John Balla

I contributed this article to the SAS COVID-19 content collaboration with The Economist. The inspiring thought was how quickly organizations had to re-think almost every aspect of operations in terms of technology and digital transformation when the pandemic suddenly changed everyday reality around the world. And successful organizations made the pivot and built resilience based on digital operations, analytics, and cloud-based solutions. They unlocked the key to long-term resilience by… Show more

I contributed this article to the SAS COVID-19 content collaboration with The Economist. The inspiring thought was how quickly organizations had to re-think almost every aspect of operations in terms of technology and digital transformation when the pandemic suddenly changed everyday reality around the world. And successful organizations made the pivot and built resilience based on digital operations, analytics, and cloud-based solutions. They unlocked the key to long-term resilience by connecting critical resourcing constraints and operational agility to data-driven decisions. Show less

On behalf of SAS, I sponsored research with Penton Media's Internet of Things Institute to publish this report, which I also edited. The goal was to create a practical report to serve as a thought leadership asset in our IoT campaigns. The findings summarize real-world insights, lessons learned and pitfalls to avoid when pursuing the value-creation potential of IoT.

The global survey of IoT users offers valuable insights to both IoT innovators and organizations looking for emerging best… Show more

On behalf of SAS, I sponsored research with Penton Media's Internet of Things Institute to publish this report, which I also edited. The goal was to create a practical report to serve as a thought leadership asset in our IoT campaigns. The findings summarize real-world insights, lessons learned and pitfalls to avoid when pursuing the value-creation potential of IoT.

The global survey of IoT users offers valuable insights to both IoT innovators and organizations looking for emerging best practices to maximize the substantial investments in IoT. Show less

I guided the creation of the research hypothesis and survey questions for sponsored research with MIT Sloan Management Review to uncover the drivers behind the role of analytics in fueling innovation. My direction for the research team was to focus on how organizations tap into big data for insights and advantages by evolving processes, organization structures and harness new technologies, such as Hadoop, cloud computing and the Internet of Things

The resulting report is based on… Show more

I guided the creation of the research hypothesis and survey questions for sponsored research with MIT Sloan Management Review to uncover the drivers behind the role of analytics in fueling innovation. My direction for the research team was to focus on how organizations tap into big data for insights and advantages by evolving processes, organization structures and harness new technologies, such as Hadoop, cloud computing and the Internet of Things

The resulting report is based on surveys and select interviews conducted globally with more than 2,600 executives and scholars. Insights shared in the report include:

- How the wider use of analytics is uprooting old trends and creating greater benefits.
- Ways that increasing ROI relates to the governing and sharing of data.
- Insights that can be gained automatically from machine learning. Show less

This infographic was created from a research report I sponsored on behalf of SAS with Blue Hill Research. The direction I provided to Blue Hill was to explore the key traits associated with supporting the connected customer through the internet of things.

My goal was to produce a report and infographic that describes how the internet of things will be essential across the general business landscape because the "end game" is always connected to improving the customer experience.

We wrote this paper to provide guidance to marketing executives about the challenges and opportunities with mobile consumers. Based on findings of SAS-sponsored primary research conducted by Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management overseen by Professor Albert, along with insights from other published research, the essence of this paper is summarized by this passage:

As consumers go mobile, their behaviors change, and businesses must respond. Mobile provides the… Show more

We wrote this paper to provide guidance to marketing executives about the challenges and opportunities with mobile consumers. Based on findings of SAS-sponsored primary research conducted by Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management overseen by Professor Albert, along with insights from other published research, the essence of this paper is summarized by this passage:

As consumers go mobile, their behaviors change, and businesses must respond. Mobile provides the opportunity for businesses to engage with customers in new ways. It also allows businesses to develop a deeper understanding of these customers by capturing mobile data and mining it for unique insights. Show less

This paper summarizes the lunch keynote at the DMA's Marketing Analytics Conference, which featured insights and practices from executives that have led their respective organizations to embrace analytics.

Jim Tierney of Loyalty360 summarized the content of a webinar I presented for Loyalty360 based on 2014 research I sponsored with the International Institute for Analytics, for which I co-wrote the report with SAS Chief Research Officer, Pamela Prentice. In the webinar, titled "Analytics Differentiates Leading Customer Loyalty Programs," I outlined the areas marketers should focus on to engender true customer loyalty. My main point was that marketers should focus more on the customer experience… Show more

Jim Tierney of Loyalty360 summarized the content of a webinar I presented for Loyalty360 based on 2014 research I sponsored with the International Institute for Analytics, for which I co-wrote the report with SAS Chief Research Officer, Pamela Prentice. In the webinar, titled "Analytics Differentiates Leading Customer Loyalty Programs," I outlined the areas marketers should focus on to engender true customer loyalty. My main point was that marketers should focus more on the customer experience and their perceived value of engagement, rather than the corporate view of retaining customers or up-selling customers. In addition, we should engage with our customers on the channels they prefer, not just the ones we’re equipped to handle.
The original webinar aired on December 2, 2014 here: https://loyalty360.org/webinars/event/analytics-differentiates-leading-customer-loyalty Show less

People are funny. They’re often fickle, choosy, demanding and impatient. At times, they’ll say one thing and then do another. So when they become customers, how can you possibly predict what they’ll do? Well it turns out there are ways to do it quite effectively using data and analytics...

This paper summarizes a webinar I jointly planned and presented for the American Marketing Association in 2014 with executive speaker and noted thought leader Brian Vellmure.

We explored how customer behavior is undergoing a dramatic shift due to mobile technology and what it means for marketers. These evolving realities are placing pressure on marketers to evolve their marketing and customer engagement strategies and turn to analytics in sensing and responding to customers.

This… Show more

This paper summarizes a webinar I jointly planned and presented for the American Marketing Association in 2014 with executive speaker and noted thought leader Brian Vellmure.

We explored how customer behavior is undergoing a dramatic shift due to mobile technology and what it means for marketers. These evolving realities are placing pressure on marketers to evolve their marketing and customer engagement strategies and turn to analytics in sensing and responding to customers.

This paper also was rendered in an ungated format as an article: https://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/articles/marketing/how-to-build-a-mobile-marketing-strategy.html Show less

Pamela and I co-presented a webinar that presented research we sponsored with the International Institute for Analytics (IIA) and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Our goal was to uncover whether loyalty programs actually work as they were originally intended, or do customers now see them as mere opportunities to grab a discount. The IIA study took the enterprise perspective and the Kellogg study took the consumer perspective. In this webinar, we present the findings from… Show more

Pamela and I co-presented a webinar that presented research we sponsored with the International Institute for Analytics (IIA) and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Our goal was to uncover whether loyalty programs actually work as they were originally intended, or do customers now see them as mere opportunities to grab a discount. The IIA study took the enterprise perspective and the Kellogg study took the consumer perspective. In this webinar, we present the findings from both studies and zero in on the common points to help organizations make changes that matter and see better results from their loyalty programs. Show less

Sponsored, co-wrote and edited a report based on research conducted by the International Institute for Analytics that gained insights from over 300 executives via surveys and interviews. The report reveals how important analytics has become in helping to differentiate their next-generation loyalty programs.
The report can help you learn how and why:
• Analytics is core to understanding the customer experience and improving loyalty programs.
• Social media data and other big data… Show more

Sponsored, co-wrote and edited a report based on research conducted by the International Institute for Analytics that gained insights from over 300 executives via surveys and interviews. The report reveals how important analytics has become in helping to differentiate their next-generation loyalty programs.
The report can help you learn how and why:
• Analytics is core to understanding the customer experience and improving loyalty programs.
• Social media data and other big data are being incorporated into loyalty program strategies.
• Metrics are identified and being used to increase the success of loyalty programs.
I also presented the findings of this report on a panel discussion at the 2014 SAS Premier Business Leadership Series conference with Jack Phillips, CEO of the International Institute for Analytics and Professor Terri Albert of Northwestern University: https://www.sas.com/content/dam/SAS/en_us/doc/event/Next-Generation-Loyalty-Programs-127837.pdf Show less