PSFK recently did and interview with us about our approach to work - and especially the Titanic video.
PSFK has a broad audience but it got me thinking about who is interested in what we do.
Why would advertisers be interested in data products? (the upcoming Cannes Lions creativity festival will likely be more film that app heavy)
The answer to this is that many advertisers are interested in anything that grows a customer relationship with a brand or product.
Data-enabled products do this at their core - they take in data (often from the customer - blood pressure, miles run, food bought) and feed back recommendations or show the activity of others.
Nike+ is the classic example of these 'personal analytics' - they do so well because they are collecting the data as well as presenting it and as advertisers will know from their travails with the market research industry, decisions/products are only as good as the data collected.
The main problem facing advertisers - who are by large a smart bunch is their clients inability to commit to the length (cost is secondary) of projects that require this software/product development, data collection and feedback.
This is one reason that the companies (such as MassiveHealth) develop their own consumer analytics apps. But not all companies have capable development teams - and that is where advertisers may get involved - if they don't, the clients will look elsewhere. They may not have the internal capability (data-product development teams in agencies?) either - and that is where companies like us come in.
So I think there is a place for advertisers to get in on the act with creating data apps for their clients - there is no doubt that such work will benefit their relationship with the clients as well as their clients customers. Even people who like words like CRM will be happy. It just needs the right client to see the light.