BIg Data: Best Used as a Means to an End?

Is “big data” a means to and end or an end in itself?

Big data / data collection / data analysis seem to be “the next big thing” and what has lots of people talking these days. Much is being written about the copious amount of data being collected, how little of this data is actually being analyzed for any useful purpose

All this begs the most basic question: Does “big data” really support better decision-making, improved outcomes, less risk exposure, and more efficient deployment of scarce resources – all to help drive long-term profitable growth for businesses?

A recent article in the WSJ talked about how Auto Zone is using data analysis to optimize its retail supply chain and improve the chances store visitors will walk out with a purchase. Another example was given around optimizing wind-turbine performance. All good, but hardly earth shattering developments.

Another article focused on the data-crazed vibe around SXSW last week entitled  “Who Rules the Data?”  Many tech firms are rushing to collect all sorts of data, display it close to the body (Google Glass) and even placing devices to track conference participants whereabouts and even how much time they spent sitting or standing in the porta-potties on site. Here the focus was on privacy issues, pardon the pun.

Chances are if both IT and marketing types spent a little more time linking data collection / analysis with informing smarter decision making (and tracking outcomes to inform future actions) for senior management – we’d all be in a better place: More efficient businesses that will grow, create jobs and fuel economic prosperity.

Now that’s a data point worthy of further consideration.

The Art of Making the Complicated Simple

One of the most undervalued skills that any marketer can have is making the complicated simple.

American businesses seem to thrive on making things as complicated as possible. Just try getting through an entire issue of The New Yorker or reading the owner's manual that come with your next major appliance with any sense of how to fix the darn thing if it breaks down.

Hats off to the Wall Street Journal for demystifying the whole papal conclave / election process. I know that the "white smoke" signals the successful completion of the process, but I had no idea what the process steps were inside the Sistine Chapel to get there.

I love the whole idea of the "info-graphic" medium - a description of something that is simple without reducing the storyline to a 140 character Twitter post that coveys nothing of value. After reading this article I now get how it works, when it will happen, where and who will be involved. All the basic elements of a story.

This approach may be an excellent marketing tool for a whole variety of business sectors. Maybe someday it will help me explain what "re-balancing an investment portfolio" means to someone who does not have an MBA.

Square Inc. Getting it by giving it away.

Square Inc. is a privately held electronic payment service that is doing a great job of getting marketing share / product distribution by "giving it away" - literally.

Square consists of a small card reader that can plug into a smart phone or tablet device with two apps: Square Register and Square Wallet. The register app accepts credit cards using the card reader.

It is amazingly easy to register for this product and get it for free online, or stop by your local Starbucks and pick one up for $ 10 - which is then credited to you bank account once you start using it. Might help that Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz just invested $ 25 million in the firm, and as a result he got a seat on their board.

Square Wallet app allows people to use their smart phone a cash free mobile payment device, competing with the likes Google Wallet.

Signing up for the Square Register is a delight - they have an amazingly simple consumer interface and registration process, including identity verification when you enter your bank account information. How did they know where I lived back in 1992?

And best yet is their simple pricing model: Either 2.75% per swipe, or a monthly flat fee of $ 275 with 0% per swipe. This must have the Banks and their "merchant services" units shaking their heads, and watching their market share do a nose dive as a result of this innovative offering.

 The Rain Forest Alliance NGO really got its marketing message right with its new
follow the frog video - with a hysterical story of what you should not do to support their cause. The spot was created by Wander Films in LA.

TED came out with it third "Ads Worth Spreading" list yesterday - and this spot was included among in this top-ten list of ads. It is featured with some very prestigious creative company from the likes of Coco-cola, Chrysler's Ram Truck Super Bowl spot "The Farmer" and Dell's "Annie" spot. All are well worth viewing.

The Rain Forest Alliance is a non-governmental organization (NGO) who is working hard to conserve the biodiversity and sustainability of the world's rain forests by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. The spot focuses on the last of its objectives.

The story takes a page from the "Hangover" movies - with a bunch of crazy vignettes that befall an average guy. He is presented as a good person in may ways - but has a feeling that he must do something to help preserve the rain forest. The twist is that the spot focuses on what this guy should not do...

The rapid firing editing and voice-over effectively lead to the call-to-action: Follow the Frog. Buying Rain forest Alliance certified products helps insure the future of the rain forest. Entertaining and effective at the same time.

Will "big data" work to improve the quality of life for people via their smart phones?

Groker is a new smart phone app that uses "predictive search" to feed data into a "discovery service" for mobile devices.  In essence is supposed to be deliver  a"personalized search and discovery service" that makes it easier for users to get the information they want.

This app claims to anticipate your needs - what you might search for - and bring it to you before you actually search for it. Ad Age calls this "pre-sults" - informed by data extracted from a user's information like location, interests, search history and social graph.

In theory this app is attempting to redefine search based on the way people use their mobile devices. Seems like a cool idea if they can evolve the "intent market" on mobile the way Google has on traditional laptop / desktop devices. This might be a real gold mine based on the stampede of user going to mobile devices and all the data they are generating day in and day out.

I'm sure they're tracking me already here in midtown Manhattan - ready to sell my data to marketers and retailers who want to put their message on my mobile device. They've already served up deli and restaurant suggestions for lunch, and a bunch of shopping malls in NJ for some reason. The app also serves up moderately useful content like "trending on the web" / "headlines" / local weather.

It also offers movie reviews tied to theater locations / times. No link to Fandango yet to buy tickets remotely - but I am sure they're negotiating that deal right now.

Ad age also reported Nara as a site to watch - "A Boston based start up with the goal of creating a personalized Internet experience, for users, based on a recommendation engine developed by its team of MIT neuro-scientists, artists, computer scientists and astro-physicists."

I went on this site and it only promises "Find restaurants that match your tastes" - I think they way over-paid for their development team.

Creating an Object of Desire

Kudos to Google for the way they are launching "Glass" - their revolutionary wearable technology. These glasses are a major step towards what is known as "ubiquitous computing" - the notion that computers / the Internet will be available to users from any place at any time with simple voice commands.

I don't get the feeling that Google is doing out of the goodness of their hearts - as these glasses will most certainly deliver Google products at some point soon. What is so cool is the way that Google is launching the product.

Earlier this week Google launched a new video called "how it feels" that gives a user's-eye-view of the product and what it can do - from getting directions to taking videos, and translating a conversation to getting on-the-spot reference information. A very emotional sell for a technology hardware product. With a clear call-to-action at the end of the video for social sharing and "how to get one."

Google did a great job or rolling out their PR machine earlier this week as well, with an interesting article in the NY Times Business Day Technology section called "Google Searches for Style" playing the fashion / style angle.

It gets better - as Google is truly making its Glass "an object of desire" by making it hard to get.  

Google is offering a lucky 1500 people the chance to win the product in its first release. All you have to do is apply by using  Google+ or Twitter to "tell us what you would do if had Glass, staring with the hashtag #ifihadglass." Photos and videos and can be included in the application restricted to 50 words or less.

By the way the newly chosen "Explorers" will need to fork over $ 1500 plus tax for the privilege of attending a special pick-up experience in person in NYC, San Francisco or Los Angeles.  Now that's a bold and innovative approach to  marketing.

There is an old say that goes "If you don't know where you are going - any road will get you there" and  that observation can be applied to lots of the marketing / advertising that can be seen today.

Seems that corporate marketing teams and ad agencies have become enamored with the latest offerings in social media & new devices like smart phones / tablets and have forgotten the basics of building blocks of strategic  marketing - including the creation of a benefit based brand positioning and a clear story or reason-to-believe behind the brand's promise of value.

With increasingly fragmented audiences and their ability to filter out unwanted commercial content - marketers will face an uphill battle to justify spending and show an attractive ROI. So Sagg Insights will look at both best and worst practices in marketing - applauding those marketers who get it right and questioning some of those that miss the mark.