Marketing as an organizational need has undergone sea changes over the past decades in line with the technology revolution, from black & white print ads and footnotes in newspapers to digital hoardings, video ads, and social media campaigns. Thanks to social media, you can make and break a brand overnight. It is fair to say that the advertiser’s room for error has come down to almost zero.

This room is an absolute zero for multinational companies since they must be highly cautious about mixing cultures and misreading their target audience. What works in the US could be offensive in India or vice versa. For instance, in 2008, Levis launched the ‘Stuck on You’ ad featuring Kangana Ranaut lying on top of a shirtless male model in a bikini. It would have been a run of the mill ad campaign in the US, but it attracted a lot of criticism from the Indian audience.

It makes one thing clear the power of data. Informed decision-making is no longer an option. Marketing professionals should take the bus from when they worked off assumptions or gut feelings. Today, they need to turn to customer data. It goes beyond doing the right thing or being politically correct while publishing an advertisement. Most importantly, when the entire consumer market demands unique experiences with every transaction, marketers can offer consumers personalized suggestions relevant to them while satisfying the need to protect their privacy.