2.1. Scenario

You have recently been employed as a data analyst in a consultancy called Wood From the Trees (WFTT). The consultancy was established 10 years ago and specialises in helping companies that don’t have the skills to analyse data to support business decisions. WFTT have successfully established a strong reputation and they are now working with internationally recognised brands.

As WFFTs expands they continue to bring in new employee’s. The recruitment strategy is to employ less experienced people and give them the support and development they need to succeed in the company. They like recruits to have a broad management experience and not be specialist analysts because they offer more commercially viable recommendations.

As part of the approach to introducing you to how the company works WFFT have asked you to complete a number of initial tasks to ensure that you have a grounded knowledge and understanding of the company. This is your opportunity to demonstrate your capability and give them the confidence to let you run your own project in the future. The responses to requests detailed below should be included in a summary Word report that you save and submit in a PDF file.

2.2. Summative

Your line manager is happy with your performance and because you have familiarity with the Bangles data she has asked you to lead the next stage of the project. Bangles invested in a marketing campaign in the UK in month 5 2020.

The business question that Bangles are trying to address are:

• Did the marketing campaign have a positive impact on sales performance in the UK?

You have been asked to complete a report for the client. Because this is your first client report for WFTT your line manager has given you additional detail re the structure and content that she expects to see

a) Context.

Summarise the key changes and trends that are leading to the increased importance of data analysis in companies such as Bangles, and how data analytics can add value

b) Plan.

Summarise and justify the analytical approach that you will take using business analytics to answer the business question

c) Analysis

i. Data. Outline any steps you have taken to clean the data Analysis. Apply relevant analytical techniques that will support answering the business question.

ii. Summarise your analysis in insightful tables and charts and include an appropriate management commentary that highlights the key points that can be drawn from your analysis

d) Conclusion and next steps

i. Concisely summarise your conclusions and recommendations in respect of the business question. This should include how the analysis could be improved (for example through using additional data) and highlight any concerns you have re the analysis

ii. Next steps – critically evaluate the use Bangles could make of advanced techniques such as econometric analysis in further analysing the effectiveness of the UK marketing campaign