Brooks Bell

A tech executive explains how being at the right conference--at the right time--can be the route to building powerful relationships.

For decades, data has promised to revolutionize business, allowing marketers to become more customer-centric, develop more personal campaigns, and create more efficient processes. In the early 1990s, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers predicted the impact of data and the Internet, outlining the end of mass marketing and the dawning of a “one-to-one” age. But this glorious future remains a fantasy. Instead, companies spend less time than ever interacting directly with customers. Rather than offering an easy means of communicating with customers, data has encouraged us to chase quick wins and marginal gains in revenue.

Among all the recent year-end roundups and summaries was a surprising piece of business news. Blockbuster, the last surviving sentinel of the video rental industry announced that it would close its remaining 300 or so company owned stores across the United States. Many have been quick to credit Netflix with the decline of the once formidable Blockbuster. The case of Netflix versus Blockbuster shows that disrupting an entrenched industry requires much more than competitive pricing and improved service: it requires a complete reorientation of business strategy based on a more thoughtful use and understanding of data.

Big Data is “the next frontier for innovation, competition, and productivity,” says McKinsey & Company. But companies and executives rushing into data collection and analysis expecting immediate payoffs are bound to be disappointed. Most companies are years away from being able to effectively profit from data—and not simply for a lack of technology. Instead, at least three entrenched challenges need to be addressed before Big Data can have real impact.