Where big data is all about seeking correlations - and thus to make incremental changes - small data is all about causations - seeking to understand the reasons why.

Opinion free brands simply will struggle to survive in the future - of that simple reason that we increasingly want to associate ourselves with opinionated and authentic brands.

The fact that we all leave behind seemingly insignificant clues behind ourselves - emotional DNA or what I call Small Data - which are able to describe with an insane accuracy who we really are, our personalities and desires. But even more how we all represents out of balances - perhaps I feel too overweight, feel alone or feel I haven't achieved what I'd hoped for when hitting 40. These imbalances are surprisingly visible when visiting consumers' homes - and surprisingly invisible when relaying on Big Data.

Powerful brands in the future will instead carefully choose who'd they'd love to be friends with - and who they'd be comfortable upsetting.

Storytelling has driven faith and religious practice, keeping them alive for millennia. Just as every hymn, icon, and stained-glass window in a church links to a story, brands have the potential to build holistic identities.

A brand is an emotional construct. It helps you to project an image to the world which you'd like to own.

We're also more affected by aspirational signals in an offline world where it is more difficult to "hide" and thus indirectly increases the influence from others.