We caught up with Adam Froman, CEO of Delvinia Interactive, just as our recent issue was hitting newsstands with the “How Big Data Lies to You” cover story. On the eve of the 15th anniversary party for the firm and its 50 employees (hence the festive mug shot at the right), he was taking stock of a lot of the changes Delvinia has been through and how far the marketing industry has come with data and analytics insights.
Our cover story had a bit of fun putting a pin into the bubble of hype that has recently positioned big data into a magic elixir that will solve everyone’s marketing problems. We wanted to remind readers that analytics aren’t exactly new to marketing and many people like Froman have been working with big data for a long time before anyone even coined the term. We took the opportunity to take advantage of his reflective, anniversary mood to ask him more about analytics then and now.
Doesn’t it bug you that everyone is ‘discovering’ analytics now when it’s been a core part of many marketers’ business offerings since the rise of digital, and if we’re honest, to the rise of direct mail more than 50 years ago?
I think it’s amazing to see the potential that real time data can provide to marketers. When I started my company 15 years ago, very few organizations wanted to hear about the fact that the data being collected through every digital touch point could be used to understand the habits and behaviours of customers. Today, it is those same organizations that are now jumping on the big data bandwagon.
Direct and database marketers have been employing data analytics for years to segment and better target consumers, and their mailing lists. Digital firms have expanded on this approach to better understand today’s digital consumers.
The difference today is that consumers have choice and control over their interactions with brands. Applying analytics today is more about creating better customer experience.
What’s exciting you most of the potential of big data and how long till we really see that in action.
While the predictive nature of data has always intrigued me, using historical data to predict the future often ends up producing misguided results. However, the fact that data can be collected, analyzed and presented in near real time, offers exciting opportunities. You can use that real-time data to create predictive models to forecast where customers are going in the near future. It allows marketers to anticipate what their consumers want, in an age where the consumer has all the choice and control over how they interact with brands.
The technologies available today that can collect data from multiple data points, through multiple channels and present them in one consolidated page are also amazing. This removes the need to build customized solutions to collect the data, and marketers can focus on creating relevant dashboards the help them make better decisions. We’re seeing significant investment in this area throughout the United States but in Canada it seems that we are still 12 to 24 months behind.
What’s the biggest change in focus you see when you look out for the next 15 years?
Fifteen years ago, we knew that digital technologies would change marketing. Digital has created an environment where marketers can no longer simply push messages out through various media. They have to engage consumers through two-way dialogue, and they need to optimize and innovate the customer experience through the use of digital technologies.
Our focus for the next 15 years for Delvinia and our AskingCanadians market research arm is about the effective application of technology to create authentic and innovative customer experiences. Our focus hasn’t changed; it’s just becoming a reality.
Want to see what Delvinia’s summery 15th anniversary bash looked like? Check out our photo gallery on Facebook.
