How WPP Media closed TikTok data gaps and strengthened competitive analysis

WPP Media is a global media and marketing organization within WPP, working with some of the world’s largest brands to deliver data-driven media strategy, social intelligence, and creative performance across channels.

Operating in a fast-moving, platform-driven landscape, teams at WPP Media need reliable, cross-platform social data—especially competitive and TikTok insights—to support pitches, influencer strategy, and long-term client decision-making.

David Ahlstrom, Head of Innovation at GroupM (now WPP Media), shared how Socialinsider helped his team close critical TikTok data gaps, strengthen competitive analysis, and bring more structure and fact-based clarity to social strategy, new business pitches, and client conversations.

Challenge

• Limited TikTok analytics, especially in smaller markets
• Gaps in competitor and historical performance data
• Hard to support pitches and strategy with confidence

Before adopting Socialinsider, David and his team relied heavily on tools like Brandwatch to support influencer analysis, publishing, and high-level reporting. However, as TikTok became a growing part of their clients’ social strategies, major gaps started to appear—especially in TikTok analytics and competitive visibility, particularly in smaller markets like Ireland.

“The big issue… was they were limited in Ireland on TikTok and that was probably a gap in our knowledge.”

David Ahlstrom, Head of Innovation at GroupM (now WPP Media)

As client demands increased, teams needed clearer answers to questions like: What are competitors doing well? What’s actually driving engagement? And how does performance look over time—not just in isolated wins? Existing tools struggled to provide these insights in a practical, easy-to-use way.

“We were kind of missing one of the social channels that we didn’t have before.”

David Ahlstrom, Head of Innovation at GroupM (now WPP Media)

Without reliable TikTok and competitive data, it was harder to support pitches, validate strategic recommendations, and confidently advise clients.

The competitive advantage with Socialinsider

• Deep TikTok and cross-platform competitive analysis
• Intuitive, fast interface for immediate insights
• Clear, time-based performance and content comparisons

Socialinsider stood out immediately by providing deep TikTok analytics combined with an intuitive, easy-to-use interface. During the trial, David was able to jump straight into real client work—using the platform to run a live competitive analysis for a major retail brand.

“It was the one that jumped out because of the TikTok side of things… I was able to get information that I hadn’t had before.”

David Ahlstrom, Head of Innovation at GroupM (now WPP Media)

The platform made it easy to analyze competitors over time, identify engagement patterns beyond one-off viral posts, and visually assess content performance across platforms.

“You can look over the time period and get a true reflection of how interactive a channel really is.”

David Ahlstrom, Head of Innovation at GroupM (now WPP Media)

Socialinsider also enabled the team to extract clear insights quickly—making it practical to use not just for reporting, but for new business pitches, influencer analysis, and strategic planning.

“Socialinsider is very intuitive, very easy to use. I could see the practical usefulness straight away.”

David Ahlstrom, Head of Innovation at GroupM (now WPP Media)

Results

• Stronger new-business pitches and client retention
• Fact-based strategy instead of opinions
• Paid competitive analysis that justified the tool’s cost

With Socialinsider in place, the team gained a reliable way to support new business, client retention, and paid competitive analysis projects—all using data that leadership and clients could trust.

“We’ve used Socialinsider for pitches… and it was a contributing factor in winning business.”

David Ahlstrom, Head of Innovation at GroupM (now WPP Media)

Socialinsider helped shift conversations from opinions and gut feelings to fact-based discussions, using historical data to challenge assumptions and guide smarter content decisions.

“It helps formulate a social strategy based on facts as opposed to people’s feelings.”

David Ahlstrom, Head of Innovation at GroupM (now WPP Media)

Beyond strategy, the tool also proved its value commercially—supporting paid competitive audits and ensuring software costs were justified and recoverable.

“We’ve had clients pay for the usage of the tool as well… business wins, retention, and client work pays for it.”

David Ahlstrom, Head of Innovation at GroupM (now WPP Media)

Ultimately, Socialinsider became a foundational analytics tool—helping the team analyze TikTok and competitive performance with confidence, move faster in pitches, and deliver clearer, more actionable insights to clients.

Company Info & Headquarters

Company: WPP Media
Industry: Advertising Services
Headquarters: New York, NY