Warc, 16 April 2014
SYDNEY: Over one quarter of Australian chief marketing
officers (CMOs) are failing to utilise big data or regard it as just a passing
trend, according to new research.
A report from Torque Data and Sweeney Research in
association with the Association for Data-driven Marketing & Advertising –
The big and small of big data – was based on surveys and interviews with 75
senior marketers in Australia, 60% of whom which worked in organisations with
more than 500 employees.
It found that just 10% were using data well, while 27% were
doing nothing at all and 8% dismissed it as "the next big fad".
But some 78% of marketers thought big data was critical and
having a strong strategy would define their business in the future. There was
widespread expectation that related budgets would increase (82%) over the next
two years while almost two thirds (63%) saw Big Data usage increasing "a
fair amount or a lot" in the same period.
Nor was the use of Big Data restricted to larger companies.
The report noted that smaller companies (those with fewer than 500 employees)
had higher levels of usage (38% vs 30%) and greater success with their
initiatives (79% vs 71%). This was frequently due to a combination of
"simpler data systems, nimbler administration and a strong drive to
establish competitive advantage".
Ad News also highlighted the finding that most marketers
were currently using big data to get hindsight (33%) and insight (32%), but
said the biggest value would come from foresight –21% of marketers were already
using it for this – and real time analytics (11%).
Oliver Rees, Torque Data CEO, had harsh words for the local
marketing community. "Too many Australian marketers are verging on
complacency, feeling that since no one really knows what to do they can sit
back and wait," he told CMO.
"The first these marketers will know of their
competitors' capability is when it negatively impacts their own business
performance, and by then they'll be well behind," he added.
But Erik Heller, Sweeney's managing director, was more
forgiving of a profession he saw held back by resource constraints.
"They are happy to start small, test and learn and not
worry too much about this like ROI at this stage," he remarked. "In
true Australian spirit, they are simply 'giving big data a go'."
Data sourced from Torque Data, Ad News, CMO; additional
content by Warc staff
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