Teradata has been morphing into its new self for a few years now, and last week they tied a ribbon on it. They’ve got a few new phrases, a new logo, and a new tagline — all to tell the world they’re about more now than the data foundation, they do the doors and windows, too.
“Invest in answers,” one new line commands. And the new logo’s bright red period after “teradata” seems to say that Teradata’s all you need to do it.
Then there’s the tagline: “pervasive data intelligence.”
I think a good tagline stands on its own, shimmering like a one-line poem. Then it wears well in reading after reading for years on end.
But what exactly does this one mean? “Data intelligence,” of course, is just a new form of “business intelligence” without the bruises.
It’s “pervasive” that makes me wonder.
The word brings to my mind the Teradata product I know best, Customer Journey, which looks to me like at least one leading edge of the new Teradata. That orchestra of tech combines Teradata’s traditional specialty, data management, with its newer tools for analytics and communication. It all comes together in one wizardly amalgam that large organizations use to coax customers down a path to fulfillment.
That’s one kind of pervasive: so many sources of data, analytics that makes the most of the data, and real-time calibrated messaging — almost omniscient, maybe a little bit overly so. No doubt about it, that’s pervasive in all its colors.
I looked it up. Examples in stalwart old Merriam-Webster dictionary include “Land confiscation and human rights violations remained pervasive,” and “Pervasive connectivity is becoming more important.” There’s a caution: “Pervasive is most often used of things we don’t really want spreading throughout all parts of something.” Even the fast and loose Urban Dictionary sees a shadow. A third source, The American Heritage Dictionary gives an example: “A pervasive odor of garlic.”
But this a first look. The tagline is just now showing off, if that’s the word, its innate colors. Over time, it will acquire new shades of meaning from its environment, perhaps so completely that the words themselves become just traces.
A tagline’s acquired colors come from the company, its products, but most of all its reputation. So the Teradata word mavens can slide comfortably into this holiday season. Before long, “pervasive data intelligence” will shimmer with the reflected light of Teradata’s foundation with its new doors and windows. If it all sparkles, so will the tagline.
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