In a Petabyte Age, Is Understanding Passé?
Thursday, July 17, 2008
In an era of big data, is correlation enough for decision making?Analysts have estimated that the volume of data in enterprises of all sizes is doubling every two to three years.
With the deluge of data, some companies are finding it makes more sense to discover and act upon patterns (i.e. customers who buy item X also buy item Y), rather than dig deeper and search for causation. In an age of cloud computing and “big data”—where correlation is often sufficient to gain business results—are we losing our thirst for knowledge and understanding? read more
Labels: analytics, behavioral based, causation, correlation, data driven decision making, modeling, petabyte age, quant, statistical modeling, Wired
posted by Paul Barsch @ 7/17/2008,
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Ramifications of $200 Oil on Marketing
Friday, July 11, 2008
What does $200 oil mean for marketers across the globe?With the WSJ predicting the very real possibility of oil at $200 per barrel by end of the year, we know it’s going to be a bumpy ride for companies of all sizes. Companies across the board from consumer driven to industrial will feel the effects of gasoline prices nearing $6-7 a gallon.
With a list too big to enumerate, here are some of the macro effects of $150 oil…
-- Driving and commuting patterns have changed drastically
-- Employers are offering more choices in working virtually
-- Corporate travel budgets are getting whacked
-- Consumers are flocking to retail chains that are now forced to heavily discount
As companies pass along the increased costs from inflationary energy spikes, marketers will have to discern/learn how to best market in these challenging situations. What can we do?
* Take a look at our pricing models. Are we pricing cost plus, or are we pricing value? Variable pricing (based on consumption) might make huge inroads in such an economy
* Supply chain technology will be used to optimize distribution routes/costs to ensure efficient use of vehicles, fuel costs. Getting products to market—more efficiently and cost effectively will take on added importance.
* As fuel costs rise, communities will become more densely packed together, and real estate costs in those areas will increase. Suburbia no longer? Marketers will need to project and forecast the best locations for our products/services based on these new trends.
* Marketers will have to find ways to wring costs from our product manufacturing so as to improve or keep margins consistent while raising prices as little as possible
* Customer intimacy will take on added importance as marketing budgets will probably get whacked as companies look to reduce costs. Spray and pray marketing is effectively over.
These are some of my suggestions; I’d love to hear yours!
Labels: $200 oil, energy costs, inflation, ramifications on marketing, rise of oil
posted by Paul Barsch @ 7/11/2008,
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Desperately Seeking Distinction: What’s Your Advice?
Thursday, July 03, 2008
In a “race for distinction”—how should a marketing student stand out?To compete for lucrative Wall Street or consulting jobs, students across the United States are joining on-campus investment clubs to help prepare them for real-world situations. And while marketing students don’t—yet—have similar clubs, students in all disciplines are racing harder and faster than ever to differentiate themselves before they graduate. read more
Labels: AMA, career development, distinction, internship, marketing differentiation, student marketing advice
posted by Paul Barsch @ 7/03/2008,
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What Can You Learn from "Brown"?
Friday, June 27, 2008
UPS is leveraging all kinds of data to improve their operations and keep their costs low. Why aren't more businesses following their lead?As one of the premier logistics companies in the world, you would expect UPS to track their packages, and be able to, at a moment’s notice tell you where your package is—or even redirect it. But what you might not know is that UPS is not only tracking packages, they are leveraging all types of data for better decision making—and that includes data from their trucks!
Telematics is a broad field consisting of wireless communication systems for vehicles including technologies such as GPS, wireless networks, and vehicle based applications (like OnStar). All these systems work together to provide companies actionable data that can help them improve decision making.
A recent CIO magazine article titled, “UPS's New Telematics System Cuts Fuel Costs and Makes Drivers More Efficient”, shows that UPS is using telematics to not only track packages, but to use data sources from the truck itself to improve the efficiencies of its operations.
The article notes, “Those brown UPS vehicles actually contain a wealth of data drawn from more than 200 sources housed inside the trucks: sensors in the engines gathering data on vehicle speeds, RPMs, oil pressure and engine temperature. In addition, other sensors track the number of times a truck goes in reverse, what doors are open and when, the time the truck spends idling, and how and when the seatbelt is being used.”
What do they do with all this information?
“At the end of each driver's shift, all the information is uploaded to a data center in Mahwah, N.J. Then, proprietary applications using in-house developed algorithms allow UPS automotive and operations personnel to query and analyze the data and, ultimately, draw some conclusions about UPS's vehicle-maintenance and logistics processes.”
Translation: fuel savings, maintenance cost savings, and more cost savings from better logistical processes.
Many enterprises kick off as much data as UPS, but choose not to leverage the data for better operational and strategic decision making.
--Are they too lazy?
--Is it too hard to build an analytical infrastructure to capture, analyze, and store the data?
--Do they not care?
I’d love to hear your take…
Labels: analytics, data driven decisioning, data management, data mining, telematics
posted by Paul Barsch @ 6/27/2008,
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When in Rome - Visualize as the Romans Do!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Location based services have met data visualization tools head on to help governments and businesses offer a better citizen/customer experience. Ever wondered what the “rhythm” of your city looks like? In cities like Rome and New York, aggregated real-time data from mobile providers is helping government officials monitor traffic flows, efficiently utilize transportation networks, and even plan for large-scale events helping to improve overall “citizen satisfaction.” Is real-time data visualization coming to a city near you? read more
Labels: data visualization, GPS, location based services, mental privacy, MIT, mobile, Project real time Rome, tracking migration patterns, WSJ
posted by Paul Barsch @ 6/20/2008,
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Personal Health Records (PHR) Online—Are You Ready?
Friday, June 13, 2008
The digitization of healthcare records—and the sharing of those records among patients, hospitals and insurers—has been a slow and painful process. Could Google jumping into the market help accelerate change?According to an article in MIT’s Tech Review, Google has just rolled out “Google Health”, an online personal health record that is secure and assessable only by you, and providers that you authorize.
Offering users the ability to enter their medical histories, drugs taken in the past and currently administered, and other pertinent health details, Google is offering this service free of charge as a way to elbow in on the personal health record (PHR) market.
"I have a strong belief that patients should be the stewards of their own medical data," says John Halamka, chief information officer at Beth Israel Deaconess, a provider participating in the Google Health program.
This market launch has momentum for the following reasons:
- Google’s doing it – they have the market heft to be a strong player in this space
- Patients are starting to realize that they are mostly responsible for their health—and what better way to keep track of everything than thru a secure PHR?
- Google is interfacing with PBMs, pharmacies, and adding more providers to their network so as to make it easier to upload previous and current patient medical information
- Google is using an AI expert system powered by a local San Diego company to check for potential harmful drug interactions—a huge benefit to patients
Some questions remain, however:
- Do you “trust” Google with your medical history?
- Google says medical histories entered will not be used to target advertisements. How will Google then, monetize Google Health?
- Google has to make a strong effort to continue to add providers and PBMs to Google Health –will they lose interest in aggressively expanding their network?
- Google Health is launched. Now what?
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Labels: Beth Israel Deaconess, Google Health, HIPAA, PHR, security and privacy
posted by Paul Barsch @ 6/13/2008,
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Will the Quants Take Over Marketing?
Friday, June 06, 2008
First it was Wall Street, is Marketing Next?Think marketing doesn’t have much to do with mathematics? An unseen mathematical world is giving some companies a competitive edge in better understanding customers. Indeed, companies across all industries are now capturing data and creating rich profiles of customers to “predict” their wants, needs and future desires. Mathematics has left the ivory tower of academia for a marketing department near you. Are you ready for this massive paradigm shift? read more
Labels: analytics, mathematics and marketing, predictive technologies, quant
posted by Paul Barsch @ 6/06/2008,
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