• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, December 11, 2012

At the MediaPost Email Insider Summit on Tuesday, the question arose why has Big Data been so big this year -- getting lots of press coverage. Rapleaf CEO Phil Davis said it played a role in the election, it's been used to predict weather patterns impacting global warming and in homeland security.

But what about the potential in marketing? "We are striving for the holy grail of one-to-one marketing," which is the right message, at the right time in the right way and it can help execute that, Davis said.

Davis spoke on a panel, where Erin Levzow, who works in e-commerce and interactive marketing at the Palms Casino Resort, said the end game in her business can be knowledge about people before they enter a casino, so when they do, they can be directed to favored attractions. There is a balance in not being "too weird and creepy," but Levzow said people "really like that, they feel well-known"