What is 'Insight'?

Everyone agrees that insight is valuable, but too often it is not effectively used. Part of the reason for this is that ‘insight’ is a fuzzy word. As an industry, we’ve failed to nail down the precise meaning, so it’s much harder to know when insight has been truly delivered.

In a bid to rectify this problem, we have combed through a large number of our clients’ interpretations of ‘insight’ and come to see that, for the definition to be memorable, it needs to be clear, simple and succinct. In many cases, insight has been viewed as the "Holy Grail” and approached in a largely academic way. In reality, it’s more about providing answers to real issues and helping the business understand what it needs to deliver.

Our definition of insight is "a breakthrough of understanding with the potential to drive change” – and it’s important that both parts of that statement need to be met in order for something to be deemed insightful.

For example - take the "breakthrough of understanding” part… This could be simple, where the ‘breakthrough’ articulates something obvious, but in a new or different way that sheds fresh light on a topic. Or it could be complex, where you’ve really had to dig deep to find your ‘breakthrough’. Often it’s about providing a fresh perspective and challenging the current thinking in the business.

Thinking about the "potential to drive change” part… To be insightful, the breakthrough has to identify action and benefits that people can latch onto. That could be pointing out a new business opportunity or competitive advantage or gap in the market. Or it might highlight what is needed to get greater efficiency in internal ways of working, or how to maximise the value of customer relationships. It could also point to solutions for an issue the business is facing or challenge the direction the business is taking.

As well as this, Insight needs to be realistic for the organisation in question, and in context: relevant for the brand and its market. Timing is also crucial – too early and the organisation may not be ready; too late and the competitive advantage has gone.

Insight also needs to be credible. If it’s going to travel around an organisation, it has to be robust and not be easily knocked down. That means that the insight must have a clear data trail of how it originated and developed.

Finally, insight needs to be memorable, so that it’s spread quickly around the business. There are many examples of good pieces of knowledge and understanding that didn’t capture people’s imagination in how they were communicated – and which therefore failed to prompt any action.

For our own GfK NOP 2008 Training programme, we’re placing a big focus on our insight capabilities. Our aim is to embed insightful behaviour in our approach across the whole organisation, from the graduates up to Director level, to ensure that GfK NOP delivers "insight every time”.

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