The art vs science debate has come to a head with Clint Bratton, general manager at data company AffinityID declaring “data is really the future of marketing”.
During a panel of experts at last night’s Agency Open Haus, put on by brand and strategy company Conn3cted, ‘big data’ raised its head once more.
When questioning both the audience and panel of experts about whether the term ‘big data’ is overwhelming or confusing for the industry, a number of heavyweights weighed in.
“For the modern marketer, ‘big data’ certainly doesn’t confuse,” said Bratton. “The modern day marketer has been using data for a long time, and the growth that we’ve seen of… big data has really changed the place in the market.”
“We just need to be equipped to deal with the data, to take insights from the data and drive better customer experiences from that.”
Founder of creative agency The Works, Douglas Nicol, however said he was against the expression ‘big data’ as it’s confusing.
“I actually think it’s a barrier to great creative and great strategy,” he said. “Because what tends to happen is, people go ‘big data, we need a huge investment and system, and gathering data’ and suddenly it becomes a three year project, as opposed to actually using a small data set and actually getting the results in the shorter term.”
However Fiona Long, former head of Cybercrime, reckoned marketers actually have a better understanding of data than many other industries, however did note the term is overwhelming.
The term ‘big data’ has been a highly debated topic in Adland for a good while now. And it seems we’re no closer to figuring out whether it’s good or bad. It just depends how you use it.
Some people say investing in ‘big data’ is a waste of money, others believe it’s king and we should all bow down to it.
Even just searching the term ‘big data’ within our database of stories brings up an array of articles dating back a number of years.
“The term ‘big data’ has become a much overused buzzword recently and is generally referencing little more than good, old fashioned targeted marketing,” wrote Cade Witnish from Loud&Clear in June this year, referencing how big data has changed over the past years.
“However, the focus is now shifting to ‘small data’, or targeted marketing campaigns based on individuals. This could include selecting specific coloured backgrounds a user likes or offering a percentage discount rather than dollars off, based on that particular individual’s purchasing history.”
