Math Marketing: The New Landscape of Marketing Analytics
By Dimitri Maex

Over the last two years, we have witnessed the publication of a number of books that describe the revolutionary impact that mathematics is having on all aspects of everyday life, from online dating, shopping, wine tasting, baseball and gambling to health care, antiterrorism initiatives, human resources management and marketing. In Super Crunchers, Ian Ayres describes how companies such as Capital One and Harrah’s use advanced mathematical techniques on large volumes of data to optimize their marketing efforts. In Competing on Analytics, Thomas H. Davenport and Jeanne G. Harris demonstrate how some of these companies are now using analytics to create a real competitive advantage. And Stephen Baker’s The Numerati describes a new breed of mathematicians who are “in a position to rule the information of our lives.” These are just a few examples of the many recent publications that have created a real buzz around Math Marketing.

This paper provides a practical view of the Math Marketing landscape today. It first describes a brief history of Math Marketing, and shows that some of its techniques have been around for a long time and how the large volumes of data generated in today’s digital world have dramatically increased their potential. It then looks at some of the Math Marketing challenges that lie ahead. They come in the form of fragmentation, myopia, data deluge and a talent crunch. The next chapter describes some of the organizational issues companies face in trying to build their Math Marketing skills. This includes an overview of the different Math Marketing players and a description of what companies should look for when searching out Math Marketing partners.

The last chapter has a series of practical tips that can help companies use Math Marketing to improve the accountability of their marketing efforts and generate powerful insights.

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