• by Mark Lieberman , Op-Ed Contributor, April 12, 2011

The Big Apple can feel like a small town sometimes, so I wasn't too surprised to find myself at Chelsea Piers two separate times last week, for two very different events: a three-on-three basketball tournament, which my team almost won in the finals on the Garden floor after the Knick-Cavs game, and the GigaOm Structure Big Data Conference, where I spoke on a panel about how data-driven solutions are driving revenues for advertisers and networks alike.

As you'd expect from a GigaOm event, it was a heavily tech-focused day. The agenda highlighted emerging approaches to processing, analyzing, and mining large quantities of data - in short, the same challenges and opportunities we in the television-measurement world confront every working day.

I was impressed by the quantity and quality of innovative thinking coming out of companies that are creating tools to marshal that Big Data. The most interesting aspect of it for me was hearing how different companies are not only processing data for their own purposes, but developing solutions that make data and intelligence accessible to clients, and easy to use: the packaging piece.

Another speaking engagement at a conference later that week - the Forrester Marketing Forum - presented an interesting contrast. In one way, it was the polar opposite of my Big Data day -- it wasn't so much about what goes into marketing solutions as what comes out of them.  

As these things go, it was a tremendous event: great content, engaged attendees, dynamic conversations. High-level marketing execs and big-name advertisers convened along with folks like me -- the data and technology contingent -- to talk about different approaches to reaching the right audiences. 

Among the most compelling speakers was Intel Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Conrad, who described the ways in which her company's customer base has changed dramatically in recent years. The firm now develops discrete marketing campaigns for each of nine different customer segments it has identified. [Disclosure: Intel is an investor in my company, TRA.]

Conrad directed the audience to The Creators Project, a showcase for seriously cutting-edge art that Intel created with Vice magazine. Strange bedfellows, right?

I spent some time on the site and it's fantastic, but it's hardly what you'd expect to see from the company that put "silicon" in Silicon Valley. (Favorite link: the United Visual light show using advanced technology.)

Another memorable speaker, Dana Anderson of Kraft Foods, talked about how she finds that a little aggressiveness can really push the envelope in driving change. She acknowledged that mistakes are sometimes made, but felt that with each effort the team learns something that leads to better results.

The moral of the story is this: Whether you're marketing microchips or cheese slices, today's marketplace demands innovation. To get results, you must have good data to understand your customer.  

It's a virtuous circle. You need data and the data tools to refine your creative, and you need compelling creative solutions to build your brand and sell your products, and then you need the feedback loop to refine your messaging and target the right audience. But no matter the angle you're coming from -- hardware, software, CPG marketing, advertising -- we're all part of the same ecosystem, and none of us will succeed if we go it alone.

Next week I'll be heading west again to Las Vegas for the NAB Show, which should provide plenty more fodder for discussion. As always, stay tuned.