When Big Data is too big

It is election day across the United States.

In each election cycle political strategists rely more and more on “big data” to target voters. But as this article describes, big data has gotten too big for many campaigns.

So although big data makes it possible to create customized messaging for African American women in Zip Code 15222 who read Guns & Ammo and shop at Nordstrom…do you really want to do that? Can you really do it effectively? One strategist says, “Our ability to target has far outstripped our ability to create.”

What is the role of deep dive qualitative research in helping clients (not necessarily in politics, but in also consumer marketing) make sense of all this data?