Overview

SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions, SAS helps more than 80,000 customers improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster.

SAS is a trusted analytics powerhouse for organizations seeking immediate value from their data and is consistently recognized to be at the forefront of business intelligence. Their vast product portfolio for many different industries ensures they are always on the cutting edge of the latest trends in technology.

We spoke with SAS’s Director of Media Intelligence Mark Chaves and Sr. Solutions Architect Doug Hammond to discuss how SAS’s suite of analytics solutions are using DeviceAtlas’ real-time device intelligence.

SAS’s Innovative Use of Device Intelligence

SAS’s mission is to help organizations across all industries realize the full potential of their greatest asset - their data. As they began rolling out different solutions, SAS recognized they needed a robust way of accurately identifying different device types and adding a layer of device targeting for their customers across different channels. DeviceAtlas’ accurate device recognition made it an excellent fit for their environments where precision reporting is paramount.

Intelligent Advertising
SAS began using DeviceAtlas for the SAS^® Intelligent Advertising for Publishers solution , an online publishing solution that gives publishers full control of the online advertising process by providing a comprehensive solution that supports multiple platforms, including mobile, display and video output devices. With DeviceAtlas, SAS leverages the latest device data to accurately identify devices which enables customers to optimize ad creative and ensure it renders properly on every device. This enhances their mobile advertising efforts and helps them maximize conversions.

Customer Intelligence
In a short space of time, SAS expanded their use of DeviceAtlas to the Customer Intelligence side of the business, specifically their SAS^® Customer Intelligence 360 product. An easy-to-use analytics platform, SAS Customer Intelligence 360 provides a complete view of everything needed to optimize the individual customer journey using advanced analytical capabilities that transforms digital data into predictive, customer-focused insight.

SAS Customer Intelligence 360 is further split into 2 components in which DeviceAtlas plays a key role: SAS^® 360 Discover (device data collection and analytics/reporting), and SAS^® 360 Engage (device-specific targeting). This allows SAS customers to uncover previously unknown device insights and map the customer journey across different devices.

Bringing It All Together

While optimizing for the mobile web continues to be key requirement for SAS’s customers, mobile app usage has grown among consumers and become a strong channel to convert prospects into loyal customers. To ensure they stay on top of the device landscape in the native app world, SAS began using DeviceAtlas for Apps to provide analytics and targeting for their customers in this environment.

Native apps often report unrecognizable device model numbers which can make it difficult to not only identify devices, but to serve personalized content and provide engaging app experiences using device-specific targeting. SAS uses DeviceAtlas for Apps to convert unstructured app data into a structured format with detailed device information for deep analysis. For example, SAS can let their customers know what devices are accessing their native apps using the consumer-recognized marketing name i.e. Galaxy Light.

A 360 Degree View of the Customer

SAS spotted the potential of rolling out DeviceAtlas for device detection across their products and services. What began as a requirement in SAS advertising tech, has over time extended to provide many business units with always up-to-date device intelligence. SAS are now embarking on a ‘unification’ project whereby they are injecting mobile app events into their new data streaming platform. The end goal is to provide customers with a way to collect device-level data within their native apps and be able to target specific device users in real-time.

With DeviceAtlas being a key component in their advertising and customer intelligence products in the web environment, this new capability will give their customers a more transparent view of their customer journeys according to device, giving SAS a unique position in the business intelligence world. SAS customers will be able to leverage the same deep device intelligence in the native app environment that they currently see on web layer.