A new view of Big Data for direct marketers:
Technically we now have access to a range of data management options that deliver scale and performance with standards-based hardware and open-source software. However, as IBM's recent study shows (“From Stretched to Strengthened”) CMOs still believe that they're relatively unprepared for the explosion of data and the accompanying ROI accountability. Throw in channel proliferation and we have potential for the types of false starts and failed ROI that Gartner identified with the emergence of CRM.
As a resolution to this challenge, direct marketers should adopt, in conjunction with Big Data, the concept of Big Measurement, which involves applying the right data with the right measurement metrics, and implementing a systematic model that manages both.
