Big Data: Friend or Foe of Digital Advertising?

The author offers opinions on Big Data, the information generated by consumers by their Internet use and automated point-of-sale systems, in Internet advertising media planning and marketing management. While acknowledging that Big Data has provided benefits to consumers in creating pricing transparency, the author states this poses the danger to marketers of focusing on lower pricing at the expense of brand equity. Targeting of Internet advertising based on data analysis is said to offer a means to maintaining or improving brand equity.