This episode of The New World of Consumer Behavior features an interview with Gary Orfield, Director of Tourism Development at Visit Greater Palm Springs, Southern California’s most storied resort oasis with 300+ days of sunshine annually, mountains you can almost reach out and touch, world-renowned events, and an incredible range of accommodations, meeting spaces, venues and attractions.

Gary is also the Chair for the International Marketing Committee of Visit California, a nonprofit organization with a mission to develop and maintain marketing programs — in partnership with the state's travel industry — to keep California top-of-mind as a premier travel destination. Gary received his associates degree in hospitality from Walter State Community College in 1988.

In this episode of The New World of Consumer Behavior, Gary talks about the impact the pandemic has had on tourism trade in California, with tourism in Palm Springs having dropped by 54%. He also discusses how visitors are segmented between in-state and overseas, and how his team uses data to develop long term strategies, bringing Greater Palm Springs back to life.

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Key Quotes

“Do try to find as many sources as possible. And just on the flip side, don't rely on one or two data points. And don't analyze till you're paralyzed. I think that my biggest takeaway on using research and data is to get as clear and a bigger picture from many different angles and opinions as possible.” - Gary Orfield

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Episode Timestamps

01:52 Gary’s role

02:44 Business at Palm Springs

05:00 Top oversea markets

06:13 How the team uses data

08:12 Segment: The Data Vault

11:23 Changes in the last two years

17:21 Measuring improvements with data

18:19 Common itinerary for visitors

19:55 Long-term strategy

21:27 Data security

24:09 Competition

25:36 Advice for others in similar roles

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Links

Connect with Kat on LinkedIn

Connect with Gary on LinkedIn

This episode of The New World of Consumer Behavior features an interview with Allyn Taylor, Director of Development and Construction at Pollo Campero, a Guatemalan restaurant chain serving flavorful chicken meals. 

Allyn is a results-oriented real estate professional who thrives in high pressure environments that require excellence. He has a broad-based knowledge of the United States across multiple real estate sectors with a detailed, hands-on understanding of real estate development. A creative problem solver, Allyn has strong foundational financial and analytical skills, coupled with the ability to design and implement cost effective technological solutions to leverage underlying real estate knowledge. He’s recognized as an energetic leader, strong motivator and excellent communicator. His past development efforts have successfully resulted in more than $750 million worth of capital investment.

In this episode, Allyn talks about how Pollo Campero uses data to better understand its customer base and how major shifts in consumer behavior have had a net positive impact on the success of the chain.

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Key Quotes

“We use sort of a blending application that is kind of 50% weighted on mobility, 50% on traditional progression modeling and I think it's a healthy way to do it. It kind of balances, and we're utilizing both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the mobility data. So not only are we looking at concentrations of our guests, but we're looking at the mix of those devices, essentially overlaying our customer profile over the devices to get a sense for who's there at that geography at those key day parts.” - Allyn Taylor

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Episode Timestamps

02:10 Allyn’s current role

05:45 Using data to better understand customers

11:45 Sourcing data

13:46 Consumer behavior data findings

17:27 Validating customer profiles and segmentation

18:58 Recent impacts of major shifts in consumer behavior

25:00 Future of Pollo Campero restaurants

26:19 Personalizing experiences for customers

27:23 Data dos and don’ts

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Links

Connect with Kat on LinkedIn

Connect with Allyn on LinkedIn

This episode of The New World of Consumer Behavior features an interview with Dan Richardson, Head of Data for Asia Pacific at Yahoo!, a global media and tech company that connects people to their passions and provides partners with a full-stack platform for businesses to amplify growth and drive more meaningful connections across advertising and search.

Dan is in charge of shaping the commercial data strategy and delivering effective audience engagement solutions to Yahoo’s agency, brand and publisher partners. From an industry side, Dan chaired the IAB Australia’s Data Council from 2018 to 2022, helping lead educational initiatives, and served on the IAB New Zealand Standards and Measurement Council. He previously served as a board director for the International Advertising Association and as president of the IAA's Young Professionals.

In this episode, Dan talks about the growing importance of contextual targeting in digital advertising, why investing in building first-party data strategy is more critical than ever, and how crafting a fair and equitable ad funded internet is a key step for a balanced future online.

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Key Quotes

“The key thing is to recognize that we also, as consumers and people, we all enjoy free content, add funded content. So that does require some form of identity or technology to be applied there. We really do need to find a middle ground that allows that to thrive, as well. There's great publishers out there, ourselves, but other global publishers employing journalists producing great content. Now to thrive that needs to be viable across the open web and not just housed within a particular operating system or walled garden. There needs to be room for both.” - Dan Richardson

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Episode Timestamps

02:14 Dan’s role at Yahoo!

03:47 How Dan uses data

06:38 Dan’s data sources

12:24 Contextual targeting in advertising

15:33 Next gen audiences

19:48 Consumer behavior data

22:14 Using data to solve problems

24:45 Data security

27:16 General Data Protection Regulation

33:39 Improving customer experiences

37:45 Data do’s and don'ts

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Links

Connect with Kat on LinkedIn

Connect with Dan on LinkedIn

This episode of The New World of Consumer Behavior features an interview with Tama Shor, President of the Directory of Major Malls/ShoppingCenters.com, and Keith Seard, Director of Business Operations & Strategy at B. I. Spatial. 

Tama is the head of the leading source of detailed information on the major shopping centers and malls throughout the US and Canada. Her specialties include major shopping centers and retail research, industry trends, and data integration.

Keith is a seasoned financial and real estate strategist knowledgeable on retail pricing and real estate. With process and systems acumen he designs financial models, structures for individuals, families and developing organizations operating in the private, public and non-profit sectors.

In this episode, Tama reveals the key to organically sourcing retail properties for more than 35 years and discusses how shopping centers have changed and are continuing to do so over time. Meanwhile, Keith discusses why personalization is important for customer growth and retention, the do’s and don’ts with data, and the future of retail.

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Key Quotes

“When we talk about properties being acquired, again many of these companies are publicly held companies, so that affects what goes on with the valuation of the stock prices when they sell portfolios or they buy portfolios. Same thing when there's massive changes with regard to specific tenants, how does that affect when JC Penney closes X numbers of stores? How does that trickle down to all those landlords who have JC Penney as an anchor store in their property? So, again, it's all intertwined. It's not just who owns it or who’s managing it. One move shifts so many different areas, it's like the domino effect.” - Tama Shor

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Episode Timestamps

02:14 Introducing Tama Shor

02:50 Introducing Keith Seard

06:12 Observing shifts in consumer behavior

10:58 Making pivots due to the pandemic

13:41 Organically sourcing properties for over 35 years

21:23 Diving into the Directory of Major Malls

25:59 How shopping centers are changing

35:22 Customer data stories

39:10 Personalization for customers

45:03 Data dos and don’ts

48:15 The future of retail

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Links

Connect with Kat on LinkedIn

Connect with Tama on LinkedIn

Connect with Keith on LinkedIn

This episode of The New World of Consumer Behavior features an interview with John McClelland, Vice President of Research at Coldwell Banker Commercial Premier, fulfilling real estate needs across all of the primary commercial sectors including office, industrial, retail, multifamily, and land.

As the source of Coldwell Banker Premier Realty's statistical, market data and reports, John provides in-depth analyses of current market conditions, past performance, and risk, which allows homeowners, corporations, and developers the ability to make the most educated decisions when selling, developing or purchasing real estate. Previously, John was the research manager for The Ryness Company's Southwest Division, an urban planner with the City of Las Vegas, and a regional economist with RCG Economics.

In this episode, John talks about the current state of the ever-changing conditions in real estate, the specific ways in which his team utilizes data to create in-depth analyses, and the importance of data in validating assumptions with empirical evidence.

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Key Quotes

“There's points in time where you need to take a snapshot of what's occurring at the time in a certain market. You need a good way to archive that and some redundancy because you never want to lose anything. A lot of that data, you cannot replicate it. Unless you can get a DeLorean with a flux capacitor or something it's not gonna happen and it's just gone forever. But it becomes extremely valuable particularly when you're trying to build time series and analyze things in the past and try to find, are there scenarios now that are developing that may look like something in the past.” - John McClelland

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Episode Timestamps

02:02 John’s current role

06:19 How John’s team uses data

12:44 The importance of data

15:53 How data has changed the game

18:57 Data use cases

25:19 Most asked questions in data

35:06 Data dos and don’ts

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Links

Connect with Kat on LinkedIn

Connect with John on LinkedIn

It’s a whole new world when it comes to consumer behavior.

And data is the key to navigating it.

Data means the possibilities for business efficiency, growth and performance are endless.

Across all industries – including retail, real estate, restaurants, and travel– data is the source for valuable insights. Data is how you create results and business success.

On this podcast, you’ll hear how data-driven leaders at top brands are leveraging intel on consumer behavior, and turning data insights into revenue results.

Join your host Kat Harwood on The New World of Consumer Behavior: Lessons from Data Pioneers. 

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