The consumer insight process brings together multiple stakeholders working towards one goal: making better business decisions affecting consumers. However, interactions between practitioners can hinder the process. Differing skills, individual agendas and conflicting visions of "success" can sometimes make the process rocky and less effective. This story brings together three unfiltered views of the insights world - from a client, researcher, and consultant - providing an honest look at what we should learn from each other to make the process increasingly seamless, become more well-rounded practitioners, and ultimately drive impactful decisions and strategies. For more information on SKIM's webinars, visit www.skimgroup.com/webinars.

1. expect great answers
An unfiltered perspective of the roles
and interactions between stakeholders
of the consumer insight process
Part 1 - April 2013 (presented at TMRE 2012)

2. A consultant, researcher and client
walk into a bar…
1998 2012
2

3. It all started with a conversation,
but evolved quickly
Qualitative
Research
Interviews with 25 "Call to action"
Initial hypothesis practitioners packets
generation
• Management Consulting
• Specialized Research
Review of recent collective Quantitative firms
experiences • Corporate insights
validation
BCG on going insights organizations
benchmarking
Additional worldwide survey in
progress
3

4. Our motivation: what can we learn from each other
to become an increasingly relevant function?
4

5. Climbing the ladder not easy, specially alone...
90% of
benchmarked
companies in
levels 1-2 4
3
Insights as a
competitive
Strategic advantage
2 insights
Business organization
1 contributors
Traditional • Senior execs consumer- • Strategic research priority
• Stronger consumer focus focused • Involved across functions
market research mandate by senior execs • Influence extending • Able to build knowledge base
• Little access to senior execs • Mix has strategic focus outside marketing to become a learning
• Mix skewed toward tactical • Influence encouraged to • Growing knowledge base organization
• Little involvement extend outside marketing • Focused on synthesized • Focused on foresight/
outside marketing • Focused on individual insights across sources prediction across source
• Focused on hindsight insights
Evolution requires more than just skills improvement, it
demands better interaction with industry players
Source: BCG benchmarking study; Press searches; Company web sites; Analyst reports

6. Improving together requires celebrating and
reinforcing what each of us do well...
Corporate
Insights
Institutional
knowledge
Research
Consulting Firm
Business driven Managing the
insights intricacies of
research
6

7. ... while finding the areas that will make our
interactions increasingly successful
Corporate
Insights
Institutional
knowledge
Research
Consulting Engage experts Firm
Business driven Managing the
insights intricacies of
"Less" black boxes research
... and no one best than a
friend to speak honestly
7

8. What we learned
Consulting
Selected findings
8

9. Structurally, consulting firms can influence
key decision makers ...
Focus on
insights Research
firm
Corporate
Insights
organization
Consulting
Typical
Influence
Insights Core insight Extended Executive
organization customers brand team suite
e.g., Mktg, R&D e.g., Finance, sales
Illustrative organization
9

10. ... so insights are directly tied to the business
 Thinking how the insight will be used is as important (or
more) than the process to get it
The client The criteria... The questions to answer... What the research tool
need... must be able to do...
• ...
Size of the • ... Brand association
opportunity • ...
Several • ...
options to
reposition • Is it a white space for brand?
Ability to – Concentrated vs. Fragmented
the brand...
differentiate – Presence of major competitors
• Is there value of differentiation ?
Which one
• ...
to Starting • ...
choose? position • ...
Brand indexed share of visits
Ease of • ...
execution • ...
• ...
Source: BCG project experience (sanitized)
10

11. What we've learned is that we are not always
infallible in assessing complexity of the tools
Sometimes we are too optimistic....
Day 1 Day 14
Brand 1 - MBC Brand 1 – MBC Brand 1 – CBC + MaxDiff Brand 1 – CBC + MaxDiff
Brand 2 – MBC Brand 2 – CBC + MaxDiff Brand 2 – CBC + MaxDiff
Brand 5 – BYO + MaxDiff
Brand 6 – BYO + MaxDiff
Brand 1 - MBC Brand 1 – MBC Brand 1 – CBC + MaxDiff Brand 1 – CBC + MaxDiff
Brand 3 – MBC Brand 3 – CBC + MaxDiff Brand 3 – CBC + MaxDiff
Brand 6 – BYO + MaxDiff
Brand 7 – BYO + MaxDiff
Brand 1 - MBC Brand 1 – MBC Brand 1 – CBC + MaxDiff Brand 1 – CBC + MaxDiff
Brand 4 – MBC Brand 4 – CBC + MaxDiff Brand 4 – CBC + MaxDiff
Brand 6 – BYO + MaxDiff
Brand 8 – BYO + MaxDiff
3 Models 6 Models 12 Models 24 Models
4X Cost
Source: BCG/SKIM project experience (sanitized)
11

12. What we've learned is that we are not always
infallible in assessing complexity of the tools
Sometimes we don't want to tradeoff....
Original design Final design
"We need to test everything, on everyone" "What we need as burden of proof"
Screener

Brand experience funnels
 Screener
Last purchase map
 Brand experience funnels
Price optimization (CBC)
 Last purchase map
Emotional claims
 Price optimization
(CBC) Emotional claims
Purchase drivers
 Brand perception
Brand perception

Category attitudes

Source: BCG/SKIM project experience (sanitized)
12

13. Key to bring in experts early to save the team
(and our research partners) from heartache
Who helped evolve the thinking?
Complete reprogram of survey and
2 weeks before turnaround by
field delays before turnaround by
Insights expert team + vendor
insights team
13

14. We've also learned that sometimes our
insights counterparts are left in the dark
... there isn't a obvious process to
Given our usual stakeholders... close the loop with the insights team
Focus on insights
"Your team left us with an enormous piece of
research ... but nobody in the team had any idea
Research
how to replicate, let alone how to use going forward
firm
and explain to the organization"
-Senior Director of insights, Retail
Corporate
Insights
organization
"We need to learn to be able to replicate
this, otherwise it will die very quickly. We need to be
able to respond to the organization when they ask us
to understand"
-Insights VP, CPG
Consulting "We need to understand how this will impact our
brand tracking studies, our syndicated data
requests and our metrics for success" -Insights
Director, CPG
Insights Core insight Extended Executive
group customers brand team suite
Typical Influence
Source: Qualitative interviews; BCG analysis
14

15. Need to formalize a process to leave our
corporate counterparts to carry the torch
BCG team 1. Joint project 2. Capability
leads team build
Project
Structure
Corporate team 4. Process
3. Coaching
leads facilitation
Strategy / planning Implementation
Project Scope
Source: BCG Enablement center
15

16. What we learned
Research firm
Selected findings
16

17. Agency as a center of research expertise for
the client, help navigate complexity
Reassurance Reassurance
research firm Peace of mind reliability of
competency answers
Capabilities Proven Methods Standards Quality Assurance
• Quantitative/Qualitative • In market validation • Project roadmap • Data quality
skills (case studies) • Database • Checklists (design,
• Insight extraction • Body of academic /benchmarking programming, fielding,
• Analytical mindset research (back up) • Templates data prep, analysis)
• Ability to translate • Proven expertise (in • Mock-up outputs • Manuals
business question into house)
appropriate methodology • Identifying potential
and analysis plan pitfalls
17

18. Choice-based conjoint roadmap to guide client
1 2 3 4
Set up /
Design
Survey design & Conjoint Programming Fieldwork
inputs experimental design
5 6 7
Processing
Choice file output Choice file Utility estimation
recoding (HB)
8 9 10 11
Analysis /
simulation
Simulator building Analysis of Optimization Reporting
simulator outputs algorithm
Key interactions with client
18

19. What we are not
19

20. 20
What we are not

21. More integration is required in the
industry, become a learning organization
• Meta analysis of results across studies
• Develop frameworks for more effective research & marketing
• Improve inputs before testing / decide without testing
21

22. Meta-analysis examples
*Examples courtesy of SKIM
22

23. Old ways of presenting data giving way to
new generation of storytellers/iconographers
 New recruitment needs and profiles within the function
23

24. More of… Less of…
*Examples courtesy of SKIM
24

25. *Examples courtesy of BuzzBack, Hypothesis, CognitiveMedia, and SKIM
25

26. What did we learn?
Consultant  Client enablement + Manage research complexity
Action: Design enablement scheme to work with insight organizations
More discipline involving experts early in the process
Research Firm  Powerful data visualization + Knowledge Integration
Action: Broaden recruitment profile (graphic designers, media)
Improve client engagement: discuss possibility and feasibility
For our next round of webinars:
Corporate  Institutionalize knowledge + Stakeholder involvement
26

27. Where do we go from here?
• An ongoing honest conversation needs to take place
between key players and stakeholders of the insight
process, in order for the function to evolve and avoid
perpetuation of counter-productive behaviors
• Realization and leverage of what every part brings to the
table is a necessary condition to collectively enable
Insights as a source of competitive advantage in the
organization
27