In March, Mx3 hosted an excellent 2-day event in Barcelona focused on innovation in media. At the end of day 2, I shared my key takeaways in this LinkedIn post, with #1 being: “How does an event business future-proof itself? By being data-centric.”

In Barcelona, I was privileged to be interviewed by the excellent journalist Adri Kotze, who quickly zoned in on the big data opportunity for B2B media and events businesses. 
Read the interview summary and watch the video here: Why it’s great to be in B2B media right now

Mature, strategic events businesses are data-centric.

This was a recurring theme at Mx3 Barcelona, with Questex CEO Paul Miller making it quite clear that this innovative and much-respected event organiser is putting data first. Informa’s CEO Stephen Carter has been saying for years that event businesses are data businesses, hence Informa’s huge investment in a centralised data management platform to power growth, profitability and value creation.

Truly data-centric organisations have embraced and embedded the concept and practice of placing data as a core, fixed asset that does not change regardless of the technology tools in place to store and deploy it. 

Sensible businesses know that technology is a means to an end. Data is the dog, and tech is the tail. 

Technology – whether purpose-built or platform-based – is a means to an end. The role of technology is to manage data, host it, move it and serve it up as needed – to deliver value for customers or to manage internal operations. 

AI is nothing more than a new form of technology that is focused on extracting even more value from data. And this data needs to be in good shape for AI to do its work. 

It is very important for marketers and decision-makers investing in marketing technology (including AI) to be mindful that the tools we invest in are all about data. The tools we choose and how we deploy should be focused on making data valuable and ensuring an organisation can be efficient, effective and scalable based on how data is managed.

Far too often, the tail wags the dog. The data is expected to fit the tech, not the other way around. This is where so many companies go wrong. You need a solid data strategy before you make any decisions about technology. Technology is the means, not the end. 

Team MPG can help you develop a data strategy and make good decisions about martech. Get in touch to find out more.

Working closely with MPG’s martech experts, we optimised our CRM and marketing automation setup so that we can now do smarter segmentation and more targeted, personalised marketing. Working with MPG is always a pleasure!

Robert Stead, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Sense Media Group