Big data continues to capture the imaginations—and budgets—of brand marketers across industries, but should it? Certainly the ability to harness huge data sets, collect vast ranges of data types in real-time, and mine that data for insights can yield profound results. But running to big data is often a lot more involved and expensive than what many marketing teams actually require.
While big data projects carry prestige and new-toy appeal, they require significant (and almost-always new) investments into databases, analytic tools, people, and storage infrastructure.
