Launching Seek by mySidewalk

The Situation

mySidewalk, a Kansas City-based technology company, provides public service professionals with tools to find, visualize, and communicate with geo-spatial data. Despite a powerful product, they faced a significant challenge: many of their target users—non-technical public service professionals—valued the outputs of data work but did not see working with data as part of their job.

Through user interviews, a critical misalignment emerged. While mySidewalk aimed to democratize data, its users found data work overwhelming, complex, and outside their responsibilities. This left the company at a crossroads: how do we make data workflow tools valuable to an audience that doesn't see data management as their job?

Our Insight

User interviews revealed a common sentiment: data wrangling is overwhelming. Public service professionals didn’t need more data—they needed clear, actionable insights that helped them make decisions. The questions they asked reinforced this gap:

• What do I search for?
• Where do I find it?
• How do I even start?

Our hypothesis: If we could make finding relevant data seamless and intuitive, we could help users see community insights as essential to their work—building greater adoption for mySidewalk in the process.

The Solution

An internal tool used by mySidewalk’s data analysts became the foundation for what would become Seek—a solution designed to remove the friction of data wrangling and empower users with instant, high-quality community insights. Seek shifted the focus from raw data to real-world answers, positioning mySidewalk as a provider of strategic insights rather than just a data tool.

To drive awareness and adoption, we positioned Seek around a simple yet bold promise: “Seek answers, not data.” This messaging reframed the conversation from complex data analysis to actionable decision-making, reinforcing the tool’s value.

Over several quarters, we executed a comprehensive go-to-market strategy:

• Brand Architecture: Reconfigured mySidewalk’s brand positioning to shift away from point solutions (dashboards, managed services) toward a suite of integrated workflow tools.
• Seek Identity: Positioned Seek as a key product within mySidewalk’s suite, reinforcing its role in the broader "jobs-to-be-done" platform approach.
• Product Marketing System: Developed a structured product marketing framework to support Seek and other data workflow tools across multiple verticals.
• Visual & Experiential Branding: Designed and built "Seek World," a persistent, customizable brand environment for storytelling and campaigns.
• Go-To-Market Execution: Launched Seek across all marketing channels, ensuring a cohesive and compelling narrative.
• Strategic Partnerships: Secured a launch partnership with the National League of Cities, expanding reach and credibility within local government networks.

The Impact

Seek became the catalyst for a fundamental shift in how mySidewalk positioned itself—moving from a provider of point solutions to a workflow-driven platform. This repositioning helped unlock new markets, drive awareness, and accelerate revenue growth. Key results included:

• 7x Growth in organic traffic to branded resources
• 40% Increase in inbound bookings
• 2x Faster sales cycles
• 20% Growth in average annual contract values (ACV)

By transforming how mySidewalk framed data accessibility and insights, Seek not only improved product adoption but also redefined the company’s go-to-market strategy—proving that when users stop wrestling with data, they start making better decisions.

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