Dumbstruck

Dumbstruck operates as an emotion analytics firm, providing pre-launch effectiveness testing for video advertisements. The company was founded in 2013 by Mike Tanski and Peter Allegretti, who both graduated from Siena College and were enrolled in the University at Albany's information science doctorate program. Their initial venture, a mobile app idea lab called Doctored Apps, evolved into Dumbstruck, which started as a messaging app using a smartphone's camera to capture emotional reactions to content. By 2014, the founders pivoted the business, incorporating artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze, not just record, facial responses. This shift positioned Dumbstruck as a market research analytics firm, offering objective data that is more reliable and less costly than traditional focus groups.

The company's core service combines research in human psychology and neuroscience with AI-powered facial coding technology to measure the emotional impact and effectiveness of video ads. Its proprietary algorithms analyze moment-by-moment attention and emotion data patterns from viewers who opt-in from a global panel of over 29 million consumers. This process involves using a participant's PC or mobile camera to capture facial expressions and eye movements as they watch an ad. Key features include eye-gaze heat maps to measure attention and a data cleansing process to ensure the integrity of the collected data. The resulting analysis provides clients with creative insights and key performance metrics, such as brand lift and ad efficiency, benchmarked against industry standards. In January 2018, Jeff Tetrault, an entrepreneur with a background in digital video and advertising, was appointed CEO to work alongside the founders and scale the business.

Dumbstruck's business model targets global brands, media agencies, and communications firms, offering them the ability to refine their creative and media strategies before launching expensive campaigns. The company has engaged in strategic partnerships, including a notable collaboration with Comcast Technology Solutions' AdFusion platform, to pair its emotion analytics with an ad management platform for enhanced ad targeting and delivery. Based in Schenectady, New York, Dumbstruck has raised a total of $405K over four funding rounds, with its first round occurring in March 2014. The company's pricing structure has included subscription-based packages, with a basic plan previously offered at $249 per month for a set number of studies and participants.

Keywords: emotion analytics, facial coding, ad testing, market research, consumer neuroscience, video advertising, AI-powered analytics, audience measurement, creative effectiveness, brand lift, attention metrics, eye tracking, pre-launch testing, advertising technology, consumer insights, behavioral data, campaign performance, media strategy, ad optimization, Schenectady startup, Peter Allegretti, Mike Tanski