How to find insights?
I asked 8 strategists from Singapore and Dubai how they find insights. Here are the key takeaways from the interviews and the full video.
Insights are overrated
The communication industry and planners love to celebrate the insight retrospectively, and there is a bit too much mythology about insights. Don’t chase the “golden insight,” that you never quite discover or struggle to find.
When you look for the little nuances, that’s when you find the insights. For example finding the subtle differences between Western millennials and millennials in the Middle East and North African region. That’s what exactly Omar Tom does with focus groups.
Truth is more important than being original
Think about Cadbury’s Gorilla ad’s insights — “chocolate gives you the sense of happiness.” Even a 4-year can tell you this insight. It’s true, it’s strong, but not original. And most importantly you can build an outstanding ad on it.
Best places to find insights
Be a consumer of culture:
- Comedians make fun of real human behaviors. Stand up comedians see insights and exaggerate and twist them
- WatchYoutube videos. The creators with high number of followers deeply know what interests people
- Memes — they are based on human insights
- If you read the same books as every other planner, you will come up with the same insights. Look for something different that you related to: different books, different blogs, different fields.
- Cultural shifts: don’t just look for trends, but the changes of trends.
Good questions
Don’t ask “How would you spend your money.” Instead, ask,
- If I give $500, what would you buy?
- If you give $1000 or $10.000 what would buy?
With these questions you’ll get more honest answers, and you learn about the persons spending habits, if he/she goes to parties, has children or saves money.
Talk to people
Even before you start looking at data sets or organize focus groups, talk to people: your cab driver, your neighbors, anyone who you come across.
Go where your customers are. If you find your products in a 7-eleven, then go to a 7-eleven and talk to people who pick up your product.
Talk to customers who are involved in the brand and people who don’t like the brand. Just talk and try to break barriers to get more honest answers.
Be open, but have a strong point-of-view.
The big paradigm contradiction is, that on one hand, you have to have the genuine open-mindedness to learn, to discover and to find out about diverse fields. On the other hand, you have to have a strong point of view, a set of beliefs, a set of values and know where they are coming from. Also, you have to balance these two contradictory elements.
