If someone asked you, could you define the word ‘insight’?
Having recently attended an inspiring Consumer Insights Summit in Madison, Wisconsin, I reached out to a few clients to ask them what their key takeaways were.
In the spirit of sharing, here is the first of three interesting takeaways...
Takeaway #1 - The True Definition of an Insight:
How many times a day do you say the word “insight”? Have you ever paused to think about what that word means?
Cherri Prince ran a fantastic session on the 7 habits of highly insightful people and shared some of the key properties of an insight.
An insight…
- Is an undiscovered, unexpected, yet strangely familiar truth that is not obvious;
- Provides a clearer understanding to a complex situation;
- May have elements of a revolution within it;
- Acts as a springboard to new thinking; and
- Reveals a deep, intimate understanding of human behavior.
Cheri went on to describe how insights are different from and deeper than, facts. When a person is exposed to a fact they are likely to react with a dull sense of curiosity, perhaps responding with “Really? I didn’t know that”, whereas a person exposed to an insight would likely react with a sense of having uncovered something that was hidden right under their nose with “Yes! That’s sooooo true!”
If you would like to read Takeaway 2, 'The 4 Stages of Evolution for Insights Team', click here.
Author: Jonathan La Greca
About Hotspex: Voted among the top global insights consultancies for 4 years in a row, Hotspex is working with 15 of Top 20 advertisers in over 30 countries to apply cutting edge behavioral and marketing sciences. We apply System 1 implicit and System 2 explicit measurement in a holistic manner to uncover conscious and non-conscious drivers to understand WHY consumers behave the way they do.
From there, we apply marketing sciences, including the Laws of Growth, to help marketers determine HOW to apply consumer understanding to accelerate brand growth across a variety of brand strategy, communications, and shopper-based design challenges.
Head of Innovation Practice | P&L Driver | Tech, CPG, Retail | C-Suite Partner
7 年Insights can be elusive, because as Cheri rightly points out, it isn't just about getting good data, you have to have research methods capable of unearthing something unexpected and true (which ultimately marketers can harness to provide consumers value). I had a great training led by Stephan Gans a few years back on the subject. It is surprising how few insights get found. Or rather, when you think about the general state of research it is somewhat unsurprising.
Brand & Business Leader for Global Brands
7 年Something you instinctively 'get' but still makes you go 'ooohhhh' (in a good way)
It was great to meet you at our event. Thanks for joining us, Jonathan!