Insights are the fuel that drive great 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 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?
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.
First of all, it has to be based on the truth. That may sound basic but I have had people pass phrases off as insights no consumer would agree with!
The best insights are based on something related to human insights. There are lots of other types of insights that are based on the category of business you operate in, your product and your brand. However, human insights resonate most strongly with your consumers and create the connection and engagement that you need. This happens when you demonstrate you know them even better than they know themselves.
It seems obvious but there are many marketers I have seen that are totally 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.
The best insights are based on something related to human insights. There are lots of other types of insights that are based on the category of business you operate in, your product and your brand. However, human insights resonate most strongly with your consumers and create the connection and engagement that you need. This happens when you demonstrate you know them even better than they know themselves.
This is my favourite principle. When I find a great insight I want to run around telling everyone! I also begin to get ideas of how I can work with it immediately. 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.
This is a must! You need to evoke emotion in those working with the insights in order to produce great things and also in your audience in order to provoke a reaction in them.
I hope this inspires you to write great insight but you need an expert, we need to talk! To find out more please contact us.
