Big data is an invitation to lazy marketing because of the digitally disenfranchised
The majority of new jets run on what is called ‘fly by wire’ systems, meaning they rely heavily on electronics, without which they would be practically as flyable as a washing machine attached to a kite. But the presence of those systems on board means you can also derive any data you like on global flight patterns, should you be so inclined. For anyone in marketing, this will sound familiar: today’s consumers are wired vehicles themselves, attached as they are to an ecosystem of devices that don’t only talk to each other but, more importantly for those marketers, also engage in deep conversations with servers.
As consumers, the more reliant we are on our digital lives, the more our behaviour becomes mapped out through big data capture. In many ways,
We are chasing the small pockets we can track while the deeper ones are left to shop freely in luxury malls
this is what has led to the current debate on privacy. Big data is invaluable in these days of geotagging and contextual marketing. It is also, in my view, an invitation to lazy marketing. Why? Because of the digitally disenfranchised.
You may think that the digitally disenfranchised consumers live in a remote rural community in southern Somethingistan. They are, in fact, right around you and represent a colossal market. Consider our briefs: there is practically not a single one that doesn’t aim at ‘the youth’. Connect with the youth here, engage with them there, everyone wants the ‘young affluent’ market. But consider the following statistic: the moment you hit 50, your personal expenditure just goes vertical. And yet baby boomers and their following generation are largely ignored, possibly because no brand wants to be seen as ‘old’ but also because their limited connectivity means their analytics are scarce. In other words, we are chasing the small pockets we can track while the deeper ones are either left to shop freely in luxury malls or are subjected to toe-curlingly awful magazine advertising that belongs to the Neo Paleolithic age. And usually found in airline magazines.