Consumer Insight

Consumer Insight


Consumer Insight is an understanding of a target audience's attitudes and beliefs, and what connects with them on a deep emotional level. The desired reponse should be "This brand understands me! That is exactly how I feel!". When leveraged properly, it will provoke a clear response, and change consumer behavior. 


Insights can be based on:
1. Real or perceived weakness to be exploited in competitive product performance or value.
2. Attitudinal or perceived barrier in the minds of consumers, regarding your brand.
3. Untapped or compelling belief or practice.

Insights are most effective when they are/do one of the following:
1. Unexpected
2. Create a disequilibrium
3. Change momentum
4. Exploited via a benefit or point of difference that your brand can deliver







Some Examples: 

1. Folgers Coffee
Until the "Best Part Of Wakin' Up" came along, we all thought that the ability to brew a good-tasting cup of coffee for our annoyingly picky friends was an effective measure of our self-worth. But then the people at Folgers uncovered a simple, obvious, but nevertheless earth shattering insight: Coffee is mostly about waking up, and we wake up to the smell of the coffee before we even get to take a sip. This insight drove the business from a 17% to 36% market share.



2. Oreo Cookies
How do you increase sales volume for what is already a national institution? Well, the people at Oreo told Americans to "Eat the middle first and save the chocolate cookie outside for last". Was the campaign the actual insight itself? Not quite - the insight was actually that children love what they instinctively discover for themselves: this is simply the best way to eat an Oreo. The clever part is that tens of millions of individual Oreo eaters still think they came up with the idea first, and they love when the adverting reminds them of their apparent genius. This also led the company to create Oreo Double-Stuff for those who just can't get enough of the creamy middle bit. Brilliant!


3. DeBeers
When you watch those intriguing Diamond commercials, who are they aiming at? Men or women? Actually, it's both. That's the beauty of this particular insight: The woman thinks: "If he really, really cares for me, he'll give me a diamond," while the man thinks: "If I come home with anything other than a diamond, I'm history." The "A diamond is forever" campaign was brilliantly executed!


4. Volkswagen Beetle
Think back to the gas-guzzling giant monsters (many with tailfins!) prowling the highways of 1950s America. Suddenly this small, strange-looking car arrived, getting 50 miles to the gallon (and fuel was US$0.19 per gallon). They told America to "Think Small". But their insight wasn't small at all. It wasn't just the need for a smaller car - there was a sizable group of people who needed to be different and didn't express themselves based on the size of their car. A later variety of this same insight - appealing to individuality against all odds - is Apple's "Think Different" campaign.



5. Life Cereal
If you tell a child that something's good for them, they'll never do it, eat it or listen to you. And so it goes with breakfast cereals. But the child who hates everything that's healthy hungrily devours Life Cereal, which claims "It's s'posed to be good for you". Mothers are told not to tell their kids that Life Cereal is nutritious. It's reverse psychology at it's best: Don't say it's healthy, and they'll defy you and eat it anyway.







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