Empowering Consumer Marketing with Real-Time AI

(00:00) Thanks, everyone. Today, I’ll give you a quick overview of CivicScience and then introduce Sage, our consumer insights AI assistant. If you want to sign up for a free beta, just visit ai.civicscience.com—no fees involved.

(00:32) CivicScience is a real-time consumer insights and activation platform. We partner with major media sites, placing polling units on their platforms, and we engage with around 10 million consumers daily, collecting roughly 4 million responses on tens of thousands of questions. Essentially, we gather insights into anything a brand marketer or strategist would need to know about consumers. Our current setup is a SaaS platform that presents all this data, but with the recent evolution in AI, we’ve developed Sage to take this a step further.

(00:59) Sage is our consumer insights AI assistant. We envision that marketing and analytics assistants will gradually be replaced by AI. Sage offers a user-friendly, plain-language interface that provides both high-level data exploration and a deeper dive into trend analysis. This helps marketing, strategy, and product teams gain insights without needing to be data experts.

(01:25) Let me explain the structure of Sage. We’ve designed it as an “AI sandwich.” At the top is GPT, which is accessible through Slack, web chat, and soon, Microsoft Teams. When a user submits a question, GPT determines which of CivicScience's data points are most relevant, then directs the query to our system. Our platform, the core of the “sandwich,” processes the data, running statistical tests, sampling, and graphing. Finally, the GPT layer summarizes the output in plain language for the user.

(02:22) Let me show you how Sage works. I’ve run some queries in advance, but I’m happy to demonstrate live if anyone’s interested. Currently, this beta version integrates with Slack, and soon it’ll connect with Teams and web chat. I asked Sage about trends in premium cosmetics. GPT processes the question, identifies the data points, and delivers a summary within about a minute. It breaks down information by demographics, such as age groups, providing detailed insights.

(03:11) Sage doesn’t just show insights; it provides footnotes and links back to our SaaS application for in-depth data exploration. Non-customers can still download extensive data sets for each question, offering a detailed breakdown in just about a minute.

(04:06) You can also specify filters, like geographic regions, to get data tailored to specific areas. You can drill down into time ranges and trends, view time series graphs, and more. With Sage, users can either type queries or click through various data options.

(04:31) Let me pause here for any questions. I’d be happy to dive deeper into any part of the demo. Thanks, Joe, for setting this up. It’s exciting to see this in action, and it’s been a valuable tool to pilot. If anyone has questions, feel free to raise your hand or unmute.

(06:10) **Audience Question**: I love the “sandwich” concept. I work at the IAB and handle a lot of research. If we wanted to use your tools, would that involve a subscription?

**Joe**: Yes, most clients on our logo screen pay six figures for full access. Sage, however, is launching at $299/month, making it accessible for smaller teams or companies that don’t need the entire platform. For more in-depth analysis, larger subscriptions are available, but Sage offers a great entry point with the same high-quality data.

(07:35) **Follow-Up Question**: With the conversational interface and data access, do you see people asking different types of questions than they would with a traditional tool?

**Joe**: Absolutely. Traditional consumer insight tools often require specific questions. With Sage, users can ask broad questions for top-of-funnel discovery and trend analysis. This data democratization lets non-insights team members access valuable information without needing a specialized background, enhancing discovery and early analysis.

(08:59) **Audience Question**: People are asking about the data sources. Where does your data come from?

**Joe**: This is unique to us. All data in Sage comes exclusively from CivicScience’s databases. Unlike generic AI tools that pull from the internet, Sage only accesses our proprietary data, ensuring accuracy and relevance. You can trace every insight back to its source in our system or download it, giving you confidence in its reliability.

(10:26) **Moderator**: Thank you, Joe! Feel free to stay for more questions, and thanks for getting us started. Next up is Julia with Storia.

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(11:10) **Julia**: Hi, everyone! I’m Julia from Storia, where we use contextual intelligence to enhance storytelling. My co-founder and I have a background in AI research at places like Google and Amazon. We started Storia to accelerate storytelling with AI, initially focusing on film and now exploring its potential in marketing.

(12:33) Today’s demo showcases how Storia assists independent filmmakers in turning scripts into storyboards. Filmmakers upload their scripts, and we parse them to identify characters, settings, and other narrative elements. This tool helps filmmakers visually communicate their ideas for funding or collaboration with crew members.

(13:11) After uploading the script, we automatically identify characters and settings. Filmmakers can add character traits and visual references, which get incorporated into prompts. These prompts then guide our system in generating visuals that align with the narrative. You can see the generated storyboard here, which filmmakers can edit or re-render in different styles.

(16:06) We also offer customization options, such as changing the visual style across hundreds of scenes with a single click. The tool is intuitive, allowing filmmakers to experiment quickly. Currently, we’re exploring how to adapt this technology for marketing teams, who might need more dynamic formats like animatics or videos.

(20:07) We’d love to collaborate with marketing agencies as design partners to refine this tool. If you’re interested, please reach out, either for collaboration or AI consultancy. Thank you!

(24:03) **Noah (Popsicle)**: Hi, everyone! I’m Noah, founder of Popsicle. We’re focused on revolutionizing e-commerce with AI. As AI becomes more integrated into daily life, shopping behavior will change dramatically. Brands need to be prepared to structure their data in ways that make it accessible and appealing to AI shopping assistants.

(27:08) Popsicle currently enhances e-commerce performance by structuring Shopify sales data and feeding it to Meta’s machine learning models. This simple, accessible tool significantly improves ad performance, helping brands reach the right customers.

(28:26) Our long-term vision is to move from search engine optimization to “machine engine optimization.” As consumer behavior shifts, we’re ready to help brands optimize their data for a machine-driven future.

**Audience Question**: How do you handle first-party data with this model?

**Noah**: Great question. We help brands maximize the value of their first-party data by structuring it for AI-driven platforms like Meta. This structured data becomes essential fuel for effective marketing, even as privacy laws evolve.

(36:44) **Cat (RCX)**: Hi, everyone! I’m Cat, founder of Radical Customer Experience (RCX). As a former marketing executive, I noticed that traditional fear-based marketing tactics were negatively impacting mental health, especially post-pandemic. RCX is dedicated to promoting trauma-informed, empathy-driven marketing.

(38:53) Our new app, Radical Human Intelligence, combines AI with empathy. It produces a “brand sensitivity score,” measuring a brand’s empathy and vulnerability. Unlike Net Promoter Score, which shows general satisfaction, our score is dynamic and considers individual consumer experiences, helping brands avoid missteps in messaging.