Most marketers use data for only 6% of decisions: Carter Murray, FCB

Day 3 of Goafest 2016 kick-started with addresses by Shobhaa De, author, columnist and social commentator; Carter Murray, Worldwide CEO, FCB; and Jean Lin, Global CEO, Isobar.

Carter Murray came up with a ‘case-study and greater insights’ studded presentation on ‘Surviving and Thriving in the Times of Intense Change’. Murray presented some interesting numbers regarding the use of digital media. Some of the brilliant numbers that came from his session were – 90 per cent of the Internet will soon be video based; there are 69 trillion web addresses, 4 million apps, 3+ billion searches a day. 15 per cent of it has never been asked before in Google search. For Amazon, 0.1 per cent second delay is 1 per cent drop in sales. The average person looks at their mobile phone 150 times a day.

According to him, change is happening, but instead of freaking out and trying to incorporate every change, the marketing community needs to believe in ‘their instincts’ and ‘data’. He also added, “I don’t think we’ve cracked how to use data. Most marketers use data for only 6 per cent of decisions. For everything else, they believe in intuition.” “Use data real time, understand, gather insights. Data is waiting for its Scorcese,” he said, adding, “Analytical and instinctive leadership are both required, but we need to use data for more decision making.”

Carter noted, “When you start looking at a marketing brief, think better. Different doesn’t always have value – better does.” He added that agencies could make great ads by embracing the changes happening around us. “For clients and agencies, it’s about how you bring ideas and creativity together,” he added. While stating that we forget to listen, Murray asserted, “Our survival is on listening.”

“What matters and the key to surviving and thriving is talent,” he further said.

Murray concluded his presentation with a quote by Mark Twain on India: “India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.”