Big data vs big ideas

By Gonzalo López Martí@LopezMartiMiami

• Many people are eagerly awaiting the A day (A as in algorithm).
• They are hoping a time will come when algorithms will replace humans in the various functions of the marketing pipeline.
• For instance: the Canadian chat app Kik, wildly popular among teens both in Canada and the US, is launching a service that will allow its users to converse with “brand bots”.
• This is, software that impersonates a brand.
• Line, the Japanese chat service globally known for its “stickers” interface, is also tinkering with bot-driven branded efforts to engage its users.
• But don’t let the headlines fool you.
• If you see the actual bots in action you’ll notice they are clunky as hell.
• It’s like trying to have a conversation with a legal department intern trapped inside a vending machine.
• Conclusion: the big data sleeping giant is sleepwalking and bumping into furniture but it doesn’t show signs of waking up anytime soon.
• However, big data has opened our eyes to a sad truth: human-made horrible ads work.
• Sometimes even better than nice looking, well thought out ones.
• You’ve seen them.
• A lot.
• They litter the web everywhere you click, tap or hover.
• The pushy obnoxious headline with some too-good-to-be-true overpromise.
• The misleading call2action.
• The lame or salacious visual.
• The cheap-o flickering animation.
• No to mention the recent fad of “native” modules trying to fool you into believing you’re consuming legit editorial content.
• Inane lists, how2s, dos-&-don’ts, hastily written by some hack intern on a deadline (you bet I know the feeling).
• Their advantage: familiarity.
• We acknowledge them because they confirm our preconceptions.
• They operate within our comfort zone.
• At the supermarket aisle you don’t really know if you’re buying the best product.
• Only you don’t have time to pursue a rational comparison.
• So you just stretch your arm and reach for the brand that, for whatever reason, sits atop your mind.
• The familiar logo, the name that was kind of lurking in the back of your hypothalamus.
• The eye and the mind tend to be attracted to what rings a bell.
• That’d be the reason why dismal ideas with horrible execution keep bringing in the clicks.
• Question is, are these real quality clicks?
• What if we are just preaching to the choir?
• Who are we trying to fool?
• Ourselves, our superiors, our clients, our competitors?
• In any case, big data cannot escape the law of diminishing returns.
• What works fine today will not necessarily do so tomorrow.
• Big data can only depict the past and some very loose outline of a trend.
• BIG DATA HAS NO WAY OF UNDERSTANDING CULTURAL NUANCES.
• Let me rephrase:
• BIG DATA HAS NO F*****G WAY OF UNDERSTANDING OR NAVIGATING CULTURAL NUANCES.
• It rarely shows us what’s ahead.
• The best social listening application is nothing without proper human interpretation.
• Mind you, I’m not covering my arse or protecting my livelihood here.
• Well, yes.
• Still, I have a serious point to make.
• We simply must invent what’s ahead.
• The greatest branded initiative of the last decade might’ve been Red Bull’s Project Stratos.
• Yeah, the fella who dived from the stratosphere.
• It was a global media event with massive exposure.
• Did big data have a role?
• In a way, yes.
• Felix Baumgartner, the dude who did it, had been pulling off dare devil stunts for a while all over the world, with considerable social media resonance.
• Jumping off buildings, cliffs and the like with a GoPro cam on his head.
• The formula seemed to work.
• So they took it to the next level.
• Literally.
• Still, it was a big bet with no real guarantees.
• It could’ve gone horribly wrong.
• Felix could’ve disintegrated in flames, with the entire world watching live.
• This very unpredictability is what made it a massive success with massive ROI.
• Speaking of Canadians, Marshall McLuhan used to say “we drive into the future using only our rearview mirror”.
• Blackberry and Nokia should’ve paid attention to good old Marshall.
• They foolishly underestimated Apple when it came out with its sleek new mobile shiny iObject.
• Of course, they held insurmountable market share in their industries.
• They had singlehandedly created the categories they operated in.
• They had their markets cornered.
• Nokia ruled the mobile world and had an uncontested market leadership in emerging markets.
• Blackberry enjoyed undisputed loyalty among IT departments of pretty much every global corporation.
• They swore by it.
• Apple is out of its depth, its league, its element, said Nokia & Blackberry execs to anyone who’d listen.
• Steve Ballmer, then Microsoft’s CEO, made a fool of himself on national TV predicting the demise of the iPhone.
• Where are they now?
• Humans are curious, turned off by routine, attracted to new shiny objects and ideas.
• Especially those who left their home countries to start new lives abroad.