As a marketer I’m intrigued about the possiblity of tapping into people’s social graph, to understand more about who they speak to, the nature of their relationship and ultimately how I can better engage with them. At the same time, as a consumer, I’m a bit frightened of the thought of having big brother watching, recording and analyzing my every step and conversation. With great power comes great responsibility, someone wise once said…
Earlier this week I attended another MIT Enterprising Forum event here in London. These are some fantastic events where entrepreneurial spirits get together to network and also listen to and query some very inspiring speakers.
This time the turn had come to Trampoline Systems‘ CEO Charles Armstrong and author/lecturer/consultant Alan Moore. While Alan talked about the bigger picture of changing social behavior and what he called blended-reality (look out for another article), Charles showcased his latest venture for social analytics – Sonar Diagnostic.
Sonar Diagnostics plugs into any type of data set such as phone records, instant messages or email logs, to plot out who people speak to, at what frequency, and ultimately the nature and importance of their relationship. This last point is made possible through natural language interpretation algorithms. However, since the tool’s not human it also needs some guidance to plug the holes in understanding how to weigh certain variables and relationships.
Trampoline systems have applied this technology and methodology to various industries to for example help clients risk manage redundancies and restructures. Speaking to Charles he explained that as the system can be plugged into any data source, it is also very relevant for social media marketeers that want to better understand their audience and key influencers that they should engage with.
A key point in the presentation was that of the individual’s privacy. This is always going to be a highly sensitive question, and as we’re living in an increasingly global world, understanding the different countries privacy regulations and cultural concerns will be key in succeeding to adapt and implement these tools. In the case of Trampoline Systems, the case studies showcased focused on analyzing email records where employees had either given their explicit consent for the project or were already under such obligations due to the nature of their industry (e.g. in the finance sector).
What’s your view on privacy versus insights – as a marketer and consumer? And what tools do you use to gain insights into your target audience social graphs?
Here’s Charles explaining their service
Ps. that wise person I refered to when quoting “With great power comes great responsibility” was no other than Spider-Mans grandmother.
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Hi Magnus,
Can you recommend any upcoming conferences or seminars on online marketing or social media?