Tuesday, 16 October 2012

The Power of Data Mining


[ii]“$100 billion data mining industry.” Yea my eyes are open too.                                                          
                 When I wake up in the morning, get ready for school and leave.  I haven’t given any data to anyone.  When I search for train times on my smart phone I have given someone somewhere information.  What train I take, what time I take it, where I’m going and how I’m going to get there.  When I buy a coffee at Tim’s “they” know when I bought, what I bought and how I paid for it.  The amount of information we give about ourselves in a day is much larger than we notice.  What we do notice is customized offers to us that are directly related to information we produce.  Every time we make a purchase or visit a webpage, information is collected.  This information is analyzed and sold to companies that use it to target us as consumers.
[iii]“Most experts consider data mining to be the description of machine-based discovery of patterns, trends or clusters within large sets of data.”  Identifying these patterns, trends and clusters is vital to our success as marketers.  Information collected and analyzed helps marketers understand what a potential customers purchasing habits are.  If I go to Metro every Monday night to buy lunch meat, buns and other sandwich supplies, as well snacks and drinks.  I pay with debit along with collecting Air Miles on the purchase.  The next month in the mail I receive a set of coupons targeting the things I purchased as well similar things I may like; all offers include bonus air miles.  This is the power of data mining.  Although this is a very small example of how it works.  Data mining can take into account many different little pieces of information to make informed decisions and ultimately define who we are as customers.
This link is Rafal Lukawiecki talking about data mining I would start 2 minutes in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs46QZwnEcc

Nick Fasciano
000302116

20 comments:

  1. It is interesting to think about data mining in a way that is almost "Big Brother" like. It is a helpful tool on both ends, or does it draw the line in recording all of our purchase actions?.. I know that when I make a purchase with a credit card my information can easily be retrieved, but even when cash is paid at a grocery or retail clothing store we can be giving up vital information without even knowing it. Cashiers are trained to ask for your postal code, and your response is to deliver it, as you would on a form or in a verbal questionaire. This is a subtle form of data mining, so subtle you barely blink when providing essential information.

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  2. Alright Nick,
    Really interesting post and I'm going to agree with Mercedes, in just how much data mining almost takes on the roll of "Big Brother". Since starting this semester and by covering the subject of data collection etc, I have become alot more aware of where information can be taken from us and how easy it can be to give up our personal details when say doing a simple task of just buying groceries, thanks to over the counter questionnaires or donations we as consumers get asked. How far is to far though with this collection of information, where is the line between collecting info to benefit us as consumers and just invading our privacy.

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  3. Data mining is extremely beneficial to businesses trying to understand consumers as well as predict future purchases. Although a little creepy thinking that past website visits mold the way companies think of you, and then make assumptions as to which ads or sites they think will appeal to you. Data mining is only going to go more in depth, and more ads will be thrown at you reflecting your online inquiries. Data mining definitely has a good and bad side.

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  4. Nick,
    Great way to capture the attention of your readers from the opening statements. I found it quite interesting that a simple search on a smart phone can be volunteering information to a data base somewhere. It's almost as if the second you interact with anything in life "big brother" is watching you. Reading this blog reminded me of the movie "Enemy of the State". Its crazy to think that no matter what you do, unless you pay cash everywhere and refrain from using any form of digital device or personalized medium such as email, your being watched or people are collecting data from you.

    Great blog, definitely opens my eyes to a lot of different strategies marketers use in todays every day life.

    Thanks
    Donald

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  5. Hey Nick great topic and I enjoyed the personal touch. It is interesting to find out how much information in gathered in the data mining process. Customer service is an example of a sector that benefits from data mining a great amount. Data mining enables companies to anticipate consumer needs and wants and allow them to provide this quicker and more efficiently, even if it is a little unsettling when you look at just how much info is collected in a day.

    -Amber

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  6. Sup Nick
    Gravy topic hahah. I had no clue what Data Mining was and the process's it took to do so i found it very interesting and did not know it benefited companies that much. Anyways Great Job man your a beauty!

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  7. Great job Nick
    It really is scary to think how much information is really out there on everyone. In reality, it can be really easy to gain so much information about someone without much effort. This can be an advantage or a disadvantage for individuals or companies. It really justifies what privacy is to us, really isn't privacy to others.
    Great job!

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  8. Nick,
    I love the opening to this post, very attention catching.
    Its very sacry to think about data mining that way but it is very true, pretty much everything that is done today could be seen as data mining. This is a great thing when thinking about the potential information that a business can gather about someone. However from a consumer stand point, it is scary how much information can be found out about you in a single actin.
    On that note, thanks for the post.

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  9. Hello Nick
    Great Post, it was quite interesting in your comment "The amount of information we give about ourselves in a day is much larger than we notice. What we do notice is customized offers to us that are directly related to information we produce." This information is quite scary as well enlightening.
    Thanks so much
    David

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  10. Hey Nick,

    Interesting topic/blog! Clear to see you did your research as I definitely now have an understanding of the power of data mining. Before reading this entry I was definitely lost with the topic.

    Thanks!

    Andrew

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  11. Sweet Job Nick,

    Great blog! It was very detailed and informative. I liked that you were able to simplify information but still keep the topic interesting.

    -Daniel

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  12. 100 billion you say, yeah you got my attention too! Information is power. Everyone knows it, but a small amount utilize it. The more you have the better it can be refined and used to predict what people will buy next, how much they’re willing to spend on it and what they want in their purchases. I think wag jags are awesome for this as it tells you how many people have bought what item.

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  13. Awesome post Nick,

    Thanks to you I now understand data mining thoroughly. The amount that it benefits companies is something I wasn't fully of before this as well as the fact that this is a $100 billion business...that really surprised me.

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  14. Great post Nick,
    made me realize how much information I really give out during my every day routine. It's almost amusing that companies buy this type of information, to only spend millions of dollars of advertisements to hopefully hit my target.

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  15. Hey Nick,
    Your post is great. It makes you think a lot about what data mining really is and where all the information collected is used. It is ironic that this information is so crucial to a marketer, a.k.a us, but as consumers we find that too much information is taken from us without even being asked. Overall, great post!

    Kellen Cummings

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  16. This is definitely a great tool for new and existing companies. This can help them predict future purchases. It is a great way for business' to gather information about their customers to make sure their business does well in the present and the future.

    Raffi Kaloustian

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  17. Great blog Nick. I never knew how much information was being collected of me while just surfing the web... Interesting.
    -Joe

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  18. Data mining is extremely beneficial to businesses this Blog helps understand this concept. Great Video and visuals. Data mining is very beneficial since it helps understand consumers as well as predict future purchases


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  19. Good vidio and visuals to go along with a clean and crisp representation of data mining. It seems the "cookies" from all the websites are basically acting like watchers and inspecting your every move. This is good and bad and the blog did a good job explaining

    Jake

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  20. Hi Nick! Good job on the post! There is no doubt the importance of data mining in today's business world. Thank you for the educational post.
    Huy

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