• by Tyler Loechner  @mp_tyler, October 29, 2013

Data and analytics provider eXelate is expected to Tuesday announce the availability of optiX, a consumer insights terminal. Mark Zagorski, CEO of eXelate, explained "consumer insights" as data used to define the customer a marketer wants to reach, which comes one step before the actual targeting process.

"Insights is the first step before media, promotion, targeting, etc.," he said. "It's defining who [you] are actually speaking to." Consequently, the tool is meant for brand managers, not media managers.

Zagorski was careful to explain that optiX is not a data management platform (DMP). "It kind of goes back to how we define consumer insights," he said. "A DMP's key role is to enable media targeting. This tool is really about analyzing consumer behavior."

Zagorski said that instead of using optiX like a DMP to find out what ads to serve, brand managers can use the tool to find out "what products to build, partnerships [to make], what messaging to have in their PR, and what creative direction they should be going in."

The tool tracks and reports digital consumer behavior in real-time. The company says that because the data is viewable in real-time, brands will no longer have to mine social media data to see how consumer actions are changing as a result of campaigns.

Khurrum Malik, the company's chief marketing officer, said they built optiX because they believe the market research industry "hasn't been innovated on in a really, really long time." Zagorski added, "Their idea of innovation was moving the surveys from a guy with a piece of paper to a Website. It's still self-reported, still surveys 1,000 people, still the same questions."

The tool can be integrated with any DMP or platform; it acts as a standalone tool that doesn't have to be used with eXelate's other offerings.

Current clients of optiX include AllState Insurance and a top-five auto manufacturer, a top-five telco, a top-5 CPG company, and others.