I recently read that Amazon is branching outside of Seattle. But amidst the furor of cities vying to attract its new headquarters, does anyone actually know why?

As The Seattle Times pointed out, it isn’t a matter of culture: Amazon renovated the city in its own image. “It’s given Seattle more prominence as a magnet for talent from all over the world, and reshaped formerly forlorn parts of the city, into vibrant live-work-and-play neighborhoods.” But, a company called GroundTruth might have the answers by insights gained through examining location data.

Sarah Ohle, VP of Marketing Insights at GroundTruth – a company that provides foot traffic location data for retailers. The company famously predicted Chipotle’s earnings last year stemming from foot traffic alone. The company also works with the likes of likes of McDonald’s, Taco Bell, BMW, Timberland and L’Occitane – providing foot traffic data for seasonal planning, earnings predictions, and better consumer insights.

I invited Sarah onto the show to understand why location tech such a critical aspect of marketing intelligence and how GroundTruth captures location data. On today’s podcast we discuss:

  • Why is location tech such a critical aspect of marketing intelligence?
  • How do they go about getting their data?
  • Why exactly does GroundTruth predict Amazon’s next HQ will be Charlotte, North Carolina – what factors did the team take into account?
  • Besides retail and grocery, what other verticals does Amazon plan to branch into?

View the entire article and listen to the podcast here.