What does the Data and Audience Activation team do at CBC?

This post is part of a series on “What teams do at CBC”. In each blog post we celebrate one of our amazing teams in Digital Strategy and Products at CBC and shed some light on the fantastic work they do. Teams will share how their work fulfils CBC’s mission and serves our Canadian audience, what it’s like to work together and what they do for fun..

To join our teams at CBC, check out our current openings here.

Introducing Team DAA (Data and Audience Activation)

• Ana-Maria Geambasu: Sr Manager
• Aditi Jain: Sr Business Analyst
• Clementine Yang: Sr Business Analyst
• Hadi Ali: Sr Data Engineer
• Nivi Samudrala: Sr Data Scientist
• Vennela Dondapati: Data Scientist
• Yash Pokra: Data Analyst Intern

Q : What are the best things about being part of DAA (Data and Audience Activation)?

• (Clementine) Our team provides a great opportunity to connect, collaborate and work together with people across different teams in CBC on the same project. These teams include but are not limited to: Media Solutions, which sells digital advertising; Customer Success, which manages the direct relationship with customers and, Business and Strategic Planning, which supports member acquisition and retention.
• (Hadi Ali) Working with multiple teams across the CBC to solve challenges that enhance the experience of digital users on our platforms.
• (Nivi) Amazing representation along varied dimensions, may it be data disciplines, gender, faith or geography. This translates into a collaborative and inclusive work culture.
• (Vennela) Being part of the team offers the opportunity to make a significant influence by utilising data-driven choices, which ultimately shape and strengthen overall strategies. Moreover, the collaboration and diverse perspectives within the team promote innovation and enhance the effectiveness of those decisions.
• (Yash) The team is supportive and collaborative. Always willing to help each other out and be there for each other. A sense of inclusion exists that gives a constant opportunity to get to know one another.

Q : What does your team do?

• Champion data literacy across the corporation by communicating data-enabled insights to guide business strategy.
• Enable personalization of user communication, engaging with a large number of internal stakeholders from across CBC.
• We are the stewards of CBC audience segments.
• Develop predictive and prescriptive models that support marketing program strategies.
• Data management and governance across big data analytics stacks.

Q : How does your team’s work fit in overall with CBC’s mission and Canadian audience?

As part of the Digital Strategy and Product department, we are helping CBC’s efforts in creating a more engaging experience for our audiences. We support audience activations efforts, enabling personalised communications and content discoverability for our audiences and also targeted ad experiences.

Q : How does your team work together?

The Senior Manager is responsible for assigning tasks and prioritising projects based on our business goals and the team’s capacity.

Data professionals (Business Analyst, Data Engineer, Data Scientist and Data Analyst) have the opportunity to engage with various stakeholders and tackle diverse business problems that align with their personal objectives through rotational assignments.

While the Senior Manager typically collects business requirements, there are instances where data professionals gather them, and in such cases, the requirements are validated with the Senior Manager. Together, they co-create project plans, and the Senior Manager reviews all the work for approval.

Data professionals possess their own specialised knowledge and expertise, regardless of the business or data perspectives involved. They collaborate and provide support to one another whenever necessary.

Q : What does a typical day look like for the team?

Every day, our audience activation team dives into new requests from internal clients, enabling data sources and extracting valuable information in Azure Databricks. We meticulously monitor Power BI reports and Azure data pipelines, swiftly fixing any issues that arise.

Mornings are dedicated to technical work, consolidating and transforming data from diverse sources while creating impactful visualisations. Afternoons involve collaborating with other similar teams, engaging in brainstorming sessions and updating business stakeholders. We also enjoy department-wide meetings and Community of Practice gatherings to foster active learning.

Q : What tools and technologies does your team use?

Specifics depend on the data professional on the team and the stakeholders they liaise with. At a high level, everyone on the team leverages Python and SQL to varying degrees for data operations. Some of our favourite Python packages are numpy, pandas, scikit-learn, scipy and seaborn. Most of our analytics and modelling work is based in Azure Databricks and Google Cloud Platforms. We use PowerBI, Google workspace/suite and Confluence for communicating project updates within and outside the team.

To support the activation of our data across marketing channels, we use Data Management Platform, Customer Data Platform, and an array of social media channels.

Q : What are some recent exciting projects or products your team developed?

Recent exciting work, also currently in progress, dives into engagement behaviours of paid users for CBC GEM and corresponding impact on subscription metrics. We also work around building models like Lookalike, Market basket analysis to enable personalisation and targeted communications.

Q : What are some challenges your team faces?

We have dependencies on other teams for enabling technical solutions. And, as much as we love data, sometimes data doesn’t love us back — integration and governance both present unique challenges.

Q : Is your team hiring?

Yes, we are. We are looking to hire a Senior Data Analyst. Our Audience Activation posting and other CBC Digital opportunities are available here for your consideration.

We are a small team of data professionals, serving the business needs end to end in the data value chain: data engineering, analytics, data science, and audience activation. We are highly engaged with our business stakeholders, using data effectively to enable business innovation. Who we are looking for:

• Independent thinkers. You don’t always expect to be spoon-fed the work that needs to be done. You build on previous experience, take ideas and run with them. You are self sufficient.
• Questioning. You are not afraid to ask the “dumb questions” that often lead to greater insight and changes to processes that have become ingrained in the corporate culture. Innovative. You are always looking for better ways to see the world. You use tools and resources to extend beyond what is merely expected.
• Adaptive. You are flexible and embrace new technologies and ways of thinking in order to solve complex problems in novel ways.

If you share our passion for Canadian storytelling, and you wish to help us engage with individuals and communities across our various digital platforms, this is where you’ll want to be!

Every day, you will have an opportunity to shape the way in which Canadians see themselves reflected in our digital services. Your work will have a direct impact on how millions of Canadians from various communities connect with our products, with one another, and with the diverse voices that make our country so unique. Come work with us!

Q : What does your team do for fun?

As our team is remote, we enjoy organising occasional ice breaker games to build stronger relationships despite the distance. We use Slack as our communication platform to celebrate our wins.

Q : What is your favourite CBC/Radio-Canada TV or Radio show/s?

• Ana–Maria: Ideas, hosted by Nahlah Ayed. (it’s available as a Podcast as well)
• Aditi: Kim’s Convenience
• Clementine: Schitt’s Creek
• Hadi: Animal Control
• Nivi: Kim’s Convenience
• Vennela: Schitt’s Creek
• Yash: Something Undone