Oresti Patricios, CEO, Ornico Group
Oresti Patricios, CEO at Ornico Group, shares in this post his views on the biggest disruptions, opportunities and challenges in the media monitoring industry, using software or not to analyze qualitative data, how to use data reduction to analyze big data and if AaaS is a challenge or not for the industry. We posed these questions to Oresti in an email interview.
Q: Analyzing qualitative data with or without software?
OP: As an organization we analyze qualitative data using software as well as human analysts. We have also created, and are in the process of creating, our own AI systems in order to make the analysis of data more efficient and more accurate.
Q: Data analysis as data reduction …but how do you do this?
OP: We don’t generally use Data reduction per se as the volumes of data are not large enough as yet. We do use some less complex procedures as there are patterns in the data thus increasing staff efficiencies and creating more accurate data. We utilize in one of the Universities in South Africa and we used what they called “topic modeling “ where we take all the data and place then into a particular topic and with artificial intelligence we can identify which topic it is referring too – this is how we are reducing big data to smart data.
Q: As cloud-based analytics as a service (AaaS) explodes in popularity, how much is this a challenge for media monitors?
OP: This is not a challenge as such but rather an opportunity. Clients who want to differentiate themselves would use these systems while some monitoring companies may create their own AI and predictive models. Clients will also have the opportunity to use AaaS utilizing our data. Owning your own data sets is the key to differentiating yourself, but also to ensure that there is very little noise in the data.
Q: What do you consider are the three biggest disruptions of the media landscape nowadays and what opportunities and challenges they bring to our current business?
OR: The biggest disruptions: 1) Large software companies who are already producing machine learning techniques into their dataset; 2) Digital agencies raising barriers to entry due to having a “preferred buyer” list; and 3) Google, Facebook and Twitter.
Opportunities: Look at data sets that are unique to your business sector and industry in order to differentiate, especially in markets where you operate.
Challenges: there are many challenges but the main ones from my perspective are: 1) The global nature of some of the companies; 2) Predictive modeling; and 3) Artificial Intelligence.
About Oresti Patricios, CEO, Ornico Group
Oresti Patricios heads Ornico – a company he founded in South Africa in 1984 – which has become a leading Pan-African provider of reputation, media, advertising and brand research. Launching operations in Nigeria in 2010 was a particular milestone for him and the start of a major African expansion plan for Ornico which aims to standardize media and brand measurement across the continent. More countries soon followed.
About Ornico Group Pty
Ornico is a Brand Intelligence research company headquartered in South Africa with offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Lagos, Nigeria. It also offers monitoring and analysis services across the African continent via partnerships and agreements. Established in 1984 as an advertising monitoring company, it evolved to offer various media monitoring, analytical and research services for brands, agencies, organizations and governments. Basic services include editorial and advertising monitoring across television, radio, print, internet and social media, mobile, outdoor and direct marketing. Premium services include media, communication and reputational analysis through to comprehensive Brand Intelligence reports which provide a thorough independent view of a brand and its competitors in the media landscape. In 2012 Ornico was instrumental in the establishment of the first South African media monitoring industry body, SAMMA (The South African Media Monitoring and Measurement Association) with Ornico CEO Oresti Patricios chairing the industry body. Ornico is a member of FIBEP, AMEC and PAMRO. Ornico aims to standardize media research and analysis in Africa with further expansion across the continent currently underway.
