Big Data: It’s a people issue now

I had been considering a New Year’s resolution to stop using the term “Big Data” (it’s overused to the point where it’s sometimes hard to remember what it actually is) but not quite yet. Chalk it up to that list of deferred new year’s resolutions. I’m pulling in Big Data again because I really liked what my colleague, Matt Ariker, recently said about it as part of our series, Marketing Outlook 2013.

While all that data can lead to real and significant growth, nothing happens with it unless you can use it. And you can’t use it effectively, or squeeze as much growth (or profits or productivity) from it if you’re not organized to handle the data and insights. Matt’s piece – Big Data: It’s time to stand and deliver in 2013 – focuses on how Big Data in 2013 is going to shift from being a data issue to being an organizational one.

And that’s true as well in so many important areas where companies need to focus, from how to market to customers to how to get more ROI from marketing. Customers come at you in so many different ways – touchpoints, technologies, venues, channels, times – that it’s impossible to market or sell to them effectively unless your company is organized around the customer, as opposed to around a product or business unit or location. The CMO role itself, in fact, is going to have to undergo an organizational change in terms what CMOs need to be responsible for beyond the bounds of traditional marketing.

Are you ready to make the necessary changes in 2013?

I hope I’m more successful keeping my other New Year’s resolutions

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