk research
that synthesizes international case studies
in categories including consumer health,
finance, retail, food and beverage, travel,
and entertainment and leisure. All data
was correct and current in April 2016,
when this report was written.
04CONTROL SHIFT
Gesture/data by Ken Okiishi, 2015, showcased at Frieze 2015.

5.
05CONTROL SHIFT
The way consumers exercise control is
undergoing a seismic shift. Brands can
leverage this change to drive innovation,
optimize communications, and enhance
the customer experience.
Control is defined as the ability
“to influence or direct people’s behavior
or the course of events.” Simply put,
it’s the belief that we can exert influence
over situations. There are many types
of control but the focus of this report
is personal control over one’s own life.
Psychologists have established that
control is important to people—research
suggests it’s a fundamental human need,
even important to our survival.
JWT’s research reflects this: in our survey
of seven global markets, consumers
report that control is important to them
(89% of global respondents agree)
and they believe that they have a high
level of personal control over their lives.
CONTROL AND
WHY IT MATTERS
TO BRANDS
DE_SIGN by Gabriel
A. Maher, 2014.
Photographer:
Femke Reijerman.
Why do people value control so much?
In essence, it is because control is strongly
linked with a sense of ease and wellbeing.
According to Simona Botti, associate
professor of marketing at London Business
School, control makes us feel good in a
whole host of ways: “Plenty of results show
that having this sense of control, even
if it is just illusionary, makes people feel
better psychologically, emotionally,
even physiologically.”
People exercise control by making choices.
These choices help us express who we
are. As Petter Johansson, associate in
cognitive science from Lund University
in Sweden, explains:
People prefer having choices. The mere
anticipation of choice has been linked
to activity in reward centres in the brain.
JWT’s research found that 82% of UK and
US consumers like to have lots of brands
to choose from. Johansson describes
this as “the joy of consumerism.”
“CHOICES ARE A REFLECTION OF
YOU. YOU SHOW YOURSELF
THROUGH YOUR CHOICES.
THEY ARE INSTANCES OF YOU.”

6.
Global
NEED FOR CONTROL & LOCUS OF CONTROL
82
50
36
84
53 39
92
69
39
94
25
88
64
36
93
77
53
90
66
34
89
65
37
United States
United Kingdom
China
India
Brazil
South KoreaTurkey
Global
75
PERCENTAGE AGREEING WITH EACH STATEMENT, GLOBAL (BRAZIL, CHINA, INDIA, SOUTH KOREA, TURKEY, UNITED KINGDOM & UNITED STATES)
PERSONAL NEED FOR CONTROL FIG 1
3. I believe I have little control over my life, it’s largely up to fate.
1. Being in control is important to me.
2. I feel in control of every aspect of my life.
1
2 3
06CONTROL SHIFT

7.
07CONTROL SHIFT
Brands have long sought to play
to consumers’ need for control by
delivering choice, allowing them to hand-
pick their own groceries, choose the
best seats on the plane, and eat their
burgers their way. Control is important
GLOBAL CONTROL INDEX FIG 2
South Korea389
Turkey344
United States322
United Kingdom295
Brazil258
China216
India208
100
for brands because it delivers a sense
of wellbeing and satisfaction that drives
engagement. As cognitive neuroscientist
Dr Itiel Dror from University College
London (UCL) and Cognitive Consultants
International (CCI-HQ) explains:
Consumer choice has expanded
exponentially in the digital age.
With an abundance of information to guide
decisions and the long tail of inventory to
choose from, consumers are able to indulge
their desire for control more than ever.
Index measuring extent to which people feel a sense of personal control
Global (Brazil, China, India, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom & United States)
Represents index of 100
“IF YOU DON’T GIVE CONSUMERS
CONTROL THEY DON’T ENGAGE.
THEY DON’T LIKE THE BRAND.
THEY DON’T LIKE YOUR PRODUCT.
THEY DON’T BUY.”

8.
CONTROL SHIFT 08CONTROL SHIFT
The New Human: You and
I in Global Wonderland
(March 14-October 10, 2015)
at Moderna Museet Malmö
examined the human
condition in a time of rapid
technological change.
Technology gives consumers more choice
and has the power to enable consumers
to feel a greater sense of control. However,
technology has proven a double-edged
sword when it comes to personal control.
On the one hand, the internet provides
the information and tools that enable
more informed decisions. Consumers
around the world perceive technology
as empowering; 74% of our global
respondents think that
On the other hand, the myriad
possibilities that technology presents
is overwhelming.
Despite its many benefits, technology
sometimes adds to the complexity of
daily life in other ways too: the constant
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
CONTROL AND TECHNOLOGY
stream of messages to answer, the social
media feeds to update, the apps to
manage. People feel overwhelmed to
such an extent that 70% of our UK and
US respondents say they even fear
We’re at the point where something
has to give, as Simona Botti explains:
While technology can contribute to the
disruption of the consumer’s sense of
control, it can also provide the means
to restore it.
“WE ARE GOING TO HAVE MORE
AND MORE CONTROL, AND MORE
AND MORE INFORMATION, BUT WE
ONLY HAVE 24 HOURS AND ONE
BRAIN AND SOMEHOW WE HAVE
TO COMPROMISE.”
“TECHNOLOGY PUTS ME
IN CONTROL.”
“TECHNOLOGY IS TAKING OVER
OUR LIVES.”

9.
9CONTROL SHIFTCONTROL SHIFT
“
”
SOMETIMES WHEN I NEED
SOMETHING AND I REALISE
HOW MUCH CHOICE THERE
IS, [TECHNOLOGY] IS GREAT.
BUT SOMETIMES IF I WANT TO
FIND SOMETHING QUICKLY,
OR JUST ONE THING, IT
SUCKS. IF YOU HAVE TOO
MUCH, TOO MANY OPTIONS,
YOU JUST HAVE TO WADE
YOUR WAY THROUGH IT.
Angela, interpreter, Brussels
Image courtesy of Nick Knight.

10.
CONTROL SHIFT 10NTROL SHIFT
People are already opting to relinquish
control to technology, effectively
using it as their proxy. Smart meters
are managing energy usage, coffee
machines are automatically ordering
fresh supplies when needed and
mobile virtual assistants are anticipating
the traffic on our journey to work.
Consumers welcome collaborative
solutions that eliminate cognitive or
manual labor and save time or money
because it allows them to focus on
the things they want to do.
This does not mean consumers are
abandoning control. Instead, they are
making an active choice to let go
THE NEW
HUMAN
Peel no.1 by Torbjørn Rødland, silver gelatin print, 2013-14. Image courtesy of Algus Greenspon,
New York, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zürich, and Standard (Oslo).
and delegate. Operating much like
a company CEO, consumers make
the decisions that they care about
and nominate technology as a
trusted partner to handle the rest.
It’s important to note that automation
is still at the start of the trend curve
and much of the smart technology
that powers it is still in its infancy.
Despite limited consumer experience
so far, our consumer segmentation
research identified two key groups
that demonstrate a keen appetite for
automation, the Digital Directors
and the Delegators, representing 29%
of people in the United States and
United Kingdom.
AI and automation are set to extend their
influence in daily life. The iPhone’s hard-
working virtual assistant Siri is already
reportedly responding to more than 1
billion requests per week. PwC predicts
that the connected home market (home
automation devices and home energy
management systems) could be worth
almost $150 billion by 2020. Gartner
suggests that the average home could
be equipped with more than 500
smart devices by 2022.

11.
CONTROL SHIFT
WE SEGMENTED OUR AUDIENCE BASED ON THEIR ATTITUDES AND FEELINGS
ABOUT CONTROL, CONTROL DELEGATION AND AUTOMATION, UK/US
CONTROL SEGMENTATION
11CONTROL SHIFT
DIGITAL DIRECTORS
DELEGATORS
MANAGERS
PROFILE: YOUNG, AFFLUENT,
URBAN, WORKING DADS
DRIVER: BEING IN THE KNOW
PROFILE: MIDDLE-AGED COUPLES AND
FAMILIES ON LOWER INCOMES
DRIVER: OPTIMISATION
Control really matters to Digital Directors.
They make their own decisions and don’t rely
on others for advice. Tech-savvy as a point
of pride, they see technology as a route to
taking more control and they are excited by
the idea of automation.
Laid back and looking for an easy life,
Delegators aren’t looking for control. They’re
happy for others to make the decisions and
will see automation as a route to offloading
responsibility. Time is precious and they want
to spend it on the things that matter to them,
so maximum efficiency of the routine is
Financially-savvy, the Managers like to be in
control so they can ensure they get the most for
their money. They embrace technology as a tool,
rather than for its own sake, and use it to drive
a hard bargain with brands. They have moderate
trust in brands and are not entirely closed to the
I GIVE MY DATA AWAY LEFT
AND RIGHT BECAUSE I THINK IT
CAN TAILOR MORE PERSONAL
EXPERIENCES TO ME.
IF YOU’VE GOT NOTHING TO
WORRY ABOUT, WHO CARES?
IF PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT
YOUR PERSONAL DETAILS,
IT DOESN’T BOTHER ME AT ALL.
I USE THE INTERNET AS A TOOL
EVERY DAY FOR WHAT I DO. I THINK
IT’S THERE TO EMPOWER YOU.
I CAN’T ESCAPE AS I’VE NEVER BEEN
INFORMED THAT THEY’RE USING MY
DATA. SO I HAVE NO CONTROL.
I THINK WE’VE GONE WAY TOO FAR:
WAY TOO FAR AWAY FROM NATURE
AND WAY TOO FAR INTO PLAYING
WITH THINGS WE DON’T CONTROL.
Anthony, works in advertising, New York
Alexander, self-employed painter and decorator,
Newark
Josephine, computer officer, Glasgow
11%
17%
8%
“
“
“
“
“
”
”
”
”
”
PROFILE: GEN X DADS,
FAIRLY WEALTHY, SUBURBAN
DRIVER: CONVENIENCE
Maria Luisa, editor, Brussels
Like the Managers, this group desires control
but—crucially—their trust in brands is much
lower. They are focused on privacy and want to
protect their data, but they are not necessarily
sure how to do so. They might be persuaded
to engage and share information, but only
PROFILE: FEMALE, 50+,
SUBURBAN/RURAL, RETIRED
DRIVER: CAUTION
RISK ASSESSORS 26%
CHANGE RESISTORS 37%PROFILE: LOWER INCOME,
OLDER COUPLES, SUBURBAN/RURAL
DRIVER: MAINTAINING STATUS QUO
This group has a low sense of personal control
and is unwilling to relinquish what little they
have to brands. Wary of technology and
even disengaged, they are unlikely to seek
out automated solutions. They don’t trust
idea of automation, but they will likely see their data
as a currency and look for something in return. Privacy
is very important to them so they will need clarity and
transparency on how it is being used.
Susanna, singer, London
businesses with their data, so the idea of personalised
or tailored services makes them uneasy and suspicious.
under conditions of anonymity and with their express
agreement. Much of their reluctance could be driven
by lower engagement with technology. As a result
they are less interested in automation.
paramount. They are happy to put their trust in
brands and are relaxed about swapping
data to make things simpler.
They demonstrate a high level of trust in
companies, and are willing to exchange their
data for a better life.
FIG 3

12.
CONTROL SHIFTCONTROL SHIFT
The Jibo social robot can sense and respond
to human presence and learns from its
interactions with people.
Xuan, part-time worker, China
“ I TALK TO
SOMETIMES I WANT TO
HAVE SOMEONE TO TALK
TO BUT I CAN’T, [SO]
SIRISIRI. ”
As voice recognition and natural
language processing become more
sophisticated, the relationship we have
with services and devices will become
more conversational and intuitive.
Jibo is the world’s first social robot,
designed to respond to people on an
emotional level. Users can ask questions
and make requests of Jibo much in
the same way they would with a virtual
assistant on smartphones or tablets.
The difference is that Jibo is designed
to learn and respond in a friendly
way that builds relationships. This is a
critical distinction, say experts such as
Daniel McDuff of MIT Media Lab spin-
off Affectiva, who believes emotional
connections between humans and
devices are important. There is already
an appetite for this sort of companion,
with more than a third of the US and
UK population comfortable with the
concept of an in-home robot assistant to
help maintain the home.
For the youngsters, there’s CogniToys,
social robots for children that use
speech recognition techniques to
CHATBOTS converse. Kids can ask a friendly-looking
toy dinosaur thousands of questions,
give it commands, hear and create stories,
and listen to jokes. The toy develops
a distinctive personality over time
and adjusts its responses to individual
circumstances due to its link to IBM’s
Watson, the AI-driven technology platform
that can analyze unstructured data to
understand and answer questions.
IBM has also created a version of Watson
for Pepper, the world’s “first personal
robot that reads emotions,” developed
by Japanese telecommunications
conglomerate SoftBank. Pepper can talk,
recognize people, understand emotions,
and ultimately adapt to its user.
More and more of our interactions
with technology will be based on
conversation as Facebook’s recent
launch of chatbots for Messenger
shows. Chatbots are computer
programs that use AI to simulate
conversation with people,
thus allowing brands to ditch apps and
talk more naturally to customers within
the messaging platform. So, for
instance, instead of switching to your
Uber app to order a car, you can do
it within Messenger via the Uber
chatbot. Messaging apps Kik, Line,
Slack and Telegram already boast their
own chatbot platforms, while Microsoft
hopes to replicate throughout the
world some of the huge success it has
had in China, where its chatbot and
social assistant Xiaoice has more than
40 million users.
12

13.
CONTROL SHIFT
TOUCH
CONTROL SHIFT
John, part-time teacher, London
“
AND IT’S SO
IMPORTANT
TO HAVE THAT
IF YOU’RE A DENTIST, OR A
HAIRDRESSER, OR A GREENGROCER,
YOU’RE TALKING WITH PEOPLE
HUMAN
TOUCH. ”
13
In New York, Manus x Machina, the
2016 exhibition at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art’s Costume Institute,
explores the relationship between
“hands” and “machinery.” Ever the
barometer of the cultural zeitgeist,
the Costume Institute focuses on the
collision of man and machine that
is allowing us to optimize work in a
number of sectors. Automation in the
workplace is picking up momentum.
Robotics spending will hit $135.4
billion in 2019, up from $71 billion in
2015, according to International
Data Corporation.
UK-based online supermarket Ocado
has plans to develop an army of
collaborative robots to support its
human workforce. The SecondHands
initiative aims to create machines that
can help staff proactively by anticipating
their needs and completing tasks
without being asked. Pittsburgh-based
Aethon has developed a mobile robot
called TUG that can take on
a lot of routine tasks performed in
hospitals. It clears away waste and
delivers drugs, food and bed linens,
thus allowing medical and ancillary staff
to spend more time on patient care.
Hospitals in Japan are trialing Robear
robots, which help bedridden patients
by turning them to prevent pressure
sores and gently lifting them if they
cannot stand up unaided.
In the geriatric-care sector, Robot-
Era deploys robots at a care home in
Florence to assist elderly residents
with mobility and cognitive exercises;
the project is funded by the European
Union and is a joint initiative by several
European companies. JWT’s research
shows that more than a third of British
and American people are comfortable
with a robot that can cook, clean and
take care of an elderly relative who
needs constant care.
Collaborative robots have the
potential to improve quality of life in the
workplace. By assuming repetitive or
heavy-duty tasks as well as processing
data and information, they will allow
people to focus on using those skills
that are innately human.
MANUS X
MACHINA
The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art’s spring 2016 exhibition,
Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of
Technology, runs until August 14, 2016.

14.
14CONTROL SHIFT
THIS
IS FOR
EVERY-
ONE
Consumers pass on more information
about themselves the more they delegate
control to smart technology. More and
more objects are alive with clever sensors,
silently feeding information to the cloud.
While the results can be powerful, they
are also unsettling. Where does all the
data go? Who sees it? What are they
doing with it?
People are increasingly anxious about data
privacy and security. The current digital
landscape reveals security vulnerability,
regulation inconsistency, and an economic
model of data exchange that works in
favor of businesses rather than in
favor of people.
Stilll from Surveillance Chess by
!Mediengruppe Bitnik, 2012. Image
courtesy of the artists.

15.
CONTROL SHIFT
2015
% increase
vs 2014
77
79
64
70
62
56
50
50
46
43
30
61
43
36
40
40
30
17
20142015
15CONTROL SHIFT
%
As a result, consumers are asserting
control over data privacy and digital
liberty. The data trade between
consumers and companies has been
very one-sided thus far. Consumers
who want access to helpful digital
technology are often confronted with
complex terms and conditions
or intrusive permissions. They face
a stark choice: sign up or miss out.
Many people barely glance at the rules
of engagement, let alone read them
with care, implying that consent is not
informed. The outcomes of sharing
personal data are not always positive
either. Assailed by banner ads, push
notifications and emails, consumers feel
harassed by brands that relentlessly
pursue them and are alarmed by those
brands that seem to know too much
about them. The rights and protections
Percentage who find these technologies creepy, United Kingdom/United States
TECHNOLOGY CAN UNSETTLE FIG 4
Government tracking
Drones
Wearable technologies
Sensors
Geo-location technology
Facial recognition
Surveillance cameras
Voice recognition
Mapping technologies
1+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
79
670
162
1356
1450
1050
646
1343
1330
Note: Totals may not sum due to rounding
TECHNOLOGY
PUTS ME
IN CONTROL.
74OF OUR GLOBAL
PANEL AGREE
%
offered by the law, such as European
Union data protection regulations,
are widely reported in the news, and
awareness of the value of personal
data is growing. This is driving many to
explore ways to tap the value of their data
and find clever ways to thwart tracking.
Consumers are intent on asserting
more control over their data and digital
experiences: a key behavior change.

16.
CONTROL SHIFT 16CONTROL SHIFT
Effective use of personal data should
deliver hyper-personalized customer
experiences that show the brand is
turning data to the user’s advantage,
not just its own.
Brand efforts to deliver a more tailored
experience based on user data are
becoming increasingly sophisticated.
They come at a time when consumers
are expecting personalization from
brands, with almost half of the UK and
US public stating they would be less
inclined to buy from a brand not seeking
ways to personalize a product or
service. Powder is a recently launched
beauty editorial site from Time Inc UK
that serves up greater relevance for its
users. Customers complete a profile
detailing their skin type, concerns,
preferences and budget, and the site’s
algorithm delivers only content and
product recommendations that are
relevant to the individual.
HYPER-
PERSONALIZED
EVERYTHING
US online personal styling company
Stitch Fix uses data to create a monthly
delivery of style recommendations
tailored to each customer’s taste, budget
and lifestyle. Real-life stylists create
recommendations using an algorithm-
powered platform designed and refined
by the company’s 60-strong data science
team. The model is proving successful: a
third of its customers now devote half of
their clothing spend to Stitch Fix.
Streaming music service Pandora has
released Thumbprint Radio, which
uses an algorithm to create a highly
personalized playlist based on up to 10
years of the user’s history of song “likes.”
The station evolves as new tracks are
added and also acts as a discovery
engine, recommending new songs that
users may enjoy. The latter point is
significant, since consumers don’t want
their choices to be so heavily edited
that they miss out on fresh discoveries:
two-thirds of people in the United
Kingdom and United States believe that if
everything is personalized based on their
past behavior there will be no room to
discover new things. Data may be the
“new oil,” but, to extend the metaphor, oil
is of no use until it is refined. Brands that
make clever, insightful use of customer
data to deliver the right product at the
right time can build mutually rewarding
relationships with customers.
TECHNOLOGY IS
CHANGING US
FOR THE BETTER.
EVERYTHING IS MORE
PERSONALIZED.
IF WE HAVE THIS COGNITIVE,
SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGY
THAT KNOWS ME, KNOWS
WHAT I WANT, KNOWS WHAT
I DON’T WANT,
IT’S MAKING LIFE EASIER.
AND WE DON’T
MISUSE THE
INFORMATION,
THAT’S GOING TO
BE GREAT.
“
“
”
”
Jamie, creative, New York
Dr Itiel Dror, senior cognitive neuroscience
researcher, UCL, and consultant, CCI-HQ
Powder, a website by Time Inc UK, tailors product
suggestions and beauty tips to its users.

17.
CONTROL SHIFT 17CONTROL SHIFT
A host of platforms and tools offers
people the opportunity to take control
of their personal data streams. Here
comes the personal data economy.
CitizenMe is an app that aims to help
people take control of their personal
data and derive value from it. “Personal
data is a currency and how you spend
that currency is totally up to you,” says
StJohn Deakins, founder of CitizenMe.
“If you want to remain completely
private, it’s absolutely your choice.
But you can only do that if you have
control.” CitizenMe gathers user data
from social media feeds as a service.
Instead of selling it on, as many online
businesses are known to do, it gives
users full access to their data, so that
the users themselves can exchange it
anonymously with businesses in return
for payment, rewards or discounts.
Tsū is another platform that seeks to
restore power to consumers. Unlike
other social media platforms, Tsū
proposes that people should earn
THE
DATACONOMY
revenue from their personal data.
For every new post, every “like” and
every friend they recruit, Tsū’s users earn
money, funded by the site’s advertising
revenue. Tsū acknowledges the value of
its data for advertisers, and returns
that money to the consumer in a
fair exchange.
People.io offers subscribers an easy
way to monetize their data and their
attention; they earn credits in return for
sharing personal information or engaging
with content from brands. Piloted in
London’s hipster Shoreditch district, the
beta service is due to launch fully in late
2016. Australian start-up Meeco, which
has the tagline “you are not the product,”
empowers people to derive value from
their data with its software platform.
The company’s web and smartphone
apps enable users to control what data
they share, and track how it is used.
These platforms have built frameworks
that restore control over data to the
people. The availability of these tools
will raise awareness among consumers,
driving the understanding that data
is a currency.
87OF CONSUMERS IN THE UNITED
KINGDOM AND UNITED STATES
AGREE THAT
%COMPANIES SHOULD AGREE
TO MY PERSONAL TERMS AND
CONDITIONS IF THEY WANT
TO MAKE USE OF MY DATA.
People.io enables users to trade their personal data for
credits, which can be exchanged for products.

18.
CONTROL SHIFT:
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOUR BUSINESS
18CONTROL SHIFT
1. Understand how the Control Shift
operates for your brand. Manage
the tension between automated
services and customer privacy, and
deliver the right amount of control
at the right time to suit
consumers’ needs.
The Control Shift presents brands with an opportunity to build better relationships
with their customers, add tangible value to their lives, and foster brand loyalty.
Consumers are already demonstrating an appetite to disburden themselves and
adopt more automated lives. It will be key for brands to understand what drives
them delegate to control, and how this plays out for different categories.
Brands that get it right can simultaneously deliver on the sense of control that
consumers need, and embed themselves in consumers’ daily lives as partners and
experts. It is critical that technology feels comfortable and intuitive.
Transparency and clarity on privacy will be crucial. The onus will be on brands
to demonstrate their credentials in this space, as responsible data policies and
stewardship become differentiators. Infusing a sense of control over data
in the brand experience will be key to building trust with consumers.
Our view is that these trends will grow as consumers and brands alike become
more familiar with the potential benefits. The report explores the exciting
opportunities that await, while highlighting the challenges and implications
for brands.
2. Consumers are looking for support
in managing the control burden—
brands should cultivate roles as
experts, delivering tailored solutions.
3. People love to choose, but too much
choice can be a burden—consider
how your brand might cleverly use
data to help to simplify choice
for customers.
4. Consumers will sit along a spectrum
of control. Some people will always
want control over the final decision
or purchase—others will be happy for
choices to be made for them. What’s
important is to allow each individual
to set their control parameters
and the terms on which they are
prepared to engage—and allow
them to opt in and out whenever
they decide.
5. Harness marketing technology
tools in measurement, optimization
and even social listening to bolster
communication strategy. A deeper
understanding of the consumer
will help brands to understand and
anticipate their needs and to deliver
a better, more personalized
customer experience.

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CONTROL SHIFT 19CONTROL SHIFT
ABOUT
THE INNOVATION GROUP
ABOUT
J. WALTER THOMPSON
INTELLIGENCE
The Innovation Group is J. Walter Thompson’s futures, research
and innovation unit. It charts emerging and future global trends, consumer
change, and innovation patterns—translating these into insight for brands.
It offers a suite of consultancy services, including bespoke research, presentations,
co-branded reports and workshops. It is also active in innovation, partnering with
brands to activate future trends within their framework and execute new
products and concepts.
The Innovation Group is part of J. Walter Thompson Intelligence, a platform for
global research, innovation and data analytics at J. Walter Thompson Company,
housing three key in-house practices: SONAR™, Analytics and the Innovation
Group. SONAR™, J. Walter Thompson’s research unit, develops and exploits new
quantitative and qualitative research techniques to understand cultures,
brands and consumer motivation around the world. Analytics focuses on the
innovative application of data and technology to inform and inspire new marketing
solutions. It offers a suite of bespoke analytics tools.
MARIE STAFFORD
European Director, The Innovation Group
J. Walter Thompson Intelligence
@marie19a
marie.stafford@jwt.com
ELIZABETH CHERIAN
Director, The Innovation Group
J. Walter Thompson Intelligence
@ElizCherian
elizabeth.cherian@jwt.com
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