Category: Market Research, Insight, Data 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.

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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.

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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

The Most Popular CPG BLOG Posts of 2024 on Consumer Centricity

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Here at C3Centricity, we publish books (Winning Customer Centricity, The Winning Secrets Series), articles, online courses and one of the most popular CPG blogs on customer centricity.

That’s because we’re passionate about helping companies successfully adopt a customer-first strategy.

Since we founded C3Centricity in early 2011, one of our traditions has been to share the most popular posts on customer experience at the beginning of each new year. 

This past year has been particularly successful for C3Centricity, with many of our newest books and posts getting the top scores globally! This is quite tough for a blog that has been running for over 13 years and highlights the quality of the content we share each month.

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Of course, a few perennials have also appeared in our top 10 list for years, such as the ones on insight development and customer observation.

Since no brand is successful without a foundational insight, and customer understanding is its essential basis, these two will always be popular. They have also remained on Google’s first page for years, which certainly confirms their never-ending need for marketers to fully master.

Take a look at the Top 10 articles of 2024, and see if your own favourites are there.

If not, then please let us know in the comments. Thanks.

Remember to click the title of any posts you missed to read the full content.

If you prefer to listen rather than read:

 

1. The Power of Atomic Change to Unlock Quantum Growth in Any Business

atomic change

In this article, C3Centricity explores the concept of “atomic change”—the idea that small, carefully chosen shifts or improvements can combine to produce “quantum growth” for a business. The powerful new process QC2™ … Beyond CX was launched at the beginning of the year, so it is understandable that the introduction was the most popular post of the year.

In the article, we emphasize that while many organizations chase big, flashy transformations, it is often a series of minor, incremental adjustments that truly move the needle over the long run.

A key takeaway is that by focusing on one small area of improvement at a time—such as fine-tuning a customer insight process or adjusting team workflows—companies can gain significant benefits that accumulate and accelerate. The post draws parallels to the principle of marginal gains used in elite sports: tiny enhancements in diverse areas can lead to an outsized overall impact.

To implement atomic change successfully, it is suggested to:

  • Define a clear vision and metrics so that each small improvement is purposeful.
  • Ensure alignment and buy-in across the organization to sustain momentum.
  • Encourage a culture of ongoing learning, open feedback, and continuous iteration.

It concludes by saying that when organizations consistently apply a mindset of small, strategic shifts, they unlock powerful—sometimes exponential—growth and

… Click to continue reading

Why Hyper-Personalisation Matters in Delighting Your Consumers

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Modern consumers are no longer satisfied with generic experiences.

They expect brands to know their preferences, anticipate their needs, and deliver tailored solutions that feel relevant and meaningful.

Hyper-personalisation—a strategy that uses advanced analytics, real-time data, and artificial intelligence (AI)—enables companies to meet these expectations.

In a competitive landscape where consumers are increasingly selective about the brands they support, hyper-personalisation has emerged as a crucial differentiator.

This
strategy enhances consumer loyalty, drives engagement, boosts sales, and establishes long-term market leadership.

If you prefer to listen rather than read: 

What Is Hyper-Personalisation?
Hyper-personalization integrates real-time data, advanced analytics, and AI technologies to deliver highly individualised consumer experiences. Unlike traditional personalisation, which typically involves broad segmentation or limited customisation, hyper-personalization uses a more granular approach to tailor every aspect of the consumer journey.

Definition in Context:
While traditional personalisation might include addressing consumers by their first name in an email, hyper-personalization extends to creating dynamic, one-to-one interactions based on purchase history, browsing behavior, and real-time context. This enables brands to provide deeply relevant and meaningful experiences that resonate with consumers.

Example:
Diageo’s “What’s Your Whisky” tool is a standout example of hyper-personalisation in action.

By analysing consumer flavour preferences through a simple digital quiz, the company offers tailored whisky recommendations. This initiative, rolled out across Europe and North America, increased online engagement by over 20% in 2022, underscoring the effectiveness of such targeted strategies (source).


The Strategic Importance of Hyper-Personalization

1. Driving Consumer Loyalty

Hyper-personalization builds emotional connections with consumers by making them feel valued and understood. Emotional bonds are critical in driving loyalty, as consumers are more likely to return to brands that demonstrate a deep understanding of their needs.

Example (Europe):
Nespresso’s use of purchase history and preference data to create personalized product recommendations has significantly enhanced customer loyalty. In 2023, tailored email campaigns in Germany and France achieved a 25% higher open rate than generic emails, driving repeat purchases and long-term customer engagement (source).

According to Epsilon, 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalised experiences (source).


2. Increasing Conversion Rates

Hyper-personalization is not just about building relationships; it’s also about driving immediate results. By offering tailored recommendations, brands can significantly boost conversion rates and average order value.

Example (Asia):
Alibaba’s Tmall Genie smart speaker integrates with consumer appliances to provide hyper-personalized shopping lists and reminders. During the 2023 Chinese New Year, the platform’s recommendations for festive groceries and decorations drove a 30% increase in repeat purchases (source).

Statistic:
McKinsey reports that personalization can reduce acquisition costs by as much as 50% and lift revenues by 5–15% (source).


3. Strengthening Brand Differentiation

In saturated markets, hyper-personalization helps brands stand out by creating unique and memorable experiences.

Example (Global):
Coca-Cola’s Freestyle vending machines allow consumers to create custom beverage blends. The data collected from these machines has informed the launch of new products tailored to emerging … 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

How to Measure Customer Delight and Prove Its Impact on Brand Loyalty

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

As we all know, customer satisfaction is no longer enough to secure brand loyalty – if it ever was!

Companies must strive to go beyond mere satisfaction and aim to delight their customers.

Customer delight refers to exceeding customer expectations to create a positive emotional reaction, leading to stronger loyalty and advocacy.

This post explores the importance of measuring customer delight, its impact on brand loyalty, and practical methods to achieve and assess it.

If you prefer to listen rather than read:

The Evolution from Satisfaction to Delight

Customer satisfaction has traditionally been the benchmark for evaluating customer experiences. However, research shows that satisfied customers are not necessarily loyal customers. According to a study by the Harvard Business Review, 20% of satisfied customers reported they would consider switching to another brand. This indicates that satisfaction alone does not guarantee loyalty.

Customer delight, on the other hand, involves creating an exceptional experience that surprises and excites customers. This emotional engagement fosters a deeper connection with the brand, leading to higher levels of loyalty. A delighted customer is more likely to become a brand advocate, spreading positive word-of-mouth and contributing to long-term business success.

 

Measuring Customer Delight

Measuring customer delight requires a different approach than traditional satisfaction surveys. Here are some effective methods to assess customer delight:

1. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

NPS is a widely used metric that gauges customer loyalty by asking how likely customers are to recommend a brand to others, on a score of 1-10.

It categorizes respondents into Promoters, Passives, and Detractors. While NPS primarily measures loyalty, it can also indicate delight when customers express a strong willingness to advocate for the brand.

According to Bain & Company, companies with high NPS scores grow at more than twice the rate of their competitors. For instance, Apple, known for its high NPS, has consistently seen strong brand loyalty and customer advocacy.

Trader Joe’s also uses NPS to understand customer loyalty. Their high scores reflect the company’s emphasis on friendly service and unique product offerings, creating delighted customers who frequently recommend the store to friends and family.

2. Customer Effort Score (CES)

CES measures the ease with which customers can interact with a company, including problem resolution and purchasing processes. A low effort score often correlates with higher delight, as customers appreciate frictionless experiences. Gartner found that 96% of customers with a high-effort service experience become more disloyal, highlighting the importance of minimizing customer effort.

Glossier, a beauty brand, simplifies the shopping experience through a user-friendly website and seamless checkout process. Their low customer effort scores contribute to high levels of customer delight, evidenced by their strong customer retention rates.

3. Emotional Response Surveys

Traditional surveys can be enhanced with questions designed to capture emotional responses. For example, asking customers how they felt during their interaction with the brand can provide insights into their level of delight. Emotions such as joy, surprise, and excitement are strong indicators … 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

Twenty Ways to Delight Your Customers: Transforming Satisfaction into Loyalty

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Today, most markets are saturated, and companies are fighting for the same customers. This is why organisations should no longer aim for customer satisfaction but rather delight. But how can you delight your customers so they remain loyal advocates?

With fewer and fewer differences between the products and services offered, many companies have realised that they can – and should – differentiate by improving their customer experience. Here are twenty ways to get started, together with best-in-class examples, but I’d love to hear how you delight your own customers and turn satisfaction into loyalty.

 

1. Deliver Exceptional Customer Service

Exceptional customer service is the first essential step to plan. It’s about creating an unforgettable positive experience that fosters loyalty and word-of-mouth promotion.

A study by American Express found that 70% of consumers are willing to spend more with companies they believe provide excellent customer service.

Nordstrom sets a high standard in this regard, famously accepting the return of car tyres they never sold to satisfy customer expectations and demonstrate their commitment to service.

This example underscores the importance of empowering employees to make decisions that prioritize customer satisfaction, fostering a strong customer-centric culture.

Another company renowned for its customer service is Zappos, an online retailer. The company has a 365-day return policy and is known for going above and beyond for customers, such as when a customer service representative sent flowers to a customer who had lost her mother.

 

2. Personalise the Experience

Personalization makes customers feel uniquely valued and understood. It is the second most important way to delight your customers.

According to a report by Epsilon, 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand that provides personalized experiences.

Spotify exemplifies personalization by using sophisticated algorithms to tailor playlists to individual tastes, improving user engagement and increasing subscription retention rates.

This approach demonstrates how leveraging data and technology to understand and anticipate customer preferences can significantly enhance the user experience.

Netflix offers another excellent example of personalization. It analyzes viewing patterns to recommend shows and movies, enhancing user satisfaction and retention. I bet you’ve clicked on many of their suggested titles. I know I have!

 

3. Offer a Loyalty Program

Loyalty programs reward and encourage repeat business, creating a tangible incentive for ongoing patronage.

This strategy boosts sales and delights customers by enhancing their emotional connection with the brand and making members feel valued and special.

Sephora’s Beauty Insider program offers a compelling example with tiered rewards, including birthday gifts, exclusive discounts, and early product access.

Any way that makes your customers feel special will also increase their loyalty and advocacy.

 

4. Maintain High Quality and Reliability

A company’s commitment to quality reassures customers and confirms their purchase decision, fostering trust and satisfaction.

Especially where larger and exceptional purchases are made, your customers need ongoing reassurance that they made the right decision.

Toyota is renowned for the durability and reliability of its vehicles, which has cultivated a loyal customer base

… Click to continue reading

The New Strategic Growth Blueprint for Successfully Reimagining Market Research

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

It is a well-known fact that when budgets are tight, marketing is usually one of the first departments to suffer cuts, and market research in particular!

Why is this? I believe it is because their ROI is longer-term and often difficult to prove. They therefore make the perfect target for sweeping reductions. What they all need is a strategic growth blueprint.

A few years ago, I was asked to talk on this topic at the Planung&Analyse conference in Frankfurt. Despite rave reviews of the talk itself, many commented that they would have liked me to propose some sort of formula to help them to better defend themselves. So I decided to do just that with this post, but first a warning; customer understanding is being lost!

According to research by BurtchWorks, 20.7% of researchers changed jobs after an average of 3.1 years in their position. However, those with over ten years experience showed slightly lower levels of churn (17.8% and 3.4 years)

A study from Spencer Stuart among CMOs of Fortune 500 companies found that the average tenure is 4.2 years, roughly on par with the rest of the C-suite (4.4 years), with B2B companies (4.4 years) slightly better off than B2C (4.1 years).

These numbers made me realise that customer understanding risks being forgotten and then constantly reinvented by newly hired people in marketing and market research positions. What a waste of resources!

But there is something that you can do to increase the ROI of your spending, which is something the C-suite has long demanded of marketing departments.

And that is to develop a CMO Strategic Growth Blueprint that includes reimagining market research and how data and information are used.

Here’s how.

If you prefer to listen rather than read:

 

The ROI of Market Research

The challenge of proving the value of market research (MR) has also been a hot topic for more than a decade. And yet we didn’t seem to be any closer to solving it, at least until recently. I think that this is because all the studies I have seen on the topic concentrate on identifying what is wrong, but rarely offer help in what to change to provide more visible value to their companies. I want to put this right.

The CEB / Gartner Analysis: This analysis concludes that MR provides two types of value. Firstly from new projects and secondly from accumulated knowledge over time. By plotting these two, they came out with a three-phase progression of how MR can add value to an organisation. (see below)

CEB / Gartner MR Value

However, with both marketers and market researchers changing jobs (too) frequently, there is far less accumulated knowledge than previously. But don’t worry I have the solution in the form of a new model of CX, which I will explain in a moment.

 

The BCG Analysis: A few years after the CEB study, BCG (Boston Consulting Group) updated their own … Click to continue reading

Top Posts of 2023 on Customer Centricity

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

Here at C3Centricity, we publish books (Winning Customer Centricity), articles and training on customer centricity, because we’re passionate about helping companies to successfully adopt a customer-first strategy.

Since we founded C3Centricity in early 2011, one of our traditions has been to share the most popular posts on customer experience at the beginning of each new year. 

This past year has been particularly successful for C3Centricity, with many of our newest posts getting the top scores globally! This is quite tough for a blog that has been running for almost 13 years and highlights the quality of the content we share with you each month.

Of course, there are also a few perennials that have been appearing in our top 10 list for years, like insight development and customer observation. Since no brand is successful without a foundational insight, and customer understanding is its major essential element, these two will always be popular – they also are on Google’s first page, which certainly helps and confirms the quality of their content.

So let’s have a look at the Top 10 list in 2023, and see if your own favourites are there. If not, then please let us know in the comments. Thanks.  

#1. Five Brilliant Ideas to Boost Your Insight Development

Boost your insight developmentThis post regularly appears in the top three posts on C3Centricity. This shows the quality of its recommendations and content. And the importance of business insights. 

Ever wondered why you struggle to develop actionable insights? This post shares some of the main reasons why even large companies sometimes fail at this essential art. Then, it offers some suggested solutions to help you.

Insights are the foundation on which every single successful brand is built. If your brands are lacking strong positive growth, they are probably missing that insight that will make them powerhouses.

So it is vital that you learn how to develop them and then how to action them in your communications and innovation. Again, if you struggle to action your insights, you’re most certainly missing one of the steps covered in this post.

To stimulate your thinking, the article includes many real-world examples of how great insights can be turned into powerful ad campaigns that connect with customers and motivate them to buy.

If you’re ready to finally learn how to develop actionable business insights, check out our online course on the topic HERE.

#2. Five Rules of Customer Observation for Greater Success

Measure your company image

This post has also been among the top articles on C3Centricity for many years. It is a cornerstone post that is regularly updated to remain highly relevant in today’s marketplace.

Its popularity clearly shows the need we all have to understand how to get up close and personal with our customers – the right way.

The five rules it includes are easy to follow and will make every occasion to watch and listen to your customers so much more interesting and valuable.

And if you want to learn how to watch

… Click to continue reading

Navigate a Challenging Business Environment and Stay Ahead of Your Competition

Posted on by Denyse Drummond-Dunn

When facing a challenging business environment, which these days is true for almost every industry, companies don’t always have the time to make considered decisions. Agility has become a much-needed skill.

So, how can companies be better prepared for whatever the future holds? 

Agility needs preparation and with this in mind, most major organisations conduct some sort of societal trend following in the hope that they will correctly “guess” what might happen. You may be one of them. So it might surprise you that I believe this is a huge mistake, especially if you think that trends alone will better prepare your organisation!

Think about it. Most companies follow the same trends, attend the same trend “shows” & conferences, and get the same or at least very similar reports.

This results in them all working on the same ideas and concepts, and eventually launching very similar products and services or campaigns, that struggle to compete effectively.

Have you never wondered why suddenly everyone is talking about a certain topic, using similar slogans, or launching equivalent offers? Now you know why!

Here’s how to avoid this and develop a powerful competitive advantage.

If you’d prefer to listen rather than read:

 

Market Evidence

I want to start by sharing just one example of the problem I just mentioned. A few years ago, we started seeing many companies using the idea of “YES” and “NO” in their advertising. In Europe, these included:

  • The Swiss Migros Bank: see the videos here – only in French & German, I’m afraid but still easy to understand whatever language you speak.
  • Coke’s “Say Yes to Love” campaign.
  • Coke say yes to love

 

  • BMW 320i  Campaign YES YOU CAN

 

These are just three examples from very different industries, but I’m sure there are many others in your own country. (If so, please share the example in the comments below.)

Clearly, the trend for more independence and freedom has been emphasised in all three organisations mentioned above. Perhaps they are working with the same trend or advertising agency? Or maybe they are buying the same external trends report. It certainly looks like it, doesn’t it?

Companies that develop concepts based upon this type of external resource alone can find themselves in a race to be the first to market when using the ideas these reports suggest.

Incidentally, it is not always best to be the first when introducing new concepts to consumers, especially when they require learning new ways of thinking or working.

So what can you do about it? The vital step that many – dare I say most – organisations don’t take, is to turn the trends they are following into plausible future scenarios.

Scenario planning ensures original thinking from which proprietary ideas are conceived, and takes the development of new concepts in-house, where it belongs.

Then, the new product and service concepts, the new advertising campaigns, and the new promotions that are designed are unlikely to be … 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
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