People are sometimes intimidated by big data because it seems overwhelming and they’re much more familiar with using statistics on survey data or analyzing opinions from focus group data. But here are nine examples from companies like Netflix, Ceasars Entertainment, Walmart, eBay, and UPS, that could have conducted survey or focus group research have instead used big data to accomplish big things.

1. 9 Big Applications of Big Data
Annie Pettit, Canada, Festival of NewMR 2016
9 Big Applications of
Big Data
Annie Pettit
Peanut Labs
3 February, 2016
#NewMR 2016 Sponsors
Media Partner GreenBook

2. 9 Big Applications of Big Data
Annie Pettit, Canada, Festival of NewMR 2016

3. 9 Big Applications of Big Data
Annie Pettit, Canada, Festival of NewMR 2016
Netflix
Result: Successfully transitioned from renting
DVDs to digital streaming
Data: Tags every type of variable, even morality
of characters. Engagement measures,
hours of viewing.
Analysis: Created 76,897 micro-genres. Graphs
traffic patterns for every device across
multiple markets. Predicts what
customers want to watch next.
Learned: More viewing in the early months of a
show’s debut, so they accelerate the
amortization of that content.
http://teamsilverback.com/the-data-behind-streaming-success/
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/01/how-netflix-reverse-engineered-hollywood/282679/

4. 9 Big Applications of Big Data
Annie Pettit, Canada, Festival of NewMR 2016
Caesars Entertainment
Result: Share increase from 36% to 45%
Data: Loyalty card used by 80% of patrons, and 700 analysts with
$100 million annual budget
Findings: 90 segments, 100s of controlled experiments each year
Insights: 30% of customers spending $100 and $500 accounted for
nearly 100% of profits
Application: Shorter lines, discounts, free items, white-glove
treatment. Lavish with attention, anticipate every need.
http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/getting-the-most-out-of-information-systems-v1.3/s15-08-data-asset-in-action-caesars-s.html

5. 9 Big Applications of Big Data
Annie Pettit, Canada, Festival of NewMR 2016
Walmart
Result: Revenues greater than any firm in the US. RFID
boosted sales 20%. Gillette increased sales 19%.
System: RetailLink system records sale, triggers reordering,
scheduling, and delivery. Back-office scanners track
shipments. Partners use RFID technology to track and
coordinate inventories. Data includes daily sales,
shipments, returns, purchase orders, invoices.
Analysis: Mines data to get its product mix right under all sorts
of varying environmental conditions.
Insight: Customers stock up on certain products in the days
leading up to predicted hurricanes.
http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/getting-the-most-out-of-information-systems-v1.3/s15-07-data-asset-in-action-technolog.html

6. 9 Big Applications of Big Data
Annie Pettit, Canada, Festival of NewMR 2016
Kaiser Permanente
Result: $300 billion to $450 billion in reduced health-care spending.
System: Pharmaceutical companies have aggregated years of research
and development data into medical databases, payors and
providers have digitized patient records, public stakeholders
have opened data from clinical trials. 4 billion petabytes.
Analysis: Determine whether standard protocol for a disease produces
optimal results.
Insight: Kaiser Permanente: HealthConnect exchanges data across all
facilities, promotes electronic records. Improved outcomes in
cardiovascular disease and saved $1 billion from reduced office
visits and lab tests.
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/health_systems_and_services/the_big-data_revolution_in_us_health_care
https://businesshealth.kaiserpermanente.org/insights/sepsis-prevention

7. 9 Big Applications of Big Data
Annie Pettit, Canada, Festival of NewMR 2016
Fraud at eBay
Result: In 2014, prevented $55-million worth of fraudulent
transactions.
System: Names, email, addresses, device fingerprinting, IP
address, geolocation lookups, time zones, countries in
Oracle database of 1.3 billion entries
Analysis: Run transactions against 600 rules, 20-plus machine
learning algorithms. Regularly tweak the fraud rules.
Insight: Fraud spikes mid-week, enabling fraudsters to receive
goods by the weekend. Basic fraud pattern= long-
distance, high-dollar, expedited shipping.
http://www.datanami.com/2015/12/21/tis-the-season-to-hunt-fraudsters-with-big-data/

8. 9 Big Applications of Big Data
Annie Pettit, Canada, Festival of NewMR 2016
WeatherSignal
Result: WeatherSignal data uses pressure readings for short-term storm
forecasting and surface temperature readings to determine the
spread of snowfall
System: Millions of weather stations. Live map of atmospheric readings
from mobile phones.
Analysis: Combine sensor readings. Supply pressure readings to the
University of Washington to help prove their use in atmospheric
modelling.
Insight: Historical correlation between smartphone battery
temperatures and the ambient temperature readings of weather
stations.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/weathersignal-big-data-meets-forecasting/

9. 9 Big Applications of Big Data
Annie Pettit, Canada, Festival of NewMR 2016
UPS
Result: Saved over 39 million gallons of fuel, avoided 364 million miles,
reduced engine idle time by 10 million minutes.
System: ORION database: engine performance, speed, number of stops,
mileage, miles per gallon, GPS, driver behaviour, safety habits,
emissions, fuel consumption, deliveries, customers, addresses,
routes. 250 million+ data points,
Analysis: Advanced mathematical models that provide additional
optimization and navigational capabilities to make drivers more
efficient.
Insight: Optimize the routing again, predict the maintenance
requirements of vehicles
https://datafloq.com/read/ups-spends-1-billion-big-data-annually/273
http://scienceofanalytics.com/2012/09/09/google-maps-may-be-great-but-ill-bet-ups-has-better/

10. 9 Big Applications of Big Data
Annie Pettit, Canada, Festival of NewMR 2016
Stockholmståg Trains
Result: Predict and circumvent train delays 2 hours before they
happen
System: Historical data of previous occurrences
Analysis: Takes one minute to run a forecast of the next two hours.
Algorithm detects the effect of corrections and re-
calculates entire network.
Insight: Staff can minimize delays and impacts by having train skip
a stop or by issuing extra trains. Smartphone app will
integrate other data aimed to improve commuting
http://www.computerweekly.com/news/4500254821/Swedish-big-data-project-predicts-train-delays-before-they-happen

11. 9 Big Applications of Big Data
Annie Pettit, Canada, Festival of NewMR 2016
Spotify
Output: 75 million people receive a mixtape of 30 songs
Data: 2 billion user playlists, professionally curated lists.
Result: Introduces you to new songs that match your tastes allowing the
smallest, strangest musician in the world to be found by the 20
people who’ll like it
Analysis: Profile of each user’s taste in music. Collaborative filtering, deep
learning, neural nets, natural language processing. Excludes
outlier songs.
http://qz.com/571007/the-magic-that-makes-spotifys-discover-weekly-playlists-so-damn-good/

12. 9 Big Applications of Big Data
Annie Pettit, Canada, Festival of NewMR 2016
Good Survey Panels
Result: Identify and remove fraudsters from panel
Data: Millions of records, thousands of variables, hundreds of tables;
survey clicks, screens, quotas, completes, incentive value, date,
time, survey behaviors
Analysis: Collect survey behaviours from multiple surveys to distinguish
people who consistently provide bad data from people who
occasionally provide unexpected results
Insight: Good panelists occasionally answer questions in unexpected
ways, young males are more likely to provide unusual data; Some
data sources attract people with poor responding tendencies
D
D
J
S
U
I
F
H
K
F
P
O
D
K
E
J
C
K
S
J
I

13. 9 Big Applications of Big Data
Annie Pettit, Canada, Festival of NewMR 2016
Thank You!

14. 9 Big Applications of Big Data
Annie Pettit, Canada, Festival of NewMR 2016
Q & A
Your Photo
Annie Pettit
Peanut Labs
Andrew Jeavons
Mass Cognition
#NewMR 2016 Sponsors
Media Partner GreenBook

15. 9 Big Applications of Big Data
Annie Pettit, Canada, Festival of NewMR 2016
Thank you!
Annie Pettit
Chief Research Officer
annie@peanutlabs.com
ca.linkedin.com/in/AnniePettit/
facebook.com/AnniePettit
twitter.com/LoveStats
Jonathan Cheriff
Director of Sales & Marketing
jonathan.cheriff@peanutlabs.com
Find PeanutLabs on
LinkedIn Facebook Twitter YouTube
DIY POLLINGRESEARCH SAMPLE