The Insight Activation Studio: Improving the Return on Insights
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The document discusses how consumer insights are often not fully leveraged within organizations to drive meaningful actions and business impact. It proposes moving from traditional market research reporting to involving employees across organizations through experiences to trigger actions ("memefication"). This is achieved through a mobile collaboration platform called the Insight Activation Studio that allows employees to share observations and ideas on consumer insights to collaboratively shape outcomes. Case studies show this approach improves understanding of consumers and activates organizations towards innovation.
The Insight Activation Studio: Improving the Return on Insights
- 1. 01 I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G
- 3. 03 I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G More than ever, demonstrating impact is the name of the game for professional marketing services agencies. From our recent Market Research (MR) Impact study (2014), we know that only 45% of insight professionals & marketers believe research succeeds in changing the attitudes and decision of marketers and only one in two projects leads to change (Schillewaert et al, 2014). This lack of impact is not a matter of budget. Rather than spending more, the critical driver for impact is to maximize the value of spending (BCG study, 2009). Based on 20+ in-depth interviews with MR professionals from the client side, we have identified 11 unmet needs related to the future of consumer insights. While ten of those frictions relate to creating a positive business impact with consumer stories, only one is about finding better insights (Willems et al, 2015). So, the goal is to trigger meaningful actions which turn insights into concrete ideas, stronger brands and future-proof business concepts to deliver better consumer experiences. The million dollar question is: How do we trigger these meaningful actions across the organization in order to create a positive business impact? And how can the insight professional of tomorrow do this in an efficient yet effective way? INTRODUCTION
- 5. 05 I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G For people to take action on a consumer insight, they first need to learn what the insight is about. In traditional MR, only a limited group of people is involved in this knowledge exchange by e.g. participating in the debrief workshop or managing the research study themselves. This limited group is then able to shape an insight platform by adding own thoughts, observations and/or ideas. By involving a wider group of employees, one better understands the consumer and is able to make better consumer relevant decisions. Fur- thermore, the theory of open innovation teaches us that the one golden idea can come from anywhere in the organization, not only marketing or innovation (Whelan, 2011). To increase the impact, all employees across the organization need to learn what the friction is in order to share related observations and ideas. For example, by experiencing how consumers are using their product today, employees see what can be improved. When such an insight is replicated by employees by adding own observations and ideas, it is shared with various people across the organization and it triggers action, the insight is called a meme (Dawkins, 1989). An illustration GOING FROM INSIGHTS TO MEMES
- 6. 06 of such a meme is what we did at ATAG, a leading supplier of kitchen appliances. ATAG wanted to move away from a product-driven strategy and introduce a consumer-driven approach (‘cook-centered thinking’). In order to make this shift, they needed to create an internal belief for their new strategy. We invited 400 internal stakeholders to discover the consumer insights and experience themselves how strong the emotion passion for cooking can be. The #welovecooks experience engaged over 170 employees, who contributed 125 observations, and resulted in 13 potential internal projects identified by the crowd. The new strat- egy was shared among employees and turned into the #welovecooks meme. To turn an insight into a meme, insight professionals need to move away from the traditional research model and shift on three levels to establish the Memefication of #MRX: 1. From reporting to involving #experience While 92% of insight professionals believes their research generates insight worth sharing with colleagues, only 65% extensively shares them with their organization. Furthermore, only one in five researchers organizes interactive workshops to discuss results (Schillewaert et al, 2014). All too often, MR takes such an individualistic approach where executives need to identify their own actions when reading research reports. However, to trigger meaningful actions, insight professionals need to bring insights to life through interaction. Therefore, we have identified four building blocks when marketing insights; harvesting, seeding, activating and collaborating (see figure 1). Through harvesting, we collect insights from internal stakeholders which are already known. Secondly, seeding enables insights managers to
- 7. 07 I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G Figure 1. Four building blocks of marketing insights within the organization spread insights via key ambassadors in a relevant way through the organization. Activating triggers stakeholders to not only discover but also interact with insights. Finally, collaborating connects stake- holders to work together and turn insights into actions and new future projects. At Unilever R&D the combination of building blocks lead to 640 involved employees of the 1,000 invitees, which triggered more conversations about their consumers on the work floor, measured with an increase from 12% to 55%.
- 8. 08 2. From teams to the organization #reach In traditional MR, consumer stories and insights are often discov- ered and owned by the MR department. However, in order to trigger meaningful actions, the insight needs to be co-owned by all employees (figure 2). First of all, we want extend the MR reach from executives to management to enable higher management to take long-term decisions with a consumer context in mind. Secondly, we involve the front-line employees, who are in almost daily contact with consumers, to shape their consumer feeling and ultimately improve their perfor- mance. Finally, involving all other employees that have a rather indirect relationship with the consumer creates a better understanding of the consumer context of the business, making them more motivated as an employee in general. The extension of MR reach calls for a layered ap- proach, as we did for the Belgian bus company De Lijn which involved their whole organization with consumer insights about their Gen Y pas- senger. We seeded the top 10 insights during an internal conference with 200 top managers, we organized a speed date for executives to meet their consumers and finally we activated all stakeholders to play the Gen Y passenger quiz to interact with the key insights. RELATIONSHIP WITH CONSUMERS LEVELINTHEORGANIZATION EXECUTIVES FRONTLINE Direct LowHigh Indirect MANAGEMENT STAFF Figure 2. Extend the internal reach of mr
- 9. 09 I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G 3. From projects to habit creation #structural For most employees, working with consumer insights is not a routine. If you wish to trigger meaningful actions and enable employees to turn the insight into a meme, it is of great importance that consumer relevant inspirations are integrated into their daily jobs. By identifying the employees’ motivations and behaviours, we can better trigger when and how to use consumer insights on a regular basis. If we learn to shift towards habits, we will be more successful in triggering meaningful actions and increase the impact of consumer insights on the business. For Unilever R&D, we immersed 1,000 employees with their consumer in six weeks’ time by testing their consumer knowledge through mini- quizzes and organizing collaboration sessions to close their knowledge gaps. As a result of integrating these consumer insight routines, we not only improved their gut feeling but also shaped their consumer feeling with a relative increase of 81% (De Ruyck et al, 2012).
- 11. 11 I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G We strongly believe that consumer insights have not reached their full potential in terms of ROI. Based on our interviews with clients, the MR Impact Study and the projects we did with Unilever R&D, ATAG and De Lijn, we’ve identified a recipe for success to create a positive business impact with consumer insights. To enable the insight professional of tomorrow to do this in an efficient yet effective way, we developed a mobile collaboration platform, called the Insight Activation Studio. This is a scalable solution for insight managers so they can establish the memefication of research in their organizations and create engaging experiences, across the organization in a structural way. How does it work? The Studio connects and empowers internal stakeholders to share inspiring observations and take action together. This mobile application (figure 3), which is fully responsive, consists of several Inspiration Walls, where each wall starts from an insight platform that uncovers a consumer friction, emotion or unmet need. Employees are prompted to add their own Inspiration Tiles of these walls through observations and ideas by posting photos, videos and stories. They interact and shape the Inspiration Tiles of their colleagues through comments and likes (figure 4). BUILDING A MOBILE INSIGHT ACTIVATION STUDIO
- 12. 12 This mobile platform helps the insight professional to combine the four building blocks of marketing insights in an efficient way (figure 1). By challenging employees to share their inspirations, we harvest their consumer knowledge. By opening an Inspiration Wall, we seed new consumer insights with the relevant team(s). By activating employees to share observations and ideas on the go, we prompt them to interact with insights. Finally, by sharing enabling commenting and feedback, we enable them to collaborate and work together to shape outcomes. Figure 3. The Insight Activation Studio Figure 4. Impressions of the Insight Activation Studio: The inspiration wall, an inspiration tile & add tile option
- 13. 13 I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G What does it bring? Just like any technology, the Consumer Activation Studio brings automational, informational and transformational value for the insight professional (Day 1994). 1. Automational - Faster sharing of insights. There is a reduction of manual efforts in spreading & seeding insights with more, relevant stakeholders, leading to more and faster decision making at the same or lower level of costs. 2. Informational - Higher ROI of consumer insights. The Studio enables internal stakeholders to spot, share and shape inspirations on the go. The more inspirations are posted on an Inspiration Wall, and the more feedback an inspiration will receive, the richer the insight will be. Furthermore, all these interactions also create a deeper understanding of the insight. In turn, the company has access to richer, more relevant, authentic ideas which are closer to the reality of the business world, encouraging employees to take action to make better decisions. 3. Transformational - Consumer-activated culture. By connecting the whole organization with the consumer, the Studio influences employees’ day-to-day behavior, helps to collect ideas from the whole organization and transforms the organization towards an innovation and consumer-centric culture.
- 15. 15 I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G After two successful pilot Studio’s for Dorel Juvenile in Europe and Dannon in the United States the Studio was launched in 2015. The technology, which recently received 2 awards, is currently embedded in more than 10 organizations. We identify five use cases: 1. Harvest the collective mind It is in the nature of organizations, especially those larger in size, that knowledge and information is fragmented around people and departments. The Studio allows to harvest the minds of colleagues and partners bringing together all learnings and assumptions on a topic and identifying the knowledge gaps. 2. Live updates from the field When collecting insights from the field, inspiring stories are far too often only shared at the end of a project flow. The Studio can serve as the ideal mean to share the latest consumer observation live and directly from the field serving as teaser material for the final insight report. MEASURING THE IMPACT OF MEMES
- 16. 16 3. Project collaboration The Studio allows to easily collaborate in an insight driven way during the whole project phase with all project stakeholders. At the start of the project insights can be harvested from various studies, where after new observations and ideas can be added allowing to grow existing and new insights as the project evolves. 4. Immersion experience Whether it is a new target group, key market, new trend or customer journey you want to explore. The Studio allows to easily collect inspiration about a topic over time, creating a true immersion experience.
- 17. 17 5. Archive of insights Data is key, yet it easily results in data overload where finding data back when needed becomes challenging and time consuming. The Studio can serve as your insights database where you can easily search consumer stories, brand examples and consumer insights from previous research studies.
- 19. 19 I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G THE INSIGHT UNIVERSE Impact is the name of the game for the insight professional of tomorrow, and we need to increase our ROI in order to be successful. Illustrated by the case studies we did for Unilever R&D, ATAG and De Lijn, and now proven by pilot studies at Dorel and Dannon, the success of consumer insights is rated by the interactions, feedback and actions it triggers. By mapping all these insights and related actions, an insight universe is created and measures which insight was leveraged successfully and became a meme. For the future, this insight universe will be the reference for the insight professional and will make our #mrx impact finally tangible, once and for all!
- 20. 20 REFERENCES Boston Consulting Group Study, 2009, The consumer’s voice - can your company hear it? Retrieved from www on Feb. 10, 2015, http://www.bcg.com/documents/file35167.pdf Dawkins, R., 1989, The Selfish Gene (2 ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 192, ISBN 0-19-286092-5, Day, G., 1994, The capabilities of market driven organizations. Journal of Marketing, 58, 4 (October), pp. 37–52. De Ruyck, T., Schillewaert, N., and Knoops, S., 2012, Engage, Inspire Act! Esomar Congress paper Schillewaert, N., Pallini, K. 2014, What do clients think about MR impact. Retrieved from www on Feb. 10 2015, http://www.greenbook- blog.org/2014/11/20/what-do-clients-think-about-mr-impact/ Whelan, E., Parise, S., Valk, de J. and Aalbers, R., 2011, Creating Employee Networks That Deliver Open Innovation. Harvard Business Review Retrieved from www on Feb. 10 2015, https://hbr.org/product/ creating-employee-networks-that-deliver-openinnovation/ SMR399-PDF-ENG Willems, A. and De Ruyck T., 2015, How To Market, Research? MIE conference presentation, Feb. 5th 2015.
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- 22. 22 THE AUTHORS Tom De Ruyck Managing Partner InSites Consulting Tom@insites-consulting.com Anouk Willems Head of Insight Activation Studios InSites Consulting, Anouk.Willems@insites-consulting.com
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