The Big Buzz

On the May Day holiday I met a digital marketing expert for lunch in Marbella. It was a purely social occasion; not a brain-picking exercise. At some point in the conversation the term “big data” appeared and was bandied around for a few minutes before disappearing into a chat about the Kardashians, Kanye West and Google Glass: the computer that fits on your glasses.

On arriving in the office the next morning I discovered that eMarketer, an invaluable online information resource for keeping up-to-date with emarketing developments and trends, had sent me a newsletter alert about a downloadable information roundup about “big data.” I felt there must be some synchronicity going on and that Peppermint should get up to speed about what “big data’ means and what challenges and advantages it brings to marketing agencies and their clients.

Big data basics
Like many buzzwords, “big data” neatly conveys a more complex meaning. It refers to the “increasing volume, velocity, variety, variability and complexity of information,” according to research experts SAS. Let’s take these terms one at a time and explore what each one means.

Volume
The digital age is all about data creation. Go into a store and buy a branded toothbrush: you’re part of the data for the toothbrush market and that brand and the store brand. Social media usage is another source of data about you and everyone else. In the past, data storage costs were an issue, but now it isn’t; so masses of data is kept rather than chucked.

Velocity
This just means that the speed at which data is collected has increased significantly to the point that data collection is almost in “real time.” The problem this presents to organisations is one of not being able to respond to the information quickly enough.

Variety
Basically, data comes in all kinds of forms: numeric data; emails; text documents; video; audio and financial transactions. Managing this variety is another challenge for the companies trying to use the data.

Why does it matter?
Having big data doesn’t automatically make your marketing better. You’ve still got to use it properly. SAS points out that its what insights you can get from the data that is the most important aspect big data. Marketing departments should be combining big data with the marketing strategy in order to improve the following key areas:

• Customer engagement – big data will tell you who, where, why, how and contact preferences for your customers.
• Customer loyalty – big data can provide an insight into what motivates your customers’ brand loyalty.
• Marketing optimisation – big data can help you optimise your media spend across all channels.

What’s important for your brand?

There are three types of big data that are especially important to anyone selling a product, any product. OK, so maybe you’re not Proctor & Gamble, but if you sell anywhere, these data categories are vital to understanding your business and your customers:
• Customer data – know your customer inside out. Data can come from surveys, social media, loyalty programmes and responses to marketing campaigns.
• Operational data – these are all aspects of the marketing operation including resource allocation, budget and metrics measuring marketing successes.
• Financial – this is your sales, revenue, profits and expenditure.

Big data in practice
Advertising guru Dave Trott provides a practical example of big data at work in one of his recent blog posts “Big data v smart data.” He uses Target–the US supermarket chain—to illustrate it. Briefly, a father complained to Target because the store had mailed information about pregnancy-related products to his teenage daughter. However, Dad didn’t know that his teenage daughter was pregnant, but Target did, based on customer purchase data. So, the store mailed her targeted information about related products. Do read Dave Trott’s blog to understand exactly how Target used its big data to pursue store brand loyalty from its pregnant customers.

And those are the basics of “big data.” You may not be in a position to collect it or use it, but at least if you find yourself at lunch with a few “big data” experts, you’ll be able to join in the conversation with confidence.