25 Jun Why is a Good Insight Like a Refrigerator?
By BravoEcho
“Because the moment you look into it, a light comes on.” So said the late UK advertising legend, Jeremy Bullmore. It’s corny, but it’s also illuminating (sorry), focusing as it does on an insight’s impact, not its definition.
If you ask 10 strategists what an insight is, you’ll get 15 different answers. But, if you ask them what an insight does, they’ll all agree it flips on the light switch in our brains. And in doing so, it reveals something.
At BravoEcho, we believe an insight reveals why something is. It reshapes our view of things by offering a fresh, surprising, even revelatory perspective. But a good insight must be useful – it should help us see how the future might be, open up possibilities and spur creativity, and power a company’s competitive fitness so it can win in the marketplace.
When the light comes on, a good insight sparks action.
You Get Me.
Insights are about people. And when we feel the insight’s impact in the product experience, or where it’s sold or advertised, or the stories told by the brand or by others … it creates a connection based on the acknowledgment of some need, desire, aspiration, problem, expectation, lifestyle, or behavior of ours. This moment of empathy lowers barriers, builds trust, fosters goodwill, and creates an openness to the sell we know is more often than not coming up quickly behind.
Insight Horses For Brand Courses.
There’s a commonly used and effective brainstorming exercise, “The Five Whys,” that pushes marketers to dig deeper for insights. Often though, the fifth why lands everyone at the same spot – self-actualization. The best use of the tool, and the way to identify the insight that sparks action, requires looking across the whys for the one that lines up best with a differentiating brand, product or company truth. That’s the one most likely to unlock opportunity and spur creativity. Here are seven examples:
1. Our Aspirations
Johnnie Walker tapped into our desire for continuous personal progress to contemporize the idea of success the brand represented – going so far as flipping the iconic striding man to face right, symbolizing forward movement. The Keep Walking campaign is now 25 years old and still going strong.
2. Our Rituals
Starbucks capitalized on our need for a regular third place – somewhere not home or work where we feel welcome and can relax – to establish coffee shop culture, and their brand, in America and then beyond.
3. Our Unmet Needs
Airbnb’s entire proposition is based on the manufactured and impersonal nature of most trip accommodations and our desire for more flexible options with a personal feel. Technology allowed them to fulfill our desire, pairing people wanting a place to stay with people who have places to stay in.
4. Our Pain Points
Uber revolutionized urban transportation. They also revolutionized waiting. A small but key innovation was the map showing the little car en route to us. The company understood how stressful the wait could be, and the map brought transparency and certainty, greatly improving the pre-ride experience.
5. Our Identity
Founded by a video enthusiast wanting to better capture his and his friends’ surfing exploits, GoPro has leaned hard into this thrill-seeker persona. The first-person, highly-immersive footage the cameras capture reinforces the brand as one for life’s daredevil adventurers.
6. The Expectations Put Upon Us
Dove’s mass market products focused on the care and nourishment of skin and hair. With the “Real Beauty” campaign they elevated care and nourishment to brand ideals by countering the pressures women face living up to manufactured, unattainable beauty ideals with an authentic beauty grounded in self-acceptance and self-esteem.
7. The Emotion Underpinning Our Rational Choices
Costco is about bulk buying to save money. But what Costco is really about is the treasure hunt to find the deals on pricey goods. The company knows this, and their special product drops keep the thrill alive.
These examples reflect another characteristic of a good insight – consistency in execution. The commitment to an insight requires the discipline to repeatedly return to it as a core truth. These seven brands have done that with great success.
And human focused insights are just as important in the B2B space. FedEx still leverages the fear of reputation loss that “Absolutely Positively…” tapped decades ago, even if its focus now is smart supply chains rather than indomitable delivery drivers. Grainger shows it gets its customers’ self-image with the tagline “For The Ones Who Get It Done.” And Slack addresses the pain of workplace collaboration we’ve all felt with tools that “make work life simpler, more pleasant and more productive.”
Seeing The Light.
A good insight illuminates potential paths forward. To torture Mr. Bullmore’s metaphor, the refrigerator light reveals what was always there, but we couldn’t see. Now visible, there’s a chain reaction of understanding, connection, and ultimately, action. The light is more than a momentary flash; it’s the start of something truly transformational.
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