Placed (Consumer Location Analytics)
Placed is an interesting location analytics company. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington and backed by Madrona Venture Group, Placed provides retailer insights based on data collected from the Placed app called the Panel App. I downloaded the app and it asked me for some personal information. I’m guessing this information is similar to questions asked if I was enrolled in a “secret shopper” program. Placed is evolving the collection of shopping data by providing awards for people who share their shopping patterns and personal information. Placed has several product offerings:
Placed Insights: Placed Insights reports location analytics data through their ratings service which measures the physical world. With an audience of more than one million opted-in users sharing nearly one billion locations a day, Placed Insights provides businesses with the data they need to make informed decisions based on location.1 Data in this application shows retailers how customers move in the real world and what their preferences are. This data also shows opportunities for cross-promotion. For example, the data might show a group of people who always go to Whole Foods after they work out at a specific gym. A new Sprouts that just opened up nearby could advertise at the gym and try to lure these people into a new shopping pattern. Figure 12.1 shows how Placed Insights ranks retailers based on foot traffic.
Figure 12.1 Placed Insights shows the retailers busiest day by month of the year
Placed Attribution: This product ties online, mobile, and out of home advertising to in-store visits. Placed has over 100 partners including agencies, publishers, networks, demand side platforms, and out-of-home media companies.
Placed Targeting: Mobile target marketing beyond the geo-fence. Geo-fence marketing is where an app sends a targeted marketing message when a mobile device gets within a specific distance of the retail location. Placed targeting specializes in reaching customers while they are still in the decision-making process and not in proximity of the retail stores. An example of this would be to send coupons for a new lunch spot to office workers at around 11:30 a.m. when they are just starting to think about lunch plans.
Placed 100:2 The Placed 100 is a monthly rank of US businesses based on foot traffic as measured and normalized through the opt-in Panel App, each business report includes details on business rank, category rank, trend, businesses visited, and apps installed.
Placed Affiliate: This program encourages other location-based apps to add the SDK code from the Panel app along with user opt-in language. This allows for greater market coverage beyond the Panel App alone. In exchange for implementing the SDK, the developer of the app earns incremental income.