Making the invisible visible by transforming connected vehicle data into a compelling retail story.
Challenge
Connected vehicle data is incredibly powerful, but it's also largely invisible. Behind every store visit is a complex network of journeys, behaviours and movement patterns that retailers rarely get to see. Wejo's technology reveals those hidden patterns, helping businesses understand where customers come from, how often they visit, where else they shop and how locations perform over time. The challenge was to communicate these sophisticated capabilities in a way that felt intuitive and accessible, helping audiences quickly understand both the scale of the data and the commercial value it can unlock.
The brief
Wejo helps organisations unlock the value of connected vehicle data, transforming billions of anonymous journey records into actionable intelligence. For this project, Wejo wanted to demonstrate how that data could help major retailers better understand customer behaviour, optimise store locations and make smarter business decisions.
FLOW was commissioned to create an animated case study film that would communicate these capabilities to a retail audience. The challenge was to take a highly technical, data-driven proposition and turn it into a clear, engaging story centred around a familiar retail scenario.
A World Full of Character
To balance the technical nature of the subject matter, we created a playful visual style filled with character, personality and moments of humour.
Expressive 2D characters bring warmth and relatability to the story, while richly crafted 3D environments provide depth, scale and context. Together, they create a visual language that feels both approachable and sophisticated, helping transform complex data into a more engaging and human experience.
The creative approach
This idea became the foundation of the creative approach.
Rather than explaining the technology through interfaces, dashboards or technical terminology, we focused on visualising the unseen layer of intelligence that exists behind everyday journeys. The film reveals how connected vehicle data can uncover patterns that would otherwise remain hidden, transforming movement into insight and insight into better decisions.
Using three fictional big-box retailers as our central examples, we were able to demonstrate how data can expose customer catchment areas, shopping habits, traffic patterns and store performance. By bringing these invisible behaviours into view, the value of the platform becomes immediately easier to understand.
Building the Story
To make the data feel relevant, we built the narrative around real business challenges faced by large retailers.
The film follows how connected vehicle insights can be used to better understand customer behaviour and location performance, helping businesses make more informed decisions about marketing, operations and future growth.
By focusing on outcomes rather than technical processes, we created a story that speaks directly to decision-makers while still showcasing the sophistication of the underlying platform.
Visualising Data in Motion
A key part of the production was creating a seamless relationship between the physical world and the digital information layered on top of it.
The 3D environments provided scale, context and dynamic camera movement, while 2D motion graphics brought clarity to the data itself. Animated pathways, location markers, charts and visual indicators helped explain complex concepts in a simple and engaging way.
Careful compositing and animation ensured both disciplines worked together as a single visual system, creating a world where data felt naturally embedded within the environment rather than appearing as a separate layer of information.
Designed for Clarity
With so much information to communicate, restraint was critical.
Every visual element was designed to support understanding, from the simplified environments and colour palette to the pacing of the animation and the hierarchy of information on screen. The aim was to create a film that felt sophisticated without becoming technical, helping viewers absorb key messages quickly and confidently.
By reducing complexity and focusing attention on the most important insights, we were able to communicate the value of the platform in a way that feels both engaging and credible.
The Outcome
The finished film gives Wejo a compelling way to demonstrate the power of connected vehicle data to retail audiences.
By making invisible customer behaviours visible, the animation transforms complex mobility data into a clear and accessible business story. Through a combination of strategic storytelling, thoughtful design and a seamless blend of 2D and 3D animation, the film helps audiences understand how better data can lead to better decisions.
"FLOW quickly understood the challenge of communicating a complex data product and turned it into a story that was clear, engaging and easy to understand. The team were great to work with throughout, and the finished film helped us bring the value of our platform to life for a retail audience."
Contributors & Credits
- Creative direction: Karl Doran
- Production management: Emma Shaw
- Animation: Guilherme Gomes
- Animation: Inês Margarida
- Animation: Winston Tsang
- Illustration: Nadia Kawafi
- Design: Josh Taylor
