Page 94 - The EDIT | Q1 2017

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The art of as
The art of ask
Periods of immense change require a greater understanding of people’s behaviours, attitudes and needs. Marketers and their media agencies can’t rely on digital data alone to identify insights; instead they need to leverage technology to observe real world behaviours, ask questions more creatively, and listen without assumptions argues Ben Grill.
As the world gets more automated, programmatic and data driven, there is a greater need for brands to stay grounded in
human-to-human interactions to help drive smart business decisions. Digital technology tends to be very good at pinpointing the “what, when, where, and how” but has never been particularly good at understanding the “WHY.”
That’s why consumer research still plays such an important role in the work we do as a research department within a media agency. We’ve seen our remit grow from understanding media consumption to much broader issues like user journeys, creative testing and brand affinity. The greatest risk brands and their agencies can take is basing decisions
on a series of assumptions about their consumers. There is too much change happening all around us
to assume what worked in the past will work again in the future. So keeping an ear to the ground — whether it be through traditional focus groups, in- depth interviews and surveys, or some of the more progressive emerging methodologies outlined below
— is a real competitive advantage.
The many paths to an “insight”
There is no one right or wrong way to access insights for your business — all that matters is that you’re observing behaviour and asking the right questions — and then applying what’s been learned to the business. If you have a Net Promoter Score survey... great.
Do you ask questions to your Fans on Facebook? Great. Do you have an old-school suggestion box in your lobby? Amazing. These are all perfectly fine ways to tap into real people for real insights.
THE EDIT ISSUE 05 | Q1 2017
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