Data science, and especially the field of predictive analytics, has become a game changer in the advertising and marketing fields. As advertising has become a playground for data sciences, the company Dstillery was one of the pioneers in that space, looking at what people shared on social data and the surprises that can be uncovered in that data.

Over the years, Dstillery’s mission has grown; it can now build a digital map of what people are doing online and then bring this information to marketers so that they can identify current and future customers for their products and services.

Claudia Perlich, chief scientist at Dstillery, recently joined Lisa Martin (@Luccazara), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live streaming studio, during Stanford Global Women in Data Science (WiDS) Conference, held in Stanford, CA, to discuss how data science helps advertisers reach audiences that are ready to buy. (*Disclosure below.)

Using data to get a more nuanced view of customers

A recent surprising data point, according to Perlich, was that many people in Silicon Valley, who typically commute many miles every day, prefer to do their own grocery shopping. It would be easy to assume that such consumers would like to have their groceries delivered to their homes; the data did not support that assumption.

While data science has many different application areas and different skillsets, the most basic question is, “Can we predict what people are going to do?” asked Perlich. She explained that if it’s possible to predict client behavior, ad companies then want to know why people are behaving the way they do and when they are looking to buy.

By taking the knowledge of what she sees in her research and bringing that to multiple clients, Perich helps companies understand where they can drive value for their business and makes sure they are reaching the right audiences.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of the Stanford Global Women in Data Science (WiDS) Conference. (*Disclosure: TheCUBE is a media partner at the conference. Neither Stanford nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo by SiliconANGLE