task of data

We are entering an age of disruption. Disruptors win big using data and analytics to create winning business strategies. This business strategy needs to come in four forms:

1. A Unified Company Approach
2. Customer Experience
3. Connected Digital Ecosystem
4. New Business Models

To excel at any one of these, a data-centric viewpoint is needed.

Intuition or experienced-based decisions aren't enough. This leads to more failures. In the data-driven era, company leaders need:

1. Trustworthy data
2. Timely data
3. Contextually relevant data

These three items help find a strategic window.

This allows the unthinkable.

Marvin Ellison, new CEO of JC Penney, has taken on the "task of data". He is proving the primacy of customer experience, and more importantly, the primacy of data in driving great customer experience.

Ellison said, "Pure intuition without any data gets you in trouble." 

With data, Ellison was able to change JC Penney's chances of surviving and increase sales by 3.9% during the 2015 holidays. This data-driven influence helped with customer loyalty. Data helped place clothing in the stores' floor plans. He learned women do 80% of the buying in the stores, so clothing was arranged so women could easily shop for men's' apparel. There was also data for appliance shopping.

These decisions were made from data.

be engaging

Tell a story. Paint a verbal picture. This brings your audience into the story. Marketers have created engaging ways to "talk" to potential customers. Infographics, videos, and even webinars allow curators to break down relevant statistics. Creative visuals encourage audience engagement.

Audiences embrace content that is the most relevant to them. This establishes a community of like-minded followers.

A good marketer will use content to tell engaging stories. 

 

the open network

The OPEN mindset is how we grow our personal networks.

OPEN 

(Ordinary Person | Extraordinary Network)

 

Today quality content is in focus. This means quality contributions and quality connections. Those successful in Social Media have developed OPEN Circles.

How do you do that?

ASK:

• What do I have in common with that person?
• Will this person see value in what I am sharing?
• Will I learn anything from them?
• Is this person a potential partner, collaborator or friend?
• Do they have the capacity to refer me to others in their network?
• Can I do the same for them? 

Grow your personal brand. Be OPEN.

music and the internet

The music industry's use of the Internet has come a long way. Let's face it, the Internet was killing music. Digital rights were a problem. Device compatibility was too. Streaming services came next. Big Data and analytics have played a big part in the positive evolution.

What's been moving the evolution?

Recommendation engines designed to make the perfect playlist is redefining the dynamics of the music industry. The relationship is creative between listeners and music. This relationship has built a new horizon for the music and the listener.

In the past, the record industry had limited ways to learn who was buying LPs, cassettes, or CDs. Downloading allowed record labels to begin tracking listening habits and making recommendations like Amazon does for books.

The current streaming model opened the floodgates.

All the listening is up for grabs. The industry wants to gain a deeper understanding of its customers and the music.

Raw music is unstructured data because it is easily digitized. It can be quantified and analyzed. Since 1999, the Musical Genome Project has been structurng music data by manual classification as well as automated algorithms. Up to 450 data points are used. 30 million songs are in the database.

The Musical Genome Project was developed by Pandora.

The Internet of Things could be finding its place in music. The streaming model is popular. Look for crowdfunding platforms to spring up. Live streams translate into revenue streams.

Data Analytics is the driving force.