From scattered spreadsheets to strategic clarity—how Shadowspec unified their data, aligned their team, and made better marketing decisions with Databox.
Gareth, the Content Specialist, and Lizzie, the Social Media Manager at Shadowspec, a premium umbrella manufacturer based in New Zealand, wear multiple hats to grow the brand’s reach. With a focus on high-end cantilever umbrellas for both commercial and residential use, their marketing team needed a better way to see and act on their performance data.
Before Databox, Shadowspec’s data was siloed across platforms, like HubSpot, Google Analytics, Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, and more. Without a unified view of their data, decision-making was based on “vibes” instead of facts.
“We didn’t have one platform of truth,” Lizzie said. “We couldn’t make accurate data-driven decisions as a team.”
The team struggled to align their marketing direction, and the scattered nature of data made tracking performance cumbersome and time-consuming.
Gareth and Lizzie began searching for a platform that could pull all their data into one place, and Databox stood out. Its ability to integrate with current and future tools, alongside features like custom and calculated metrics, was exactly what they needed.
“We were looking at how we could grow and needed custom metrics to calculate things like conversion rates that we couldn’t get from native platforms,” Gareth shared.
Implementation started by identifying their platforms and desired outcomes. The team built out dashboards using a mix of built-in, custom, and calculated metrics. Despite having some complex needs, the onboarding support helped them configure Databox effectively.
“The support team was amazing,” said Gareth. “Even when things got confusing, they stuck with us and got us to a solution.”
For Lizzie, the simplicity was a plus: “If I had any issue, I just passed it to Gareth. And he fixed it. It just worked.”
Today, Databox helps Shadowspec:
“We’re able to track what’s working in social, ad spend, and conversion rates every single day,” Lizzie said. “Before, it was vibes. Now, it’s facts.”
According to Gareth, Databox freed up time previously spent wrangling spreadsheets: “Now we focus on content and video work that drives impact.”
“If you’re considering something like Databox, you’ve already landed on the right page,” Gareth advised. “It integrates with everything, it’s evolving, and it’s helping us make smarter decisions.”
And if Databox disappeared tomorrow? “Crying, screaming, throwing up,” joked Lizzie. “We’d be lost. We’d have to go back to manual data crunching instead of creative marketing.”