Let’s Talk Data

You know, this whole “green” concept is filled with mystery, a touch of religion, and relativity.
Mystery, because its not a clear cut definition that can be applied broadly

Religion, because once you go green, you begin to develop a belief system that changes how you view the world and your place in it.

Relativity — because frankly, green is all about the context in which comparisons are made and sides are chosen.
Ah…the message is not clear, yet the mandate has been made.  Corporations have made sustainable business practices part of their Corporate Social Responsibility programs, the Government is moving rapidly (ok, I did say Government — they move as fast as they can) to implement new regulations, and manufacturers have been and are continuing to improve their processes as long as they see life in the market.  (Translation - market share.)

We’re moving fast towards a new way of living, but the crazy thing is that not everyone cares about the end goal and.  Why? I think it’s because the goal is so difficult to define. And if you can’t define it, as the saying goes, you can’t measure it, and therefore, you can’t improve it.

Consultant-speak aside — there’s more at stake than performance measurement.

The concept of green is one that we (Earthsense) have measured for products that are known to consumers: food, non-food consumables (think detergent, paper, etc.) as well as durables such as cars, washing machines, etc. We explain what the most common explanation of “green” is … another word for sustainability — which really boils down to a simple concept: use resources wisely as to maintain the quality, diversity, beauty, and functionality of our planet.

Borrowing from the World Changing Guide — we loosely define green as being the term for anything that is organic, minimally processed, made from renewable resources, incorporates fair trade practices, is energy efficient, etc. We also ask people to define in their own words what green means to them (by product category, like, dairy or cleaning fluids) and we’ve found that “green’ has come to represent a notion of social consciousness — laced with concepts that are often at odds with each other.  (Buying local — or organic which is better?)

I keep meeting people who are proud to tell me that they are just not down with the green concept. They say it without malice, they are not challenging me.  They just say that it isn’t really relevant to their lives.  Is it their fault for not getting on board the train?

I don’t think so.  While I don’t advocate sweeping socialism, I do believe that the power of changing the world lies in the hands of the commercial producers of products and services. Simply put, if you change your product to be more efficient, use renewable materials, use less packaging, etc. etc. the consumer has NO CHOICE but to buy your *new* and *improved* green product.  (OK, I can hear the protests in my inner ear…”but they can buy from competitors”…. But consumers can always choose to buy another product. If you have a great product, why not make it better in ways that improve your impact on the planet?  Why wait for the regulations? Why not be proactive?)

Green is a process, a journey, not a state of being. You can always find some product that is greener than another (or better yet, you can always just not use any product, live on a mountain, naked, and be one with the planet.)  What green means is really contextual.  As marketers, we should look at our products and imagine the comparison scenarios. Someone will always find fault with our spin, but truth be told, most people are comfortable with the legal concept of “reasonable doubt”.  If you tell them your story, and you put it in a truthful context –they’ll give you a chance.  And that’s what we’re all aiming for anyway, isn’t it?  A chance to strut our stuff, show our value, change their lives (making a little money along the way?)

Your thoughts?

OK, as much as I enjoy catching up on news and learning new things, a girl can only take so much of …well, reality, at one time.

When I need to climb out of the box I am in — and stretch my mind before it snaps, I reach for mysteries.
My friend, Marian recently sent me a book that I couldn’t put down.  It’s by Jeffrey Deaver and the title is “The Broken Window”.  It is a book about data mining used to commit the worst of crimes: murder.
Here’s a description from his web site:

Data mining is the industry of the 21st century. Commercial companies collect information about us from thousands of sources—credit cards, loyalty programs, hidden radio tags in products, medical histories, employment and banking records, government filings, and many more—then analyze and sell the data to anyone willing to pay the going rate. Some people approve, citing economic benefits; others worry about the erosion of privacy.
But no one has been prepared for a new twist: A psychotic killer with access to the country’s biggest data miner—Strategic Systems Datacorp—is using detailed information to work his way into the lives of victims, rape, rob and kill them and then blame unsuspecting innocents for the crimes. The killer’s voluminous knowledge of the victims and his ability to plant damning evidence mean that even the most vocal protests of innocence go ignored by the police and juries.

http://www.jefferydeaver.com/Novels_/Broken/broken.html

Read this book, it is well-written, suspenseful, realistic and just a great read.

———–
Other favorites of mine are not pure fiction, but they are so interesting that I didn’t really want to put them down.

They include:

Supercrunchers
http://www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell/supercrunchers/

Freakonomics

http://freakonomicsbook.com/

The Long Tail

http://www.thelongtail.com/

Been dreaming about data, talking about it, just not writing it down this past year.  But with a new year comes a resolution to sit down weekly and capture some of the most interesting data trends that cross my path plus, I want to share the excitement that I feel from the work I’m doing.

Sometimes, I think when you set out to write (be it blog, letter, email), you have this image of the perfect post….and it’s difficult to let it go until you’ve polished yourself to a very dull point.  The same can be said for all projects, and data projects in particular.

Last year I formed a new company called Earthsense with my business partner and a group of crazy colleagues who like to take on really challenging marketing problems.  The idea started simply – to apply common sense to the explosive green movement.  As researchers, we wanted to use our skills at gathering and analyzing data to arm organizations with the information they need to produce products that are good for our earth while being good for the bottom line.  Since early last summer, our team at Earthsense has been immersed in sourcing, collecting, evaluating and standardizing lots of disparate data sources.  Our goal was to create a proprietary study – the Earthsense Eco-Insights Survey but to use our various skill sets to provide more than the traditional banners associated with syndicated market research.

This particular group of people have various backgrounds, but at our core we are all data geeks.  (Yeah, the truth comes out.)  We have expert researchers, marketers, analysts, statisticians, demographers, business folk, a microbiologist, a few with psychology backgrounds, city planners, geographers and ex-broadcasters and a few professors, too.  We have always had an interest in understanding consumers from a holistic sense — and so this survey has a special set of questions designed to understand consumer attitude, motivation and behavior when it comes to eco-friendly products.  For behavior, we had a theory that people express themselves by “voting” with their wallets (product purchases), voting with actions (conservation efforts, volunteering, donating) and also, traditionally and publically, by political affiliation and choice of candidate. 

Oh!  Wait until you see the patterns we are uncovering by examining the largest group of observations on the subject — 30,000 people answered our survey!  (Yes, count ‘em.  It is the largest survey of its kind in this area.)  We see strong relationships between political orientation (conservative, libertarian, moderate), Democrats, Republicans and Independents and attitudes about global warming and who is responsible for getting us out of this mess.  That is, some groups have higher concentrations of people who take personal responsibility and believe that we all need to do our share, while others believe more realistically, government and private industry are the only entities large enough to have measurable impact.

And to make it more challenging, we are actually going farther than just creating segments from survey responses — we’re looking deeper at “personal eco-systems” (mecosystems) where we examine all the influences that affect an individuals propensity to adopt eco-friendly/green/socially conscious behavior.

But it gets tricky.  When do you have to stop collecting and start analyzing?  So many theories and so little time!  It’s not demographics alone, nor lifestyle or lifestage, not the economy alone….is it media? Social networks? External factors like organizations, climate, resources (exographics?)  It’s tricky because there are varying levels of data (geographic based, vector based, point level, summarized, etc.) and they are not all updated at the same timeframe.  The possibilities are endless!

These are the types of data we’re crunching, examining, analyzing.  If you’ve read Super Crunchers — you’ll understand the fire that burns when you have lots of data to look at…its addictive as you move it around (kind of like a Rubiks cube) looking for the solution.  And it is an  new way of understanding the perfect storm needed to incite consumer behavior. 

So, we’re not waiting to release our results until we find the perfect answer.  We’re teaming up with information pros around the country (international has to wait until next year!) to digest our data, enhance it, analyze it, and provide measurable, actionable information for companies who are grappling with growing green.  The green train has left the station — only companies who have open minds and willingness to experiment and learn will wind up on the other side of Sustainabilty Mountain intact.

I’m a vendors’ vendor.

That is, I’ve worked as a vendor in the information industry for most of my career…and I enjoy working with other vendors as well as end users for their information needs. Many of my clients are actually big companies that have their own research departments but are looking for assistance when they’ve run out of conventional options.

I know the inner workings of most of the companies that I deal with — having been there, done that. I know when to buy, what questions to ask, when to push, and when to back off.

Catenate came into existence because I really wanted to be an “emissary” (one who works on the behalf of others) to this world I felt I knew well. I saw unassuming prospects, unaware of their options, make uneducated choices. My goal was to offer a variety of sources that could be used to solve complicated problems — without the bull that goes along with big company sales goals and bureaucracy.

When I first started the business, I worked with vendors I knew well. I set up deals to earn a commission that generally ranged between 20 (stingy) and 60 (good) points (%) of the market value for the project. That is, depending on the greediness of the source, I could sell a project and make between 20 and 60 cents on the dollar. Most of my projects went above and beyond the initial specifications — after all, what good is data if you don’t know what to do with it? Even though it wasn’t required, my team would try to get the most out of what we saw — and deliver to the client without extra charges. (You buy an answer, you buy our brains, not the time it took for us to solve the problem.) Most of the vendors appreciated the real value that a VAR (Value Added Reseller) brings to the table and were very supportive. Let’s face it, if you don’t deliver, clients simply don’t come back for more.

Over the years, more programs became available for information resellers. I spent a great deal of time reviewing the benefits of the various sources before agreeing to resell their stuff. But a funny thing happened. The more time I spent trying to improve the products for the vendors so that they met clients needs (yes, most of these vendors wouldn’t know a real client if he bit them on the ass), the more difficult it became to work with them as a reseller.

“We’re partner friendly” they’d declare, trying to woo me. “We want to have the best product”. But the larger the organization, the more layers of people trying to keep their ho-hum jobs got in the way. Without naming names, suffice it to say that the biggest players in the data and geodemographic industry do not have their clients needs top of mind. They are always looking to squeeze more profit out of a tired product and rarely entertain new ideas that would bring them far more revenue if they just took the time to think about the problems they are trying to solve.

I’m not bitter, just inspired.

If I told you about all the crap I’ve been dealing with over the past few years trying to get vendors to give me advance information on updates and changes so that I can prepare myself, my website, my clients — my own client information that they gather on my behalf, and BASIC BASIC internet advertising statistics — you’d be shocked at how incredibly unsophisticated and uninspired the big vendors are. They play it safe — they play it stupid and leave millions on the table.

I am working on a plan to change the way people get marketing data. I don’t intend to reinvent the wheel, just put together a car that actually moves forward when you step on the gas!

Wouldn’t it be nice to start by telling your vendor what the end goal was and having them give you a “trip tik” (pre-yahoo maps I know!) that showed you all the options and the places you might want to stop and investigate along the way before getting to your end goal?

Imagine a road trip where you knew where all the gas stations were, when you were likely to need them, the restaurants, the loos….all neatly mapped out in relation to your buy cialis buy cialis professional buy viagra professional end destination. And the beauty would be that you could investigate any of the paths along the way in more detail…knowing that you could get back on track at any time.

Too often, we data geeks go searching for answers without keeping the end goal in mind. We provide demographic reports, maps, analyses — but fail to answer the question “now what”". Action oriented marketing is what I believe in, and what I intend to deliver in Catosphere V2.

…….

Now back to work!

Where do I begin?

I guess I could start by explaining my spotty blogging this summer.

We live in an area called Central NY. Actually, smack in the center of New York state, we’re in a ‘burb of Syracuse. This is simply one of the most strikingly beautiful places to live — filled with rolling hills, clear lakes, pastures, farms, and indeed a city that has many claims to fame (other than being the home of the Syracuse University “Orangemen” !) Summers here are beyond beautiful….but winters are a little brutal at times. (Syracuse is the fourth snowiest city in the country averaging over 100 inches a year…and when those winds blow, you simply don’t want to go out.)

Anyway, with two small children, summer is the time we let loose and spend as much time outside (untethered to the computer) as we can. (Thank goodness for cell phones and PDAs…I am always able to get a few things done while being mobile.)

This year, my business, Catenate, LLC took on a very challenging project for our favorite client — HP and indeed, that was a big focus during my working (and non-working) hours.

Added to that pressure, of course, we have had our house on the market. Keeping things spotless was a bit challenging — but that was part of our daily lives, too. Knowing that we could move at any time, I’ve been hesitant to change office space and add an assistant or two…I was waiting, in kind of a limbo, until the dust settled.

Like many of us in the sandwich generation, with parents and young kids — this summer was also a time of hospitals and nursing homes.

I am sad to share that after a six year battle with emphysema, lymphedema, depression, with no hope for a cure — my dad passed away last week. He wasn’t happy, he wanted relief from years of pain. He knew the end was near, but I don’t think he really expected to die so soon. While we weren’t shocked, death is never easy, no matter how much you think you’re prepared for its inevitable presence at your doorstep.

Dad was a smart man, and he planned for the future. He had a will and a financial planner, but unfortunately, he wasn’t very organized. My mom, like many women of her generation, didn’t pay the bills, and doesn’t have a handle on the finances. So, my sisters and I are tasked with locating and logging all of the assets he and my mom shared so that we can plan for her future.

So…as you can imagine, my focus wasn’t really on demographic data in the least.

I was intrigued though, by the whole administrative side of death. The questions on the death certificate such as place of birth, cause of death, and other pieces of information that could be used to show how mobile our society is. How do we live? How do we marry? When do we die, and why?

And of course, the first thing that came to mind when we determined that we’d have to hunt for assets is the fact that just about every financial transaction has a social security number associated with it. I’ve been making calls to see if there is an IRS database which might give us clues as to where to look. We’re looking through cancelled checks (which gives great insight), credit card bills (calling for the report today) and other pieces in the paper trail that one can’t avoid while living in modern society.

Looking through receipts we can see where he chose to spend his money — on prescription drugs, food, etc. The analyst in me wonders if there are patterns associated with behavior and death. While hopefully we can use numbers and databases to learn more about one side of the man we loved as our dad, you can never reduce a person down to mere numbers.

Looking at the house I grew up in, the house in disrepair after years of neglect, its hard to put a number on its value — or lack there of. To my mom, its as clear as can be in her head. She adds the years spent together there (40+), the kids (3), the animals, the neighbors, the good memories and yes, the bad…. and can’t imagine moving. My sisters and I see her future tied up in an asset that can be sold and will likely be completely torn down or remodeled beyond recognition. To come to some kind of resolution that preserves and honors her memories yet provides for a future certainly filled with healthcare bills — is something that we need to do. We’ll use databases that show recent sales in the area, upgrades, tax rates — all this data will help us assign a value that can be used to turn memories into cash. But will it be fair? Of course, its all relative.

So, I’m back. And while I can’t promise any revelations, I do look forward to taking a second look at sources of data that we take for granted.