New York, U.S.A. — A new landscape is emerging in the US: it is no longer a question of consumers’ willingness to share data but one of establishing a fair value exchange. This finding is highlighted Sexy Little Numbers, a new book by Dimitri Maex, Managing Director of OgilvyOne New York, the digital direct arm of Ogilvy & Mather. Sexy Little Numbers shows how to grow your business using the data you already have.

“Despite the handwringing that has accompanied the age of ‘Big Data,’ our research shows that 72% of US consumers are, in fact, willing to share data – they just want to receive fair value in exchange. This finding indicates a fundamental shift in the data privacy debate – and even in attitudes towards privacy – and foreshadows opportunities for those companies that figure out the value consumers place on their personal information. These forward-looking companies will have the edge as they are able to develop offers and incentives that draw consumers into more intimate relationships with brands,” said Maex.

There are three types of value exchanges: rewards and monetary benefits; better service; and transparency and control in data usage. Some distinct groups are emerging:

• The “Cash for Information” consumer: typically young professionals, 94% of whom will share information in exchange for monetary benefits;
• The “Privacy Cautious” consumer: typically older consumers, 41% of whom will share data such as their telephone number in exchange for better services. This number increases to nearly 50% among retired respondents;
• While 52% agreed that a cash reward was the most preferred exchange benefit, “Affluents” (those earning over $150k) were more interested in receiving exclusive deals/discounts on products & services (51%).

In Sexy Little Numbers, Maex has set out to demystify data, making it accessible to anybody who wants to grow their business using the data they already have. Written for the general reader, Maex’s book explains which data is the best to track, how to extract the storyline it reveals and where companies can find untapped profits.

“Before the digital age, it was fairly simple to target customers using direct mail and traditional customer relationship management (CRM) techniques. Today, with every customer move transparent, the huge quantity of data that is now easily available gives companies an unprecedented window into how customers engage with brands – and more importantly – where that can lead to revenue,” said Maex.

Big data can be overwhelming. For example, how can you sort through all the mountains of information to find out why a customer bought your product? Maex aims to make answering questions like “where are the customers?” and “how do I get them hooked?” understandable. Here are a handful of highlights from the new, “sexy” toolset that you’ll understand more fully after reading this book:

• Predict what your customers and potential customers will be worth to you in the future using the models once restricted to the data elite such as value spectrum and risk propensity.
• Find where your customers are, both geographically and online, what sites or social networks they spend their time on, what apps they use and what they are searching for.
• Determine which customers buy your product because it is perfect for their needs, which ones buy it because they liked your ad, or which ones decided based on price. Find out if the purchase came from word-of-mouth recommendation.
• Discover how to allocate your marketing assets in ways that will generate the highest possible returns.
• Optimize your sales and marketing efforts using the latest technology.

Each page is filled with real world examples and actionable advice for companies and marketers striving to find and reach the most profitable customers and get the biggest return on their marketing dollars.

Sexy Little Numbers will interest small business owners eager to grow faster and get leaner, R&D teams seeking to create new products or services, customer service professionals who want to know which buyers are the most valuable, finance execs responsible for growing the bottom line, and creatives looking for new ways to increase their output.

Dimitri Maex is managing director of OgilvyOne New York, Ogilvy & Mather’s digital direct operations. He also serves as the head of the company’s Global Data Practice, a team that has been recognized by Forrester Research as number one in the industry. Renowned worldwide for the statistical methods he’s developed, Maex has helped companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, Philips, Siemens, UPS, Unilever, and many other global enterprises employ hugely profitable and radically new uses for their data analysis.

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The Obama administration announced on Thursday (Feb. 23) a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights as part of a comprehensive framework to enhance consumers’ privacy online, and to ensure that the Internet ecosystem remains innovative and a sector for economic growth.

The following statement should be attributed to Kathryn C. Brown, Verizon senior vice president for public policy development and corporate responsibility: ”Verizon commends the administration’s leadership in developing a new policy framework for consumer privacy in the Internet age.

“The online privacy policy report and consumer bill of rights that the White House released today are important first steps toward defining the right policy structure for privacy online.  While we have not yet reviewed the report in detail, we believe the structure it outlines will help consumers navigate this new world with a clear, uniform set of policies that apply to all players in the Internet ecosystem.

“We also are pleased to hear that the administration’s policy framework and process are dependent on industry involvement. The bottom-up, multi-stakeholder model the administration has endorsed to address specific privacy issues should help create a framework that is nimble enough to keep pace with the speed of innovation and changes in technology and to meet consumers’ evolving needs and preferences.

“Verizon will continue to work through multi-stakeholder processes to develop these principles into practices, and we welcome the administration’s ongoing engagement on this issue. We believe industry must step forward to develop these principles into company practices, and we are committed to providing the necessary support and leadership to make this happen.”

Verizon Communications, headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America’s most reliable wireless network, with nearly 109 million total connections nationwide.

Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America’s most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500.  A Dow 30 company with $111 billion in 2011 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of nearly 194,000.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

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