Danny Gardner, head of US & North America social intelligence at Haleon, has been honored as the Advertising Club’s ‘Young Professional’ for his pioneering work in social intelligence and analytics. The Drum catches up with Gardner to discuss his path to success and his vision for the future of social intelligence in the marketing industry.
Danny Gardner is the head of US & North America Social Intelligence at Haleon, a leading company in the consumer healthcare space, where his innovative approach to social analytics is transforming the industry.
With a background in data science and a passion for social intelligence, Gardner has a unique ability to insert technical expertise into marketing. Under his leadership, Haleon’s social intelligence team has implemented advanced techniques, from cluster analysis to semantic modeling.
Already one of The Drum’s Future 50 inductees, Gardner is committed to leveraging cutting-edge technology to enhance social listening capabilities that drive impactful marketing strategies. His pioneering work has now earned him the Advertising Club’s ‘Young Professional’ award. The Drum sits down with Gardner to discuss his journey and his vision for the future of social intelligence in marketing.
As Haleon’s head of US & North America Social Intelligence and a recent honoree of The Drum’s Future 50, what recent successful initiatives have you led?
We continue to reap the benefits of our best-in-class social intelligence team, which relies on a balance of in-house analysis and self-service data via our always-on tool. We’ve become more intentional and strategic in how we use this data, and we are boiling far fewer oceans than we used to.
Cluster analysis, semantic modeling, and trend spotting are some of the powerful techniques we’ve added to our team, enabling us to achieve even deeper insights faster than ever, which is crucial in a big company like Haleon and the larger CPG/FMCG space.
We’re extremely proud of our best-in-class social listening capabilities.
This year, we’re upgrading our measurement practice. While we always had one, we are now running social analytics across the entire portfolio, creating the most holistic view we’ve ever had. This unites our social listening (voice of customer/UGC), organic social, and influencer marketing under one framework.
We’re sharpening our skills at a time when optimization has never been harder. Should we prioritize TikTok? Shorts? What tier of influencer? Is Facebook still a good choice for organic social? Paid yes, but organic? What’s the best KPI mix? Many of the answers we seek will be in the numbers.
Last year, you shared your journey from a data scientist to specializing in social intelligence with The Drum. What emerging trends in technology, marketing, and retail do you believe will shape the industry, and what are your thoughts on them?
I want to address AI here because, in my profession, it’s still very much in its infancy. I couldn’t be more serious about its ability to revolutionize social listening. My role today, and others like it, involves gathering insights from millions of data points, especially on social media, which is filled with emojis, inside jokes, slang, and other tricky elements that AI currently struggles to distinguish.
I see AI as a complement, a way to automate and delegate tedious but necessary tasks (like writing Boolean queries, flagging spam, or summarizing mentions per day), freeing up time for me to focus on advanced reasoning, analysis, and strategy.
E-commerce still has tremendous upside, despite the difficulty TikTok is facing in the US with direct buying and live shopping. In my role, I oversee ratings and reviews, so I have some perspective on the convergence of social and e-commerce. There’s a lot of saturation, with both creators and brands doing the upselling, leading to decision paralysis. Combined with the record inflation we’re living through, there’s just less disposable income for non-essential items (as cool as the Olive Garden cheese grater is). Many negative forces are working against TikTok’s (and others’) vision for better social commerce.
But we’ll get there. The digital purchase experience is so streamlined these days, it’s only a matter of time until it becomes second nature on social.
What advice would you give to other ‘young pros’ entering your field?
One of the smartest moves I’ve ever made in my career was to start writing about my job and career on LinkedIn. When I first signed up in 2015, it was an entirely different site, and the creator economy wasn’t what it is today. The barrier to content creation has never been lower.
What I do is extremely niche in the marketing world, but it won’t always be. It serves as a great journal, something for others to reference, a unique POV that can’t be copied. I’ve learned that over time, by slowly building a following of my own, I can unlock doors that I wouldn’t normally be able to open.
I’ve taken on many speaking and leadership opportunities, like being a judge for The Drum’s Social Media Awards, because of it. It’s like compound interest: once I put the content out there, it keeps paying me back. Or maybe I should’ve used the fine wine analogy.
Either way, it’s the biggest piece of advice I give others and the people I mentor. Let your content (i.e., your experience) speak for itself. You’ll be amazed at what happens with a little luck, authenticity, and hard work.
How does it feel to receive the ‘Young Professional’ distinction?
I’m extremely honored. I hope it doesn’t sound too cringey, but accepting this award alongside an industry titan like Shelly Lazarus is something else. I feel the same way about fellow award winners Susie Jaramillo, Tiffany Warren, and Elizabeth Rutledge, who are all extremely accomplished marketing and advertising executives.
I’ve enjoyed a lot of success early in my career, but these amazing women remind me that I still have much to learn and that my best days are still ahead of me.
What exciting prospects are on the horizon for your career, and what are you most looking forward to?
I’m excited about the opportunities that my personal brand keeps unlocking. There’s a new wave of B2B influencer marketing coming, and I’d love to be part of it, especially as a technical expert, power user of SaaS, and leader in my field.
Heck, I won’t write off B2C brands either! I’d love to work with Lenovo (which I use for personal computing), Notion (which I use for task management), Celsius (the boost I need to crunch numbers and analyze social), and American Express (Elizabeth, if you’re reading this!).
Naturally, I run analytics on myself, and with guidance from other creators, I’m realizing the sky is the limit.
For more about the Advertising People of the Year award, click here.
