Through data engineering and analytics

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But there was much more to these reviews. There was analytical gold buried within them. 3M began to realize that this content was more authentic and actionable than even the results of highly paid consumer focus groups. The emerging online culture of customers writing reviews was all in an effort to help each other; as a result they were very direct, candid, and open. For example, a 4-star review from a customer often included content like, “I would have given this Post-it Note a 5-star review if only they made it in this color.”

— again, I really wish we had a data catalog back then — 3M started to harvest this content. Among the insights was a clamoring among customers for eco-friendly products. Realizing the opportunity in the launch of a whole new eco-friendly line of products, 3M did exactly that. The sales results were fantastic.

That success led to then-CEO George W. Buckley inviting me to speak at his annual leadership conference. There were hundreds of senior leaders from throughout 3M in the room. I spoke about how they should be analyzing this authentic customer content for all of their products. They listened intently, and our dialogue continued in many ways. As a result, 3M evolved to become an even more customer-focused company.

The Data Gold Mine
Keynoting a 3M leadership conference was more than just an honor. It was euphoric even, as the Co-founder and CEO of Bazaarvoice I was to witness in the reverberations how my math denmark whatsapp number data and analytics background was once again paying off, and this time changing the culture of one of America’s most well-known companies. Even though 3M’s stock hit a rough patch at the beginning of 2009 — whose stock didn’t? — they hit a new high by the beginning of 2011. Today they have a market capitalization of $73.56 billion.

3M wasn’t alone in developing these pioneering data and analytics techniques during the Great Recession. Bazaarvoice customers like P&G, L’Oreal, Estee Lauder, and many others all tuned into the authentic voice of their customers using our platform, sharing that data internally to many departments.

The CEO of The Home Depot asked me to speak before the annual vendor’s meeting in front of the CEOs of the top brands that they carried in their stores and online. The head of their merchandising group also asked me to speak in front of over a thousand of their merchandising managers at his annual meeting. They both wanted all of their brands to use Bazaarvoice to innovate and come up with new products that The Home Depot could carry. It was a data gold mine, just waiting for a team with digital picks and shovels.

To say that data and analytics can transform your entire company is an understatement. Witnessing the way 3M transformed is an experience I’ll never forget, and it would have been made all the much easier with today’s data platform technologies, including our data catalog here at data.world.

But it’s not just a case of applying technology. As my colleague and Co-founder Jon Loyens often remarks, it’s a “socio-technical transformation” of winning hearts and minds as well.

Next week I’ll cover how you create that transformation by embracing the concept of a data mesh in your company. Until then… have you registered for our fifth summit on September 22 yet? Our theme is People + Data, and this story about 3M during the Great Recession is a terrific example of the best of that.