Case Study: in4mation insights achieves accurate pandemic consumer-mobility insights with SafeGraph data

in4mation insights Uses SafeGraph Data to Understand Changing Consumer Mobility During the Pandemic

in4mation insights, a consulting firm specializing in data-driven marketing measurement, faced a major challenge when COVID-19 upended historical baselines and broke traditional marketing-mix models. To better predict shifting consumer behavior—especially changes in commuter and restaurant traffic—the team sought external mobility data and used SafeGraph Core Places and Weekly Patterns data to capture real-world foot-traffic patterns during the pandemic.

Using SafeGraph data, in4mation insights built a “work‑from‑home” variable by analyzing McDonald’s visit patterns by daypart and isolating commute-hour traffic, then smoothing and back‑projecting the series to remove seasonality and holidays. The SafeGraph-powered variable became the dominant predictor of pandemic-era movement, enabling a single, stable model across the pandemic, more accurate year-over-year comparisons, and uninterrupted KPI/ROI measurement at DMA/weekly granularity—outperforming prior macroeconomic and disease-transmission proxies.

in4mation insights

Mark Garratt

Partner and Co-Founder