Epical + YouScan: When Emotions Explain What Data Can't See

Everything seemed fine. Reports were positive, and the charts were full of green. However, something didn't add up: decisions began to fail, relationships with users grew tense, and crises appeared without warning. There was no lack of data. What was missing was an understanding of what was happening beneath the surface.

Epical is an Argentine Social & Consumer Intelligence startup specializing in transforming digital conversation into business decisions. Their approach stems from a clear conviction: today, brands don't need more data; they need to interpret it better.

That is why Epical integrates multi-source digital listening, cultural context, and its own proprietary layer of emotional analysis to understand what people are saying, what they are feeling, and how that anticipates behaviors and risks.

In 2025, Epical worked with more than eight Fortune 500 companies on Social & Consumer Intelligence projects. This track record supports their focus: moving beyond traditional listening to build actionable business intelligence. That same year, Tomás Criado (CEO & Founder) was recognized as one of the 50 most influential people in the world in Social Intelligence by The Social Intelligence Lab.

The Problem: Green is Deceiving

For years, many brands made decisions based on traditional sentiment reports—tidy charts, green lights, and positive percentages that invited a sense of calm. Everything seemed to indicate that the conversation was under control.

The problem was that reality was moving in a different direction. Signs that were difficult to explain began to appear: tired users, accumulated frustration, overwhelmed support teams, and, in some cases, business crises that arrived without warning. Most disconcerting of all was that, even then, reports continued to show positive results.

It became clear that digital conversation is not binary. It is full of irony, contradictions, and ambivalence that classic sentiment analysis (positive/negative/neutral) often overlooks, requiring a more refined emotional reading.

The Challenge

Epical detected a recurring pattern: there was plenty of data but little real understanding of what was happening. The challenge was not to collect more data, but to interpret it better and convert it into actionable priorities.

The goal shifted to identifying latent emotional trends before they transformed into visible business problems—understanding not just what was said, but why it was said and what behavior it anticipated.

"YouScan organizes the what and the where of the conversation: it captures, structures, and shows how topics evolve over time. Epical provides the missing layer to make that truly useful for business: we explain the why behind what is said, measure the emotional weight driving it, and translate that signal into risk, opportunity, and decision-making. It’s not about reporting mentions; it’s about detecting invisible tensions—irony, ambivalence, latent frustration—before they turn into tickets, churn, or a crisis. That is where listening stops being a dashboard and becomes business intelligence." — Tomás Criado, CEO & Founder of Epical.

The Role of YouScan

For this project, YouScan served as the central platform for capturing and organizing the digital conversation. Through the platform, the team analyzes conversations from social media, reviews, and app stores, detecting themes, patterns, and their evolution over time.

YouScan functions as a trend radar: it allows the team to see where the conversation is concentrated and how it evolves. On this solid foundation, Epical applies its layer of interpretation (methodology + analytical criteria + proprietary emotional reading) and converts information into decisions: what to prioritize, what to adjust, and what to communicate.

Real Case Study: A “Successful” Banking App Losing Trust

A financial institution launched a new version of its app after a significant investment. Reports showed 80% positive mentions. Internally, the launch was celebrated as a success.

However, a few weeks later, the call center collapsed, and users began abandoning the application. By diving deeper into the data obtained with YouScan, Epical cross-referenced the most mentioned topics with emotional intensity, and a different story emerged.

Comments like “what a nice app” or “finally an update” coexisted with messages loaded with frustration, irony, and anger over recurring bugs. The sentiment analysis said everything was fine. The emotions said otherwise: anxiety, exhaustion, and eroding trust.

The Key Insight

In this analysis, what Epical defines as Stability Bias emerged. When something works, it is usually silent. When it fails, it becomes emotionally dominant: it concentrates frustration and anxiety and erodes trust.

Thanks to YouScan, it was possible to identify which parts of the experience generated the most conversation and, above all, which ones concentrated the greatest negative emotional impact. The problem was not just technical. It was deeply emotional.

From Insight to Action

With this reading, the strategy changed completely. On social media, the brand prioritized human and empathetic responses. In app stores, the focus was on resolving technical issues clearly and directly. Internally, priorities were reorganized based on emotional impact and trust risk, not just mention volume.

Three months later, the results were clear: NPS rose by 22 points, critical tickets dropped by 37%, and the overall tone of the conversation stabilized. There were no new features. There was something much harder to build: trust.

Why This Case Matters

This case demonstrates the value of combining YouScan with deep and advanced emotional reading. Classifying sentiment helps you understand what happened. Decoding emotions allows you to anticipate behaviors, detect risks in time, and make better decisions.

Because in digital conversation, the most important thing isn't always said explicitly... but it is felt.