There is something particularly disconcerting about how quickly business is espousing the virtues (and returns) of “big data”, or more specifically, how hard data with its algorithm-based approach is being used to simulate, predict and trend human behaviour. Without allowances for context, or complimentary qualitative data, this rigid statistical approach to marketing and business development [...]
Within an increasingly sophisticated argument about digital piracy and the motivations for stealing intangible assets like music and film, there is a growing number of research projects focused on the question of software piracy and sales displacement. In other words, what does the data, rather than vested interests, have to say about the potential loss [...]
It’s remarkable that in a time of unparalleled personal data, we remain wedded to broad generalisations like Gen X or Net Gen. These short-hand descriptors play their part in popular headlines, but the real story is not so much about generational shifts but intra-generational shifts. On other words, there is probably less homogeniality amongst the current [...]
For the most part, online advertising, be that image or link-based, is triggered either by context (content-type or keyword), search term or the known (or assumed) characteristics of the individual. The fuzzy logic supporting many of these targeting systems usually skim an appropriate target audience, but are better known for a minority of howlers, like [...]
Putting aside for the moment the question of whether brands should even utilise social networking sites (SNS) as a communications channel, a more insightful question is: do enterprise-based social networking practices recognise altruism as an MO, making as much effort to ‘friend down’ as they do when they rush to score points with the most [...]
