In today’s digital-first world, the sheer volume of consumer data is staggering. Every minute, over 1 million online purchases are made, more than 347,000 tweets are sent, and countless swipes, clicks, and scrolls leave behind a trail of behavioral information. Businesses naturally collect data on consumer preferences, behaviors, spending habits, and even their skills and interests. But with such an abundance of information comes an inherent challenge: making meaningful connections across datasets. For instance, how can companies determine if the person buying clothes at Macy’s today is the same individual who enjoyed a beer at last night’s NFL game? The inability to cross-reference disparate data points leaves organizations struggling to uncover holistic consumer insights, which could be transformative for personalization and marketing.
This challenge is precisely what Coreo, a marketing and data analytics firm based in New York City, is facing today. Serving high-profile clients like Walgreens, Uber, and Walmart, Coreo specializes in crafting targeted marketing campaigns, data-driven content, and strategies designed to connect with real people—not just numbers in a spreadsheet. However, the company is now grappling with a critical pain point: how to unify massive datasets quickly and effectively. Beyond determining whether two pieces of data refer to the same person, Coreo must also occasionally identify the individual behind the data. The need for speed, accuracy, and actionable insights has never been more crucial for businesses relying on data to power their growth.
Bridging the Data Divide: Akurey’s Step-by-Step Approach
To tackle Coreo’s challenges, Akurey, as an execution consultancy firm, embarked on a comprehensive process. The first step involved examining Coreo’s existing loaded data and understanding the diverse sources and APIs available for cross-referencing individual identification. This deep dive into Coreo’s ecosystem highlighted the sensitive nature of the information at hand, prompting the development of a robust security schema and governance framework. Privacy was paramount, as the ultimate goal was not to identify individuals for all services but to derive actionable cluster trends. Individual identification was reserved only for specific services, and even then, solely for clients who had obtained explicit consent from their users. For example, Walgreens leverages its own database of customer agreements to facilitate secure data cross-referencing
Following this foundation, Akurey worked closely with Coreo to design a system that seamlessly connected their clients through dedicated tenant microservices. These microservices provided secure and regulated access to data points, ensuring compliance with stringent privacy laws while optimizing data use for strategic insights. This collaborative solution required not only meticulous planning and development by Akurey but also active involvement from all three parties—Coreo, its clients, and Akurey. Together, the teams ensured successful deployment and thorough testing of the solution, bringing cutting-edge data integration and governance practices to life
A Year of Growth, Innovation, and Insight
Today, Akurey has been collaborating with Coreo for over a year, building and refining a cutting-edge infrastructure to handle massive volumes of data. Together, we’ve developed powerful pipelines, implemented microservices, utilized Azure Fabric, and optimized workflows with GitLab and Terraform pipelines, among other innovations. While some approaches succeeded and others fell short, the journey has been a rewarding experience for everyone involved. The partnership has transformed how Coreo and its clients harness data, producing actionable forecasts and trends that guide marketing strategies. As Coreo aptly puts it, “We’re no longer making decisions based on intuition and isolated silos of data. We’re operating with real knowledge and support for every marketing move we make.” This collaboration has not only demonstrated the power of data-driven strategies but also underscored the value of shared expertise in achieving transformative results.
