15 Brands That Used Their Data in Different Ways
What do brands do with their data? It’s a broad question, but as companies collect more and more information about themselves, their customers and the world, there is a growing opportunity to be smart, not just responsible, with how its used. Turning brand data into marketing communications, insight and partnership or even a product is possible if brands consider the full value of the data they hold.
Looking across markets, I found 15 different brands that used data in 3 distinct ways: as a publicity mechanism, through research and partnership or as a product.
Brands Publicising Their Core Data:
1.) Google – Year in Search
Google annually recaps the year through search, highlighting the stories, moments and news that captured our interest and drove search activity. As the world’s leader in search, becoming the arbiter for what the world has searched for, is a natural fit. For 2023, they expanded this concept to celebrate their 25th anniversary.
2.) Spotify – Wrapped
Similarly to Google, Spotify uses its listening data as an annual promotional mechanism. Spotify wrapped recaps a listener’s year through music, telling a story about what someone listened to, what genres appealed and how they stack up to other Spotify listeners around the world. The social reach of this annual activity is magnified by creating custom content users can share to show their results.
3.) Monzo – Year in Monzo
Building on Spotify’s success, in 2023, UK fintech Monzo created a similar recap of a user’s yearly spending, highlighting the favourite categories, shops and sources of spend that every customer had during the year.
4.) Apple – App Store Listings
Perhaps an unlikely, but obvious, entry on the list – but Apple’s app store stands as an effective daily message for Apple users in device. The App store’s listings of most popular apps drive discovery and wider use of Apple devices, serving as a subtle but effective message for users.
5.) Zillow – Hottest Housing Markets
Property firm Zillow uses its own housing and sales data to release a yearly barometer of the hottest housing markets in the US. While distinctly different from Apple, both firms have a similar goal – using data to tell a story that drives continued usage of their own platform.
6.) U-Haul – Growth Index
Mover U-Haul takes a similar approach to Zillow, using their moving data and hire pickup / drop off points as a datasource to where Americans are moving within the country. While the use of the data doesn’t directly inspire greater product usage, it does allow the brand to capture attention more widely than just when people are looking to move.
7.) Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection – Safest Places to Travel
Insurer Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection uses its own claim data to produce an annual list of the safest destinations to travel to in the next year. While the insurance industry is more hopeful consumers don’t use their product, the list allows the brand to use their data to establish themselves as an expert and a supporter to travellers.
8.) YunoJuno – Freelancer Rate Report
Freelancer work platform YunoJuno uses their own transaction data to help freelancers understand more context about how to set rates and charge for their services. The context this creates help users of the platform understand more about what is fair and empowers them to work more effectively within the site.
9.) Ovo – Green Energy Ads
UK utility provider Ovo has used their data in an innovative way, powering the media behind their messaging. Their ads only run on DOOH when more green energy is powering the UK grid, underscoring a commitment to cleaner energy for customers.
10.) Figo Pet Insurance
Pet Insurer Figo tracks the most popular dog names in the US by state, giving pet owners considering what to name a new pup some suggestions and starting a relationship with them earlier than expected.
Brands Using Research Data / Partnership:
11.) Dove – Real Cost of Beauty Research Report
FMCG brand Dove’s focus on ‘Real Beauty’ has created a long term campaign platform for the brand. Extending this platform into research and data, the company has created the ‘Real Cost of Beauty’ report which highlights the social and psychological impact of beauty standards – and why their brand point of view is so important.
12.) Hinge – D.A.T.E Report
Dating app Hinge, which positions itself as being ‘designed to be deleted’, commissioned their first ever research report into Gen Z dating behaviour in 2023. Using experts and primary research, the brand tapped into the language, moments and beliefs behind Gen Z dating, so that users had a better chance at finding what they’re looking for.
13.) Sephora – Racial Bias in Retail
Beauty retailer Sephora’s mission to be a new type of beauty company extends to how inclusive their retail experience can be. To find out more and publicise insight into racial bias in retail shopping, the brand carried out primary research into the sector and publicised their findings in a series of reports.
Brands Using Data as a Product:
14.) Google – Google Search Trends
Google may have already been on this list when it comes to PR’ing search data, but they’ve also productised it. Google Search Trends, where indexed search trend data is available to users, is a fully functioning, if free, product.
15.) Michelin – The Michelin Guide
Perhaps the most famous example of a brand selling data is Michelin. The tire company started providing guides to restaurants and hotels in the early 1900’s as a way to encourage greater driving and subsequently, tire usage. In the intervening years, the guide has become something more independent of the tire brand, with many unaware of the linkage between the two as it moved from PR to full product. Now, the idea of Michelin stars for restaurants is something completely separate from the tires diners might drive on to get there.
// The list above started as a collaborative list on LinkedIn, part of a series called #stratlists. Check out more on platform and join in on building a repository of brand examples for planners everywhere to use.