The Data Disconnect: What’s It Mean For Your Brand + Gen Z?

There’s lots of talk about big brands quickly losing their share to newer, smaller brands—especially when it comes to Millenials and Gen Z.

Today every click, every purchase, every Uber ride can be turned into a data point. But with all of the expensive data that big brands consume, we have to ask ourselves—where’s the disconnect?

We know everything Gen Z is doing and when they are doing it. We know what Millennials eat and where they vacation. We know patterns of their daily lives, from what time they go to bed to how much they exercise. But there’s one thing all of this data may be causing us to miss out on: not what they’re doing, but how they feel. What we really need are the insights and the ‘whys’ behind their behavior.

Big brands have the data, but they’re still losing consumers to small brands that definitely do not have access to nearly as much information. Ore-Ida, Purina, Pedigree, Maxwell House, and Weight Watchers all are struggling to connect with Millennials and Gen Z. And growth within consumer goods categories like packaged foods, beverages, and home care has been low since 2012. In the food industry alone, revenue growth is projected to steadily decrease from 17% in 2017 to 7.9% in 2022.

With access to millions of underlying data points covering existing channels like email, website, search, shopper loyalty, social and mobile engagement, reviews, comments, ratings, location check-ins, and more, 62% of marketers feel overwhelmed by the amount of data they have on their brand.

And advertisers still think they want more. 47% of advertisers in North America will increase their use of third party data in the next year.

They’ll use that data to create what they think are relevant innovations,  to make smart acquisitions. But they aren’t looking at the one thing that can help them get connected in a way that will allow consumers to buy everything and anything from them- insights. Very likely the missing link between legacy brands and young consumers—and still incredibly rare—insights are actionable, data-driven findings that create business value. For brands to develop long-lasting consumer relationships, they need to first leverage insights to better understand what drives their choices.

But most brands don’t know how to make the connection between the data and the insights. Or they have to go to multiple sources to do it and it gets confusing and lost in the layers.

That’s why we developed a revolutionary brand building platform called I-Factor®. Marrying data and insights in one place, I-Factor® collects data through a series of specialized questions and visual metaphors, implements real-time equity tracking through Social Listening, and then helps brands measure, quantify, and raise their Irresistibility Factor.

Using three components of modern brand/consumer relationship, we capture data and then connect them to actionable insights and add live social listening for real-time equity tracking. To discover these insights, we enlist visual imagery to tap into the human subconscious and uncover deep-rooted thoughts and emotions that drive consumer behavior. With the insights I-Factor® uncovers, brands can create messaging platforms, build truly compelling narratives, and make strategic media choices.

This smart combination of data and insights can facilitate brand breakthroughs, keep consumers engaged, and help motivate them to become advocates for your brand.

Looking to create long-lasting connections with younger audiences? Let’s talk.

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