When media met… data: wealth creation, Magic Numbers and the art of making the right answers look even more right

“Data is just knowledge… and the more knowledge you have, the better you can be…”

Dr Grace Kite evoked this inspirational mantra, borrowed from Professor Brian Cox, in the conclusion to her thought-provoking and entertaining Gluesnight 05 presentation.

She began by setting up lots of “straw men” propositions, one (and in fact this was, appropriately enough, her opening gambit) from our very own Sir John Hegarty: “Data is interesting… but bollocks.”

Yes, she conceded, it isn’t data that creates wealth, it’s people and their creativity. Yes, data can’t imagine a better future, nor can it discover competitive advantages. Yes, data can make wrong answers seem right. And, yes again, that’s just downright dangerous.

But equally, we should never lose sight of the fact that, if you approach it in the right way, it can in fact make the right answers look even more right.

Data, she concluded, can change the world.

There’s no-one better placed to bring to life the enduring power of data in media and marketing – especially when deployed and communicated well. Catch up with her latest thinking in this Marketing Week article. Or pop over to her Magic Numbers website.