Marcomms agency MercerBell has moved to differentiate itself from the market by establishing a standalone data planning and analytics consultancy called ngage.

The new arm of the business is understood to be working with Toyota, BT Financial Group and Nestlé to help the companies meet the challenges posed by ‘big data’.

An oft-cast-around buzzterm, ‘big data’ encompasses data collection and storage infrastructure, the generation of insights from the data and using the data to tailor interaction with customers. It’s one of the main challenges marketers are facing in the current landscape, according to a study by the CMO Council in August. The same study also predicted that by 2017 CMOs will outspend CIOs on information technology.

Group CEO of MercerBell, Nick Mercer says the increasing demand for data services warranted the launch of ngage as a standalone business.

“We have been monitoring the trends around data for many years and started looking seriously at what sort of data company was needed in this market,” Mercer says. “ngage is the result of a lot of research and talking to CEOs, leading marketers and business leaders to ensure we chose the right model.”

The hype around ‘big data’, Mercer adds, has contributed to a lot of confusion in the market, as well as fear, rather than helping companies to find what questions they need to ask about data and the right people to ask.

Data analytics executive Carl Oldham will sit at the helm of the new agency.