Last Friday, I got the chance to speak with CEO and co-founder of Locately, Thaddeus Fulford-Jones. Locately, currently based in the Innovation District, is a location analytics company that takes GPS data from mobile phones in order to better understand consumer interests and habits. Locately’s technology is built using Semi-continuous GPS data, which functions similarly to Google Latitude in the sense that the user does not have to “check in” in order to transmit data. Locately then converts this data map of our everyday whereabouts into a lifestyle archetype. These archetypes are built using tag clouds, which are “collections of differently-sized words that describe the content of a page or article.” In this case, instead of a page Locately builds a tag cloud based on what location a user visits. Just recently, Locately was chosen as one of the 26 finalists of Mass Challenge.
BostInnovation: What problem did Locately set out to solve?
Thaddeus Fulford-Jones: What we do at Locately, is what we call “location analytics.” In same way that web analytics is pretty essential to any business that has an online business, location analytics is very quickly becoming essential for businesses that have a visible location. These businesses are developing a real need for understanding how their consumers move around in the real world. In the same way that firms that are online need to monitor things like how many people are visiting the website, where they’re coming from, and how long they are staying there, physical businesses can use our location analytics to evaluate similar sorts of metrics but for real people, in the real world, moving around.
BostInno: Can you talk a little more about how the service works?
Fulford-Jones: Let me say first that 100% data that we get is opt-in. We’d never get any consumer’s GPS data, unless we have their permission. What we basically do is consumers share their GPS with us for limited time periods; usually a couple of weeks or a couple of months. In return they receive incentives from brands that they trust and brands they already have relationships with. So it could be things like discounts, special offers, gift cards, etc. Our service then acquires their GPS data and processes the data in order to make sense of it so companies can make best decisions.
BostInno: What are some examples of how businesses are using data gathered by Locately in their marketing strategy?
Fulford-Jones: Back in early 2010 we actually co-authored a white paper with Havas Digital that focused on how to use Location Analytics to guide marketing strategy. In collaboration with Havas Digital we opted in people from 3 different geographical areas in the U.S. the Boston-Metro area, areas around New York City, and Chicago. Our analytics found for example, that people who shopped at Sears had the highest loyalty of anyone who shopped at department stores. We also discovered that people who shopped at Whole Foods were twice as likely to engage in fitness related activities, then individuals who shopped elsewhere. One of the other interesting things we found was that about half of the participants that went to Whole Foods also regularly went to other grocery stores over the course of our study. So all of these different types of insights are really relevant to businesses because firstly, they can use this information to personally engage in more relevant conversation with their shoppers, and secondly grow share of wallet by building more effective marketing campaigns and creating new co-brand opportunities.
BostInno: How does Locately’s analytics differ from other geo-analytics tools, like the tools currently offered by Foursquare?
Fulford-Jones: I would say that there are really two key differentiators for us. The first one is that Locately focuses on what we call “Semi-continuous GPS data.” These GPS data points are therefore acquired fairly regularly; once every 5, 10 or 15 minutes. The second differentiator is that we don’t require “check-ins.” We don’t require you to push a button and say “I am here.” Because of that we get very comprehensive and rich information about everywhere somebody goes, not just where they would open the Foursquare app and declare their location. The reason that is important is that Foursquare check-ins tend to be very focused on social venues, places like: restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. Not a lot of people check-in let’s say for example, when they go to the super market, or when they head over to Best Buy. With Locately businesses can really understand the full context of someone’s lifestyle from a location perspective, and that includes things like how long they spend visiting locations, which is something you can’t do with Foursquare because they don’t have a “check-out” button. Also, we start to see which retail activities people choose to drive past when they are on route to a destination they prefer, you start to really understand the competitive landscape and the relevance of somebody’s choices in the context in a broader set of options they have in their local area.
One of the many ways businesses can find out about Locately is to visit their location analytics blog. Earlier this year Locately announced collaboration with Nielson, one of the largest consumer insight firms in the world. They are one the first companies to combine location analytics with Nielson’s Home Scan Panel, which records what people buy. Locately’s technology also powers the GPS components of Harris Interactive’s Research Life Streaming Platform.
