Big Data and New Technology
The physical capital on which companies built themselves is now done by an immaterial capital constituted by the data that needs to become intelligent to favour the growth of the company. Integrating the concept of a dual data-base (physical and immaterial) for companies is essential for their success.
Representing a set of data too voluminous to plan their fine exploitation, a lot of companies are discouraged when we speak about new technologies and Big Data. They see technical difficulties and costs without limit. In reality, the new technologies and Big Data is not only an opportunity with very high added value in improving ROI but also inevitable in front of the extremely fast growth of connectivity (the growth of the volume of data will be multiplied by 300 before 2020 according to the International Dated Corporation).
A different system had been set up to simplify the collection, the storage and the data analysis of a company. Until now, only a small part of the data was exploited considering the high cost of this approach and its impact on organisation. Thanks to new technologies, it is from now on possible to transform this data into exploitable information and eventually, into profits for long-lasting value creation. The essential objective of Big Data consists in finding a way to act on the growth drivers that represent a company. 5 elements are to be considered when we speak about data: the volume, the speed, the variety, the veracity and the value.
3 Challenges towards the approach of new technologies
The risk of Big Data is cross-functional. Indeed, it concerns not only marketing, but all departments in a company. In that sense, it is a concern of top management who have to deal with 3 challenges towards their approach of new technologies: cultural and organisational changes to replace independant methodology with shared work and the the technological changes to face the 5 above mentioned elements and strategic changes in setting up good decision processes.
For marketing, the main risk concerns the knowledge of the customer at every level, through the preservation of a total vision of all channels, including interactions with customers. Placing the customer at the heart of the company requires reorganisation of the marketing process to transform raw customer data into actionable data, thanks to the action of integrated mathematical algorithms. This in turn, will render the data as smart or intelligent. It is thus advisable to centralise all the analytical processes on the basis of a reference table, on which the various business-specific applications will depend, to place a customer in an offer emitted by a relevant channel. We call this reference table a DMP: data management platform.
The exploitation of this data can seem more complex because of the quantity of the data and the lack of reliability of the data but statistical algorithms can settle this problem. The algorithms have the advantage of progressively evolving depending on the customers’ actions. An algorithm gives meaning to your data. It is thus essential to think about the capacity of analysing Big Data with it’s desired objective. As such, a clear objective and quality data matched with proper algorithms will create greater value. This value is essential for the growth of the ROI of the company.
Even if it is a comlpex trend, a lot of Big Data actions are just at their infancy. It is essential to pursue them with experts to benefit from an added-value-generating strategy. The market offers enough solutions today to assist companies in this approach with adapted and reassured solutions of storage.
For companies who want to succeed, the art will be in knowing how to combine high technology, operational know-how and respect for the consumer.
Edouard Detaille, co-founder of www.mureo.fr, has more than 15 years’ experience with almost 10 years spent in the commercial real estate sector. He launched the first European multichannel platform dedicated to malls in 2007 to increase their traffic and the shops incomes. After serving as marketing and communication director for several international leading companies, he’s now a consultant for Mercialys and advising CEOs and board members (ex: Hammerson France CEO Jean-Philippe Mouton) in their strategies and particularly in the disruptive physical/new technologies environment. You can follow Edouard on Twitter at @EDetaille.
