Marketers Need to Get Subconscious With Their Data

With industries and legal systems increasingly siding with users when it comes to control over their personal data and how it’s shared, the spotlight on zero-party data has only intensified.

Recently deemed by Forbes as “the new oil,” zero-party data is defined by Forrester as “data that a customer intentionally and proactively shares with a brand.” This contrasts with data that is collected and shared on an individual’s behalf. Inherently self-reported information, zero-party data boasts value beyond first- and third-party data because it can include non-observable information like emotions, sentiment and verified intent. 

This becomes incredibly valuable when surrounded by contextual signals that map to deeper patterns. For example, I launched a zero-party data survey, asking more than 100,000 people, “What are you seeking from this app experience?” The survey question appeared during key actions within more than 3,000 mobile apps spanning games, productivity, sports, fitness, social networking, entertainment and lifestyle.

The in-app actions that triggered a survey were precategorized as moments relative to each in-app experience, including music, food, travel, DIY, cleaning and self-improvement. This approach revealed which of the desired emotions was most prevalent in which moments.

When responses like “belonging,” “power” and “reassurance” were mapped back to the context in which the survey ran, it highlighted insightful correlations—for example, music as the content of choice for belonging-seekers, cleaning and organizing utility apps as the go-to for reassurance-seekers, and gaming apps for control-seekers.

There are companies out there doing zero-party data right: Stitch Fix has a style quiz, and Kiehl’s has an Instant Skin Reader, both of which deliver participants personalized product recommendations adjusted for the data they voluntarily share. ViralGains makes it easy for brands to transform their ads and web content into interactive, dynamic experiences that ask consumers questions and then respond with content related to their answers. 

But as powerful as zero-party data can be, there’s already a better option for marketers.

What is subzero-party data? 

Advertisers’ ability to capitalize on self-reported emotion requires levels of honesty and self-awareness that humans aren’t reliably capable of.

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.

Zero-party data is powerful, but as conversations around it continue, we also need to talk about its primary limitation: Humans can only self-report the information we’re aware of and willing to admit. Zero-party data—like oil—is a valuable resource to mine. But subzero-party data represents the underlying well from which it springs, and there’s so much more beneath the surface. 

Web3 growth and capabilities such as the Meta Quest Pro’s face and eye tracking are a strong indicator that this is where data sets are headed and will be the key to tapping into this type of data at scale. Meanwhile, companies like AgileBrain are aspiring to achieve this without equipment through photo-based sentence completion surveys that move so quickly they command a subconscious response.

Beyond these technologies, panels and focus groups that leverage neuroscience tools—like EEG headsets that map brain signals to human emotions—can help brands optimize everything from products, branding and packaging to advertising creative, websites and in-store experiences.

Going forward, we’re going to see applications of subzero-party data beyond marketing and advertising. For example, as techniques are enhanced and adopted, employers will be able to scale subzero-party data to understand employee engagement and motivation, supporting new ways to optimize their work, tools and systems. As an early adopter, Dell was able to prove the importance of providing employees with functioning technology in an EEG study that found faulty technology produced 29% more cognitive stress than being asked to sing a song in public. 

For marketers, conversations about zero-party data need to go deeper. Subzero-party data boasts the promise of a similarly consensual data approach, with a more unfiltered, instinctive human insight that enables customers to enjoy the benefit of their own self-discovery alongside brands.