3  Match a shopper’s moment with
DS-IQ Context services

DS-IQ Context services enable you to tailor direct advertising to fit a shopper’s experience in the moment. Context services provide localized, situational data points like school, weather, and sporting events. You combine these with personal and regional data to deliver the right message to the right customer at the right time. 

Factors like weather, traffic, and local events change constantly. Your shoppers’ needs change with them. Kim in Dallas is suffering from hay fever just in time for his kids’ spring break. Carol in Buffalo has tailgating plans for Sunday with cold and snow coming her way. With Context services, you use these changes to create impactful consumer experiences.

Context services inform the other DS-IQ platform components when and where these different moments occur:

• Weather—hot, cold, snow, humidity, rain, hail, and severe weather warnings
• School dates—back to school, spring break, and end of school
• Traffic—heavy congestion and incidents
• Health—UV index, air quality, cold-cough-flu season, and allergy season
• Sports—NCAA, NFL, and MLB games  

DS-IQ uses context in two ways:

• The Context Trigger service helps build an audience: Which shoppers are (or will be) experiencing an event?
• The Context Content service makes messaging more relevant: How do shoppers know this message is important to them?

Together the two Context services act as resources for other DS-IQ platform services, providing context as it’s needed. They are both Azure Windows services that gather the contextualized, relevant data on demand. 

Context Trigger

The Context Trigger service identifies geographic areas that share a common experience or meet certain conditions in the moment. For example, it can list metro areas where there are upcoming NCAA football games or where forecasts predict rain. DS-IQ collects and constantly updates real-time contextual data and shares it to help build specific audiences.

Any DS-IQ service can request data from Context Trigger. The most common is the DS-IQ Targeting service, which is responsible for choosing audiences for campaigns. 

The Targeting service asks Context Trigger for map areas that meet certain requirements. In response, Context Trigger retrieves the data and returns it to Targeting. Targeting uses the data in its calculation of the ideal audience for an ad.

For example, suppose you want to define an audience for a marketing campaign centered on sun protection products. Targeting asks Context Trigger whether the UV index is currently at an unsafe level in California beach locales. Context Trigger responds that Malibu, Venice Beach, and Santa Monica all have dangerous UV levels predicted during the next week. Based on this response, Targeting defines the campaign audience as shoppers in those three locations.

These are the contextual situations that DS-IQ can use as triggers:

Context	Trigger
Hot weather	Predicted temperature is at or above the hot threshold defined for the location
Cold weather	Predicted temperature is at or below the cold threshold defined for the location
Snow	Probability of snowfall is greater than 40%
Rain	Probability of rainfall is greater than 40%
Hail	Probability of hail is greater than 40%
Humidity	Atmospheric humidity index is above the high threshold defined for the location
Severe weather	Any type of severe weather warning has been issued
Back to school	School starts within 21 days
Spring break	Spring break starts within 21 days
End of school	School ends within 21 days
Heavy traffic	Congestion level is above the threshold defined for the location
UV index	UV index is at an unsafe level
Air quality	Air quality is at an unsafe level
Cold-cough-flu	A proprietary analysis of multiple factors indicates cold-cough-flu season is underway
Allergy	A proprietary analysis of multiple factors indicates allergy season is underway
NCAA football	An NCAA football game is scheduled within 14 days
Professional football	An NFL game is scheduled within 14 days
Professional baseball	An MLB game is scheduled within 14 days

Context Content

Context can also enhance marketing and messaging content. The Context Content service provides contextual detail in the form of text. For example, it can deliver a predicted high temperature (103 degrees) or a back-to-school date and school name (September 3, Einstein Elementary).  

Any DS-IQ service can request content from Context Content. The most common is the DS-IQ Messaging service, which is responsible for creating ad content. The Messaging service asks Context Content for details like the game day or team name. In response, Context Content retrieves the data and returns it to Messaging.

In our example using UV index to trigger a skin protection promotion, the message without context would simply read:

Protect your skin from damaging UV rays.

That’s okay. But by capturing the details of the context, you can increase the relevancy of the experience. This message contains text specific to the moment and location: 

With a UV index of 7 in Malibu, be sure to protect your skin from the sun today.

To accomplish this, Messaging asks Context Content what the UV index is in Malibu. Context Content responds with 7. Messaging includes 7 and Malibu in the campaign text.

These are the contextual details that DS-IQ can provide for content:

Context	Content
Hot weather	Predicted temperature
Cold weather	Predicted temperature
Snow	Snow probability %
Rain	Rain probability %
Hail	Hail probability %
Humidity	Humidity level %
Severe weather	A severe weather warning of any type has been issued
Back to school	Start date, school name
Spring break	Start date, school name
End of school	End date, school name
Heavy traffic	Congestion level
UV index	UV index level
Air quality	Air quality level
Cold-cough-flu	None
Allergy	None
NCAA football	Date and time, teams, venue
NFL football	Date and time, teams, venue
MLB baseball	Date and time, teams, venue

Context changes everything

Each day, your customers take context into account in every purchase they make. It’s subtle, it’s local, and it’s time-sensitive. For individuals, this process is effortless and automatic. People expect it from themselves and one another. What they don’t expect is that a retailer could become a valued partner in making context-based decisions. 

Context gives you trust-building superpowers. It changes the nature of interactions between you and your customers. You’re no longer blasting a product ad at them. Instead, you’re informing and helping them make smart shopping decisions. Your store feels local because you’re tuned into what’s happening in their home town. Your store feels personal because you know what they’re experiencing. Context makes your business relevant in shoppers’ lives.