6/24/2016

WhatIsBigData?Forbes

CMONetwork
AUG 15, 2013 @ 08:17 AM

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WhatIsBigData?
Lisa Arthur, CONTRIBUTOR

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I write about how data & data-driven marketing are

changing business. FULL BIO

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doyouassociatewithaskingbetterquestions?

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McKinsey

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Bigdataisnewandginormousandscary
very,veryscary.No,wait.Bigdataisjust
anothernameforthesameolddata
marketershavealwaysused,anditsnot
allthatbig,anditssomethingweshould
beembracing,notfearing.No,holdon.
Thatsnotit,either.WhatImeanttosayis
thatbigdataisaspowerfulasatsunami,
butitsadelugethatcanbecontrolled...
inapositiveway,toprovidebusiness
insightsandvalue.Yes,thatsright,isnt
it?
Overthepastfewyears,Ihaveheardbig
datadefinedinmany,manydifferent
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WhatIsBigData?Forbes

ways,andso,Imnotsurprisedtheresso
muchconfusionsurroundingtheterm.
Becauseofallthemisunderstandingand
misperceptions,Ihavetoask:

The better the world works.

CMOs,whenyoutalkaboutbigdatain
theCsuite,doyouknowifeveryoneson
thesamepage?Andevenclosertohome,
areyoucertaintheresconsensuswithin
yourmarketingorganization?

Discover more

>

#BetterQuestions

Youwontgetfaruntanglingyourbigdata
hairballif,forexample,halfofyour
companyisforgettingtoinclude
traditionaldatainthecalculusorifsome
dontthinksocialnetworkinteractions
reallymatter.So,please,takeaminute
togetbacktobasicsanddoasimpleself
check.Askyourself,yourteam,theC
suite:
Howdowedefinebigdata?
WhileIfullyexpectyourcompanytoadd
itsownindividualtweakshereorthere,
herestheonesentencedefinitionofbig
dataIliketousetogettheconversation
started:
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HaveMoreIn
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SeligThanYouThink

WhyTheCSuiteIs
LikeAGoatRodeo
(AndHowToCurb
TheMayhem)

Bigdataisacollectionofdatafrom
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WhatIsBigData?Forbes

traditionalanddigitalsourcesinsideand
outsideyourcompanythatrepresentsa
sourceforongoingdiscoveryandanalysis.
Somepeopleliketoconstrainbigdatato
digitalinputslikewebbehaviorandsocial
networkinteractionshowevertheCMOs
andCIOsItalkwithagreethatwecant
excludetraditionaldataderivedfrom
producttransactioninformation,financial
recordsandinteractionchannels,suchas
thecallcenterandpointofsale.Allofthat
isbigdata,too,eventhoughitmaybe
dwarfedbythevolumeofdigitaldata
thatsnowgrowingatanexponentialrate.
Indefiningbigdata,itsalsoimportantto
understandthemixofunstructuredand
multistructureddatathatcomprisesthe
volumeofinformation.
Unstructureddatacomesfrom
informationthatisnotorganizedoreasily
interpretedbytraditionaldatabasesor
datamodels,andtypically,itstextheavy.
Metadata,Twittertweets,andothersocial
mediapostsaregoodexamplesof
unstructureddata.
Multistructureddatareferstoa
varietyofdataformatsandtypesandcan
bederivedfrominteractionsbetween
peopleandmachines,suchasweb
applicationsorsocialnetworks.Agreat
exampleisweblogdata,whichincludesa
combinationoftextandvisualimages
alongwithstructureddatalikeformor
transactionalinformation.Asdigital
disruptiontransformscommunicationand
interactionchannelsandasmarketers
enhancethecustomerexperienceacross

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devices,webproperties,facetoface
interactionsandsocialplatformsmulti
structureddatawillcontinuetoevolve.
Industryleadersliketheglobalanalyst
firmGartnerusephraseslikevolume
(theamountofdata),velocity(thespeed
ofinformationgeneratedandflowinginto
theenterprise)andvariety(thekindof
dataavailable)tobegintoframethebig
datadiscussion.Othershavefocusedon
additionalVs,suchasbigdatasveracity
andvalue.
Onethingisclear:Everyenterpriseneeds
tofullyunderstandbigdatawhatitisto
them,whatisdoesforthem,whatitmeans
tothemandthepotentialofdatadriven
marketing,startingtoday.Dontwait.
Waitingwillonlydelaytheinevitableand
makeitevenmoredifficulttounravelthe
confusion.
Onceyoustarttacklingbigdata,youll
learnwhatyoudontknow,andyoullbe
inspiredtotakestepstoresolveany
problems.Bestofall,youcanusethe
insightsyougatherateachstepalongthe
waytostartimprovingyourcustomer
engagementstrategiesthatway,youllput
bigdatamarketingtoworkand
immediatelyaddmorevaluetobothyour
offlineandonlineinteractions.
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