Big project launched to harness big data

IBM and the Chinese University of Hong Kong have struck a partnership to launch the Marketing Engineering Lab, an education initiative to drive the big data-driven marketing revolution in Hong Kong and China.The new established lab will see IBM donate marketing software and support ongoing research collaboration, supporting marketers with big data deployments and further implementations."We believe the time is upon us to apply science to reinvent the art of marketing, as big data presents a new and valuable natural resource for marketers," said Samson Tai, chief technologist of IBM Innovation Network Hong Kong."With Big Data and analytics technologies, marketers can predict the precise moments to engage customers with the right information or suggestions in a personalized, authentic way, creating an aspirational journey that begins with a digital engagement".According to IBM, the collaboration was initiated over a year ago while supporting AmorePacific Hong Kong with its predictive analytics as its first test project. The company saw an improvement of over 30% on customer active rate as a result of the project.CUHK will run the Lab for educational purposes and conduct relevant marketing research."The lab is a testament to CUHK and IBM's shared vision and a joint force combining complemented strengths to reinvent marketing. Data analytics is set to deliver increasing marketing values from customer identification, engagement to measurements," added Professor Jamie Jia, chairman of department of marketing at CUHK.The lab serves marketers across Hong Kong and China.