Data: Your Scariest Corporate Asset

Thanks in part to McKinsey’s coining of the term “Big Data” last summer, company data have never had more visibility than they do now.  At the same time, they have never faced more scrutiny.  Most of this scrutiny takes the form of concerns about privacy, the consumer-facing threat of data.  However, the larger data discussion has not--so far--broached the aspect that makes them the scariest assets a company has.

Once the near-exclusive domain of direct marketers, data has become the secret weapon du jour in-store, online and just about everywhere else.  The New York Times reported in February on how Target developed data models so sensitive that it could tell whether a customer had become pregnant before she told anyone.  Brands such as Virgin America and Axe have used Klout to evaluate customers.

So what makes data so scary?  Intangibility.

I'm bald, you idiots

Or, perhaps, a tale of two emails.

I found two emails in my gmail account (plannerben AT gmail dawt cawm, in case you don't have it) side by side this morning.  One came from LinkedIn, and offered me a very useful article on how small businesses can employ social marketing.

The other came from Klout, a supposed social media powerhouse.  And it was blitheringly, irredeemably and completely stupid.