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Marketing agency trends: a day in the life of Big Data [Video]

20 September 2013

Marketing agency trends can be fickle and fleeting. But one that is still floating around (and not just in the cyberspace above us) is the notorious Big Data.

Yes that is right we are in the era of Big Data and marketing agencies are just warming up with their efforts to tap the marketing potential of this floating information source. Over 2.5 Exabytes of data are created everyday (1 billion GB to 1 Exabyte) and that number doubles every month. Most of this data is still drifting just out of marketing agencies’ reach, temping them with its juicy information, but quickly agencies are devising ways to reach new heights and tap the Big Data cloud.

As marketers learn more about Big Data new marketing agency trends are popping up with ways to utilise its potential. Over 90% of all data was created in the last two years, this offers brands an opportunity to grab their slice of the data pie and be one of the first to try new marketing approaches. Although over $500 billion is spent on Big Data marketing every year, 40% of that amount is wasted due to an inadequate use of Big Data.

So how should you use Big Data?

Marketing agency trends point to an integrated living experience where everything consumers do leads to another more informed advertising proposition. In this environment a simple activity such as placing your daily coffee order can help other brands to decide what time you will be the most susceptible to an additional promotion such as, what kind of products you might be interested in and the exact location to target you.

Many brands and businesses are already finding innovate uses for Big Data. Macy’s famously tap their Big Data mine to predict spending habits of their customers and please their investors.

But these trend leaders haven’t quite achieved the complete synergy that Big Data promises as the holy grail of marketing. Olgivy demonstrated a whole range of marketing agency trends for Big Data in their showreel of ‘A Day In The Life Of Big Data’:



Olgivy present an extreme and futuristic picture of life with Big Data but in many ways we are not far off from achieving this. Marketing agency trends for the source have lead to some concerned consumers voicing their objections on how it will impact on their daily lives.

Brands and businesses are quick to mine Big Data to beat their competitors and rake in as much revenue as possible from their customers. However the uses for Big Data don’t have to be invasive or promotional. In fact, many brands are not using Big Data to improve customer experience. One leader in this field is Amazon, despite their huge database and potential to utilise their data for promotions they have placed a large focus on their marketing efforts to improve customer experience as Fast Company describe in their blog post – How Companies Like Amazon Use Big Data To Make You Love Them:

“Last month, I talked to Amazon customer service about my malfunctioning Kindle, and it was great. Thirty seconds after putting in a service request on Amazon’s website, my phone rang, and the woman on the other end--let’s call her Barbara--greeted me by name and said, "I understand that you have a problem with your Kindle." We resolved my problem in under two minutes, we got to skip the part where I carefully spell out my last name and address, and she didn’t try to upsell me on anything. After nearly a decade of ordering stuff from Amazon, I never loved the company as much as I did at that moment.”

Customer service is an area where two popular marketing agency trends can join forces; Big Data and the evolution of brand to consumer relationships. A personalised consumer to brand experience can only come as the product of a well-informed interaction. Enter Big Data into the equation. With competition heating up amongst brands for loyal customers their focus is switching from acquisition to retention and a customer service informed by Big Data can provide this.

If you are looking for an agency to harness the power of Big Data for your company then get in contact with FindGood on @wefindgood or submit your brief now.

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Danielle Stagg

Written by Danielle Stagg