“Our intention with Digitas and Publicis is to build the global platform that everybody uses to match data with advertising messages. There is a massive transformation happening in the way consumer live and the data we have about them, but very few companies have up to it yet.”

David Kenney, CEO, Digitas, Division of Publicis, NY Times, 6 August 2007

Bold. Insightful. On the mark. Finally an advertising agency understands that a digital business model confers a competitive advantage.

However, a deeper examination of digital business requirements reveals three interrelated capabilities.

First, the completeness and agility of a digital services platform determines both the speed and success in the execution of digital business strategies. In this context, Publicis stands out as an industry leader.

Second, data (and, in particular, metadata) play a critical role in delivering advertising in the networked economy. Why Publicis paid $1.3 Billion for Digitas.

Three, most firms lack a deep quantitative-methods capability, thus most data go unused, fact-based insights never emerge, and strategic actions fail to achieve stated objectives.

Why did Publicis-Digitas set up huge quant shops in India and China—where both countries graduate more PhDs and Masters in mathematics, quantitative methods, and information technology that the US by a combined factor of 10?

Great! Another self-answering question.