Saatchi & Saatchi appoints first chief data officer

Saatchi & Saatchi has appointed Ruth Bates as chief data officer, a new role in the agency’s senior leadership team.

Bates, formerly head of data arts at Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis Groupe UK, will lead efforts to integrate data insights into the agency’s creative work. 

Over the past six years, Bates has developed the data department and created methods and products to deliver insights for planning, creativity, and production.

The agency continues to invest in its data and insight specialism, including its data arts programme, which aims to connect consumer insight with creative output.

Prior to joining Saatchis, Bates was senior manager at Deloitte Digital, leading the data science team.

In her new role, Bates will report to Richard Huntington, chair and chief strategy officer, with whom she will develop and implement custom data products and services. 

Huntington said: "For six years, Ruth has been a secret weapon, shaping our data capabilities as an agency and as a group. Now, she is not so secret. 

"In creating this new position, we are not only recognising Ruth’s value to our work but also recognising that data arts have come of age at Saatchi & Saatchi."

Bates will also contribute to Publicis Groupe’s portfolio of data-centric products.

She said: "As consumers, our everyday experience is shaped by a complex ecosystem of data and algorithms. 

"As advertisers, we need to live and breathe that complexity if we want our ideas to influence the real world. It’s exciting to be working alongside a leadership team committed to leveraging the full potential of data."

Bates' promotion is part of a broader investment in Saatchi & Saatchi’s strategy discipline, which includes the recent appointments of Sam Wise as executive strategy director, Emily Lewis-Keane as head of planning and James Addlestone as head of data arts.