The ability to make rapid decisions grounded in solid consumer data has become an essential element of the new marketer’s toolkit – leading to an upswell of cries for “real-time” access to insights. And while the GfK/CMOC study shows that top marketing performers are more likely to have this ready availability, the truth is that roughly eight in ten of successful CMOs still do not.
Both globally and in North America, real-time data is one of the top two capabilities – along with predictive analytics – that CMOs say they would like to have but feel are simply out of their reach. Marketers around the world also say that the time it takes to get from raw data to actionable insights is less than ideal; only 20% of global chief marketers report that this transformation to insights is immediate or fast – and in North America that proportion drops to 8%.
What data/analytics/insights capabilities would you want in the next 12 months but are out of reach for your organization?
As the consumer marketplace continues to accelerate, these fast-data aspirations need to become realities – and marketers will have to be their own best advocates. The barriers may be deeply entrenched, but the alternative would be a failure to market with any kind of relevance or effect in the future. If an earthquake or two is required, marketers need to deliver the shaking ASAP.
