Creative By the Numbers

An effective campaign or communications strategy begins with a clear understanding of the problem it aims to solve. The sharper and more accurate the understanding, the greater the impact of the solution.

Enter data science.

Conversations about your brand and industry are already happening across the digital ecosystem. Imagine having the ability to monitor and forensically analyze these discussions with precision. With data science, you do.

You gain robust insights into audience sentiment, understanding how people truly feel about your brand, your competitors, and the industry at large. You can effectively identify specific pain points your audience is facing and distill the vital key messages most likely to drive engagement and action. You can also uncover brand-altering emerging issues and reveal clear opportunities for your brand to lead the conversation, shape perception, and capture market share.

The superpower of bringing data science into strategic creative communications enables you to solve problems quickly and effectively, while fast-tracking your ability to future-proof your brand by responding to and capitalizing on trends and getting well ahead of any significant issues.

I’ve had the privilege of conducting data and vulnerability studies for brands all over the world in nearly every industry, and here’s what it can look like:

• A health care system that sets itself apart from competitors because it understands and addresses the exact frustrations of patients in the region. It distills online conversation into strategy and then transforms the strategy into tactical action.
• A museum that builds a growing membership, even in this economic environment, because it studied and implemented the very specific types of events and offerings that would uniquely attract millennials.
• A car manufacturer that enhances overall consumer experience with its latest model and brand by simply tracking and analyzing the online dialogue that revealed consumers loved the new vehicle but were upset they had to purchase a second key. Problem identified, simple solution (two free keys) implemented.
• A national wine brand that reengineered its an entire marketing strategy and evolved from an affordable wine brand for special occasions to one that celebrated the simple wins in life. The brand shift worked because we listened to and distilled the online and social media conversation into insights that were magnetic.

When we partner with clients on a comprehensive brand data and vulnerability study, we uncover, analyze and distill data from across every possible digital touchpoint to assess public perception and engagement around the company’s key themes or needs. We’ll pull this information from Twitter/X, Reddit, YouTube, Meta, TikTok, blogs, forums and every potential channel that is specific to the client and brand.

The volume of data generated today is staggering. IBM estimates that 90% of the world’s data has been created in just the past two years, and that figure continues to rise by the minute. Navigating this vast information landscape requires more than just surface-level monitoring. This is the critical distinction between basic social listening, which technology alone can perform, and strategic hearing, which is the deeper, human-led interpretation that transforms data into actionable insight, as delivered through a brand data and vulnerability study.

Listening means you’re aware of the information. Hearing means you understand the emotion and tone behind the conversation, what it means for your brand, and how to apply the insights. The data is often only as useful as the distillation thereof.

When we analyze the data, we’re able to provide the client with actionable intelligence, including:

• An overview of the key insights, trends and opportunities with your customers and in your marketplace. Are you a tourism company trying to attract more visitors from, say, England? Here is exactly what people in England are saying about your location, and the types of offers that would prompt them to book the trip and add to their consideration set.
• A future trends radar outlining the emerging industry/audience trends and potential issues to manage.
• Best-in-class recommendations based on the strategies and positioning of competitor and peer brands.
• Brand loyalty signals, with an understanding of why people are switching to or from your company.
• The top drivers of positive and negative experiences and sentiment with your company.
• Competitive whitespace positioning, to identify needs that are currently unmet by competitors and precisely where your brand can step in.
• An accurate reflection of your share of voice in the market.
• Audience profiles based on real behaviors and interests.

This is the kind of insight that powers the campaigns that become magnetically connective. It sharpens a brand’s message, making it culturally relevant, emotionally resonant, and very difficult to ignore. It reveals the gaps your competitors are missing, and the white space your brand can own. Most of all, it brings the voice of the customer into the heart of your strategy.

Data science doesn’t just predict what people will do next. It also helps you say the right thing when it matters most, from breakthrough moments to brand crises.

Data science often gives brands, services and organizations permission to do the kind of work they have perhaps been historically impermissible to do. It takes the guesswork out of marketing; it is the ultimate path through math. And it’s incredibly useful as both a proactive and reactive tool.

While Brian Communications’ full-scale data studies take time to uncover deep insights, in urgent moments we deploy rapid-response monitoring, real-time, 24/7, for a few critical days. In a crisis, speed and clarity matter. We’ll track what audiences are actually saying, how much traction the issue has, and distill the emotional undercurrents into actionable intelligence. From there, we help you craft a response that’s proportionate, human, and rooted in strategy, not panic. We’ll also surface hidden vulnerabilities and untapped strengths to guide your next moves.

We live in a data-saturated world. But most brands don’t use that data in a proactive or reactive way; they simply drown in it. The brands that win are the ones that listen smarter.

We call this “Creative by the Numbers”: blending insight with instinct, precision with imagination. It’s how we build campaigns that not only move the needle, but move people.