Analytics...it's one of those fun terms that amateurs use to obfuscate their responsibilities, and that professionals use when the more practical term sounds dirty: data tracking.
It's a much maligned idea nowadays, and not without good reason. Privacy and security have become more tenuous concepts with the advent of social media and "always on" devices.
Still, tracking market information is as old as that oldest of methodologies: the humble survey. Modern analytics just cranks that system up to 11 with algorithms and apps that can tell you what demographics in what city in what state saw a surge in consumer interest after the airing of an aggressive ad campaign.
After all, preparation is the root of most advertising, not execution. Knowing who needs your product, who knows about it, and who NEEDS to know about it, can be the difference between making happy customers (and as a result, happy producers) or languishing while trying to sell to the least interested group.
After all, you wouldn't sell energy drinks to nursing homes, would you? Well...maybe you should, we need to run some analytics. Maybe grandpa would love a caffeine boost.