You see, no one is one dimensional, and we proved it with mathematics.
No One is One-dimensional
Obviously, these examples are just excerpts from a long playbook for the art of targeting. My intention is to emphasize that marketers must consider target, comparison and methodologies separately; and a combination of these three elements yields the most fitting solutions for each challenge, way beyond what some popular toolsets or new statistical methodologies presented in some technical conferences can acomplish. In fact, when the marketers are able to define the target in a logical fashion with help from trained analysts and data scientists, the effectiveness of modeling and subsequent marketing campaigns increase dramatically. Creating and maintaining an analytics department or hiring an outsourcing analytics vendor aren't enough.
One may be concerned about the idea of building multiple models so casually, but let me remind you that it is the reality in which we already reside, anyway. I am saying this, as I've seen too many marketers who try to fix everything with just one hammer, and the results weren't ideal—to say the least.
It is a shame that we still treat people with one-dimensional tools, such segmentations and clusters, in this age of ubiquitous and abundant data. Nobody is one-dimensional, and we must embrace that reality sooner than later. That calls for rapid model development and deployment, using everything that we've got.
Arguing about how difficult it is to build one or two more models here and there is so last century.
- People:
- Stephen H. Yu

Stephen H. Yu is a world-class database marketer. He has a proven track record in comprehensive strategic planning and tactical execution, effectively bridging the gap between the marketing and technology world with a balanced view obtained from more than 30 years of experience in best practices of database marketing. Currently, Yu is president and chief consultant at Willow Data Strategy. Previously, he was the head of analytics and insights at eClerx, and VP, Data Strategy & Analytics at Infogroup. Prior to that, Yu was the founding CTO of I-Behavior Inc., which pioneered the use of SKU-level behavioral data. “As a long-time data player with plenty of battle experiences, I would like to share my thoughts and knowledge that I obtained from being a bridge person between the marketing world and the technology world. In the end, data and analytics are just tools for decision-makers; let’s think about what we should be (or shouldn’t be) doing with them first. And the tools must be wielded properly to meet the goals, so let me share some useful tricks in database design, data refinement process and analytics.” Reach him at stephen.yu@willowdatastrategy.com.