By Jonathan McGrew, EDP
Why are there so many songs about Big Data…and what’s on the other side? As you can see, I am channeling my best Kermit the Frog to bring you the next installment of our discussion on the print industry. Last time, we left off by discussing TransPromo with the promise of discussing the connection to Big Data – or data in general – in our next article. So here we are, somewhere over the rainbow.
This month I have been fortunate to be immersed in two different conferences, EMC WORLD and Document Strategy Forum, where the discussion of print and electronic communications continues to be a driving force. Sure, some talk about it from the perspective of Electronic Content Management (ECM)—or in other words managing all of the documents, reports and other items in a massive system—and others talk about it from the printed and online document (Output Management) perspective. I can hear our commercial printers groaning already! But the truth is that we all connect to or should be connecting to data to run our programs whether they be direct mail, advertising campaigns, customer communications (bills, statements) or other packaging or mediums that deliver some kind of information.
Before we get too much further we need to define Big Data. Gartner defines it as:
“Big Data is high-volume, high-velocity and high-variety information assets that demand cost-effective, innovative forms of information processing for enhanced insight and decision making.”
In short, it is all the information an organization has from communicating with people. And if you capture it, the theory is you can use it to have better insight and make better decisions. Ironically, Forrester’s Craig LeClair at this past week’s Document Strategy Forum pointed out that data and these insights were going to be key in the future of communications – whether print or electronic. Moreover, he went on to say that the lack of connection with data in the past was one of the main reasons TransPromo had trouble taking flight. As we discussed previously, doing true data-driven campaigns (TransPromo as an example) requires the connection to the Big Data.
Now, I have heard those I know at companies in this space say that they think the term Big Data is going to go out of favor or change. And truly that is fine because what we are really talking about is using data for insights and to drive better communications and interactions with the end recipient.
In closing, here is the key: Whether you are a commercial printer, advertising agency, bank, insurance company, service bureau or focus in transactional customer communications we can all use the data we have as part of our businesses to provide a better end product. What is really interesting is to take our different worlds of print and electronic communications and see how we can link and leverage the success stories to drive more engagement in our own niche areas.
When you step back, flush the jargon and look at what is actually happening and for what end goal, it translates across our entire industry. As always, I look forward to your comments, so leave them early and often!
Next time, well, that will be a surprise. We are coming into the summer months and need to find something interesting, fun and invigorating to focus on before we get to GRAPH EXPO, one of my personal favorites in the industry.
Jonathan McGrew spent his formative years being exposed to Xplor and the Enterprise Output Management & Customer Communications Management (CCM) industries (read high-volume transactional printing). Today, Jonathan is Marketing Communications Manager at Crawford Technologies and responsible for Worldwide marketing. His experience spans data management, branding, print (hardware, software & design), graphic design and marketing communications with specialization in Business to Business (B2B). Jonathan completed his MS in Marketing from the University of Colorado at Denver in December 2013 and was awarded his EDP certification at the Xplor Conference 2013.
Connect with Jonathan: Twitter @JEMcGrew / Facebook
