Quantium’s Tim Trumper cautions marketers to be wary of the dangers of poor or misleading data as they establish a data-driven marketing approach
Marketers increasingly adopting a data-driven approach should be wary of misleading or poor data, a leading analytics consultancy claims.
Speaking at the ad:tech event in Sydney on data disruption, advisor to Quantium’s board of directors, Tim Trumper, discussed the importance of data to companies who want a competitive advantage. But he warned the audience that without proper investment into analytical tools and looking beyond the surface, businesses can face a strong disadvantage.
Social media in particular holds many pitfalls, according to Trumper, as likes and followers are not indicative of true engagement.
“Facebook is a genius business… and inside of it is a treasure trove of information. But at a casual glance, it can mislead you if you didn't know what you were doing with data,” he said.
“BMW has 12 million likes, but if you look at transaction data you can see who mentions BMW and their behaviour at scale. Meanwhile, Toilet Duck sells 800,000 units roughly in Australia, but globally has only 200 likes, so mining the likes there aren’t going to be the answer.”
RELATED: Data-driven marketing drives geekification of the CMO
Getting ahead with data-driven marketing
Data management remains poor across marketers: Report
As a way of illustrating inappropriate data usage, Trumper cited how BrisConnections in Queensland spent $4 million on the Clem Jones tunnel under the assumption that 130,000 people in Brisbane would use the new toll road, when the reality was it is only used by 28,000 people.
“That’s a bad error. I would be surprised if they used a vast expansive pool of data,” said Trumper.
A more extreme case involved Bill Clinton’s approval of the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during the Bosnian War, when he signed off on the attack based on the CIA's incorrect co-ordinates when detecting terrorist activity.
“It killed some diplomats and it was the closest America has come to war with China. Imagine trying to explain that, it was basically just the data was wrong,” said Trumper. "To not have the best available data is a disadvantage that could have some dire consequences.”
However if used in the right way, large-scale transaction data can reveal habits not previously seen before, helping to develop a view of individual customer profiles such as where they live, their income, where they shop, which magazines they read and so on, Trumper said.
“The truth is starting to be revealed in clever and new ways,” he added.
Data is now a key issue in the board room, and predictions suggest big data will lead to $1.2 trillion of incremental profit in the US, and 190,000 new jobs, Thumper added.
More from ad:tech 2014:
Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO Australia conversation on LinkedIn: CMO Australia, or join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia
While approaching a customer in a shop and asking what you can help them with is Retail 101, how many of us actually enjoy being approached? Generally, you have to give the forced, fake smile and say, “Just browsing, thanks,” while screaming on the inside, “just leave me alone!” Maybe it’s just me?
Not a day passes by in the life of business executives where digital innovation or the prospect of disruption is not front of mind. This in turn, drives an unrelenting flow of questioning, discussion and strategy papers.
Unless you’ve been marketing under a rock, you’ll probably have questioned whether your media agencies are offering you transparency.
In Episode 11 of this new podcast series, BrandHook MD, Pip Stocks, talks with Australia Post chief innovation officer and former CMO, Greg Sutherland, about how brand reputation today is built on what customers say, why that’s reflective of experience, and what AusPost is doing to tackle that.
Nice post Brad! very useful information. The retail stores are really mean for every brand I am agree with you. Now Online Service Market...
Srialto
The rise of online retail marketplaces and what they mean for brands
Minor correct Nadia, just wanted to clarify that the "Marketo consultants" that did this work, were actually Hoosh consultants
Fab Capodicasa
What it's taking for Edible Blooms to grow a stronger personalisation strategy
Im not surprise though, been in the industry for couple of years and I feel and see it with my tow eyes how eCommerce platforms innovated...
Jason Smith
Australia Post earmarks $20m for Australian ecommerce innovation investment
For marketers that are "going Agile" I recommend using Ravetree. It's a really powerful suite of tools for Agile project management, reso...
Janice Morgan
7 ways to run your marketing department like a software startup
Over the years very part of our lives has become technological. That’s why I am not surprised to see that Australian home loans are going...
GreatDayTo
Why Aussie Home Loans is embracing digital transformation