Great / Smart Insight

 Insights are the fuel that drives excellent communication and innovation. They are a short sentence that shows a deep understanding of the motives that drive consumer behaviour. They ensure everything your brand does is grounded in a consumer truth.

Insight writing is one of the most exciting but most complicated tasks for Insight and Strategic Planning professionals. It takes lots of practice and patience to encapsulate the insight in the perfect sentence, but when you do, it is the most rewarding and satisfying achievements. When you see great insight (or Higher Order Insights as I like to call them), it is truly inspiring. My favourite examples are the insights from Dove (real beauty) and Old Spice (be a Man). These are great case studies to explore further.

If you would like tips on writing insights, please read my article ‘5 tips to writing great insights’. When you have your insight written, there are five principles that all great insights share, how does your insight measure up to these?

1. It must have an edge

The insight must feel a little edgy and could almost sting at times. One way to give it an edge is to focus on an uncomfortable truth; consumers don’t like to admit. It can’t be a vanilla sentence as it needs to provoke a reaction from the those bringing it to life and your audience.

2. Based on a true human insight

First of all, it has to be rooted in the truth. That may sound basic, but I have had people pass phrases off as insights no consumer would agree!

The best insights are related to human truths. There are three other types of insights 1. category of business you operate in, 2. your product and 3. your brand. However, human insights resonate most strongly with your consumers and create deeper connections and engagement. To nail a human insight you need to demonstrate you know consumers even better than they know themselves.

3. The brand must be able to own it

It seems obvious, but there are many marketers who have been enchanted by an insight, but it’s not in a space that the brand could own or has permission to play. Dove has done a great job here, their brand is positioned beautifully to own the ‘real beauty’ space, and there is no way for another brand to muscle in.

4. Inspires action

My favourite principle. When I find a great insight, I want to run around telling everyone! I also immediately get ideas as to how I can action it. If you can almost see the creative for an ad or you start to think of ideas products or services, then you are really onto something.

5. Evokes Emotion

Evoking emotion is a must! You need to evoke emotion in those working with the insights to produce great things and also in your audience to provoke a reaction in them.