Big Data Analytics Use Cases

Are you data-flooded, data-driven, data informed? Are you outcome oriented, insight driven or hindsight driven?

Are you a firm where executives claim – “Data is our competitive advantage.” Or sprout analogies like, “data is the new oil”.

The challenge I found in most companies is not dearth of vision… everyone has a strategy and a 100,000 ft general view of the importance or value of data. Every executive can parrot the importance of data and being data-driven.

The challenge is the next step….so, how are you going to create new data products? How are you going to execute a data driven strategy? How are you going to monetize data assets? What are the right business use cases to focus on? How to map the use case to underlying models and data requirements? What platform is a good long-term bet?  The devil is in these details.

Everyone is searching for new ways to turn data into $$$ (monetize data assets). Everyone is looking for new levers to extract value from data.  But data ingesting and modeling is simply a means to an end. The end is not just more reports, dashboards, heatmaps, knowledge, or wisdom. The target is fact based decisions, guided machine learning and actions. Another target is arming users to do data discovery and insight generation without involving IT teams…so called User-Driven Business Intelligence.

In other words, what is the use case that shapes the context for “Raw Data -> Aggregated Data -> Intelligence -> Insights -> Decisions -> Operational Impact -> Financial Outcomes -> Value creation.”  What are the right use cases for the emerging hybrid data ecosystem (with structured and unstructured data)?

Email Marketing is a Predictive Analytics Problem

Digital Marketing from 1999 to 2012

In his book Permission Marketing, Seth Godin referred to email marketing as “the most personal advertising medium in history”.  That was 1999.

Where does email marketing stand in 2012 in the age of social media, omni-channel marketing and big data analytics? Here are some interesting data points.

Enabling SoLoMoMe + Omni-channel Analytics

At the Analytics Executive Forum, I facilitated a session on Omni-channel analytics. It struck me how every leading consumer facing firm seems convinced that mobile is becoming the dominant B2C interaction channel.  Mobile is the gateway to insight based marketing and the “always addressable customer”….

Insight-based interactions –  The company knows who you are, what you prefer, and communicates with relevant, timely messages, using the power of analytical intelligence to detect patterns, decode strands of information and create meaningful offers and value.

The “always addressable customer.” This is a consumer who fits the bill on three fronts simultaneously: (1)

• Owns and personally uses at least three connected devices; (2)

Goes online multiple times throughout the day;  (3) 

• Goes online from at least three different physical locations

The opposite of insight-based is “spray-and-pray” marketing – The company has very limited knowledge about who you are, forgets what you prefer, and tries to reach you with off-target communications that alienate you – based on fragmented data, poor data quality and  inadequate integration, resulting in confusing, chaotic interactions.  A good example: “I have 2 million frequent flyer miles with your airline and still do not get any recognition, respect or value from this loyalty.”

As companies architect new insight based mobile use cases I suggest that they look at what is coming next. With IOS 7, Apple is delivering several new features – Passbook, Beacon.

Retailers, banks and other customer facing firms/brands better pay attention. 100+ million iPhones are automatically getting this feature with the new OS upgrade making this a mega-disruptor in the coveted target segment everyone is chasing.

Multi-channel to Omni-channel Retail Analytics: A Big Data Use Case

MULTI-CHANNEL is simply having multiple channels through which you buy, market, sell, and fulfill.

CROSS-CHANNEL has the ability to see all of a customer’s information across all channels enables more personalized offers based on their brand relationship.

OMNICHANNEL weaves all the touchpoints of the products and services of the brand into a  seamless fabric  of all phases of the  customer’s brand experience.

Which one are you?

Let’s face it – The old uni-channel retail model is dying in some cases and changing in others.  E-commerce is driving nearly all retail growth. Digital customers want simple, consistent, and relevant experiences across all channels, touchpoints, mobile screens, smart watches and other devices.