Data driven digital services are everywhere, from health apps to skin care subscriptions, transforming how companies interact with customers. Very often they come from digital startups, looking to steal market share from established companies.
But now, thanks to increasingly sophisticated AI and data science capabilities, established consumer product companies have a way to fight back: using their extensive R&D data. And in doing so, they will be able to gather invaluable new data for product development.
Why do digital services matter to R&D?
To see how this might work, imagine a new skin care subscription service. Any old startup can develop a model to track preferences, optimise delivery, and suggest similar products. If they are smart, they can refine recommendations by broad customer groups using publicly available data on skin types or weather data. But this data is easily accessible, and anyone can do it.
Estab
