Category: Analysis

Insight, Innovation and Inclusive Leadership: The New Business Success Formula

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-dunn

Organisations are facing unprecedented challenges in remaining competitive and maintaining business success in 2025.

The three fundamental pillars of sustained success are deep customer insights, meaningful innovation, and inclusive leadership.

Let’s explore why this powerful trinity is more relevant than ever in 2025 and how you can leverage it to grow your business.

Prefer to listen to the podcast? Click below.

Why These Three Pillars Matter Now More Than Ever

The numbers tell a compelling story.

McKinsey’s latest research reveals that companies effectively combining these three elements outperform their peers by an astounding 85% in sales growth and more than 25% in gross margin. But what makes this combination so powerful?

 

Deep Customer Insights Power Business Success

Insight is the cornerstone of every successful strategy.

The key difference between successful and struggling companies? Top performers turn data into actionable intelligence that drives decision-making at all levels.

McKinsey reports that companies using customer insights for decision-making are 60% more likely to achieve above-market growth rates!

The true value of insights comes when they bridge the gap between raw data and real-world application, allowing businesses to anticipate consumer needs, optimize operations, and refine strategies.

Gone are the days when gut feelings drove business decisions. Modern market leaders demonstrate the transformative power of customer insights:

– One standout example is Spotify’s “Wrapped” campaign. In 2023, Spotify used not just user listening data but an understanding of the emotional drivers behind their customers’ listening habits—self-reflection and social sharing. By tapping into this human desire, Spotify’s campaign led to over 30 billion streams, showcasing the power of customer insights in driving engagement and brand loyalty.

– Nike’s adaptive clothing line, developed through extensive consultation with disabled athletes, opened entirely new market segments

– P&G’s open innovation platform has revolutionized their product development process by incorporating external perspectives

But it’s not just consumer-facing data that drives success.

Internal business insights—such as employee feedback, operational inefficiencies, and market trends—are equally crucial.

Companies that develop a culture of continuous insight-gathering and sharing can make smarter, more informed decisions at all levels.

Does your Insight Development Process need an upgrade? Click below and check out our two-hour online masterclass for marketers and market researchers.

Learn more about your Business Makeover

Innovation: The Competitive Edge Amplifier of Business Success

Recent PwC research shows that 61% of CEOs view innovation as their top priority for achieving long-term growth.

But here’s what’s fascinating: successful innovation in 2025 looks vastly different from what we’ve seen before.

Innovation is not just about creating groundbreaking products or services; it’s about creating solutions that drive long-term value.

BCG’s latest report revealed that top innovators share three core practices:

  • Maintaining investment in innovation even during downturns
  • Leveraging advanced technologies like AI to drive innovation
  • Aligning innovation with sustainability goals alongside profitability

Microsoft offers a powerful example of how innovation can drive meaningful change. Instead of treating AI as a standalone technology, Microsoft integrated AI tools into their product suite to enhance real user productivity.

The result? A 40% increase in … Click to continue reading

Transforming Your Competitive Advantage with Radical Consumer Centricity

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Many brands today claim to be consumer-first or consumer-led.

However, their attempts often fall short of expectations, resulting in actions that lack the authenticity and depth consumers seek. Radical Consumer Centricity changes that.

This approach involves embedding consumer insights into every part of a company, driving long-term success by anticipating and meeting consumer needs precisely. It’s a transformational shift essential to gaining a lasting competitive edge in today’s market.

In this article, we’ll explore why Radical Consumer Centricity matters, how leading companies achieve a consumer-led structure, and why adaptable frameworks, such as C3Centricity’s QC2™ process, are crucial to effectively guiding this journey.

If you prefer to listen rather than read:

 

 

Why Radical Consumer Centricity Matters

As consumers become more informed, connected, and demanding, consumer-first approaches that lack depth lose their appeal. People expect brands not just to fulfill their immediate needs, but to understand, anticipate, and address their evolving desires.

A recent study by McKinsey found that 87% of companies leveraging advanced customer analytics outperform their competitors in customer retention and engagement (McKinsey).

Companies that use consumer insights to stay ahead aren’t merely reacting—they’re building deeper relationships that foster loyalty and keep consumers coming back.

Shifting to Radical Consumer Centricity allows brands to make decisions rooted in authentic consumer insights, paving the way for sustainable loyalty. By deeply understanding consumers and tailoring strategies to meet emerging needs, brands can align more closely with what matters most to their audience.

This approach requires an all-in commitment, from leadership buy-in to cross-functional collaboration. Consumer-led organizations consistently outperform in terms of agility and profitability, with consumer-centric companies proving to be 60% more profitable than those that are not (Bain).

 

Becoming Consumer-Led, Not Just Consumer-First

Achieving Radical Consumer Centricity means moving from consumer-first to consumer-led—a shift that puts consumer insights at the core of every strategic choice.

It’s about allowing the voice of the consumer to influence every area of the organization, from product design to marketing, support, and even company culture.

For companies that fully commit, the payoff is considerable: increased loyalty, faster market adaptation, and a stronger connection with Consumers.

A leading example of this approach is Monzo, a digital-first bank based in the UK. Monzo’s commitment to customer-led innovation sets it apart in a competitive landscape. Monzo doesn’t just listen to customer feedback; it actively engages users in co-creating the bank’s services.

By gathering and responding to feedback on features, policies, and services, Monzo has developed innovations like “Split the Bill” and “Savings Pots” based directly on user requests.

This collaborative approach has turned Monzo into one of the UK’s most recommended banks, with over 80% of users willing to refer Monzo to friends (Monzo Investor Relations).

Monzo’s example shows how brands that embrace Radical Consumer Centricity become indispensable to their consumers’ lives.

By letting their customers shape the brand, Monzo has created a model where users feel they have a stake in its growth.

When consumers … Click to continue reading

Unlocking the Huge Untapped Potential for SMEs through the Superior Use of Data

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

All CEOs face many challenges, perhaps those of small and mid-sized companies more so than others. However, the current data-rich environment offers an enormous untapped potential for SMEs. Let me explain.

Today’s technically advanced and data-rich environment makes the strategic use of data a crucial element for success. While many companies recognise the importance of its leverage for marketing purposes, an often overlooked aspect holds immense potential: the comprehensive and superior use of customer-centric data. This is what I want to cover in this post.

If you would rather listen than read:

 

Understanding the Potential for SMEs to Use More Customer-Centric Data

Superior use of customer-centric data means going beyond basic data collection and analysis to integrate customer insights into every facet of a business. This holistic approach uses data to enhance product development, service enhancement, operational efficiency, and strategic planning.

Let’s look into each of these in more detail.

Why the Superior Use of Data Matters

1. Personalised Customer Experiences: Superior data utilisation helps all organisations, especially SMEs, create personalised experiences that resonate with individual customers.

Businesses can tailor their offerings, communications, and engagements to create meaningful connections by understanding customers’ preferences, behaviours, and needs. According to a report by Epsilon, 80% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides personalised experiences.

2. Predictive Insights for Proactive Strategies: Leveraging data allows SMEs to anticipate trends and predict future behaviours.

This foresight enables proactive strategies, such as developing new products or services that address emerging needs or adjusting marketing tactics to stay ahead of the competition. Gartner predicts that by 2025, AI-driven businesses will be able to capture up to $2.9 trillion in business value.

3. Enhanced Decision-Making: Data-driven decision-making eliminates guesswork and reduces the risk of costly mistakes. SMEs can make informed choices based on concrete evidence, leading to more effective resource allocation and improved outcomes. According to McKinsey, data-driven organisations are 23 times more likely to acquire customers, six times more likely to retain customers, and 19 times more likely to be profitable.

4. Operational Efficiency: Analysing customer data has huge potential for SMEs to identify inefficiencies and streamline processes. This enhances productivity, contributes to cost savings, and improves the overall customer experience. A Forrester study found that organisations leveraging data effectively see a 10% reduction in operational costs.

If you are an executive who believes you have untapped potential in your own organisation and would like to discuss your current challenges in data usage, innovation, or marketing, then why not CONTACT US? In a 30-minute CALL, you will walk away with at least three suggested actions immediately impacting your business.  

Transforming Marketing with Superior Data Utilization

The power of superior data use cannot be overstated for marketing heads. It revolutionises how marketing strategies are conceived, executed, and evaluated.

However, this means that they can no longer rely on creativity alone. They need to

… Click to continue reading

A Comprehensive Guide to Overcoming the Most Common Data Integration Challenges

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Insight development is based on gathering information, then data integration and analysis. However, organisations often find this challenging due to multiple sources, formats and time scales. Do you?

Many companies struggle to benefit from all their data and information because they don’t know how to turn it into insight, or their insights remain interesting but not actionable. There are many reasons for this.

From data quality issues to technological limitations and resistance to change, organisations must navigate a complex landscape to unlock the full potential of their data.

This comprehensive guide delves into the ten most common challenges in insight development, offering detailed analysis and strategies to overcome each obstacle, ensuring your organization can harness data for strategic advantage.

If you prefer to listen rather than read:

 

What an Actionable Insight Really is

I get so frustrated when people refer to numbers, data, or the findings from research projects as insights. None of these are!

In addition, developing actionable insights from a single survey is rare.

The reason is that insight development, getting to that “aha” moment that everyone immediately understands and wonders why no one thought of before, needs a 360 perspective of the challenge or opportunity under investigation and uses information from multiple sources.

There are many definitions of insight, but the one that I use, and that resonates with my clients, is a statement that impacts the attitudes or behaviours of current or potential customers/shoppers of a brand or category based on a human truth that results in an emotional response.

At first glance, this may seem like quite a mouthful, so to simplify retention, I refer to it as ABCDE:

A = Attitudes and Actions

B = Brand or Category

C = Customer, consumer, client or shopper

D = Deep human truth

E = Emotional response

To fast-track your understanding, here are some great examples of the insights behind some of the best-known brands:

  • Heineken Jillz: I want to drink alcohol on a night out, but I don’t like beer and wine is too variable in quality.
  • Kraft Philadelphia: Food is delicious, but I don’t want to eat too much fat (butter versus cream cheese).
  • DTC Diamonds: I want to stand out (shine), but as a modern woman, I also want to be seen as gentle and feminine.
  • Unilever Dove: I want to be admired for my beauty on the inside, not for what I look like on the outside.
  • AXE (Lynx in UK): I (young men) want to attract as many beautiful and sexy women as possible.
  • Haribo Starmix: There’s a child inside every adult.
  • Dulux sample paint pots: I love to decorate my home, but I don’t want to look stupid by choosing the wrong colour.

You’ll notice that most are written in the first person as if the target audience is speaking. This makes it much easier to understand and resonate with the reader without much effort … Click to continue reading

Do Less Market Research But Know Much More About Your Customers

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Do you always need the market research studies you run?

You might have seen a recent post of mine on LinkedIn where I said how frustrated I am with marketers who start with a survey when they have a question, rather than ending with one.

If you too have this habit, then I want to share how you can do fewer surveys and yet still know much more about your customers. 

Let me start by saying that I am not suggesting that companies don’t run market research. Rather, I am proposing that they don’t conduct a survey before having reviewed their current situation in detail. And in particular, the information that is already available inside the organisation.

In many companies, there is far more information available than people realise. Research shows that 68% of data is not used by businesses who invest in it — that’s over two-thirds of data – and budgets – wasted!

To make optimum use of your resources – time, money, and people – my suggestion is to first gather and analyse what is already available. In this way, any research that is conducted will be far more focused, and usually faster and cheaper too!

In my CATSIGHT™ process for actionable insight development, data gathering is the sixth of the seven steps! If you’d like to learn more about it, then do check out my online course on the topic. In under two hours, you will learn how to easily develop insights that can be immediately put into action.

 

Ten Reasons NOT to Run Market Research

One of my cornerstone posts here, which continues to receive hundreds of views every month is “Ten reasons NOT to conduct market research.” In summary, I advise leaders to avoid surveys:

  1. Where the objectives are not well defined, and the issue or opportunity needs further clarification.
  2. Where the cost of running the survey exceeds its value, especially in how the information will be used.
  3. Where the budget is too small to do an adequate job of information gathering. In this case, corners will be cut, either in terms of the depth of the investigation or in the sample size.
  4. Where the time available to run and report on the project is too short. This is often a problem when new products or communication campaigns are being tested, and there is a delay in their delivery for testing.
  5. That could “tip off” the competition by researching the confidential topic. Obviously running projects on ultra-secret development work is ill-advised unless you carefully control who is interviewed.
  6. Where the findings would not be actionable. Hopefully, this can be avoided by having detailed clarification of the objectives of the study.
  7. That are motivated by internal politics, such as to prove a point, rather than by a need for information.
  8. That are designed to measure trends that progress too slowly or too fast and thus will provide insignificant changes.
  9. Where the agency used to gather the information is unreliable or unethical. This may
… Click to continue reading

In Today’s Competitive Market, AI is the Key to Winning Customer Loyalty

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

If you haven’t already heard, AI is the key to winning customer loyalty today!

As the digital revolution transforms the business landscape, customers demand more from their interactions with companies.

They expect personalised, seamless experiences across all channels and touchpoints, and they want their needs to be anticipated so they are met both quickly and efficiently.

To address these expectations, businesses realise that AI is the key to helping them deliver exceptional customer experiences that are both personalised and efficient.

So let’s explore how AI can help your organisation improve your customer’s experience and provide some valuable tips for seamlessly integrating AI into your customer-first strategy.

 

AI is the key to customer satisfaction through personalisation

AI can help businesses meet their customers’ expectations by providing personalised recommendations, tailored messaging, and customised experiences.

One way of doing this is through chatbots and virtual assistants. These tools can help businesses provide instant support and assistance to customers 24/7. They can and should be programmed to recognise each individual’s preferences and behaviours.

Chatbots and virtual assistants can also help businesses collect data on customer interactions, which can then be used to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of customised recommendations.

Another way to personalise customer experience is by making use of predictive analytics. By analysing customer data, businesses can identify individual preferences and behaviour patterns. It can then use this information to personalise their products and services further.

For example, a retailer might use predictive analytics to recommend products based on a customer’s past purchases. A bank might use predictive analytics to offer customised financial advice based on a customer’s spending habits.

 

AI is the Key to Customer Loyalty and Efficiency

Efficiency is another critical component of delivering an exceptional customer experience. Customers want their needs to be met quickly and efficiently, and they expect businesses to be responsive and proactive in addressing their concerns. AI can help companies to improve efficiency in several ways, from reducing response times to automating routine tasks.

One way to improve efficiency is through chatbots and virtual assistants. These tools can provide instant support and assistance to customers, reducing response times and freeing human agents to focus on more complex issues. Chatbots and virtual assistants can also be programmed to automate routine tasks, such as scheduling appointments or processing payments, further improving efficiency.

Predictive analytics can again be used to also improve efficiency. By analysing customer data, businesses can anticipate customer needs and proactively offer solutions before a customer even realises they have a problem.

For example, a telecommunications company might use predictive analytics to identify when a customer’s data usage is about to exceed their plan limits and proactively offer them an upgrade to a larger plan. With an attractive incentive to do so, this will result in a win-win for both the business and their customers.

 

Best Practices for Integrating AI into Your CEX Strategy

Integrating AI into your customer experience strategy can be a complex process, but there are some best practices

… Click to continue reading

Got Data? It’s Never Big Enough For Business’s New Demands

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Did the title that you’ve got data make you curious? Great! 

Of course, in today’s data-rich environment I’m not really suggesting that you ignore it, rather the opposite! But in working with clients around the world and in numerous industries, I’ve found that many are lost by all the information that is available to them.

In fact it seems to drown out their reasoning of what to do and they remain frozen in indecision. Is this your case? If so, then just follow the steps I detail below and you will soon be doubling, quadrupling, if not 10x the ROI of your data!

 

The Current Situation with Data

Data is everywhere and most organisations are drowning in it! Technology is at the heart of this data explosion and is being blamed for disrupting businesses, but most have simply not adapted to this new information-rich world.

I admit, a lot has changed in recent years. Consumers are learning how to adapt their behaviours and now trade their personal information for extra benefits. In response companies are changing their business models as their value shifts from products to services, or in some cases, to the sale of the information they gather.

Some organisations are reinventing themselves to take advantage of these changes. Others are ignoring them – at their peril, since they risk becoming the next Kodak, Borders or Blockbusters. If you’re interested in reading more about the US Retail Apocalypse and the 23 big retailers closing stores then I highly recommend this post on Fox Business.

So what should you do, whether you are in manufacturing or retail? Well, I believe that you should start by renovating your business model to take advantage of the countless new opportunities that the wealth of data offers you. And in my opinion, you had better do it sooner rather than later, because your competition almost certainly will!

 

The Opportunity

Yes you have data and information, but if you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know that it’s not enough. You have to turn these into knowledge and understanding, and then into actionable insights. And this can only be done by asking the right questions of your data and information.

If you are struggling to take needed action despite a wealth of information, then this is certainly where you should start making changes – fast!

A 2015 Capgemini and EMC study called “Big & Fast Data: The rise of Insight-Driven Business” showed that:

  • 56% of the 1,000 senior decision makers surveyed claim that their investment in big data over the next three years will exceed past investment in information management.
  • 65% admit they risk becoming irrelevant and uncompetitive if they do not leverage data. This is especially true given that non-traditional providers, like startups thriving on big data processing, are moving into their industries.
  • Although companies realise they desperately need to dig into data analytics to maintain their business position, 45% surveyed think their current internal IT development cycles are not
… Click to continue reading

The Risks of Not Knowing All 12 Essential Elements of Your Target Customer

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

I think it’s pretty clear to everyone in business that NOT knowing your target customer costs a lot – sometimes the business itself! (Think Kodak, Nokia, Borders)

So let me ask you this; how well do you really know your own target customers? Are they men, women, younger, older, Fortune 100 companies, local businesses? If you can at least answer that, then you have the basics, but how much more should you know about them?

Well I can help you there, with these 12 essential elements of a customer persona or avatar. 

 

 

Background

I was recently working with a local service provider that was looking to improve their online presence. They were keen to have more impact on social media and had asked for advice about the best platforms, optimal frequency of publishing and possible content ideas.

They are a new client for me, so I think they were a little surprised when I didn’t get straight into the “sexy” topic of social media. Instead, I started by taking them through the basics of target customer identification. Lucky for them that I did!

When we had finished the exercise, we had actually found five different targets for them to address, rather than just the two they had been addressing until now. This clearly would have an impact on both where, what and how they communicated online.

It is for this reason that I always recommend that every brand and business completes a target persona and regularly updates it every time they learn something new about their customers. I also encourage you to keep it handy, ideally always visible on or around your desk. That way you will always be thinking customer first whenever you are working on a new project.

So let’s imagine that we’re having our first meeting together and I’m asking a few (well 12 actually!) questions about your customers. How many can you immediately answer?

 

The 12 Essential Elements of a Target Customer Persona

C3Centricity has designed a simple template that helps clients have all the essential information about their customers in one place, summarised on one page. It’s called the 4W™ Persona Template; if you haven’t already done so, you can download it, together with a detailed workbook explaining exactly how to complete it. Just click on the image below.

I would highly recommend you download it right now, before continuing to read, so that you can follow along with the one-pager in front of you.

 

Here are the 12 essential elements you need to have at hand in order to complete the template:

1. WHO – DEMOGRAPHICS: This is usually a “no-brainer” and is how most organisations describe their customers. However it’s not really original and definitely not competitive, although they are an essential foundation.

But there is so much more you should and absolutely must know about your customers, so read on.

2. WHAT THEY USE: Whether you are offering a product or providing a service, you … Click to continue reading

Never Give Up! How to Succeed in Business When Everyone Else is Failing

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

We all want to succeed, don’t we? Succeed in business and to succeed in our private lives as well.

I was recently reminded of a famous and inspiring quote from Winston Churchill’s address to Harrow School in the UK back in 1941. It was certainly one of his shortest speeches, but probably also one of his most quoted. He said:

“Never give in, never, never, never, never”

You can read his full speech – which is not much longer! – here.

Hearing this quote got me thinking about failure. Failure in our lives, our businesses, our jobs, our relationships. And more importantly, about how we often fail merely because we give up too quickly. Unfortunately, we’ll never know, but we can do something to avoid failure. We can do a lot!

Now whereas I believe that advising you on your private life is best left to my other platform https://finding-your-happy.com, I do feel sufficiently knowledgeable to speak about your business failures here.

I recently wrote about the 7 reasons most companies fail to adopt a customer-first strategy. They were the conclusion to a post on what a customer-first strategy is, and what it isn’t. If you missed it, then click the link above to read the full article.

If you want to learn more about how to adopt a customer-first strategy, then I’m sure you’ll be interested in checking out my new course called “A Customer-First Strategy for Accelerating Brand Growth.” It is a success roadmap for putting your customers at the heart of your business for faster growth & profitability.

Over the many years of blog posting, I’ve written many posts on numerous topics, including my solutions to failing in countless areas of marketing. I therefore thought it would be useful to share four summaries of the most important articles related to failure in business and innovation in a single post. Let me know what you think.

 

 

How you React to Failure Could Help You Succeed in Business

For this first summary of a post, I’d like to share not a list of solutions but a selection of inspiring quotes on reacting to failure. I think it sets the stage beautifully for the three other summaries to come.

In the full post (which you can read by clicking the above link) you can also find suggested actions for each of them. They will make you realise that there is great opportunity in every failure! So don’t be afraid to fail. Just don’t miss the chance to learn a valuable lesson!

1. “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure” Bill Gates, American Businessman

2. “Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be” John Wooden, American Coach

3. “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” Benjamin Franklin, American Politician

4. “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently” Henry Ford, American Businessman

5. “The difference between average people and achieving … Click to continue reading

Do Companies Still Benefit From Having a Market Research Department?

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

What’s your gut response to the title question about Market Research Departments? Yes? No? Being Swiss I would say it depends!

I am probably in the third camp. Yes, if it is a department that integrates and analyses information from multiple sources, and then delivers actionable insights and recommendations to the organisation. No, if it is the traditional market research department, whatever that is.

I first asked this question a few years ago and it generated a lot of – sometimes heated – discussions. Now after so many changes in the past couple of years, I thought it was worth revisiting. Please add your own perspective into the comments below and let’s get those discussions started again.

Thanks to social media and websites, the IoT (Internet of Things) and smart products, companies are inundated with information these days. Who better than market research to help in its analysis? But to become this new business decision support group, new skills are required.

Insights 2020 by Kantar-Vermeer ran some interesting research into the future of market research and insights. In their report, they spoke about the need for researchers to have five critical capabilities:

  • Research & analytics mastery
  • Business acumen
  • Creative solution thinking
  • Storytelling
  • Direction setting

The fieldwork is now a few years old but I still think it makes good background reading to make companies think about their own needs in terms of data analysis. Also, the world and business environment have changed dramatically in the last eighteen months.

Another study by BCG and GRBN resulted in an Invest in Insights Handbook to help organisations report on the ROI of the insights function. They reported that those who measure the ROI of their information have found a seat at the decision table, increased budgets, and more control. Those are the department objectives that the FMCG world in particular desires today, be they in a manufacturing or retail environment.

As the handbook mentions:

“Architecting a world-class Insights organization requires executive, cross-functional commitment/engagement”

To do this, the report mentions the following six points:

  • Vision & Pace
  • Seat-at-the-table and leadership
  • Functional talent blueprint
  • Ways of working with the Line
  • Self-determination
  • Impact and Truth Culture

The analysis concludes that:

“The biggest barriers to experimenting with innovation in CI are resources, both time and money. A lot of times there’ll be [a need for] an innovation project but it can’t find a home.”

Invest in InsightsThis seems to suggest, at least to me, a chicken-and-egg situation. Resources are insufficient because the business doesn’t see the benefit of investing in market research and insight development. However, the Market Research Department is struggling with insufficient budget and personnel to provide the support that they should – and often could – provide.

In the GRBN report, they mention the largest barriers to the measurement of the ROI of market research and insight. These were found to be:

  • Difficult to do – studies are used in many different ways
  • Difficulty in isolating the impact of consumer insights
  • The time lag between
… Click to continue reading

Five Brilliant Ideas to Boost your Insight Development

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Insights are the pot of gold that many businesses dream of but rarely find. Why is that? Are you one of them? If so then I have some practical ideas on how you can get much, much better at insight development.

 

#1. Insights rarely come from a single market research study

Management often thinks that insight is “just another word for market research”. I remember one of my previous CEOs saying exactly that to me just before he addressed the whole market research and insight global team at our annual conference. I’m sure you can imagine what a panic I was in as he walked up to the mike!
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Insights are demanding to develop and are rarely, if ever, developed from a single piece of market research. Each market research project is designed to gather information in order to answer one or more questions. Whilst it may enable a business to make a more informed decision based upon the objectives, insight development is quite a different process.

Insight development involves integrating, analysing and synthesising all the data and information you have about a category or segment user. Then summarising it into knowledge and turning that knowledge into understanding. Only then are you ready to develop an insight.

All brands should have (at least) one insight on which its image, personality and Big Idea (for communications) are built. For example

  • AXE (Lynx in UK): (young) men want to attract as many beautiful and sexy women as possible. This is one of their newer ads, where the seduction is a little less in your face and more subtle – but still there.

 

  • Haribo Starmix: There’s a child inside every adult. This “Kid’s Voices” campaign has been running for years and manages to surprise and delight with each new episode. Which is your favourite? Please add a comment below.

 

  • Dulux sample paint pots: I love to decorate my home, but I don’t want to look stupid by choosing the wrong colour. Although these are now a standard offer for many paint brands, Dulux were the first to understand the problem facing potential home decorators.

Dulux sample pot example of insight development

Insight development will provide the basis on which you will define the actions that are needed to change the attitudes and / or behaviour of your target audience. It also provides a solid framework on which to build your Big Idea for your communications’ strategy.

 

So there you have them, the five ideas and numerous examples that will help you to develop better insights more easily.

Although you probably already have your own process for creating them, I know from experience how hard it can be to find insights from all the information you gather.

I hope this short article has assisted you in your search for those “golden nuggets”. Do … Click to continue reading

How to Sell More to Less People: Essentials of Segmentation

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Businesses often make the mistake of trying to sell to everyone, rather than running a segmentation. Are you guilty of this?

Why is this a mistake? Well, if you try to please everyone you end up delighting no one. This is why best-in-class marketers work with best-practice segmentations. And targeting the biggest group is not often the best strategy. In fact, it rarely is. Read on to find out why.

Your brand needs to appeal to a group of customers who are looking for the solution you are offering. This means that you need to make a choice of who to target amongst all category users. Making a choice implies that you will have to ignore some category users who you could perhaps attract. This seems counter-intuitive and makes many marketers scared. Does it scare you not to try and go after everyone?

It certainly worries many marketers and yet it’s the only way to sell more. Although this may not sound like common sense at first, segmentation actually ensures that you have the best possible chance to satisfy the needs of your targeted customers. Once you are satisfied with your results, you can always go after secondary target groups.

But let’s start at the beginning with the essentials of segmentation.

 

Where to Start: Targeting

When deciding who to target, most companies conduct some sort of analysis. This can be as simple as identifying your users by what you observe, such as young men, older housewives, or mothers of large families. And although these are easy to articulate, you are working with demographics, something every other brand can do as well. It also has the weakness of not truly understanding why your customers are choosing your brand  – or not – over the competition.

It therefore makes much more sense, to move on to a more sophisticated segmentation, just as soon as you can. Why? Because it is far more powerful. For example, rather than appealing to “young men”, targeting “those who value freedom and are looking for brands that can provide or suggest this dream” will immediately provide a clearer image of the group. Even if the majority of the segment are young men, the description is far more actionable. Do you see why?

Providing a detailed description of your target customers will always have the advantage of making engaging them that mush easier, because you will be speaking “their language.”

 

Types of Segmentation

I mentioned above that you can simply use demographics to segment all category users. But I also alluded to the fact that it is not very distinctive, or competitive. The sooner you can run a more complex segmentation the better.

The first thing to know about the essentials of segmentation is that there are five main types: 

Segmentation for success

Firmagraphics: This is the most basic and is usually how the industry separates the different types of products and services. For example alcoholic versus non-alcoholic beverages, or still and sparkling, or bottles versus cans.

The … Click to continue reading

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