Enter subzero-party data, a term I’ve created to describe the ideal data set: subconscious or otherwise undetectable data that a customer discovers and shares with a brand. I’m talking about putting customers in touch with their own subconscious minds by helping them measure and interpret their unique neural or otherwise unfiltered responses to messages and experiences.
Subzero-party data is essentially data that’s not consciously known or apparent to the subject before it’s mutually discovered by the subject and the “data miner.” Methods of uncovering subzero-party data include:
- Eye tracking, which monitors the positions and movements of the eyes to better inform visual system research, marketing, human-computer interaction and product design
- Biometric testing, which measures responses to stimuli such as perspiration or changes in heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol levels
- Facial coding, which analyzes facial expressions in reaction to stimuli to understand human emotion
Some brands are already paving the way in advance of subzero-party data as a term for industry adoption. Kimberly-Clark puts neuroscience at the heart of its market research by testing marketing stimuli on people who opt into subconscious reaction studies. The Asics Mind Uplifter tool is designed to benefit customers’ workouts by visually showing how sports impact their wellbeing. At Adobe Max, technology gave people a look into how their brains reacted while creating.
Currently, a leading CPG brand is looking to subzero-party data as a pre-campaign optimization approach. This study leverages electroencephalogram (EEG) brain wave data to measure the emotional engagement consumers have in response to video, interstitial and banner ads that have been personalized for new, lapsed, loyal and competitive customers of a snack brand in advance of its Q3 campaign launch. The brand intends to use the results to optimize the campaign creative in order to maximize emotional connection with its target audiences.
Brands are not the only ones looking to stake their claim in the subzero-party data frontier. Major investment in subzero-party data collection is gaining momentum tied to cultural advertising moments, like the Super Bowl, agnostic of brand investment—for example, a 2022 study that leveraged bioinformatics to measure viewer receptivity to Super Bowl 56 game events, commercials and Halftime Show.
