Customer Intelligence Blog
Evolving relationships for business growth![No happy holiday for hackers: Five steps retailers must take to beef up cybersecurity](https://blogs.sas.com/content/customeranalytics/files/2014/11/binary-lock.jpg)
2014 was a rude wakeup call for retailers: In January, Target announced an additional 70 million individuals’ contact information was taken during the December 2013 breach. In September, Home Depot announced that cyber criminals had compromised the credit card information of roughly 56 million shoppers. Neiman Marcus, Kmart, AT&T, Michaels
![What are we doing about big data privacy? You don't ever want mom to be alarmed, skeptical or speechless.](https://blogs.sas.com/content/customeranalytics/files/2014/11/Moms.jpg)
Admit it: If you’re like many marketers, when you read or hear about “big data privacy,” you’re ready to move onto the next topic or swipe to the next screen. Even though you know the discussion is important, you know it’s not fun, it’s sometimes creepy, and it’s not easy
![How marketing turns data magically into profits Marketing may seem magical, but it's not pulling rabbits out of hats.](https://blogs.sas.com/content/customeranalytics/files/2014/11/Magic-Trick-2.jpg)
Marketing has evolved - thankfully - from the days when everyone just thought of us as the brochures and tradeshows people. Nowadays, we're as likely to be focused on creating digital content that's worth sharing as we are putting a tradeshow sponsorship together, but all of it is data-driven. So what does
![A 20-point Scrabble word that matters: quality SAS and IndustryWeek on the quality-themed #WQChat on Twitter.](https://blogs.sas.com/content/customeranalytics/files/2014/11/team_chat_photo.jpg)
Try as we might, we aren’t ubiquitous creatures. When you can’t be everywhere at once, there is usually data somewhere to fall back on. So you review that data, gain insights. If you’re smart, you take notice those insights, evolve and then forecast what’s next. (That’s analytics by the way.)
![Whose story are you telling?](https://blogs.sas.com/content/customeranalytics/files/2014/09/SDC_MOPS-square.png)
Sometimes a life lesson smacks you right upside the head—and if you’re anything like me, it may take a day, a month, or even a year or ten before you “get it.” Fortunately, this particular life lesson hit home quickly, and has quietly reminded me of its truth over the
![Consumers confirmed - retail loyalty is all about the experience Customer experience matters most for loyalty.](https://blogs.sas.com/content/customeranalytics/files/2014/11/Loyalty2.jpg)
It seems like every retailer nowadays has a loyalty program. From the local coffee house to “big box” national retailers to almost any online merchant, everyone has a loyalty program. But do people really want them? It turns out the answer is yes – a resounding yes. But are those programs