Perspectives
We live in a fast paced, rapidly evolving world, yet many of the briefs for brand performance programmes still refer to monthly or quarterly KPI measurement, performance against scorecards, normative data comparisons and global indices. The question we need to ask is how does this delivery match the rapid decisions marketing departments need to make?
Are tomorrow’s decisions being made based on survey responses from three months ago, measured against databases from five years ago? Or are scorecards viewed like the weather report—a cursory glance to check whether the conditions look stable, clear, and sunny or whether to pack an umbrella for the hailstorm at the next board meeting, and then set aside. Is it only me or does this seem like a wasted investment for those trying to make smart timely decisions and those who took the time to provide feedback.
Yet there are hundreds of examples of successful growing brands with insights at the heart of decision making, showing real commercial impact, leading to industry awards and recognition. Examples range from the British breakdown company, The AA, through to fast-food outlet KFC, and even grooming brand Lynx, all of which have prioritised emotion and customer value over pricing.
Industry bodies highlight that the quality of market research and insight thinking has been improving over the last decade which suggests it’s not about the brand thinking nor the survey design – so it must be something else. Could it be that despite access to the latest tech and AI solutions which should introduce speed, accuracy and even interpretation that research is reaching the wrong people in the wrong format at the wrong time. And that if we connected the tools better, organised the output intuitively, removed the barriers to data access, then all research could be more effective?
Market research at its best still has the power to influence decisions, especially if it informs a marketing director about customer conversations or the effectiveness of brand messaging, not just post-rationally but by mapping out potential future trends. Our work shouldn’t just look backwards but set out a forward-looking path to follow that will lead to brand growth.
Currently, decision-makers don’t receive our research quickly enough or in an inspiring format. It’s on their radar but it is more likely to be consumed by insight directors or analysts who aren’t always connected to driving the business or exposed to the wider business picture.
KPIs, whilst important, are not connected through to commercial storytelling. There isn’t clarity on which measures are proven to matter, which can influence behaviour and how these translate into actions and targets for the short to long term gains. Marketers are making muti-million-pound decisions and building cases for investment everyday and yet they are nervous to make these decisions based on market research which is sourced directly from the customer. We as custodians of insights and data-driven problem solving know we have unique knowledge of the intersection between people, brands and culture that can truly transform a business.
Every month or quarter we dutifully deliver brand health tracking reports into organisations in the hope they land in the right hands. Most likely it sits in an inbox or is handed out at the end of a departmental meeting, rarely discussed or having the impact we all diligently designed it to have at the kick-off session. Because it doesn’t reach the hands of decision-makers, grabbing their attention - and if it does, it doesn’t get there soon enough.
How you organise and segment customers based on current behaviour might be updated within weeks as new competitors enter the market. What people believe in, trust, what makes them feel safe and secure, and their perspective on the future are predicted to dramatically evolve over the next two years. As new technology takes hold we’ll be propelled into an exciting new reality, so how we share, organise and deliver insightful storytelling needs to keep up.
We’ve always been on a mission to challenge the status quo, and this is more important now than ever before. Our research and insights need to be front and centre at the point of decision-making, right at the midst of the action. They should help navigate change, highlight the customer and enable marketing directors to use these vital insights effectively, rather than allowing them to be overlooked.
To increase the value of our currently underutilised work, we are implementing new methods to deliver our insights to the right people at the right time. We are incorporating skills from adjacent industries: brand planner thinking to structure our strategic sessions, creative problem-solving for our investigations and visual insights presentations, journalistic storytelling for impactful message delivery, and business analyst scrutiny to enhance our commercial expertise. These new skills and knowledge enable us to present our work with less emphasis on statistics and with more energy and flair, focussing on the commercial growth narrative.
For instance, our brand intelligence platform, Enlyta Insights, allows marketing departments – indeed any department – instant access to the latest insight stories and interactive data visualisations. Not just last month’s KPIs or the PowerPoint from the previous quarter, but today’s research served intuitively with the latest technology to enable faster and better decision-making. By democratising data within the business, Enlyta allows insight teams to focus their time on turning data into proactive insights that guide marketing and brand strategy, not just reactive data reporting. And so our work becomes more insightful because it isn’t simply a piece of data – it is a story perpetually being told by us, informed by cultural understanding and recent feedback from brand customers.
The market research industry rightly needs to lead the way in better connecting smart insight professionals with different audiences and the brands that serve them with relevant products and services to meet their evolving needs. Using new technology and Gen AI to aid the process, we aim to deliver better and faster without merely reverting to measuring performance against expected norms.
If we don’t reshape our delivery methods now, we will not only be doing ourselves a disservice but also failing the very people who rely on us for vital insights to help their brands succeed.
I know our work is essential and more important now than ever before. My experience has shown me that CEOs, marketing directors and their teams recognise this as well. But knowing doesn’t cut it anymore. Seeing it, trusting it, sharing it, talking about it, reacting to it and using it to inform decisions for growth – that’s the consultancy model we’re trying to create.
