The value of insights -an illustration
Integrity is important for the fundemantals and to stand up for what you believe in. But this is not enough. You need to bring something to the table. Whether you are working within a company or from the outside. With real insights you become a thought leader, and people will listen to you and you make a difference.
Many seem to believe that getting insights is about gahtering facts, very often in a large power point "fact pack" and then present the facts, but real insight is much more than that. It´s about understanding the facts, what do they really mean, and what are the implications, on a general basis, but also more specifically, what are the implications for your company, or the specific issue you are working with?
Finding the really meaningful and relevant insights will be different depending on which industry you are working in, but I find real consumer insights especially fascinating. If you are to launch a new product line, or a new brand, what are the real consumer insights you need to understand? Or if you are to upgrade the existing brand portfolio or change or adjust your brand positioning, how much is based on real consumer insights? What is really driving the consumer behavior?
Couple of examples from my time in Orkla:
The launch of the new crisp and thin Pizza Grandiosa Delux was based on genuine consumer insights that the dough was the key differentiator factor to build more organic growth and for the consumer to switch from competitor brand in the category and being a unique selling point, not the topping or the filling as such. This was more just an important hygiene factor.
The launch of the plant based brand Naturli' was not based on an idelogical movement just wanting to have plant based and replace meat, but really good taste and meaningful price points.
The launch of mixed spices, MTR and Eastern, in India, was actually not about taste as such. The taste is great when you mix your own spices in the Indian households, but the key point was time saved and freed up for the family, to do other things, as the middle class grows rapidly with increased purchasing power and both men and women working in offices.
These are just some illustrations. I might not have pointed to the exact consumer insights for these three case examples. Current Orkla employees will have more details than me, but I am highlighting some cases.
But then not to forget, in all of this, sometimes, big launches are not fully based on consumer insights or facts, but just your own gut feeling and your instinct. Take for example the I-phone from Steve Jobs and Apple. Probably no consumer could imagine or relate to this. It was something totally new, but still probably based on some genious insights by a genious person, but that doesn't happen every year...
