Commentary
Harnessing Big Data to Transform Marketing
- by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, October 26, 2015
Anyone following the Internet of Things knows that big
data is one of the big deals in it.
Of course, there’s the gradual realization that massive amounts of data will be generated by billions of internet-connected devices.
But then there are the details of how to capture that data, how to process it and ultimately, what it means and what to do with it in a way that actually benefits consumers.
Speaking at the first day of the IBM Insight 2015 conference here in Las Vegas, Bob Picciano, senior vice president analytics at IBM, pointed out that that 90% of IoT data is never captured, which means it obviously can’t ever be used.
Though this isn’t the first time this data tidbit has been mentioned, it is worth keeping a constant eye on.
The three-day conference, with several thousand attendees, is yet again highlighting the role that Iot data will play going forward.
An additional view of data came from Mike Rhodin, senior vice president of IBM Watson, the computer system that made headlines courtesy of Jeopardy some time back (Watson won big).
“The majority of data is dark, or invisible to us,” said Rhodin. The efforts around Watson involve putting information and data into context, as in cognitive systems.
The IBMs of the world are working on figuring out how to capture and analyze the IoT data, even as the amount available continues to grow exponentially.
Some of the focus is on industrial applications, like machinery for self-diagnosis and preventive maintenance.
But other IoT data will be used for marketing and advertising. That data could include insights from wearable devices, like fitness trackers, and others from objects and sensors, such as beacons in retail outlets.
The data ultimately will be captured. The next challenge and opportunity for brands and marketers will be how to leverage that data for new consumer insights that will aid, if not transform, marketing.
Or as Picciano suggested, an organization will be either a disruptor or be disrupted.
Chuck Martin is Editor of the AI & IoT Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily Connected Thinking column. He is a NY Times Business bestselling author and his latest book is “Digital Transformation 3.0” (The New Business-to-Consumer Connections of The Internet of Things.) He is CEO of Net Future Institute and a frequent keynote speaker internationally. Follow him on Twitter @chuckmartin and contact him at Chuck@MediaPost.com.
Hmm..., not exactly sure what we learned by this article that we didn't already know...
The point, outside of sharing insights from what thousands of attendees heard at the IBM mega meeting on data analytics yesterday, Dimitris, was to highight the importance of big IoT data along with the compexities, inlcuding with the implications for marketers.
Great read Chuck. It is really interesting to see how businesses across various verticals are harnessing big data to transform their marketing strategy. And this is one of the main reasons behind the beacon hype - beacons provide businesses with insights into customer behaviour patterns and loyalty patterns and other big data. Such deep insights will definitely help brick and mortar stores stay ahead of competition.Yet, many marketers even today are not quite sure about how to put beacons to use. We have blogged on how retailers can boost sales by developing an effective in-store personalization strategy here: http://blog.beaconstac.com/2015/07/6-best-practices-for-implementing-in-store-personalization-in-2015/