Share. Or else.

No one doubts the value of customer data to the modern corporation these days.  However, plenty of these marketers would readily admit that they don’t get the value from the data that they wish they did.  Why is that, exactly?

Technology seems like a barrier, insofar as customer data may lie across multiple systems that do not share a common structure.  However, tools like Hadoop and plain old IT elbow grease can overcome that barrier.

Security also seems like a barrier.  After all, most corporations take their privacy responsibilities seriously.  However, with the noted exceptions of health care, financial services and children’s products industries, US corporations marketing to US consumers really have few privacy laws preventing them from using data effectively.

In my experience, the modern corporation itself lies at the root of the problem itself.