Why Analytics Matter More Than Ever

Companies that effectively use them will be far more successful than those that don’t.

members-only post Sep 21, 2015 3-min read

Which companies today are really embracing analytics and Big Data? I'm talking about the ones who are actually walking the talk.

Think about it for a moment.

For my money, the Big Four of Big Data are Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Netflix. It's not even close.

Before I go any further, I know what you're thinking: What about the elephant in the room? In fact, Apple is the exception that proves the rule. Tim Cook, Jonny Ive, et. al pride themselves on design excellence, not monetizing its user base and questionable privacy practices. Generally speaking, comparing yourself to Apple—what with its insanely high profit margins—is almost always a fool's errand.

A Little Yarn

Consider Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer at Netflix. Sarandos knows his company's more than 60 million customers intimately well. How well? Three years ago in an interview, he described how a mind-boggling 50,000 U.S. Netflix customers watched season four of Breaking Bad in the 24 hours before the premiere of the new season. (They call it binge-watching for a reason, right?)

I came across a slew of astonishing numbers like these while researching The Visual Organization—ones that represent the uniquely profound understanding Netflix possesses.

This begs the big question, Why? Why has Netflix so fervently embraced data and analytics? Are its employees are inherently nosy? Do they have way too much free time on their hands?

If you want to view this post, you'll need to suscribe to this site.