As ListenLogic continues to grow on a variety of fronts, from its portfolio to personnel, it was high-time for the company to expand its space to accommodate this ongoing expansion. Earlier this month the company moved into new space in Conshohocken, which largely serves as the Philadelphia region’s technology hub. The space, complete with 16-foot high ceilings and a view of the Schuylkill River, is approximately three times the size of ListenLogic’s previous location in Fort Washington.

One of primary needs of the new office was facilitate the expansion of the company’s Business Intelligence Center (pictured right), which now features over 70 screens. This expansion was necessary for our expert analysts to effectively manage the ever-expanding, advanced, real-time social risk and threat detection delivered to many of the world’s leading brands across the media, entertainment, consumer packaged goods, pharmaceutical and food and beverage industries.

The risks ListenLogic detects on an ongoing basis range in variety and complexity from employee misconduct and extortion attempts to boycotts and breaches to impersonation identification to influencer tracking.

ListenLogic’s Business Intelligence Center not only features one of the most advanced streaming “big data” engines, which processes at a rate of over one billion streaming operations per second, but it is also one of the largest commercial command centers in the world.

ListenLogic EVP Kevin Glacken was recently featured in Social Media Today with a guest column entitled ‘Mapping the Customer Journey with Social Intelligence,’ and article that has made incredible waves in marketing, consumer insight and product circles. Additionally, the article trended across four LinkedIn News categories (Marketing, PR, Communications and Strategy) and was shared thousands of times over.

We sat down with Kevin to discuss how corporations are able to effectively map their customers’ journeys with “big data” social intelligence like never before.

LL: Kevin, why do you think this topic has created so much interest among marketers, product managers and insight professionals?

KG: You know, there’s been so much discussion around the customer journey and path-to-purchase, but a lot of it has been theoretical in nature with many brand experts saying how valuable a true customer journey map would be to their brands. What we’re delivering to many of the world’s leading brands right now isn’t theoretical, it’s exactly what they are looking for; the ability to deeply understand the specific demand moments and decision points millions of consumers go through towards a purchase.

We provide detailed analysis, which is actionable and can be influenced by a wide array of factors – messaging, packaging, positioning, education or promotion, among other triggers. I think the specific, tangible application of this is what is getting so many brand experts interested and excited.

LL: What are some of the biggest “ah-ha” moments for brand teams that see this social intelligence for the first time?

KG: First, that it’s possible. We work with a lot of executives in Marketing and Consumer Insights who have been doing it for decades, many of whom have PhDs , and they are amazed that technology now exists to process, filter and classify billions of social discussions and extract intelligence specifically answering their questions and addressing their needs.

Specifically, it’s pretty cool when we identify an entirely new consumer segment that they aren’t focused on or aware of. It’s also great seeing their strategic decisions crystallize based on millions of social discussions. There’s an immediate, huge impact this consumer social insight has on brands and that’s great to be a part of.

ListenLogic’s CEO, Vince Schiavone, and CMO, Mark Harrington (pictured at right, center), both participated in Villanova’s Leadership Conference for Executive MBAs on May 31. The annual conference, focused on executive leadership and strategic learning, is attended by executives from corporations ranging from Boeing, Deloitte and SAP to Merck, Sunoco and the Federal Reserve Bank.

Mark helped kick-off the conference during the “Lessons from the C-Suite” session, serving on “Marketing in the Digital Age” panel. This panel of marketing executives reviewed the strategies, approaches and tactics related to effectively building customer relationships in today’s digital social age. The discussion also focused on the executive challenges and skills necessary to master both the art and science of marketing.

Mark reviewed a variety of topics from his experience in strategic marketing roles with companies ranging from eBay and Citi to Ecount and ListenLogic. He discussed topics like the critical role listening and understanding plays with companies building relationships with consumers. He also reviewed how ListenLogic is pioneering how corporations are transforming their marketing efficacy by personifying their customers and engaging the customer journey through the understanding of millions of daily consumer social conversations.

Vince (pictured at right, left side with Steve Andriole) closed out the day during the “EMBA in Action” session, serving on “The Shark Panel.” This panel focused on the topics of business model development and investments as well as the future direction of successful emerging companies.

The panel was moderated by Dr. Steve Andriole, the Thomas G. Labrecque Professor of Business Technology for Villanova’s School of Business. Steve is also a board member of ListenLogic.

ListenLogic EVP Kevin Glacken was recently featured in Smart Data Collective with a guest column entitled ‘Big Social Data Can Unlock the Power of Engaged Viewers’ which reviews how the intersection of television and social media is creating multidimensional value for programs.

We sat down with Kevin to understand more about how advanced social intelligence is impacting the entertainment industry by revealing the power of engaged viewers.

Q: You talk about the value of ‘engaged viewers,’ how do these viewers help save shows that networks would traditionally cut?

A: The sheer number of viewers a show has will always be a measurement of programming value because it conveys good old fashioned reach. However today, with open social media that allows audience members to interact and promote programs, there’s an important quality component aside from the traditional quantity component to measure the value of programming.

Up until even recently shows were getting canceled because of their relative small audience sizes. A few years ago a show like Jericho, which struggled to surpass three million viewers ended up getting slashed. Today, that dynamic has changed and a show such as Community, which draws about the same audience size, gets a longer run simply because the viewers are engaged, giving the show a Top 15 Involved Viewer Rating (IVR). They are discussing and promoting the show, but more importantly revealing a wealth of insight on themselves that delivers incredible value to advertisers – their likes, dislikes, interests, tastes, behaviors. This understanding provides an entirely new dimension of value, which extends the show’s life.

The IVR can actually predict a shows success in many cases better than the traditional Nielson ratings, simply because of the depth of insight, volume of audience and span across demographics that our platform measures. With traditional audience rankings shows like Glee, Sons of Anarchy or The Daily Show would likely not make beyond a season or two. Yet, the social intelligence derived from the “cult” audience delivers incredible value to advertisers.

Q: Do you see entertainment relying more heavily on the engaged viewer to measure a show’s value?

A: There is certainly a segment of the industry embracing this given the clients we deliver solutions for across media, sports and entertainment. Not every media outlet is adopting this approach yet, but the ones that are able to leverage audience insights with IVR to not only drive advertising dollars, but also shape the show’s storyline are delivering powerful, engaging programming. The ability to gain actionable, multidimensional insight on a program is impressive.

Our Chief Marketing Officer, Mark Harrington, was recently featured in MarketingProfs with a guest piece entitled, ‘Five Ways That Advanced Social Intelligence Helps Marketers.’ In the article he discusses how deep insights derived from millions of online consumer social discussions is delivering unprecedented understanding to Marketing, Product and Brand Groups. We caught up with Mark to go more in-depth on the topic.

Q: Mark, you talk about how social business intelligence is driving innovation. What aspects of innovation are benefiting most in corporations.

A: The value this advanced social consumer insight provides lies in the speed and trustworthiness of the data – it’s immediate and unbiased. With most of the missions we conduct for clients we can extract millions of relevant conversations on their industries, markets, brands, products or competitors. This allows for rapid, true understanding of market reactions, attitudes, behaviors, decisions and actions.

Given this, we’re seeing companies use it as an immediate feedback loop from shoppers, consumers and influencers on elements like new packaging, messaging, features or flavors, new market entries and even the revitalization of products that are losing market share. So we’re seeing Brand, Marketing, Insights, Innovation, Strategy and Product Teams heavily rely on it. Traditional shopper surveys, for example, can take up to six months for a company to get results. In that time you’ve missed the opportunity to adapt and impact sales. So, the immediacy of this social business intelligence is being strategically used on both the front end to drive decision-making and back end to test the decision results.

Q: You say, “One of the fastest-growing strategic areas advanced social intelligence is being used for is with competitive analysis.” Talk about how companies are using social intelligence to understand their competitors.

A: Often we have clients that end up understanding their competitors better than the competitors understand themselves. They gain insight on the attitudes, behaviors, actions, decision points, demand moments and overall path-to-purchase for a competing product from shoppers and consumers (who are not always the same individual). They understand why their competitors gain and lose customers and switch to or from their products as well as the strong points and vulnerabilities of their offerings.

And we deliver all of this insight so that it is actionable for the company to strategically drive everything from messaging and education to packaging and promotions to product development to overall innovation to effectively increase sales and win market share.

Q: In terms of media planning, how are teams using this insight to reach their audiences more effectively?

A: ListenLogic tells our clients what their consumers are doing while consuming their products, what specific shows or sports or movies or websites or apps are they engaging to drive channel selection. How they shop for their products for partner or distribution decisions. What activities or interests or hobbies their consumers have. The attitudes on specific product attributes to drive messaging or education. The depth of understanding is pretty incredible to give true insight to plan out promotional campaigns like never before.