There is talk and there are deeds. In advertising and marketing 80% of the signal is talk. That’s why so many experiential marketing firms are gaining traction. It is true that consumers when online are sharing about product consumption at all-time highs. “I love Rincon, Puerto Rico.” “St. Francis is the best heart hospital.” “Fish Taco Friday at Bubba’s is a great deal.” This is all good, presumably business-building talk. But are these talkers, going to Rincon, St. Francis or Bubba’s? And if so, how will we know? If they use location-based services like Four Square, etc. we will know. But let’s face it not everyone uses these services. Especially older, higher earners.
So how do we capture deeds? Credit card activity is a good way. Retail and grocery store data another. But one overlooked opportunity zone is the hosted calendar. I went to see my urologist this week for my annual visit; it’s on my Outlook calendar. It’s not in the cloud but easily could be. Lots of people use their calendars to do everything from scheduling meetings and vacations to alert themselves to call family. Is some of this stuff private? Sure.
What if a data analytics company like BlueKai or Marin Software hooked up with a calendar provider and mined opt-in calendar data? And what if they found a way to pay consumers for it? Something to think about, no?
Deeds vs. talk. The deeds have it. Peace.
