Big Data needs a good storyteller….like Gary Vaynerchuck

In an episode of Mad Men, Don Draper talks about pitching the Kodak Carousel. “Technology is a glittering lure, but there is the rare occasion when the public can be engaged on a level beyond flash, if they have a sentimental bond with the product….Nostalgia. It’s delicate but potent. Switch it on.”

Combine the storytelling prowess of Don Draper with the high-pitched vitriol of Jim Cramer and add a dose of emotional intelligence to get Gary Vaynerchuck,  social media guru, best-selling author, wine librarian and marketer par excellence of the internet age. Gary Vaynerchuck rose to prominence in social media a few years ago with his video log, wine library tv which he used to grow his family wine store into a mulit-million dollar business. He currently runs VaynerMedia, a social media strategy and production company.

Gary is an avid supporter of the use of quantitative analytics in marketing. Carpe Datum Rx caught up with Gary to ask him a few questions about big data, marketing and technology adoption in the enterprise. Here are his paraphrased comments.

Is Big Data ready for the 99 per cent ?

Target Your Shoppers – Retail Predictive Analytics

Best-in-Class Behavioral Analytics Case Study…I am reposting this well written article by Charles Duhigg on how Target is targeting customers using Predictive Analytics to anticipate shopper behavior.

Target  was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Target operates over 1,750 stores in 49 states under Target and SuperTarget names. It offers general merchandise products through its Website, Target.com. The company distributes its merchandise through a network of distribution centers, as well as third parties and direct shipping. Additionally, it offers credit to guests through its branded proprietary credit cards.

Data Analytics and Influencing Pregnant Shoppers

Andrew Pole had just started working as a statistician for Target in 2002, when two colleagues from the marketing department stopped by his desk to ask an odd question: “If we wanted to figure out if a customer is pregnant, even if she didn’t want us to know, can you do that? ”

 As the marketers explained to Pole  new parents are a retailer’s holy grail. Most shoppers don’t buy everything they need at one store. Instead, they buy groceries at the grocery store and toys at the toy store, and they visit Target only when they need certain items they associate with Target — cleaning supplies, say, or new socks or a six-month supply of toilet paper. But Target sells everything from milk to stuffed animals to lawn furniture to electronics, so one of the company’s primary goals is convincing customers that the only store they need is Target. But it’s a tough message to get across, even with the most ingenious ad campaigns, because once consumers’ shopping habits are ingrained, it’s incredibly difficult to change them.