Finding a Life Preserver for Data Flood

Brandweek, Oct 9, 2000 by Don White

If you think more data is always better, just ask NASA. In 1997, NASA upgraded the display consoles in the mission-control room of the Johnson Space Center. Supported by cutting-edge software, the new consoles were designed to provide an unprecedented level of data and flexibility to NASA's flight controllers.

Unexpectedly, the result was more "Houston, we have a problem" than "Mission accomplished." The new displays introduced a level of complexity that effectively negated the benefits of the new information they were delivering.

Think that's a problem confined to such lofty environs as Houston's mission control? Actually, data overload and flaws in the design and use of mission-critical decision-support systems are pandemic problems, and marketers are among the hardest hit.

Marketers collect data to provide clarity and confidence in deciding how to build their brands. Unfortunately, the data they collect often confuses more than it clarifies. By every account, marketing data is out of control. For marketers, three data problems stand above the rest.

The first is unmanageable volume. As with their NASA counterparts, the issue for marketers is not too little data, but too much. Most marketers lack the time or inclination to process, analyze and leverage the plethora of information to their advantage. And every day the quantity and sophistication of data increases.

Data overload is a roadblock to marketing effectiveness. It promotes paralysis, not analysis. Data overload also promotes waste. It undermines the marketing management process--resulting in gross inefficiencies in the marketing plan--and motivates many marketers to simply ignore much of the potentially insightful, and often expensive, data that they purchase.

The second problem is not knowing what data to factor in and what to filter Out, what data will help in allocating marketing investments and what will hinder that process. This distinction is, unfortunately not readily apparent, and culling bad data from good demands, once again, time and expertise.

That many of the data streams contradict each other only exacerbates matters. Data providers don't need (or offer) to reconcile their data with data from other sources. Reconciliation--and all the headaches it inspires--falls to marketers. But without an objective tool or system in place, marketers are frequently flummoxed by the weighing and weeding process. Consequently critical decisions can be made based on data that is incomplete, poor or outright wrong.

The third problem is that data is siloed. It is cut into narrowly focused, vertical slices. Marketers must integrate not one, but at least three distinct data streams--media, channel and customer data--each coming from multiple sources. Unless data is integrated, marketers lack the complete, seamless understanding necessary to decide how to allocate marketing resources.

Compounding the data challenges are radical changes in both consumers (who are savvier and more empowered than ever, and who now consume "24/7") and marketing/media vehicles (which have ballooned into a broad spectrum of print and electronic options, including the Internet). Together, all these factors make it more difficult and more crucial than ever for marketers to determine how best to allocate marketing investments.

As was the case at NASA, overcoming these vexing challenges requires a technology-based solution. Only a technology-based solution can account for the sheer volume of data and the speed at which it's replenished.

While there are an increasing number of options purporting to remedy the problem, an effective solution, however it is constructed, must fulfill four objectives. First, it must filter out the 10% to 20% of the data that is necessary to proactively manage sound marketing investments. Second, the solution must synthesize (i.e., integrate) these relevant pieces of data to form a complete composite picture on which marketers can act. Third, it must use this filtered data to identify quickly what components of the marketing mix are working and which are not. And fourth, it must provide insights on why certain elements are working and others are not.

Beyond the obvious benefits, a technology-based solution such as this would fundamentally change the marketing management process. Marketing would evolve from a cyclical, reactive process to a serial (i.e., ongoing) process in which improvements would be made continuously, in real time, each step of the way.

In short, by taking a new view and a new approach to managing data, marketers will be able to focus on strategizing and making sound marketing investments--which is their core competency--not on wrestling with reams of data.

Dan White is chief marketing officer and head of client services at Veridiem, a marketing performance management company based in Maynard, Mass.