The Global Food System comprises of a number of stakeholders as well as data - consumers, producers, economics, trade agreements, financial transactions, demand data, supply data, forecasting models, climatology, large and small-scale farms, politics, distribution systems etc. How do all of these correlate in a useful manner and show results? This is not possible with traditional scientific methodologies and technologies as there is a robust volume of complex data available. Rather, there’s a need for Big Data Analytics that will help in following areas:

• Measurement of poverty and hunger levels
• Improve aspects of how we feed and eat
• Food policy actions, etc.

Therefore, we need to invest in larger data warehouses which will provide the backbone for big data analysis of local, regional, national and ultimately, the global food system.

To know more, please read the following article by Hari Pulapaka, Executive Chef and Co-Owner, Cress Restaurant, at The Hufffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hari-pulapaka-phd-cec/big-data-analytics-the-gl_b_7216378.html?ir=India&adsSiteOverride=in

“Predictive analytics have the potential power to produce remarkable services and longer lives”

-James Heskett

All of us must have heard of uses of predictive analytics in marketing i.e. it helps to understand the needs of the customer. But, have you ever wondered that the scope of predictive analytics can be much more than that.

“Predictive analysis applied to humans is now one of the hottest concepts to come along.” It can now be used in the following situations:

• Development of concepts such as 30-minute package delivery
• Big Data analysis of target customer's and others' purchases, combined with related information to identify their needs even before they arise
• Personalized logistics

These situations seem to be amazing but turning them into reality is what that needs to be done. To know more, please read the following article by James Heskett at HBS Working Knowledge:

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/7527.html

A business is identified with its customers. And to attract and retain customers, social media marketing is a must. But, unplanned or not well organized social media campaign is as effective as having no campaign at all. Therefore, it’s important to plan an inventive and comprehensive social media campaign.

Nina Zipkin, in her article at entrepreneur.com has shared few tips to help build up your following and your brand via social media marketing campaigns. Some of them are:

• Make your tweets stand out
• Inspire action
• Stay top of mind
• Share your feedback
• Veer off the beaten track

To know more, please visit the following link:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/video/240295

“Text messaging as a communication channel is impersonal because it lacks the emotional connectivity of face-to-face and verbal communication, yet it feels extremely personal.”

This personal element is what that makes text messages, an effective sales medium. But, familiarity factor is also critical for prospecting via text. According to the Lead360 study, that covered 3.5 million lead records from more than 400 companies, a text message sent alone converts at 4.8%. That same message, sent after a phone contact increases conversion by 112.6%. So, to get 112% results, combine text messages with another medium, use the familiarity factor and –voilà- the sales is done!

To effectively utilize this sales medium, Jeb Blount has given 7 keys to structuring effective text prospecting messages. They are:

1. Identify Yourself
2. Message Matters
3. Be Direct – Be Brief
4. Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling Count
5. Avoid Abbreviations
6. Transparent Links
7. Before Clicking Send – Read It Again

Read more at:

http://jebblount.com/7-keys-text-messaging-sales-prospecting/

In this competitive world, where technology and social platforms are most used mediums to engage customers, companies usually pursue digital marketing strategies that engage by leading conversations. Rather, they should engage customers by providing them an opportunity to lead the way.

According to Robert Hegeman, digital creative director at Siegel+Gale, a global branding firm, engagement goes beyond simply responding to and talking with consumers.

Peter Gasca, Founder, Naked Cask, in his article at entrepreneur.com, has given four simple tips to engage customers and hence, improve digital marketing strategies. They are:

• Focus on mobile first
• Stop annoying your customers
• Make engagement painfully easy and obvious
• Stick to a website experience

To understand them in detail, please visit the following link:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245487

“Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship...the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.” 

-Peter F. Drucker

So, to create wealth, it’s important that we constantly innovate. And innovation is not the responsibility of few. It’s important that we understand the need to create a culture of innovation i.e. we should foster this sense of internal drive among all the members of the organization and then only, can we together move forward towards success.

Ken Lin, Founder and CEO, Credit Karma, in his article at Inc.com, has shared from his experience, six strategies to instill a culture of innovation in the company. They are:

• Give people a sense of ownerships
• Change constantly
• Hire upwards
• Know when to move quickly
• Make everyone a guardian of the product
• Protect the culture

To learn more, please visit the following link:

http://www.inc.com/ken-lin/6-strategies-for-building-a-culture-of-innovation.html

Lots of experiments are going on in using predictive analytics in health care. But, only few succeed. The need is to learn from what has been done and work further.

Jennifer Bresnick, in her article on HealthITAnalytics.com, has summarized some of the ways healthcare organizations have already found success by turning big data into a strategic asset that can help providers react quickly and effectively to the ongoing challenges of quality care delivery. They are:

• Hospital quality and patient safety in the ICU
• Precision medicine, personalized care, and genomics
• Population health management, risk stratification and prevention
• Reducing preventable hospital readmissions

To know more, please visit the following link:

http://healthitanalytics.com/news/four-use-cases-for-healthcare-predictive-analytics-big-data

The hype around the word “big data” is ever increasing. It promises to bring a big revolution in marketing. But, in all this hype, myths also arise, which need to be cleared.

Joerg Niessing,INSEAD Affiliate Professor of Marketing, and James Walker, Partner Demand Analytics, Strategy&, in their article at knowledge.insead.edu, talk about eight commonly heard myths on big data. Some of them are:

• It’s big
• The more granular the data, the better
• Big Data is good data
• Big Data is a magic 8-ball

These myths need to be discarded before putting into use “the real Big Data”. To know more, please visit the following link:

http://knowledge.insead.edu/blog/insead-blog/the-eight-most-common-big-data-myths-3878

Managing large volumes of heterogeneous data and using it effectively has always been a problem question in the legal domain. The solution to this big question has now been obtained with the advent of big data. Legal Informatics, a field which has emerged from big data, ties together work in the representation of legal knowledge with the performance gains derived through distributed processing.

Many questions arise in the minds of lawyers such as:

• How does the Judge rule on certain types of cases can be studied by date and time?
• Does the judge dismiss cases for a consistent pattern of reasoning?
• How do holidays affect decisions?
• Do they sentence harder at different times of the day?

These questions can now be easily answered with the help of Legal Informatics.

But, like all things have two sides, use of big data analytics in legal domain also has its repercussions like routine tasks will now be easily undertaken by analytics, judges will come under increased pressure, etc.

To know more, read the following article by Robert Plant, Associate Professor at the School of Business Administration, University of Miami, at The Wall Street Journal.

http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2015/04/24/what-big-data-means-for-the-legal-system/

E-mails are an indispensible part of our lives. With the growth of mobile internet reach, people now have instant reach to their emails. For marketers to reach these people instantly, the easiest means is via emails. So, planning an email marketing campaign has become as much important as planning any social media campaign.

Pierre DeBois,Founder and Chief Digital Marketing Strategist, Zimana, in his article at cmswire.com has given 5 key strategies to plan a successful email marketing campaign launch. They are:

• Assume customers will view an email in a mobile device
• Plan for a personal touch
• Create an engaging subject line
• Send email at the right time
• Consider metrics within context of site or app objectives

To understand them in detail, please visit the following link:

http://www.cmswire.com/cms/digital-marketing/how-to-plan-an-email-marketing-launch-029036.php

“Customers don’t want just a personalized experience, they want a full package”

According to 2015 Customer Experience Trends Report and infographic released by InMoment, customers do appreciate the personalized touches that brands create for them, they are much more interested in providing value back to the company.

Lori Alcala, in her article on cmswire.com, summarizes top customer experience trends revealed in the report. They are:

• Shorter Surveys, More Listening
• More Reliable Online Reviews
• Stronger Relationships

She has also added an interesting excerpt from the report in her article. To see that and increase your knowledge spectrum about customer experience, please visit the following link:

http://www.cmswire.com/cms/customer-experience/want-to-know-the-top-cx-trends-infographic-029002.php

According to Dan Kennedy’s book, “No B.S. Direct Marketing",  business is a bucket into which we owners pour ideas, energy and money in hopes of stirring up profits and the failure to follow- up customers is a big hole in that bucket .

Therefore, a business should always look forward to follow up -both existing and lost- customers in order to serve them better, retain them and also, build long lasting relations. William Ballard, Freelance Writer and Author, in his article on entrepreneur.com gives 4 steps that should be followed to follow up customers when the answer is “no” in first stance. They are:

Step 1.Redeem yourself by re-stating or re-selling your existing offer.

Step 2.Give a firm or humorous “2^nd Notice” message to create scarcity.

Step 3.The “third and final notice.”

Step 4.The final step is to present another offer.

To know more, visit the following link:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/244094

Loyal customers, they don’t just come back, they don’t simply recommend you; they insist that their friends do business with you.
   - Chip Bell

Customer Loyalty should be a priority for every business. To retain loyal customers and thus, contribute to growth of the business, every marketer must take certain steps. John Rampton, in his article on entrepreneur.com shares 25 tips for earning customer loyalty. Some of them are:

• Share your values
• Be transparent
• Create a sense of community
• Use social proof
• Anticipate problems

To know more, visit the following link:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245365

Many brands consider social media and content marketing as two different fields with no relation at all. But, what they chose to forget is the fact that social media marketing cannot function without content. Their synergy leads to better engagement on social media and thus, better social media marketing campaigns.

Brett Relander, Founder of Launch & Hustle, in his article on entrepreneur.com gives three tips for bringing social media and content marketing together. They are:

1. A/B test content for effectiveness with your audience
2. Optimize content for specific social media networks
3. Tap your audience for ideas

To understand them in detail, visit the following link:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245306

The field of marketing has gone through many transitions- the Trade Era, the Production Era, the Sales Era, the Marketing Department Era, the Marketing Company Era and last era that was going on is – the Relationship Era. Now again, a transition is taking place and a new era of Experience Marketing has emerged.

This article by Carla Johnson, Founder, Type A Communications, at cmswire.com talks about the need for this type of marketing in this competitive world and how companies are adapting this to enhance customer experience.  

The example of Marriott, the brand that has launched an original content studio that creates content that informs, entertains and adds value to travel lifestyle consumers, shows how building audiences by creating differentiating experiences has now become an important part of marketing.

To summarize, this article emphasizes the need to make content creation a core function of the business and the foundation from which all experiences, across the company, are created.

Read more at:

http://www.cmswire.com/cms/digital-marketing/experiences-the-7th-era-of-marketing-028978.php

E-Mail marketing has been into existence since long. On the other hand, social media marketing is doing wonders these days. What will happen if we combine these two mass marketing mediums?

The answer to this question is given in the following article by Thomas Miller at socialmediaweek.com. In this article, the author tells us the reasons why this integration is important and also suggests 8 ways to do so. Some of them are:

• Put social icons in your emails
• Create dedicated email campaign
• Add “Retweet This!” in your email

To know more, visit the following link:

http://socialmediaweek.org/blog/2015/04/8-skillful-ways-integrate-email-marketing-social-media/

In today’s world, online presence of business is a must have factor for its success. For this, each business has multiple social media accounts. Management of these social media accounts and thus, social media campaigns by businesses requires alignment of people in correct positions, budget, time and the goals of the organization. This in turn, enhances the output as well as presence of the business.

This article by Linda Philips, social media strategist, on socialmediatoday.com lists out the following must have tools with their benefits that businesses must have to manage their social media accounts efficiently:

• Buffer
• Social Hunt
• BuzzSumo Alerts
• SumAll
• Social Count
• Social Oomph
• Postplanner

To know more, visit the following link:

http://bit.ly/1KmzSW6

There is devastation all around. People are dying, missing and injured. Telephone lines have crashed. This is what Nepal looks like since April 25, when a 7.9 magnitude earthquake had hit the country.

With almost no other means of communication with the outside world, Social Media, served as a lifeline in this tragic earthquake’s aftermath. It had enabled information sharing via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. This has helped people trapped there to get help and people elsewhere to know about the status of their near and dear ones. These websites are also helping to locate people via features like Facebook Safety Check and Google Person Finder.

To know more about how these networking sites have come out as a savior, visit the following link at thehindu.com:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/social-media-pitches-in-for-nepal-quake-aftermath/article7143425.ece

Agile practices can help companies navigate in this dynamic global economic environment. However, only a few companies are adopting these practices to improve their supply-chain performance and their results show the benefits that they achieve from them.

According to a research conducted by McKinsey of over 250 global companies, across 5 industries, Companies with more agile supply-chain practices had service levels that were seven percentage points higher and inventory levels that were 23 days lower than their less agile peers did.  Those companies did well in areas such as demand forecasting, labor flexibility, and the optimal placement of inventory across distribution networks also.

An example of application of these agile practices is Amazon, which adjusts prices and inventory levels in real time in response to competitors’ moves, among other things.

To get more insights in this subject, read the following article by Raoul Dubeauclard, Kerstin Kubik, and Venu Nagali at mckinsey.com:

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/operations/how_agile_is_your_supply_chain

Insurance Fraud has become a matter of grave concern in Europe. According to Insurance Europe, the European (re)insurance federation, the total from all cases of fraud – both detected and undetected – amounts to 10 percent of overall claims expenditure in Europe.

According to McKinsey, common pitfalls in Fraud Management are:

• Not in the focus of top management
• Limited importance of fraud in operational claims processing
• Insufficient specialization
• Hardly any modern investigation methods
• IT systems that are obsolete or have not been maintained

Insurance companies need to act fast to realize this untapped potential from optimized fraud management as well as to reduce a potential competitive disadvantage compared to other insurers. This can be done in two stages:

1. Putting fraud management on a more professional footing
2. Rallying forces to fight organized fraud

The insurance industry, as a whole, needs to tackle these fraudsters for the interest of all market participants. To know more, read the following article by Thomas Kuhnt, Johannes-Tobias Lorenz, and Michael Müssig at mckinsey.com:

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/financial_services/claims_management_taking_a_determined_stand_against_insurance_fraud