Excel is all-prevailing. A 2022 survey by Microbizmag estimates that Microsoft Productivity Services, which includes Excel, are used by 1.1 billion people on the planet. That’s approximately 1 in every 8 people alive. Launched in 1985, Excel is still the ultimate number-crunching tool today, with little competition. Capture data, mix-and-match, collaborate with colleagues on complex issues – Excel does it all.
But there’s another part to it
People do face some problems using Excel. It is tedious to delve into the seemingly never-ending maze of rows and columns, day in and day out. Many have to make do with that, but for Brand Managers, things can be simplified.
There are solutions in the market that can help ease the daily operations of Brand Managers who use Excel to explore data and arrive at decisions. The proposal here is a data exploration platform that allows Brand Managers to mitigate Excel’s shortcomings, without having to completely revolutionize the way they work currently.
Let’s approach this on an assumption that a Brand Manager is interested in such a tool, and naturally has certain expectations of it. Can the tool fulfill these expectations?
After speaking with many Brand Managers..
From top firms like Unilever, Abbott, SC Johnson, Asian Paints, and many others, we found the following 4 common expectations that Brand Managers have from such a data exploration platform if they are to consider using it:
1 – Brand Managers want data exploration on integrated datasets
The planning and strategizing components are strenuous enough, in addition to the many other responsibilities BMs shoulder. They don’t need another tool to come in and create a mess; if they do go for a tool, it ought to simplify their routine activities.
Solution – A method of simplifying data exploration that tools like Explorazor offer is the integration of multiple data sources under a single roof. Brand Managers would then no longer have to scour through multiple Excel sheets to find a singular piece of data. Simply hop on a platform that unifies all datasets, and extract the desired responses from it.
2 – Brand Managers want the data exploration tool to respond quickly
A fair question that BMs would ask now is ‘How long will it take me to extract the right data points to obtain a response?’
The basis for such a question is that Excel typically hosts enormous volumes of data, and the whole process from data uploading to insights extraction is very slow.
Solution – Explorazor’s simple search function yields real-time responses. Ask for any specific data cut simply by posing a question to the system, and a relevant chart/graph/table is readily presented. Since the whole dataset is integrated, one is already at the right place – there is no need to spend time finding the right sheet.
One can download these data cuts as CSV files too if needed
3 – Brand Managers want pivot tables
Not much needs to be said regarding pivot’s importance, and it’s perfectly safe to say that no tool would be worth its value if it doesn’t support pivots.
Solution – Create pivots on Explorazor by simply mentioning the column names you want a pivot on. Additionally, Explorazor’s pivot feature empowers Brand Managers to obtain cross-sectional data tables by using metrics from multiple data sources at a time.
4 – Brand Managers want a data exploration tool! (hidden expectation)
Brand Managers are incredibly busy, resourceful individuals who would love to have technology ease their daily tasks.
Solution – Explorazor does not require a radical shift in the current working method of Brand Managers. It is just a unifying platform that brings together diverse data and analytics that drive value for an organization and seeks to simplify a Brand Manager’s data exploration journey as well.
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