Managing democratized data for strategic insights.

An insight function’s ability to determine which combination of datasets will reveal growth opportunities and organize them into one overarching view of the customer is paramount to having a seat at the table.

Data are the lifeblood of customer understanding, the connective tissue. Earning respect and building relationships requires that the insight function build this connective infrastructure in a way that is authentic (and empowering) for both the business and the customers – and this is true whether you’re working with full digital stacks, or scrappier customer data.

With the commoditization of product, the emphasis has moved to ‘service,’ as championed so famously by Starbucks. Service is a complex concept though. Immune to precise classification or repetition, it needs to be constantly adapted on a case-by-case basis as a solution to a complex world of consumer expectations. With service, brand has become increasingly important, alongside omni-channel and, most relevant for us, ‘customer experience.’

The problem of customer experience is cohesiveness. How do we create a consistent customer experience across, potentially innumerable touch points, teams and employees? The insight function has often been tapped to understand the shopper journey but has struggled to uncover deep human truths in the overall CX landscape.

The challenge is that you have different groups across the company executing DIY surveys and research and then sharing the results with executives to make decisions worth tens of millions of dollars.  

Allen Whitehouse, Senior Director, Consumer & Market Insights, GE Appliances

The key barrier has been the multiplication of data sources, and the number of teams who own these ‘intelligences’ – creating a three-fold risk for organizations:

Our findings are echoed by findings from the  Market Research Society, the largest independent research body in the world, which describes this system as Intelligence Capital: “a comprehensive knowledge asset coupled by the capability to use that asset to identify and activate growth opportunities.”

The insight function must:

Be Comprehensive: Multimethodological, applicable across all customer-facing divisions

Cultivate Knowledge: Analytics, primary research, AI, foresight, social and other organizational knowledge about the broader business environment

Activate Insight: Influence decision making

Insight leaders talk about the role of their division as ownership of the centralized function that connects and makes intelligence accessible across the business, supporting and retransmitting it through clear structure and processes that intentionally delegate the burden of generating and sharing intelligence. Centralization creates a consistent view of the customers, accessibility breaks silos and structure provides granularity in service of strategic focus.

To be entrusted with this role, the insight function needs to be a respected relationship builder that can help the rest of the business feel ownership of that ‘Intelligence Capital’ and ensure engagement with it.

This requires a broader set of skills that links customer with competition, industry and product/service to help teams navigate new ways of unlocking and activating insights.

Where we’ve had success is creating internal competition to drive engagement and change in the business. One wrong decision is not going to topple a company— and let’s not forget that companies make bad decisions with good data, too. Sharing data only makes the world smarter.  

Michelle Gansle, Senior Director, Foresight, Innovation & Growth Insights, MARS

Skills and Team:

Tech and Tools:

External Partners: