1. The art & science of insighting
Starring Kristof De Wulf & Columbo
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3. Who killed James Ferris?

4. 1 2 3
4 5 6

5. A structured process ...
Disciplined
imagination
... but also embracing creative chaos

6. What is an insight?
Your point of view
Key features of an insight
Some examples
The insighting process
4 critical steps
Thinking out of the box
Change perspectives
Keep asking why
Make new connections
Get closer
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7. Insight research
unless you do something weird with it

8. Insight > observation
insight is not so much about seeing the truth, as feeling it

9. FACTS INFORMATION FINDINGS ADVICE INSIGHTS

10. Insight idea
one insight is the basis of hundreds of ideas

11. I want to escape the limitations of my daily
routine life and enjoy the activity of fantasizing
about alternative identities, lives, or positions
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12. “A lot of times, people
don’t know what they
want until you show it
to them…”
Steve Jobs
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13. The magic formula
Aha! x It‟s me  €
 Not immediately apparent
 You will know it when you see it
 Brings to the surface what was subconsiously there
 Surprising and fresh

14. The magic formula
Aha! x It‟s me  €
 You‟re right – I recognise this
 You understand me (better than myself)

15. The magic formula
Aha! x It‟s me  €
Source of inspiration for
... great branding
... great advertising
... great innovation
... great customer experiences

16. What is an insight?
Your point of view
Key features of an insight
Some examples
The insighting process
4 critical steps
Thinking out of the box
Change perspectives
Keep asking why
Make new connections
Get closer
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17. Diageo I J&B
“In a world of day-to-day constrains and social
pressure, consumers want nights out that offer
the promise that the unexpected can happen”
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18. Diageo I J&B
“In a world of day-to-day constrains and social
pressure, consumers want nights out that offer
the promise that the unexpected can happen”

19. Mars I Whiskas
“If you could give your cat US$10 and send him off to the
grocery store to buy cat food, what would he bring home?
The answer (albeit theoretically) is: Live meat!”

20. Volkswagen I Beetle
“It wasn't just the need for a smaller car - there was a sizable
group of people who needed to be different and didn't express
themselves based on the size of their car”

21. P&G I Pampers
“Babies with healthy, dry skin are happier....and so better able
to play, learn and develop. The finding that babies are happier
when they have healthy skin rather than nappy rash was not
that new. The trick was uncovering the deeper emotional
significance.”

22. What is an insight?
Your point of view
Key features of an insight
Some examples
The insighting process
4 critical steps
Thinking out of the box
Change perspectives
Keep asking why
Make new connections
Get closer
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23. A repeatable process
Observe
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24. ItIt power is in the mix see
all starts with what we
The all starts with what we see
Insights can be found if we accept that there is no “we” versus “them”
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25. I do not know what I do
I do not remember what I do
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26. A repeatable process
Observe Reframe
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27. It’s about seeing the whole picture ...

28. (Re-)framing and going beyond the obvious
„Doing the same thing over
and over, in the hope of a
different result, is insanity‟
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29. (Re-)framing and going thinkingthe obvious
Crowbars for creative beyond
Projective questioning
View conclusions as beginnings
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30. A repeatable process
Observe Reframe Validate
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31. Will people get it?
Does it touch them?
Is it something new?
Is it simple enough?
Can you support it?
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Will it effect change?
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32. Write it on a blank sheet of paper,
with no supporting words
Is it still interesting?

33. Insight screening
KPI’s
Identification Frequency Endurance
Relevance Thought of
Recognition
before
Solution Likelihood
Differentiation awareness solution finding
Importance of
Clarity
resolving
Actionability
Context fit Target group fit Brand fit
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34. Over the course of 3 weeks, the 16 varieties of
lettuce in McDonald’s salads were planted and
grown on a soil-based billboard
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35. What went wrong?

36. A repeatable process
Observe Reframe Validate Refine
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37. “[…] the language you use is not arbitrary and
inconsequential; for an insight to have real potency,
the language in which it is couched is at least as
important as the inner truth itself. For an insight to
have real potency, literal accuracy is less important
than its power to evoke.”
Bullmore 2005, WPP

38. Elaborating & finetuning the insight
3 online discussion groups with each a different focus
First online discussion group focuses on
GROUP 1 exploration of the insight in different
EXPLORE directions. The outcome is a list of
possibilities to reword the insight.
Based on the first group and what is legally
GROUP 2 possible in terms of formulation of the insight,
FINETUNE a limited set of insights is tested more in-
depth.
In the final group, the insight holding most
GROUP 3 potential is elaborated upon. The key objective
CONFIRM is the validate the power of the insight as
formulated based on the 2 previous sessions.
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39. A repeatable process
Connect !
Observe Reframe Validate Refine
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40. Connected research philosophy
Connecting
methods
Connecting
with
participants
Connecting Connecting
marketing with
thinking clients
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41. Not knowing what you are exactly looking for
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42. What is an insight?
Your point of view
Key features of an insight
Some examples
The insighting process
4 critical steps
Thinking out of the box
Change perspectives
Keep asking why
Make new connections
Get closer
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43. We aredifferent from our target audience!
We are different from our target group!
Identification of marketeers with their target group
CONSUMER TWIN SCORE
6% 5%
7% 6% 8% 5%
6% 7%
64% 6% 8%
73%
15% 6% 19%6%
30% 15% 35%19%
24% 30% 17%35%
7% 24% 5%17%
4% 7% 4% 5%
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4% 4%
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44. Yet we different from ourconfidence ...
We are have a lot of target audience!
I know what consumers want 72% 70%
6% 5%
My own behavior helps me better 69% 69%
understand consumers' behavior
7% 8%
My gut feeling helps me understand
6% 68% 6% 67%
consumers' behavior
15% 19%
Because I spend a lot of time with 66% 67%
consumers, I understand them better
30% 35%
24% 17%
7% 5%
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4% 4%
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45. Start walking in your consumer’s shoes
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46. Change perspectives
Observing Asking
Yourself Others
Secondary Primary
Photo Film
Behavioral Attitudinal
Inductive Deductive
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47. Traditional ethnography
context
Participant
R
Hawthorne effect
Researcher gaze
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Time & cost intensive
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48. Traditional ethnography 360° ethnography
context
context Participant
Participant
Crowd interpretation
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49. Video ethnography
 In cooperation with Colruyt Group
 8 shopping trips to an OKay supermarket with spycam
 Selection of interesting scenes by researchers
 Insight generation by the crowd: 371 TalktoChange
members comment on the observations
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50. The shopping experience through consumers eyes
Different touch points
PRE-SHOPPING SHOPPING
Making my Going to the Finding a Finding a coin Finding a trolley
shopping list shop parking spot for a trolley
Exploration (new Find the products
Waiting at checkout Empty bottles? Enter the store
products, social, ...) on my list
POST-SHOPPING
Putting away the
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Packing up the Driving home
Scanning Paying goods
goods
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51. Two types of importance for each touch point
Exposure versus impact
Parking Trolley Entrance Shopping Check- Packing
out
65%
35%
26%
18%
9% 23%
5% 6%
1%
3% 2% 4%
Exposure Impact
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52. Performance of each touch point
Major improvement Minor improvement Neutral comment
Parking Trolley Entrance Shopping Check- Packing
26% 25% out
29% 31%
35%
67%
36% 29%
44% 47%
41%
23% 40%
35%
30% 28%
24%
10%
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53. Indulgence

54. Indulgence:
daylight
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55. Observe environment
clean?
Observe staff?
Observe goods
Calculate price
Observe products in
the neighbourhood
Indulgence
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56. What is an insight?
Your point of view
Key features of an insight
Some examples
The insighting process
4 critical steps
Thinking out of the box
Change perspectives
Keep asking why
Make new connections
Get closer
© InSites Consulting
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57. Unilever I Marmite
Turning a problem
into an opportunity

58. PROBLEM VERY FEW PEOPLE EAT MARMITE, YET THE PEOPLE WHO
DO ABSOLUTELY ADORE IT.
WHY? BECAUSE THOSE WHO DON’T EAT IT, HATE IT.
WHY? BECAUSE MARMITE EATERS ARE PERCEIVED TO BE
RARE AND SLIGHTLY ECCENTRIC (AND ARE LIKELY TO BE
CHILDREN).
WHY? BECAUSE THE PRODUCT HAS A VERY UNIQUE
POLARISING TASTE.
INSIGHT MARMITE EATERS NEED TO BE GIVEN THE CONFIDENCE
TO DECLARE THEIR LOVE FOR THE PRODUCT IN PUBLIC

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60. What is an insight?
Your point of view
Key features of an insight
Some examples
The insighting process
4 critical steps
Thinking out of the box
Change perspectives
Keep asking why
Make new connections
Get closer
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61. © InSites Consulting
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62. Chiquita I Fruit in a bottle
What happens if ...

63. DEPRIVATION ACTIVATION
What happens on a psychological What happens on psychological
and physical level when 15 heavy and physical level with 20
fruit/smoothies eaters don‟t participants who don‟t often eat
consume their regular amount of fruit/smoothies, when they start
fruit/smoothies? eating more?
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64. © InSites Consulting
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65. Start walking in your customer’s shoes
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66. What is an insight?
Your point of view
Key features of an insight
Some examples
The insighting process
4 critical steps
Thinking out of the box
Change perspectives
Keep asking why
Make new connections
Get closer
© InSites Consulting
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67. Diageo I Johnnie Walker
Who are our users?

68. The presumed target group?
SPORTS LOVE
QUALITY AUTHENTIC
WORK
STYLE STATUS FAMILY
WORK ONLINE
TECH HERITAGE CITYLIFE
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PLAY TRENDS
SHOP 68

69. Online safari
ENGAGE
CONTENT
Data collection:
Universe
scrape the
detection
internet PROFILE
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71. HEDONISM
SELF DIRECTION AMBITION
INSPIRATION
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72. What did we learn from Columbo?
 Get closer & connect
 Make connections between seemingly unrelated
facts and observations
 Never overlook “unimportant” details
 Always dig deeper – “Just one more question”
 Immerse yourself in alternative roles
 Use your own personal experience
 Invest in validating & refining your insight
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73. Some take-ways
 Check out how connected you are:
http://www.insites.eu/meetthejonesestest/
 Subscribe for the next Smartees workshop on
observational research: 19/11/2009
 Freely download our (award winning) papers on
http://www.insites.eu/InSites/ForwaR-D-
kristof@insites.eu
Lab/ForwaR-D-buzz/page.aspx/180?buzz=2
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74. Some final
questions or
remarks?
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kristof@insites.eu
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