All the talk of the day is Big Data: I have Big Data. You have Big Data. You'd think our industry had an inferiority complex, and that size really does matter! To some extent, it does, but I'd like to offer a way to think about big data that clearly details the way human insights can be leveraged in this age of data activation. Simply put, it's about storytelling.

Marketing communications people are inherently good at promoting things, including their work and themselves. They're seldom shy to claim more than their fair share of credit when things go well. Even a loose association to success -- without overt claim -- creates an aura of self-attribution. Consider case study presentations given by executives and experts, or the appearance of successful brand logos on agency and vendor websites. What really was their role?

There are some CEOs who believe that you should only hire "A" players and fire everyone else who doesn't measure up. I am not one of them. Don't misunderstand --I have fired people who cannot or will not do what is asked of them. But I don't believe that automatically thinning the herd is a good technique for building a company. Here's why:

Late last year, Psy's disturbingly catchy tune "Gangnam Style" hit one billion views, the first YouTube video to do so. You probably heard about it. You've probably seen the video. You may even have had a crack at horsey dancing. It's a huge milestone for YouTube, and a significant achievement for the Korean pop star -- but its success still shows how much further the Internet economy has to go.

It seems like everyone in our business today is talking about Big Data, at conferences and in articles in the trades, including this one. Big data even pops up in every sort of job description for new roles in media, marketing and advertising. And it is even invading earnings calls for holding companies.

At the San Francisco Bay Area Interactive Group meeting last week, David Verklin (formerly of Canoe Ventures and Carat North America, currently with Calera Capital) discussed the future of our industry. Much of his focus was on the paradigm shifting as a result of other "sensors" creating new sources of data, while providing new avenues for ad delivery. His statement "Television is no longer a device, it is an experience," got me thinking about how TV, as it is referred to by viewers younger than 18, will potentially drive the delivery of ad messaging across a number of platforms for …

Low-cost tools and technologies have made the masses of b2b marketers more prolific in creating content than ever before. So it's no wonder we now have a cottage industry of evangelists that preach the gospel of "content marketing." Volume is growing, but quality seems to be declining. That's at least according to my inbox, the ads I'm served, and the content others pass along.

Any product must have market appeal in order to gain customers, but there's another element of this product/market fit that's often overlooked: the product/customer fit. You can have a great product/market fit but be involved with the wrong kind of customer. Here are some examples:

I have ideas coming out of my ears. They arise in meetings and casual conversations. They crawl around in my head when I am on the verge of sleep, when I am actually asleep, when I am emerging from sleep. They whisper to me, they call to me, they shout at me. Some of these ideas are awesome. Some are OK. Most are crap. But it doesn't matter; they are all welcome. I invite them to play with each other. I set up dates with other idea mothers and encourage them to mate.