RealityMine chairman Simon Wilkinson says his data-gathering business is not yet turning a profit – but it is all part of the grand plan.
Wilkinson, who originally came in as an investor, says all the potential profits are ploughed back into the company.
“We have planned non-profitability so we’re investing for growth on a global level,” he told a BusinessCloud conference.
“Being unprofitable in a non-planned way would be a problem for any business [but that isn’t the case here].”
The analysis of Big Data heralds massive change in all aspects of society as more and more people carry trackable gadgets.
Advertising is at the forefront of the revolution – thanks to RealityMine and similar tech ventures.
“RealityMine uses the mobile phone to collect information about individuals – either passively through a piece of code which knows where you are, where you went and what you did on the phone – or through a survey where you agree to opt in to a questionnaire which we’ll reward you for,” he explained.
“An example is ESPN, which wanted to know what people were doing while they were watching the Super Bowl – making pizza, drinking a Budweiser. That information is phenomenally valuable to advertisers, researchers and marketeers.
“We harvest and package that data, those unique insights, and sell it into those verticals.
“Anheuser-Busch ran a campaign around Budweiser based upon our research which said that the best time to market to young males is on Wednesday night.
“It’s the middle of the week, you’re trying to get through the week, they want to go for a beer.
“They pushed a whole lot of money into a successful campaign around Wednesday nights.”
Garry Partington, chief executive and co-founder of the Manchester-based firm, told another BusinessCloud conference that Big Data without big insights is a big waste of time.