CEOs: 3 Steps to Embrace Big Data Analysis

   As a CEO, you realize the world of marketing is rapidly changing and big data is becoming the best way to grow your business. As a master candidate at Medill IMC, Northwestern University with a specialization in marketing analytics, I have found two insightful articles that describe the bright prospect of big data analysis and give simple instructions on how to best use big data in your own business.

“Big Data and the Future of Business” (MIT technology view https://www.technologyreview.com/s/538916/big-data-and-the-future-of-business/) written by Kenneth Cukier describes the future of big data. It clarifies that the basis of commercial enterprise is always information and big data is no more than a fancy tool to better harness information. However, the quantitative shift in terms of data leads to a qualitative shift for business management. Big Data’s “more” has not just been more of the same, it has been “new”, “better” and “different” in many industries. In general, big data will change business, and business will change society.

Big data in the real world: how to move from buzzword to strategy? (Computerworld UK http://www.computerworlduk.com/applications/big-data-in-real-world-3607784/)Written by John Sidhu gives step-by-step instructions on how to apply big data analysis to business management. It claims that big data gives businesses the power to solve problems that were previously hard to tackle. Big data facilitates the communications between business and customers by precise matching. The business has to work closely with data scientists to really understand what their data is telling them. After adopting big data analysis, businesses should create a structure to measure its success.

As a graduate student with a close interest in marketing analytics at Medill Northwestern, here are three steps that any traditional business should take to embrace big data analysis:

• Think Big Data – Understand how big data help make better assessments by handling critical information all the time.

•  Collaborate with data-scientists - Business should work closely with the data scientists to really understand what their data is telling them. 

• Measure Success - Businesses should create a structure to measure success of big data analysis and a target path that allows for inevitable change.

These 3 steps gives you a general idea of big data analysis. Next time when your business seek for disruptive innovation, go for big data!

Yuan Zhao is a master candidate in the Integrated Marketing Communication program at Medill – Northwestern University. He has worked as a social media manager in China and full understand the difference between China and English-speaking countries. Now he specializes in marketing analytics and would like to pursue a career in data analysis after graduation in Dec 16.

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Technology Enthusiasts: 3 Action Items to Bring a Spark to Your Company

Siri, Cortana, IBM Watson, Viv…Humans are building smarter machines to better serve the needs of…human beings. Artificial intelligence has become so hot a topic that every technology enthusiast should be curious about. As a grad student at the Northwestern Medill IMC program, I have found two articles that you, as a technology enthusiast, might find interesting.

An article by Will Knight from MIT Technology Review talks about deep learning and misunderstandings some people have on artificial intelligence. In an interview with the publication, Bengio, a professor of computer science at the University of Montreal, states that although deep learning helps make some progress in developing artificial intelligence, machines are still far from being intelligent or threatening human beings. Unsupervised learning and natural language understanding are two major unsolved problems with developing a revolutionary AI. AI is cool and could change the world, but people shouldn’t be over-excited or overwhelmed because it’s still at its baby stage.

A second article by Heather Kelly from CNN Money talks about Mark Zuckerberg’s perspective on artificial intelligence. Mr. Zuckerberg agrees that unsupervised learning is the key to advance artificial intelligence and plans to build his personal AI assistant this year. He believes that self-learning AI still has long way to go and people shouldn’t be afraid of it. Instead, it’s possible to make good use of it.

As a grad student at Northwestern, with a strong interest in technology and data analytics, I recommend the following three action items to anyone who shares similar passion:

• Think AI - Artificial intelligence is worth noticing, learning, and investing or contributing in other ways.

• Grow Together - Researchers and engineers have made some progress but still far from making real intelligent machines.

• Be Fearless - Artificial intelligence is not evil or dangerous, at least not at this moment.

Whether you are a student, an employee, an employer or an entrepreneur, as long as you are a technology enthusiast, these three tips will make you stand out from your peers and give you a head start when you develop a career in TECHNOLOGY.

Yuchen Luo @blazermania1

Personal website

Yuchen Luo is a full-time student in the Medill Integrated Marketing Communications program. After completing his undergrad at USC majoring in Business Administration and minoring in Sports Media, Yuchen worked for a Santa Monica ad agency where he analyzed consumer, competitive and campaign performance data to provide insightful media planning recommendations. This experience opens up his interest in the application of data analytics in marketing and advertising. Beyond data analytics, he is developing his new found interest in coding by taking online coding courses and training programs. He is super passionate about technology and his long-term career goal is to help a technology startup succeed with his all-around skill sets in data analytics, marketing, and strategy consulting.