Back in 2013, the CEO of Fintricity, Alpesh Doshi spoke about the way data shapes a brand and how it can be used throughout the lifecycle of the brand. From brand positioning to operational efficiencies, to e-commerce sales, social media, and brand engagement, he believed that data was, and still is the key asset to building brand value.
Alpesh presented at a digital conference with marketing experts in the audience. The video ‘Data, The Lifeblood of a Brand?’ was posted back in 2013 where Alpesh spoke about how data is going to change the way brands deal with their consumers.
Deep learning, AI, and data science have been researched and been subject to consideration in the last decade. Data is now and will always be seen as a huge and unique asset to enterprises. Although the topic of data and technology will never be out of the conversation, it is interesting to know that data utilization and strategy are still being spoken about, 7 years later..
Fintricity, a purpose-driven technology company has had the vision for data utilization in businesses since 2001, since then they have been delivering Agile Digital Transformation across many industries.
“Alpesh Doshi- Data, The Lifeblood of a Brand?”
So, is data vital for every brand?
The answer is yes!
In Alpesh’s talk, the first question he asks is if anyone in the room uses data in their workplace. In a room of 30-40 people, only about 5 responded “yes”. He then asks, “how many of you know about Big Data?”, only one person responded. Perhaps the reason for this is due to Big Data becoming a topic of discussion in 2013, which then gave rise to Data Scientists. It was the year that companies and marketers started to begin to understand the way to utilize big data for insightful predictions to gain a competitive advantage.
Data is the key part of how brands are changing the way they deal with consumers due to insightful predictions and increased use of predictive analytics. He explains that data is about connecting users to brands through building relationships with consumers. Through data analytics, companies are able to understand consumers’ wants and prioritize their needs.
There was much confusion around what Big Data was, the benefits, and how it was driving the market. Forbes posted a blog in 2013 explaining “What Is Big Data?” which outlined what the term actually meant and reassured readers that it is a topic that wasn’t clearly defined.
A similar confusion is seen in Forbes blog and Alpesh’s data talk back in 2013, where people were not exposed to the topic of data analysis as we are today.
[Author, L. (2013) ‘What Is Big Data?’, Forbes, 15 August. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaarthur/2013/08/15/what-is-big-data/#2a50cc0b5c85]
Data has always been produced but due to technology back in 2013, the analysis of data was not utilized to its full potential as it is now. The market was not a data-driven market and only traditional marketing strategies were used. Data professionals are now prioritizing businesses’ core values at heart in order to help decision-makers prioritize efforts, faster than ever.
4 Ways Which Data Manipulation Has Changed Since 2013
- Machine Learning
Automation and machine learning tools are able to develop insights that have a unique way of extracting data. Machine learning in 2020 provides faster results and has the ability to increase efficiency and reaction time.
- Big Data Analytics
Big Data Analytics creates a huge competitive advantage for a business. Since 2013, big data analytics have grown tremendously throughout business strategies. As the years have gone by, businesses have invested heavily in analytics to boost their prediction accuracy, but we are still in the early stages of adoption where data is embedded as part of every decision
- Cloud Usage
Since 2013 companies have been increasing their spending on cloud infrastructure. Forbes posted a blog back in 2013, ‘Roundup of Cloud Computing Forecasts Update’ which predicted that the worldwide cloud-based security industry will be worth $2.1 billion in 2013. According to Gartner, the worldwide cloud-based services market was predicted to grow to $266.4 billion. Source: https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2019-11-13-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-public-cloud-revenue-to-grow-17-percent-in-2020
Gartner had a prediction in 2013 that by 2016 the majority of IT spending will be for cloud computing platforms. Since then, cloud computing has increased the spending in IT and cloud development has become a priority in large enterprises.
[Columus, L. (2013) ‘Roundup pf Cloud Computing Forecasts Update’, Forbes, 16 November. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2013/11/16/roundup-of-cloud-computing-forecasts-update-2013/#76e461343221]
- Open Source
A big data trend that emerged in 2013 was the open-source revolution and the adoption rate of open source technologies. Open-source has been transformational and important to businesses, the computer software became popular over the years due to the rapid development cycles and the availability to everyone.
Fintricity is all about delivering agile digital transformation, a company that unpacks the true value of data and how data and Artificial Intelligence can be beneficial to a business strategy.
With the use of big data analytics, technology, and AI, Fintricity is a business that aims to disrupt, solve marketing challenges, and transform businesses and industries digitally.
Alpesh had this goal back in 2005, starting the business to transform companies and take them through a digital transformation, he also believes in having a data-driven market is the only way. Making businesses move faster and more efficiently.
In conclusion, it is incredible to see the transition of technology and how we have configured the ways of utilizing it. Data is driving the marketing aspects of companies and there is no sign that there will be a depletion of innovation when it comes to technology.
The question is, are we still going to be speaking about this topic in the next 7 years?
Watch the YouTube video, “Data, The Lifeblood of a Brand?” here:
A “wait-and-see” strategy is no longer an appropriate response and every organisation must prepare for change.