It’s perennial. Corporate insights professionals worry that they face a diminished role—if not outright elimination as a team—driven in part by new technology. It’s reflected in annual barometers of the market insights business on whether and why professionals feel they do not have a seat at the table among leadership…
For all the focus on Big Data and its opportunities, most marketers are far from realizing its potential. Here’s a dirty little secret: Marketing professionals are still plagued by bad information and an inability to use data to its full advantage. They’re struggling to create an omni-channel, personalized strategy that…
Everyone is buzzing right now about ad-blocking technology. Apple is inserting it into the next version of iOS. The Washington Post is blocking ad blockers. Industry pundits are calling it a monumental shift and a huge opportunity. I am assuming that it’s only a matter of days before the presidential…
We live in an exciting time of unprecedented technological and knowledge advancement. Only 20 years ago (this was pre-Google), data was at the ultimate premium. Accurate, reliable information was highly coveted and had the potential to make huge impacts on business decision making and strategy at all levels and across…
When it comes to concept testing, I’d argue that the most valuable insight is purchase intent, which explores whether a customer will move beyond simply thinking that a proposed product is a good idea to actually making a purchase. Concept testing also gathers several pieces of critical data about prospective…
A director of market intelligence at a Fortune 50 company called me last week. He wanted my advice about how to recharge the competitive intelligence process in his company. I have been getting more calls like that in the last six months than in the last decade. It seems that…
Demographic and behavioral analytics traditionally have served as the foundation for delivering personalized, simplified customer experiences that satisfy consumers’ unique needs across multiple channels. These data sources have unlocked a trove of actionable insights into consumer interests, location and brand affinity, allowing marketers—and retailers, in particular—to better personalize the shopping…
A friend recently commented on the hubbub around the Apple Watch (and the wearables category, in general), noting that most of the data provided by these devices is actually useless. Sure, we’re all counting steps and strides and hours slept, but we’re not really doing anything about it. And as…
When is a running shoe a piece of digital technology? That’s when the sports giant, Nike, embeds sensors in running shoes and wearable devices to enhance the customer experience, in this case helping athletes train more effectively with data. In essence, Nike combines its decades-built experience of athletes with data…
Analytics might be a term on the tip of every marketer’s tongue these days, but results from the February 2015 CMO Survey make it clear that using marketing analytics remains a challenge for companies and, in fact, analytics usage appears to be infrequent. The CMO Survey, conducted by Duke University…