Each month, “Lochhead on Different” episodes will explore the need to differentiate people, products, and services in a world that encourages a lot of imitation. A best-selling author, top podcaster, and former tech-industry CMO, Christopher Lochhead is a student of not only business and technology and marketing but also human nature, human folly, human genius, and very human joy.
Episode 9
In this episode, Chris agrees with me that “data is the new oil” is the wrong way to describe the phenomenon. Because data goes far beyond oil; it is more valuable than cash. Data can be converted into value in more and more-powerful ways than cash can.
According to IDC, Chris says, by 2025 there’s going to be a 10X increase in the amount of data on Earth –163 zettabytes. And according to Statistica, the Internet of Things will have 75.5 billion connected devices by then. (Consider this: a company called DribbleUp has created a “smart basketball,” which tracks things and gives data back to your phone – and presents you with different and more effective ways of training and using the ball.)
Given all of this, Chris and I dig into the concept of a “data flywheel.” Simply stated, the company that has the most data around who their customers are and what customers are purchasing has the opportunity to leverage a data flywheel to dominate its category.
As an example, Chris says to consider live music. Many concert tickets get sold on the secondary market – and are essentially digitally scalped. So Adele said on her recent tour, ”If we don’t solve this problem, somehow only the people who are in the audience are a bunch of rich people. I want to perform for my most enthusiastic fans – some might be rich, but others aren’t. So how do I allocate the tickets?” The solution was an algorithm. It was effective in getting tickets into the hands of fans who actually wanted to come – and that is an example of a data flywheel.
You can also stream the audio-only version of this episode:
Highlights
'Cash is really only monetizable in one major way, and data is monetizable in a lot of different ways.' #CloudWars Click To Tweet 'If data is more valuable than cash, the IT organization is the treasury.' #CloudWars Click To Tweet 'Data and connection is coming to everything. It's a fun exercise to try to think about what it's *not* coming to.' #CloudWars Click To Tweet
CLOUD WARS LIVE DIGITAL ALL-STARS
Christopher Lochhead is one of our regular Digital All-Stars. The All-Stars are experts who will appear in regular video podcasts. Our focus is on the critical themes shaping (and re-shaping!) the business world in the digital age of 2019. Our intention is to provide regular chunks of timely ideas, insights and conversations on high-priority subjects from industry veterans with diverse backgrounds.
