big data miracle drug
We've pondered the implications of 'big data' in these pages on several occasions and come to at least one simple conclusion, namely that more (ie big) data does not necessarily mean 'better' and that the more data one has will often actually make it harder to find the required information to distill into insight.
With that in mind, find of the week is this article by Scott Brinkner entitled 'The Big Data Bubble'.
Scott says 'Now, I love data as much as the next techy-geeky-marketing-wonk-with-a-blog. But what strikes me about all this explosive data chatter — in no small part, driven by the peaking hype cycle of big data as a miracle drug — is how little recognition is being given to the operational implications of actually using data.'
And from an agency person perspective I almost feel that Scott has observed some of the big agency CEO 'predictions' for 2013 that have been appearing.
Whereas two years ago the key buzzwords* would have included 'social', then 'possibly 'mobile' the new phrase to drop in assessment of challenges or opportunities is clearly 'big data'.
Quite why this is an opportunity though is sadly absent from this commentary.
Scott has neatly encapsulated the chunking of this percieved 'opportunity' thus...
1. Analyze data — preferably big data.
2. ???
3. Profit.
Huzzah!
The pesky bit in the middle is the bit that, for the most part, few have yet to approach a grasping distance.
Fortunately Brinkler outlines a potential 1-2-3 approach neatly.
1. Big Data. Collect and organize data to extract information and insight. This is the part that big data has to offer. But some of the most valuable output from such data analytics will be mere hypotheses — interesting correlations of factors and behaviors
2. Big Testing. Take those hypotheses and be able to quickly and effectively test them to prove cause-and-effect: that those factors can indeed be leveraged to influence customer behavior.
3. Big Experience. Apply your targeted data and proven tests towards delivering better customer experiences, to many different customer segments.
Read the full article here.
*note: the hapless CEO's are clearly subject to intuitizzle heuristics at this stage and as we all know, all heuristics are equal, but 'availablity' is more equal than others.
