EXPLORING MECS TReNDS FOR 2014 AND BeYOND

February

DATA ANd MARKETING

GROWING UP ANd FINdING ITS PLACE IN THE WORLd
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MECS PERSPECTIVE
Data has come a long way, as have the ways brands (and even governments) have gone about protecting it. The result is improved conversation on consumer privacy, as well a better understanding from marketers about how to best leverage specic data streams to guide both the creative and strategic process. While McKinleys story is just one example of how digital platforms such as OkCupid are revolutionizing consumer experiences, it demonstrates how access to such algorithm-embedded devices continues to produce mounds of data streams that allow for more personalized communications. As companies proactively entice consumers to share data increase in popularity, the conversation about data ownership will evolve to simultaneously better address privacy concerns and data accuracy. By understanding the data sources available to you and implementing them, you will not only improve brand output, but will enhance the overall consumer experience.
Read more in MECs annual global report, Review Preview 4

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LOVE, ACTUaRIallY:
By Kevin Poulsen, Investigations Editor
Top 3 Takeaways from this Article:

WIRED February Issue

How One Man Hacked OkCupid to Find the Girl of His Dreams

As companies continue to seek consumer information and use it in a variety of ways, it should be expected that some consumers will always nd their own ways to enhance and rene the data that is being made either partially or fully available.

1) OkCupid was founded by Harvard math majors in 2004, and it rst caught daters attention because of its computational approach to matchmaking. Members answer droves of multiple-choice questions on everything from politics, religion, and family to love, sex and smartphones. On average, respondents select 350 questions from a pool of thousands. OkCupids matching engine uses that data to calculate a couples compatibility. The closer to 100 percent mathematical soul mate the better. 2) Chris McKinley, a PhD student in Mathematics who was looking for love, found that his compatibility in Los Angeles was abysmal. OkCupid has 80,000 potential women residing in Los Angeles and fewer than 100 of them appeared above the 90 percent compatibility mark for Chris. Thus, he formulated a mathematical process of data mining OkCupid, along with statistical sampling and grouping, while rening his date results along the way to help identify his ideal soul mate. 3) Chris is now engaged to Tien Wang, whom he met on OkCupid via his data hack of their service.
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