The Insight need to be a revelation.
As a creative, who is passionate about his craft, I'm romantic about insights. When done right, they open up new realms of living, of possibility and even of faith in people’s lives. They cause people to set new goals in life, transform their lives or even plan a better future. They have that power on influencing the human brain.
But, rarely we see that same power of influencing the mind applied to ‘insights’ in marketing and communications these days. Too often in the material we see, hear or read, the insights are not actually insightful. They’re mere facts, generic observations, statistics and at times even product information masquerading as insights.
It suffices to say that if ‘insights’ were a brand, then it would be fair to say they have a branding problem, and their core proposition isn’t clear. And there are a few reasons for why insights have become a little lackluster.
Numbers are important. But we’ve tended to become so overtly data-driven that we’ve forgotten that the purpose behind the number is where magic happens.
Next, insights have been so abused and overused (yet under exploited) in clients and agency briefs that we’ve forgotten their genuine value.
Then, there’s the leap to execution, where we start thinking of formats before thinking of people.
Additionally, getting to an insight is often seen as one discipline’s job versus an agency culture – and that one discipline is either stretched too thin or not mentored enough to persistently focus on and figure out what the powerful insight is.
And finally, there are some 'thought leaders' and 'gurus' who put down the role and importance of insights - to all young or aspiring strategy and communications industry folks listening to those people about insights, don't listen to them :)
Therefore, we, as a collective are not as able to leverage the power of a good insight as consistently.
Insights matter and while simple in what they are, they aren't as easy to unearth and better yet, to craft. Which is why they matter and drive great work. Work we still remember. Work we envy. Work we wish we did. And which is why we exist and will provide that good old human intelligence (H.I.) in a time of artificial intelligence (A.I.) or little intelligence (L.I.)!
There needs to be a concerted effort made to evolve the way we think about ‘insights’ - how about we consider them for what they should be? Revelations.
They make people go “Aha!” or “Hey, that’s interestinggggg”.
Revelations that are mined from data but are not the data. Revelations that are derived from human observations but are not observations. It will help create solutions that, while being modern, transformative, data-driven, commerce-oriented and effective, are importantly stemming from being revelatory.
All that sounds good for an article on LinkedIn, but let’s get practical. How does one get to these and, importantly, craft these? I personally enjoy using a formula when it comes to not just identifying revelations but also writing them out – something that I picked up from a mentor. It challenges you to dig in more and think deeper about people – because revelations are almost never about products or benefits but about people and all the eccentricities and nuances about why we do what we do. And here’s that formula: ‘The world thinks it understands that something means ‘X’, but the truth of the matter is that it really means ‘Y’.’
A revelation, by its very definition, should have a rug-pull within it, right?
Try it out – and not just against a product or a brand attempting to save the world. Take the example of a standard toothpaste brand trying to make the nighttime ritual of kids brushing teeth easier for parents. Here’s a revelation: The world thinks that when a mum tells her kids to brush their teeth at night, she’s announcing the start of a nighttime ritual or even the beginning of bedtime. But the truth of the matter is that she’s announcing the end of all fun for the remainder of that day. The ‘Y’ changes the brief, the strategy, the role of the brand and the creative solution.
There are so many more ways to think and craft them!
So, for any strategist (including myself) wanting to grow in one’s capacity for intellectual stimulation and to inspire work that travels and makes an impact, be revelatory - if it's revelatory about human beings, about culture, about behaviours, about even problems that are hidden, it's an insight. Invest and create that time. It’ll make you more interesting and meaningful with your teams and to the industry.
For any account person who loves writing briefs and driving great work, you’re as strategically capable of doing so as any strategist. It’s the best part of your job and the chance to change the way your brands operate in the world.
For any creative who reads and gets briefs, don’t accept what’s not revelatory – challenge and also help your partners to unearth revelations and dig in more. The best revelations come while sitting down and chatting with creatives.
As I started out by stating, when insights are revelations they open up new realms of living, of possibility and even of faith in people’s lives. They cause people to set new goals in life, transform their lives or even plan and live a better future. They have that power on influencing the human brain.
It's a great power. And it's one of the best parts of our job.
