Big data downer.

There is a big danger of using just big data to drive marketing decisions. What we gain in we loose conversely in definition, authenticity and feeling. We end up with strangely synthetic target personas, vague audience targets and oversimplified user journeys that are convenient but often become underwhelmingly transactional.

Walk around on the real grass.

For me, it's about getting off your backside and meeting real people. Get using the products services yourself, and mingle among the living and breathing things. By all means use big data model the millions but don't forget to get down to the individual level too, because this is where you find the magic, the colour, the tribes that get washed out of binary data that your competition have missed.