Focus for 2019?
Being half way into February, the predictions for 2019 have all been sent out and long forgotten - but I've picked out a couple of stand out ones to remind me what I'm supposed to be focusing on this year!!
Data Literacy
Econsultancy's Digital Outlook covers the full breadth of marketing related topics. I was asked to contribute some thoughts around data trends, and there are great insights around how marketers can use the data literacy/language appropriately to succeed. .. Ashley's annual blog post is always worth a read too.
Data Storytelling
Data storytelling being the 'new language of corporations' echoes these thoughts for the direction an organisation must take in enhancing their level of data literacy. Using data to tell stories opens up the company to understand alternate data points - around customer interaction, engagement, behaviour, context etc. and frames business objectives and issues in a way that allow for a wider range of critique, innovation and creativity. Stories are internalised as knowledge and retained more effectively than cold hard statistics...
Good old Data Management
It's still hard - the world of the silo still proliferates, and in a number of cases (from experience), the desire for a quick win has superseded the requirements for good governance and process design. Data management is nothing new, but approaches to ownership/stewardship/ETL/governance/warehousing - designing for flexibility and the future - are critically important otherwise all other initiatives are doomed to the trough of disillusionment - and worse still, failing in the face of increased exposure within the business. Agile should not be a by-word for cutting corners. With this comes a 'renaissance' of the warehouse/customer platform but I'm cautious of anything being considered technology first.
Data Leadership
This then ultimately feeds the trend for stronger Data Leadership within the business - organising all the key activities, managing stakeholders and influencing decision making, finding the right skill sets, building a strong vision and strategy and so on. Also, ensuring the business isn't chasing AI before the data capability of the organisation can cope with it. If you extract the data element from the role, these softer skills are not that different from leadership of any discipline - and learnings should be taken from the adoption of any senior level role that has been driven out of business transformation. Whether the Chief Data Officer becomes as important as the Chief Marketing Officer (with board level input as is the prediction in many cases), or is consigned to the auspices of a Chief-in-title-but-reports-into-two-levels-below-board-and-only-influences-from-a-distance-Officer I think will become a lot clearer in 2019. I think a lot of businesses are becoming a lot more comfortable with an awesome reliable Head of Data and having an established role drive the change management, than actually willing to go the whole hog and truly embrace a data driven culture. We'll see how that pans out.
