Unlimited unleashes AI-driven insights platform, Luca

Unlimited, the group behind TMW and Nelson Bostock, is launching an AI-driven human insights platform that it is claimed can automate the gathering and analysis of digital data sources to deliver actionable human understanding for brands.

Dubbed Luca (which means the “bringer of light”), the platform has been developed as part of Unlimited’s Human Understanding Lab, and addresses the need for brands to tap into emotional context, gathering insights quickly and efficiently to support fast decision-making and responsiveness to market opportunity.

By being AI-powered, the group claims this reduces the need for teams to manually research, gather, combine, and analyse digital inputs to deliver insights back to the business.

Unlimited insists the launch is consistent with its mission of creating business advantage for clients through insight and activation, Luca’s capabilities including trend analysis, content intelligence and customer sentiment tracking, designed to support clients with delivering human understanding and increasing emotional resonance in marketing activations.

Further applications are planned in the future, helping to automate and speed up access to deeper human insights, including a cultural analysis tool that identifies cultural gaps between brands and consumers; video movement analysis, which compares competitor brand product placement in video content; and influencer mapping, to find and analyse influencers and their associated impact for the brand.

Developed by Unlimited’s 120-strong community of neuro, behavioural and data scientists, Luca taps into a combination of first-party demographic data alongside contextual targeting information, which it is claimed allows brands and users to retarget consumers based on their data footprint, including (but not limited to) opinions, preferences, and emotions.

Unlimited chief technology officer John Cunningham, who joined in 2020 from Wunderman Thompson, said: “Luca is already driving game-changing impact – both internally and for clients. To unlock real value and ensure content and comms strategies are effective, you need to identify the right people in your target audience and understand the emotional hooks, topics, themes, and content they’re actively discussing, what genuinely moves and resonates with them, and who are the most influential individuals and organisations relevant to their business.

“Luca is particularly effective because it has been customised and developed by our Human Understanding Lab scientists in neuro, behavioural and data. It democratises access to insights for all our people in a seamless and easy-to-use platform. It’s a definitive milestone on our journey to help brands deliver more accurate analysis, conversion and ROI for our clients.”