The Analogue Advantage: Why Experiential Is the New First-Party Data

Zoe Scaman's recent dispatch from Silicon Valley landed in my LinkedIn feed at the perfect moment. Her insights about LLMs becoming super-apps and first-party data going "poof" into AI intermediaries crystallised something I've been thinking about whilst helping brands figure out what comes next.

It got me thinking about the bigger picture. What does this mean for how we build relationships with customers? And why the work we're doing in experiential might be more important than we realised.

These are my musings after a few months of reflection on this topic. I'm curious what you think.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Brands are spending millions on digital transformation, building sophisticated data infrastructures and optimising for algorithmic discovery.

Meanwhile, they're missing the fundamental shift happening beneath their feet.
They're becoming tenants in someone else's house. And the landlords are about to change the locks.

Look at Salesforce. First caught using Slack customer data for AI training. Then, blocking those same customers from accessing their data to train competing AI tools. They're not alone. Every platform is making this calculation.

We're witnessing this anxiety firsthand. Brands come to us worried about platform dependence. Frustrated by declining organic reach. Terrified of being commoditised by AI shopping assistants.

They've spent years building digital relationships only to realise they own none of the infrastructure those relationships depend on.

When Experience Becomes Infrastructure

Physical experiences aren't marketing tactics anymore. They might be the last place brands can build relationships that belong to them.

When Netflix creates a pop-up experience, when McDonald's builds an immersive installation, they're not building brand awareness. They're creating unmediated customer relationships that no super-app can access, analyse or replicate.

These experiences generate what I'm calling "analogue data" - though I'm sure Zoe could come up with something better.

Emotional connections. Sensory memories. Cultural context that exists entirely outside algorithmic ecosystems. It's the one form of customer insight that remains truly first-party, immune to the platform consolidation that's coming.

Festival Psychology as Business Strategy

Our work started at festivals. Spaces where brands had to earn attention in the most authentic, unforgiving environments imaginable.

No algorithms to game. No targeting to optimise. Just raw cultural energy and human connection.

What we learned there is becoming essential everywhere. The brands that survive algorithmic intermediation will be those that master unmediated human connection.
Festival psychology teaches you that people don't want frictionless experiences. They want meaningful ones.

They'll queue for hours for something that matters to them. They'll pay premium prices for experiences that make them feel understood. They'll become evangelical advocates for brands that create genuine cultural moments.

This isn't nostalgia for a pre-digital world. It's strategic preparation for a post-platform one.

Reading Culture Before Algorithms Do

AI systems excel at pattern recognition, but they're terrible at cultural intuition.
They can tell you what's trending, but not what's about to trend. They can optimise for current behaviour, but not anticipate behavioural shifts.

This is where experiential intelligence becomes invaluable.

Physical experiences let you read cultural signals that don't yet exist in data sets. They help you understand the emotional undercurrents that drive behavioural change.

And here's the thing - experiential work is messy. Unpredictable. Full of variables that don't fit neatly into training datasets. That's exactly why it's valuable. The complexity that makes some people avoid experiential is what makes it immune to algorithmic replication.

Think about festivals like Glastonbury, which wrapped up recently. The insights you get from being there, seeing how people respond to new ideas, watching cultural moments form in real time - that's intelligence no algorithm can replicate...at least not yet.

The Beautiful Blur

The mistake most brands make is treating this as an either-or choice. They assume that investing in experiential means abandoning digital. Focusing on human connection means ignoring technological capabilities.

That's binary thinking in a fluid world.

The most resilient brands understand that technology should enhance human connection, not replace it. They use digital tools to amplify experiential moments. To extend the life of physical interactions. To create continuity between online and offline moments.

But they never let the technology become the relationship. People still need to connect with people.

What This Actually Means

For brands facing an AI-mediated future, this means treating every experiential investment as infrastructure, not marketing. You're not creating brand moments – you're building direct relationships that can survive platform consolidation.

Develop cultural foresight capabilities. Train your teams to read signals that algorithms miss. Invest in experiences that help you understand your customers' evolving values, not their current preferences.

Design for sovereignty. Every moment of interaction should strengthen your direct relationship with customers, not increase dependence on intermediary platforms.

The Stakes Feel Real

Zoe's piece ends with a warning: "Take it seriously." I'd go further.

This isn't about marketing effectiveness. It feels like business survival.

The brands that emerge strongest from the super-app consolidation will be those that spent this moment building direct, meaningful relationships with their customers. They'll be the ones who invested in experiences that create emotional ownership, not digital engagement.

The future belongs to those who master the last mile of human connection.
Because when algorithms mediate everything else, authenticity becomes the ultimate competitive advantage.

I'm curious what you think. Are we overthinking this? Or are physical experiences becoming the new first-party data?

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