From insight to foresight...

The added value of strategic insights compared to generic market information is fundamental, it is a leverage of development and profit compared to a simple informative element that has no connection with the business and market context.

In other words, looking for insights, which is what intelligence does compared to market analysis, means projecting the company into the market and competitive context. Project, lay the ground, answer questions, dismantle deep-rooted beliefs as we had indicated some time ago talking about how to make the entrepreneur fall out of love with his idea.

Insighting means drawing elements to support the leverages of strategic development in the long term or to support short-term commercial tactics.

The ideal way to get the maximum value from a research is therefore the one that sees the shift from the collection of data and information to market insights up to the definition of inputs to support the company's strategic planning.

From information, to market insight, discrediting the fact that intelligence means simply collecting information.

Intelligence is not information providing but a strategic planning advisor to support business management. An external consultancy which guides those who live the company and the sector in the right direction by speaking and interacting with the market.

But there is something more that can be done to maximize even more the value of an analysis activity, focusing above all on surveys through qualitative interviews, that is to project the company not in the context but in the market scenarios. A particularly important activity in a phase of strong uncertainty of market scenarios such as the current one. Even those who do our job are in fact requested to find new paths that are more linked than ever to a projection rather than to the assessment of current status quo.

We do not have the magic, and it is difficult to predict what will happen in the 'new normal' phase. It would be pretentious and forced, but on the other hand it is possible to define a general scenario regarding the trends of the business sectors, changes in the offer, the renewed needs of customers as the main elements.

In other words, do foresighting, or anticipate the scenarios starting from the following main questions:

• Which sectors are moving faster than others towards a pre-emergency situation?
• What is the size of the market in perspective?
• How are customer buying behaviors changing?
• What are the development levers of competitors in light of recent changes in market scenarios?
• What will remain of the 'coexistence with virus' phase when we finally have a vaccine?

Why doing this? Because in this way we are able to anticipate market dynamics with the aim of being prepared for the changes that will structurally characterize the new phase, expected in this case and not unexpected.

It is possible to anticipate market phenomena starting from weak signals on which to build a strategy.

By scientifically sensing the direction that the market is taking, it is possible to work more in line with the prospects of market needs or changes in purchasing factors. In other words, foresighting means delineating the road rather than chasing the market. Foresighting means not being overwhelmed by market changes but being able to anticipate and manage them both in the normalcy of things and in an emergency and change phase.

In this regard, the famous Wave of Hokusai often comes to mind and I imagine those who surf proudly while others are calmly on the mat regardless of what is coming.

Of course in this phase it is the short period, rather than the medium and long range, that matters. We navigate on sight, almost week by week, and therefore foresighting must have two approaches:

• the first dedicated to restarting the current phase, with an almost commercial support approach to restart the machine as quickly as possible;
• the second dedicated to gradually understanding what will happen at the end of the emergency: macroeconomic phenomena in the sector, dynamics related to the theme of internationalization, development of certain market niches, methods of approaching the customer, organization of work that may also have an impact on certain sectors or niches. In short, many elements to be gradually understood in order to arrive already positioned and ready with respect to the new scenario;

In other words. The wave has already passed, and it is one of those waves that we could not foresee. At this point you have to come back and understand how to navigate again in a new ocean that must necessarily be blue!