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Everyone Is an Analyst and Data
Is Everywhere, But Research Has
Never Been Needed More
David Boyle
EVP Insight at BBC Worldwide
4/9/15INSERT DOCUMENT NAME ANDVERSION
HERE
OVERVIEW OF SESSION:
Most of our life is digital and the rest is being wired to the Internet at an astounding rate.We don't need to
wait for the remaining few things in our life to be connected to the Internet to see that data is everywhere
and that nobody can avoid coming across it, interpreting it, and drawing conclusions from it.
What role is there for research, when it's competing against bigger data sets that are faster and cheaper to
generate – and that are available at people's fingertips?
I'll argue that good old fashioned consumer research has never been more needed.And that by taking a few
tips from the new world, it can be transformed into something that is more powerful yet more cost-
effective than ever.
MUSIC
Insight
From the perspective of
Deep intuitive
understanding
… comes to mind quickly
… without much reflection
Music: billions of
records of data
available
We have billions
of records
of data available
Can’t link people across platforms
Can’t look by type of person
Very narrow in scope
✗
✗
✗
“How Democrats !
Won The Data War In 2008”
“The ability to find hidden pockets of
support by analyzing reams of personal
data about voters”
“It's microtargeting -- the art/science of
using scads of consumer data to better
communicate effective messages !
to voters -- on steroids”
What
about in
politics?
What we built:
!
A!database!of!
265,537,736people!
+THOUSANDSof!appended!items!!
of!commercially!available,!census!data!
But what was
the really key
piece of data?!
the really key
piece of data: .!
Awareness
Trial
Appreciation
Engagement
Advocacy
Who?
Why?
Where?
How?
(Most data deals with just one part)
@BBCWPress
RESEARCH WORLD
DATA WORLD
@BBCWPress
@BBCWPress
Explicit
EXPLICIT
Dislike
EXPLICIT!
Like a lot+
Implicit
IMPLICIT
Emotionally!
unengaged
IMPLICIT
Emotionally!
engaged
EXPLICIT
Dislike
EXPLICIT!
Like a lot+
Re-work?
Second Looks
Dark Horses
Sure bets
IMPLICIT
Emotionally!
unengaged
IMPLICIT
Emotionally!
engaged
EXPLICIT
Dislike
EXPLICIT!
Like a lot+
IMPLICIT
Emotionally!
unengaged
IMPLICIT
Emotionally!
engaged
EXPLICIT
Dislike
EXPLICIT!
Like a lot+
Re-work?
Second Looks
Dark
Horses
Sure bets
Sample of BBC
shows researched
@BBCWPress
RESEARCH WORLD
DATA WORLD
RESEARCH WORLD SHOULD LEARN A LOT FROM DATA WORLD
@BBCWPress
RESEARCH WORLD
DATA WORLD
RESEARCH WORLD SHOULD LEARN A LOT FROM DATA WORLD!
Hundreds of signals: Massive collection of online piracy and engagement
+
Cutting edge data science: machine learning and artificial intelligence
=
One single ‘demand’ number per country
Is There Still a Role for Judgment
in Decision-Making?
07 AUG 2013
Is good old-fashioned intuition out of date?
May 11, 1997. Gary Kasparov beaten by IBM’s ‘Deep Blue’
… COMPUTING ISTAKING OVER
@BBCWPress
Gary Kasparov last year:
1. PARTNER WITH DATA:
“… Teams of human plus machines dominated !
even the strongest computers …
Human strategic guidance combined with !
the tactical acuity of a computer was overwhelming …”
!
Gary Kasparov last year:
1. PARTNER WITH DATA:
“… Teams of human plus machines dominated !
even the strongest computers …
Human strategic guidance combined with !
the tactical acuity of a computer was overwhelming …”
2. PARTNER WELL WITH DATA:
“… a weak human + computer + better process !
was superior to a strong computer alone !
and, more remarkably, !
superior to a strong human + computer + inferior process …”
!
RESEARCH IS CORE
LEARN FROM DATA WORLD
(ANDTEACH DATA WORLD)
Thank you!
4/9/15INSERT DOCUMENT NAME ANDVERSION
HERE

Everyone Is an Analyst and Data Is Everywhere, But Research Has Never Been Needed More