This section is about Big Data, but what we’re really interested in is smart uses of that data. Which means that rather than being awed by all the data that is available to us, we should be figuring out which bits of all those billions of bytes will help us understand customers better. It means abandoning the misguided assumption that big behavioural datasets can tell you all you need to know and accepting that there’s still a reason to ask ‘why’ rather than just observe ‘what’.

Using big data smartly needs a technologist’s touch, an analyst’s eye for detail and a researcher’s knack for figuring out the real business question – and how to answer it.

Thanks to our sponsors GfK and SSI.

Brian Tarran, editor