Clootrack

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a branding firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clootrack?

Our business challenge was with a Norwegian nutrient supplement company that was interested in getting a snapshot of the US supplement marketplace.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Clooktrack provided us with consumer data analytics services at an incredible scale. The team worked with AI, machine learning, and natural language processing. They checked consumer reviews on e-commerce sites that mentioned certain brands and also the sentiment towards them.

They provided us with a data set that encompassed about 100,000 reviews from the categories we were interested in. They managed the entire project and provided insights into the collected data.

What is the team composition?

I worked with around five team members. 

How did you come to work with Clootrack?

They were referred to me by a colleague. I chose to work with Clootrack because of their general disposition; they’re easy-going, friendly, and very approachable. They were interested in helping us succeed. 

How much have you invested with them?

Our company invested around $25,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from January–April 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Their work allowed us to have a bigger impact on our client. Being able to look at all the data they provided was very exciting for us. It helped us determine how to best position a foreign brand entering the US market. 

How did Clootrack perform from a project management standpoint?

The team did well from that standpoint. They articulated clearly what the schedule was going to be, and then updated us regularly. They communicated the work progress and delivered the data set by sending us an email with a dashboard where we could see the results. If we needed assistance, they’d spend time with us. We also had video conferences. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive aspect was their approach and intuitiveness to understand our needs and goals. They were accommodating and open, providing the data and helping us with insights. Their technology skill set was also very good.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their areas of investigation were clear, and we did a good job talking that through as a team. However, I think it’s an area where they can continue to build their business and differentiate themselves from the competition. Clootrack could also have a higher level of self-service.

Any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to communicate to Clootrack your requirements and needed insights, so they can understand what you’re trying to achieve. This is helpful for them to organize the technology around your objectives. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Crompton Greaves is a consumer electrical products company, primarily lights and appliances. We have a central marketing organization that services all product categories. I report to the CMO, and I’m primarily responsible for marketing intelligence and consumer insights.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clootrack?

Our main challenge was decoding the conversation going on in Indian e-commerce across multiple languages. Clootrack provided us a machine learning tool that can decode the sentiments of various conversations and classify those using a standard template.

Our previous agency was managing this aspect through manual intervention. We did a couple of experiments with them in previous years, and the tasks came out as close as the ones did manually.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The initial project we did was on category understanding regarding how smart home trends are evolving. Clootrack crawled through one-years’ worth of data and segregated sentiments into different categories.

They did a mapping of our brand equity, producing both quantitative and qualitative data. Recently, we’ve worked with them on collating product reviews on our e-commerce platform.

What is the team composition?

I was initially in touch with Shameel (Co-Founder & CEO) and Subbakrishna (Co-Founder & CTO). Most of the communication has been with Shameel, and they have a team of 3-4 working on the deliveries.

How did you come to work with Clootrack?

I found them through an ex-colleague that had worked with them in the past, and I met their founders. Their background and the transparent manner in which they explained their tools gave us the confidence to work with them.

They offered machine learning tools that could work across multiple languages, which none of their competitors had.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost depends on the project. We’ve spent 2 million–3 million Indian rupees (approximately $27,500–$41,000 USD) so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Clootrack started in March 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Compared to our previous agency, Clootrack delivered the same quality and accuracy in much less time.

Success is based on the potency of the action plans we’re able to devise and on the clarity of the data. We run similar products with Clootrack every 3–6 months, and it has been beneficial in terms of business decisions and outcomes. We’ve had 5–6 projects with them so far.  

How did Clootrack perform from a project management standpoint?

Their two founders are attentive in serving us. They’re flexible, understanding our scopes well. It’s comfortable working with them, and they bring value to our business.

They adhere to our timelines, and they’re transparent. If they tell us it’ll take five days or four weeks, it will. I’m able to manage workflows with them better than with anyone else.

We communicate through email and phone calls, and we had face-to-face meetings before COVID. We haven’t used project management tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team has technically-sound capabilities. They have a fundamental knowledge of the languages across India. That gives them a unique position in the market.

Are there any areas they could improve?

An improvement would be in terms of the frontend delivery and the data visualization tools used. We have a lot of data and stories to tell, so visualization can become lengthy and complicated to go through for people who aren’t used to disseminating a lot of data.

Clootrack should ensure that they can talk to the marketing people more easily.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Someone working with them might have to spend more time in the initial phase, to decode what Clootrack is saying for the internal stakeholders.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a commercial director of an AI research and consulting company. We provide market research and consulting services to companies in SMCG, pharmaceutical, and financial services industries. Our clients are mostly Fortune 500 companies with offices and projects all around the world. In my role, we focus on data-driven digital and e-commerce performance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clootrack?

One of the key components of our services is data. We brought them on to provide breadth and depth of unbiased information from online sources. We use that data and AI to solve business challenges in terms of branding, competitor insight, new product launch strategies, and so forth for our clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we get a project from our client, we look at what kind of questions would require data from online sources. Then, we approach Clootrack with a brief of our own and involve them in the client’s business challenge.

We provide background on what kind of areas we’d like the data and questions we’d like the data to answer. Then, we rely on their expertise to suggest the sources, the quality, and the quantum of data that would be required to meet our needs.

What is the team composition?

I work with the CEO, COO, data scientists, and their product team.

How did you come to work with Clootrack?

Clootrack was in our network of data service providers, clients, and close circle of colleagues that we had worked with in the past. I can’t recall exactly how we got in touch but it was definitely through one of our clients or colleagues who recommended them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested close to $750,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in January 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

With Clootrack’s efforts, we provide a very differentiated new-age form of market research using AI which is trying to disrupt traditional methodology. Our clients compare us with incumbent vendors and the insight they receive from those incumbent vendors. Our partnership with Clootrack has enabled us to be better on the quality of data, the unbiases of data, as well as the speed and efficiency in which we deliver the insights.

Secondly, clients compare us with other vendors that go to them with a similar capability. More often than not, our clients have come back and said the breadth of sources and quality of data that we provide through Clootrack is superior to what the competition provides.

How did Clootrack perform from a project management standpoint?

Clootrack is very responsive. From a deadline standpoint, they have a 90% success rate to what they commit; this is pretty good for us. From a project management standpoint, they have dedicated resources for the projects. That really helps us because we get exclusive access to their data scientists and to the product team in helping us move our projects along faster than usual.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very honest and clear about what they can and can’t do. They keep us honest within the regulatory boundaries as well. In this particular world of data science and AI, there’s a tendency of overpromising or overcommitting in solving problems. Clootrack is very transparent about their capabilities. That’s a very commendable quality for a data partner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only area that needs improvement is industry knowledge. Their knowledge required to add more value, for example in financial analysis, has improved significantly throughout the engagement.

However, I’d recommend they continue building their expertise in this area. Then, they’ll be able to contribute with higher value-added services in the future. Their expertise lies in tech and data. Maybe they can try to incorporate industry knowledge to make their services holistic.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Frame your problem and allow Clootrack to be part of the solution. Be very descriptive in what’s required. They’re very bright people who can add a lot more in terms of insights more than just providing data.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the head of customer experience at a bank.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Clootrack?

We had over three years of customer feedback and comments we’d collected. We wanted a way to analyze it and look at trends arising from language use. We hired Clootrack to help us with this by doing text analysis. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided ongoing data and text analysis support to us. We share customer feedback data with them, and they analyze it and share their findings with us on dashboards that can be assessed at an organizational level. 

We also identified a set of competitors that we wanted to track. They helped us track their feedback using publicly available information such as online reviews, social media comments, etc. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with three different people. The senior management team acted as our primary point of contact. 

How did you come to work with Clootrack?

I was involved in the selection process. We started with a pilot project where we provided them with a small set of data. We were happy with the work they provided, so we decided to move forward and sign a three-year contract with them. 

How much have you invested in them?

We spent about 15 lakhs (approximately $20,572 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in mid-2018. The project is ongoing though I’m no longer with the company. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Their work allowed us to quantify open-ended feedback. We got positive feedback on the system from internal stakeholders. The system has allowed us to flag things quickly and respond accordingly. It’s also helped us keep tabs on competitors and industry trends. 

It gave us detailed feedback on business processes and different interventions. 

How did Clootrack perform from a project management standpoint?

We primarily communicated with them via email. They were on top of it. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Broadly, we were pleased with the work they provided and the level of granularity we can achieve with our analysis now. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It can be difficult for someone without a statistics background to understand the methodology they use to arrive at certain numbers or conclusions. There’s a little more work they could do to make their resources more user-friendly. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of social media analytics for a marketing company.

I look at Facebook Ads and Google Ads to get the most out of the ad platforms we have through email marketing. I also analyze all our customer data and segmentation to make the most of our marketing efforts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clootrack?

We needed help with social media analytics.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Clootrack helped us identify the key drivers of conversation and key messaging of our target group on social media. We could then target accordingly.

What is the team composition?

I was in contact with three people.

How did you come to work with Clootrack?

They were shortlisted. I’m not exactly sure how that process went.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November–December 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We were able to identify our main objective. We needed to find the key drivers that drive social media communication.

How did Clootrack perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated through phone calls and emails. Our communication was pretty clear. We had regular feedback checks at each checkpoint, which helped the project be implemented the way we wanted it. They also met deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team helps clients find the drivers of conversation that are difficult to identify on social media. It helped us to streamline our conversation into relevant buckets. They’re great at what they do, and I’d use them again.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they delivered as to our expectations. I’m happy with their performance.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear on your objectives and what you want to get out of it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an assistant manager for process excellence at Tata CLiQ, an open marketplace with different categories.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clootrack?

We offer a lot of mediums for our customers to make their voices heard: product reviews, surveys, and a section where customers can write about their experience.

We were looking for someone who could create a more structured version of these channels to get more valuable output. We had interactions with multiple vendors before starting on different POCs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We weren’t initially sure how we could get meaningful output from the unstructured customer-voice channels we had.

We had an initial ideation stage with Shameel (Co-Founder & CEO) and his team. As per our discussions and requirements, they made several dashboards.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with Shameel and different members of his team.

How did you come to work with Clootrack?

The head of our technology team came across them at a seminar or other event. When the need arose, we discussed it with them.

How much have you invested with them?

Our plan calls for 100,000 Indian rupees (approximately $1,400 USD) per month.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2020, and we’re currently finalizing the proof-of-concept stage.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’ve signed up for a one-year plan with them to build and maintain 8–10 dashboards. After the final stages of development, we’ll present the dashboards to the heads of our organization.

It’s been a great experience working with everyone at Clootrack, from the design team to the development team. They understood our needs in their totality, and delivered everything we asked for.

How did Clootrack perform from a project management standpoint?

Clootrack is really good in this respect. They understood what we wanted, and they’ve managed the timelines well.

With all the tasks were given to them, they were on time. They were able to bring in more designers when we asked for it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We had POCs with multiple vendors, and Clootrack stood out in terms of their collaborative process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re a talented team, and they were flexible in meeting our demands. The only feedback I’ve given them is to come up with more flexible payment plans.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clootrack is a good option for people looking to experiment with concepts.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and principal consultant for a business and management consulting company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clootrack?

I was looking for a company that could help me to answer questions in research but in a much more authentic fashion, rather than going around with a questionnaire to people and asking them questions. That kind of format has a lot of bias.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked on projects around market research. Typically, we start by approaching Clootrack when we have already had some preliminary discussions with the client. If the client wants to understand consumers in a certain region, they might be trying to understand a particular category. 

Initially, we pitch to the client. We understand what they want. Once we have an understanding, we go to Clootrack with a research brief of what we want to understand and the market we are trying to understand. 

After working on 5-6 projects together, we know we need to give them some kind of format, what kind of datapoints we want, or what kind of analysis we want. We are much clearer on our side now and they are able to understand us better.

Then there’s another round of checking the data to see if things are making sense or if something is missed. Sometimes that happens and we have to deep dive a little bit. They’re very cooperative even if it means they have to do a small run or check something or do a little more detail. We go through that step before we get a final output which we take. As consultants, we then put the story around it, put the marketing inside, strategy, action plans, what the brand should be doing, etc.

Projects are an average of four weeks.

What is the team composition?

I typically talk to the CEO as well as one of the senior sales service people. I also interact with the tech head and another person.

How did you come to work with Clootrack?

One of my close friends in Dubai knew of Clootrack and connected us in mid-2018. We started talking and I was lucky enough to get along with them. It also helped them in a way that I had marketing experience because they weren’t as well structured back then. We had very good discussions which led to a contract being established.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $10,000-$15,000. We could have been double that if it weren’t for COVID-19.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

In terms of insights, we presented to a government body here that looks at transportation systems. They run the metros and busses. The kind of feedback that we got in terms of the insight being bang on was very good. 

The tool works for sure. It works better than traditional tools. I’ve also taken it to some of my ex-business VPs of the region and they all have appreciated the insight and quality.

How did Clootrack perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate in a pretty informal way. We use WhatsApp most of the time. We have Zoom calls every now and then and the briefs are a little more formal. They go in an email and are copied to my marketing. General communication is like any team member. 

I see Clootrack as part of my own team. It’s as if they are my tech team sitting in India and my marketing strategy team sitting here.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve seen a lot of tools similar to Clootrack’s, but most of them are social media listening tools, and none of them go to the level of analytics that we can with Clootrack. This whole concept of getting into emotions and tonality of the emotions is definitely unique. 

The second part of the uniqueness comes through the fact that it’s not just online conversations but also that we can take internal enterprise data whether it’s banking data or telecom or auto sector. 

I also see Clootrack as very focused on what they like to do. They’re tech people. They understand machine learning, how to break up the sentence, how to get the machine to read, analyze, etc. It helps me to focus on what I do better, which is to think of the marketing story and strategy around it, and the brand insights that come along with it.

We work complementary to one another, which is what I love about our partnership. They provide a flexible tool based on the client and the project need. Our clients are typically smaller or medium-sized enterprises. We provide them the quality of having worked in large multinationals but in a flexible, cost-effective fashion. Clootrack helps us to do that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have improved quite a lot on some of the analysis. There are a couple of areas I’ve discussed with them. 

Sometimes we present to clients and clients want to dive into an area we didn’t think of. They need to be sure to have the ability to store that information at least until the whole loop with the client is closed. 

There’s also an area where we tried to research in Egypt versus Saudi Arabia. The Arabic slang and the language has its own variations as you go. The language might be the same but how it is spoken is different. How we make the tool more robust would definitely be an area that we have to keep working at. It’s something that has to be improved as we go along. 

Sometimes the team is very quick to respond back saying they can’t do something after I give them a brief. One of my pieces of feedback has been they should approach it by telling me that the way I defined it, they aren’t finding anything, and then ask if there’s something else they can do to help solve it. As consultants, we don’t like to go back to a client and say we can’t do it. I have discussed this with them and it’s something they have significantly improved.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You need to understand and work with their strengths. A lot of times people feel everybody should be doing everything which basically means nobody does anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at an automotive company. We manufacture and sell automobiles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Clootrack?

We hired Clootrack because they were a cost-effective way of getting insight into our customers and the market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provide insights on our competition, products, customers, and new brands in the automotive category. This helps us in terms of understanding more about the market, our customers, and the competition.

What is the team composition?

I am in touch with the CEO, CTO, and a couple of other team members.

How did you come to work with Clootrack?

We were scouting some companies that could provide AI-based insights for us. We came across Clootrack and decided to try them out.

How much have you invested in them?

We have a rate contract with them, and we pay them on a per study basis. If we were to look at what we have paid them up until now, it would be about 13 Lakh Indian Rupees (approximately $17,766 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2019, and we have an ongoing relationship. We engage them whenever we have a requirement. Our last engagement with them was in March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

I think the quality of the service has been excellent. They’ve been prompt and responsive. We have received the highest level of attention from them. The quality of the insights has also been excellent. They’re quite willing to respond to our requirements, and when we have queries, they’re addressed. We have found the quality to be outstanding.

How did Clootrack perform from a project management standpoint?

We correspond via email as well as on the phone. We had a couple of face-to-face meetings, but we predominately communicate over email and phone. They are very good at meeting deadlines. There has not been a single occasion where they have missed a deadline.

What did you find most impressive about them?

My favorite part of working together is their technology engine. That has been an interesting part for us because we have understood the capabilities of new technologies in insight. There is a huge amount of data on the platform for generating insights. It has been an alternative way of doing insights for us, and it is quite cost-effective.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think there are any criticisms. In our relationship, we had had times when we wanted them to sort out something, and they have taken care of it to our satisfaction.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would definitely strongly recommend them to people who are looking to engage with them.