At least two-thirds of companies plan to launch big data projects this year

Gartner recently conducted a survey of 720 companies that consulted on their plans to invest in big data  and analysis and found that about two-thirds of companies plan to implement big data projects this year, chief among them the media / Communications company and bank.

More than one-third of media and communications companies said they have invested in big data projects, and Gartner said they are trying to understand customer needs better to ensure that their businesses are moving in the right direction.

"For big data, 2013 is a year of pilot and early deployment," said Frank Buytendijk, vice president of research at Gartner. "The deployment is still in its early stages, with less than 8% of respondents saying their organization has deployed big data solutions Twenty percent of businesses are piloting, 18% are developing big data strategies, 19% are gathering information, and the rest have no plans or do not know. "

In addition, Friday's Council for Research Excellence (CRE) seminar explored why large media companies are very interested in getting large amounts of data from multiple sources to better understand their audience.

CRE invited senior executives and analysts from the broadcast industry to discuss how to mathematically construct the relationship between ratings, advertising and promotion through big data. This construction problem has plagued the radio and television industry. Now that the webcast industry is beginning to think about how to structure the relationship between advertising and its audience, the industry has become more complex as the social media impact on public opinion.

At the CRE conference, we heard "big data" repeatedly. Dave Poltrack, chief research officer at CBS, said that with the advent of new media, the industry is now at a turning point, which means we need a new type of analytics.

He said CBS is very much interested in the topic of big data and has expanded its research to cover younger people - people who use web and social media and analytical techniques to broaden their perspectives. "We're talking big data," he said, and some related projects are already going on. Poltrack said the researchers hope to find new ways to make better use of traditional information about audience ratings while finding ways to leverage social media (such as Facebook and Twitter) to help with planning and overall business.

Jim Spaeth, a partner at consulting firm Sequent Partners, points out that social media brings new complexity to the advertising industry. He said the analysis model around social networks is more complicated. Social media spread like a wildfire. Businesses want to know how cross-channel advertising in data and traditional media will affect audience ratings and shopping habits. How to advertise on mobile devices is also considered part of the big data strategy, though not yet much modeling for advertising purposes.

And businesses are questioning whether they can get huge value from big data projects that involve putting different streams of information in analytical techniques and predicting the impact that advertising and viewers have on cross-traditional and new media. Mike Donahue, executive vice president of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, said that big data is about content, but the industry should not ignore "little data" about the local market.