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I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G
03
Demonstrating impact is more than ever the name of the game for
insight professionals. Together with Danone Benelux, we took on the
challenge to turn insights into action across the organization. We de-
veloped a collaboration platform, the Danone Activation Studio, helping
Danone 1) to identify their consumer insight enthusiasts across the
different teams, 2) to share insights with more people in a faster way,
3) to make insights better through interaction and adding own observa-
tions, and 4) to ultimately increase the ROI of insights by turning them
into action. To engage the Danone employees and unite them in the
Danone Activation Studio, we identified eight rules for success.
INTRODUCTION
3. Driving new and powerful insights from consumers is silver, but doing
something meaningful with those stories, something in support of cor-
porate goals, is gold. Our recent Market Research (MR) Impact study
(2014) showed that only 45% of insight professionals and marketers
believe research succeeds in changing the attitudes and decision of
marketers and only one in two projects leads to change (Schillewaert
et al, 2014). This lack of impact is not a matter of budget. Rather than
spending more, the critical driver for impact is to maximize the value
of spending (BCG study, 2009). Based on 20+ in-depth interviews with
MR professionals at the client side, we identified 11 unmet needs relat-
ed to the future of consumer insights. While ten of those frictions relate
to creating a positive business impact with consumer stories, only one
is about finding better insights (Willems et al, 2015).
04
Problem:
LOW RETURN ON
CONSUMER
INSIGHTS (ROI)
So, the goal is to trigger meaningful actions which turn insights into
concrete ideas, stronger brands and future-proof business concepts
in order to deliver better consumer experiences. Danone, a multina-
tional food products corporation, understands this goal very well. They
recently launched the Danone 2020 Manifesto, a business transforma-
tion program designed for a sustainable, collaborative and communi-
ty-engaging future. Inspired by this Manifesto, the Benelux Consumer
Insight Team is created an environment where consumer insights come
to life, stimulate collaboration and catalyze bottom-up innovations.
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I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G
4. For people to take action on a consumer insight, they first need to
learn what the insight is about. In traditional MR, only a limited group
of people is involved in this knowledge exchange, for example by
participating in the debrief workshop or managing the research study
themselves. This limited group is then able to shape an insight platform
by adding their own thoughts, observations and/or ideas. By involving a
wider group of employees, one better understands the consumer and is
able to make better consumer-relevant decisions. Furthermore, the the-
ory of open innovation teaches us that the one golden idea can come
from anywhere within the organization, not only marketing or innova-
tion (Whelan, 2011). To increase the impact, all employees across the
organization need to learn what the friction is, in order to share related
observations and ideas. For example, by experiencing how consumers
are using their product today, employees see what could be improved.
06
Method:
GOING FROM
INSIGHTS TO
MEMES
When such an insight is replicated by employees by adding own obser-
vations and ideas, is shared with various people across the organiza-
tion and triggers action, the insight is called a meme (Dawkins, 1989).
An illustration of a potential meme at Danone is the #PERFECTION-
ISM2.0 mission. Women in their 20s and early 30s take pride in perfec-
tionism. However, many of them also struggle to find the right balance
and feel that life the way they live it takes too much energy. Activia is
on a mission to reinvent the meaning of perfectionism to support these
women trust their guts to be better versions of themselves. Danone
uncovered insights that provide opportunities for Activia to become the
supporter of these agile perfectionist women. The next step is to turn
these insights into a meme.
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I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G
5. To take this next step, we need to move away from the traditional
research model and shift on three levels to establish the Memefication
of Market Research:
1.
From reporting to involving; #experience: While 92% of insight
professionals believe their research generates insight worth sharing
with colleagues, only 65% extensively share them with their organiza-
tion. Furthermore, only one in five researchers organizes interactive
workshops to discuss results (Schillewaert et al, 2014). Only too often
does MR take such an individualistic approach where executives need
to identify their own actions when reading research reports.
However, in order to trigger meaningful actions, insight professionals
need to bring insights to life through interaction. Therefore, we have
identified four building blocks in marketing insights; harvest, seed,
activate and collaborate (see figure 1). Through harvesting we collect
insights from internal stakeholders which are already known. Secondly,
seeding enables insights managers to relevantly spread insights via
key ambassadors through the organization. Activating triggers stake-
holders to not only discover but also interact with insights. Finally,
collaborating connects stakeholders to work together and turn insights
into actions and new future projects.
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Figure 1.
Four building
blocks of marketing
insights within the
organization
6. 2.
From teams to the organization; #reach: In traditional MR, consumer
stories and insights are often discovered and owned by the MR depart-
ment. However, in order to trigger meaningful actions, the insight needs
to be co-owned by all employees (see figure 2). First of all, we extend
the MR reach from executives to management so as to enable higher
management to take long-term decisions with a consumer context in
mind. Secondly, we involve the front-line employees, who are in almost
daily contact with consumers, to shape their consumer feeling and
ultimately improve their performance. Finally, involving all other employ-
ees that have a rather indirect relationship with the consumer creates a
better understanding of the consumer context of the business, making
them more motivated as an employee in general. The extension of MR
reach calls for a layered approach.
RELATIONSHIP WITH CONSUMERS
LEVELINTHEORGANIZATION
10
Figure 2. Extend the internal reach of MR
EXECUTIVES
FRONTLINE
Direct
LowHigh
Indirect
MANAGEMENT
STAFF
I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G
3.
From projects to habit creation; #structural: For most employees,
working with consumer insights is not a routine. If you wish to trigger
meaningful actions and enable employees to turn the insight into a
meme, it is of great importance that consumer-relevant inspirations are
integrated in their daily jobs. By identifying the employees’ motivations
and behaviors, we can better trigger when and how to use consumer
insights on a regular basis. If we learn to shift towards habits, we will
be more successful in triggering meaningful actions and increase the
impact of consumer insights on the business.
11
7. 12
We strongly believe that consumer insights have not reached their full
potential in terms of ROI. Based on interviews with clients, the MR
Impact Study and our experience in collaborating with global brands
over the years, we’ve identified a recipe for success to create a positive
business impact with consumer insights. To enable tomorrow’s insight
professional to do this efficiently yet effectively, we developed a mobile
collaboration platform, called the Insight Activation Studio. This is a
scalable solution for insight managers so they can stablish the meme-
fication of research in their organizations and create engaging experi-
ences across the organization.
How does it work? The Studio connects and empowers internal stake-
holders to share inspiring observations and take action together.
This mobile application (see figure 3), which is fully responsive, con-
sists of several Inspiration Walls, each of which starts from a business
Solution:
BUILDING AN
INSIGHT
ACTIVATION
STUDIO
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need that is linked to verified insights coming from a variety of sources
(e.g. consumer research, trend reports, business reports). Employees
are prompted to add their own Inspiration Tiles to these Walls through
observations and ideas, by posting photos, videos and stories. They
interact and shape the Inspiration Tiles of their colleagues through
comments and likes (see figure 4).
Figure 4. Impressions of the Insight Activation Studio:
The inspiration wall, an inspiration tile & add tile option
Figure 3. The Insight Activation Studio
8. 14
The Studio helps the insight professional to combine the four building
blocks of marketing insights efficiently (figure 1). By challenging em-
ployees to share their inspirations, we harvest their consumer knowl-
edge. By opening an Inspiration Wall, we seed new consumer insights
with the relevant team(s). By activating employees to share observa-
tions and ideas on the go, we prompt them to interact with insights.
Finally, by sharing enabling commenting and feedback, we enable
them to collaborate and work together to shape outcomes.
What does it bring? Just like any technology, the Insight Activation
Studio brings automational, informational and transformational value
for the insight professional (Day, 1994).
1.
Automational - Faster sharing of insights. There is a reduction of
manual efforts in spreading and seeding insights with more and rele-
vant stakeholders, leading to more and faster decision-making at the
same or lower costs level.
2.
Informational - Higher ROI of consumer insights. The Studio en-
ables internal stakeholders to spot, share and shape inspirations on the
go. The higher the number of inspirations posted on an Inspiration Wall
and the more feedback an inspiration will receive, the richer the insight
will get. Furthermore, all these interactions also create a deeper under-
standing of the insight. In turn, the company has access to richer, more
relevant, authentic ideas which are closer to the reality of the business
world, encouraging employees to take action to make better decisions.
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I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G
3.
Transformational - Consumer-activated culture. By connecting
the whole organization with the consumer, the Studio influences the
employees’ day-to-day behavior, helps collect ideas from the whole
organization and transforms the organization into an innovation- and
consumer-centric culture.
9. 16
After building the technology, the real challenge is to integrate this new
way of working at the heart of the organization. We identified eight
rules for success which are key to engage employees and unite them
in the Studio platform. We will illustrate these insights by means of the
Danone Activation Studio that InSites Consulting launched for Danone
Benelux.
1.
Set the purpose. Too many collaboration initiatives are set up for the
wrong reasons, for unclear reasons or for no reason at all. When the
underlying motivation is merely to look good or is simply not aligned
with the goals of the company, you are bound to fail because the rea-
son to collaborate is not shared mutually between all participants. It
takes time to articulate the why behind the Studio. At Danone, we
linked the purpose of the Studio to the Danone2020 program. This
Manifesto for change is a business transformation program designed
for a sustainable, collaborative and community-engaging future. In-
spired by this Manifesto, the insight professionals at Danone Benelux
felt the need to create an environment where consumer insights come
to life, stimulate collaboration and catalyze bottom-up innovations.
Case study:
THE DANONE
ACTIVATION
STUDIO
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They have created an insight ecosystem, consisting of 4 pillars (see
figure 5). Through their Consumer Consulting Boards, an ongoing
market research community, their Living Room and elistening activi-
ties, they collect lots of valuable insights but still lack a way to amplify
and share these insights with their colleagues (De Wulf & De Ruyck,
2013). Through the Studio, they can share these insights and activate
colleagues to experience it themselves.
2.
Assemble the right team. Don’t confuse collaboration with a piece of
technology or software: these do not solve problems, people do. Col-
laboration doesn’t just happen, it needs to be nurtured through a group
of people, tapping into human needs and solving human problems. In
order to nurture our collaboration, we created a team of people at
Danone who identified with the purpose of the Studio. This team is
spread over different offices, departments, located in different countries
and will help accelerate the cross-country collaboration. This team
consists of three functions:
1. The Studio owner(s), in charge of the collaboration initiative. This
person motivates other people of the team to do their jobs well and
collects business objectives for future Inspiration Walls. The Studio
owner is in this initiative’s driver’s seat. At Danone, this is Annemiek
Temming and a team member from the Consumer Insight Team.
2. The Studio ambassador, connects the Studio to the strategy on
C-level. This senior person is typically the one to generate buzz
around it, is an active contributor of inspiration and connects ideas
from the Studio with the right people in the organization. At
Danone, this is the country manager of the Dutch Danone Team.
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I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G
Figure 5.
Insight Ecosystem
Danone
11. 20
3. The Wall owner, manager of a specific Inspiration Wall. This person
invites their network of people to help build their Wall of
Inspiration. This is someone who is owner of the business problem
who can therefore use the input and take action upon it. At Danone,
these are the brand managers.
3.
Start building the Wall from a business need. At the end of the
day, consumer insights need to deliver against business KPIs such as
increased sales or a stronger brand image. Make sure that the inspi-
ration in the Studio is in sync with real and important business needs.
Therefore, we always start an Inspiration Wall from a business problem
or defined project, to inspire tomorrow’s business decisions. We have
identified five types of business needs where the Studio serves as a
valuable source of inspiration:
1. Consumer connection: Bring the consumer, or a segment, to life to
increase the level of consumer feeling;
2. Co-creative execution: Co-create marketing actions, starting from a
consumer insights;
3. Employee engagement: Connect with colleagues to exchange
inspiration across different teams, offices and/or markets;
4. Business (model) transformation: Co-create a strategy for a new
business model or corporate strategy;
5. (Disruptive) Innovation: Collaborate across teams, from an initial
idea to go-to-market.
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I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G
At Danone, one example of a business need that was used in the Da-
none Studio was to co-create local executions for their new proposition
for their Activia brand. Starting from consumer insights, the Benelux
team needed to empathize with this new proposition first, followed by a
brainstorm to share ideas for local marketing activations.
4.
Create a visual, short and snappy experience. In traditional market re-
search, consumer insights are often hidden in text-heavy, long reports.
Given the fact that people’s attention span today averages only eight
seconds, we need to make this format shorter, more visual and more
engaging (Microsoft study, 2015). While we are used to sharing com-
plete reports with internal stakeholders, the real challenge for the Wall
owner will be to only take those insights that are most relevant to the
problem and make a short and catchy presentation for them. In order to
stimulate the collaboration on each Wall of the Danone Studio, we post
Tiles which are short visualized posts (see figure 6). A Tile contains a
catchy title, a short story and an emotional photo or video. We distin-
guish four different tiles:
1. Insight: a verified insight from previous research, coming from
different sources such as consumer studies, trend reports or market
analyses. These insights are posted by the Wall owner.
2. Observation: an interesting photo, video and/or story that is picked
up by a user to illustrate an insight or fills a blind spot.
3. Idea: an idea from a user that could benefit the organization.
4. Challenge: a challenge to activate the user, for example to spot
inspiration in a specific context or to think of alternative solutions for
a specific problem.
12. 22
5.
Create networks of people who are both interested and interest-
ing. You cannot force collaboration upon people. Employees need to
be motivated intrinsically to be a part of it. For the Studio collabora-
tion to succeed, we invite people in two waves. First we invite people
who are interesting for the project based on their experience and past
practical insights about the topic. At Danone, we first launch the #AC-
TIVIAPERFECTIONISM2.0 Wall among the Brand Activia Team (BAT),
consisting of people from marketing, research, trade, supply chain and
category management sales. Even third-party experts are invited. This
Figure 6. The #perfectionism2.0 wall from Activia, and an example observation tile
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group of people already is closely involved in the new proposition of
Activia and can help get the inspiration started. In the second wave,
we invite all people who are interested in the topic or who are chosen
based on passion. They will have a fresh look on the business question
and will help prevent managerial wishful thinking. At Danone, this sec-
ond group consists of a mix of people, working on other brands and in
other teams. This second wave helps break the silo-thinking within an
organization and opens up the innovation and decision-making process
in the rest of the organization.
6.
Stimulate convergence x divergence thinking. We support both
convergent and divergent thinking through the Insight Activation Studio.
Starting from pre-defined and curated inspiration tiles capturing the
core consumer insights connected to a specific marketing challenge,
we facilitate convergent thinking by bringing people together around the
same set of consumer insights. Divergent thinking is stimulated by
empathizing with the consumer through experiencing their frictions and
emotions. By posting a Challenge Tile of immersion, we activate users
to interpret the Insights and add their own observations to it. After this
empathy phase, we converge again and use the Wall as a brainstorm
on steroids, inviting more people, giving them more time to participate
compared to a traditional workshop. We post an Ideation Challenge to
activate users to share their ideas or take specific actions related to
these specific consumer insights.
13. 24
7.
Launch the Studio, both online and offline. In order make our collab-
oration sustainable, we need to turn Studio participation into a habit
in employees’ idle time. This habit should be a reflex: whenever or
wherever an employee spots something interesting, they share it on
the Studio. Literature teaches us that it takes about 66 days to create
a new habit (Lally et al, 2010). Therefore, we need to stimulate users
to think of the Studio in relevant contexts, online and offline, within
this timeframe. At Danone, we first launched the Danone Studio by
organizing online Kickoff Meetings to welcome new users of a new net-
work and kick-start a new wall. After the launch, reminders about the
Danone Studio should be integrated within their existing process flows
and routines as much as possible to make it sustainable. We did this
by recreating the concept of the Studio in their physical offices through
banners, posters and postcards. Next to that, we integrated touchpoints
from the Danone Studio in key moments, for example by discussing the
Studio updates in their reoccurring monthly business team meetings.
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I N S I T E S C O N S U LT I N G
8.
Measure and celebrate success. After collecting inspiration on a Wall
to answer the initial business question, users need to know that their
input is valued. Therefore, the Wall owner needs to give feedback to
their network of cocreators on the Wall how the contributed inspiration
was used and how the Studio helped to do a better job (e.g. kickstart
a brainstorm). At the same time, they need to give feedback to upper
management to prove the return on investment. At Danone, one of the
key measures of success is to prove the value of employees taking the
outside-in perspective, resulting in relevant and new ideas. To cele-
brate success at Danone, we include the following KPIs:
Reach: How many employees participated in the initiative?
Engagement: What was the average time spent on the Studio?
How many likes, comments and new tiles were posted?
Understanding: Do the employees have a better understanding of
their business challenges?
Empathy: Is there an increase in consumer feeling, the extent to
which employees feel they can empathize with their consumer?
14. 26
The success of consumer insights is rated by the interactions, feed-
back and actions it triggers. By mapping all these insights and related
actions, an insight universe is created and measures which insight was
leveraged successfully and became a meme. For the future, this insight
universe will be the reference for the insight professional and will finally
make our market research impact tangible.
Future outlook:
THE INSIGHT
UNIVERSE
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Willems, A. and De Ruyck T., 2015, How To Market, Research? MIE
conference presentation, Feb. 5th 2015.
15. 28 29
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THE AUTHORS
Anouk Willems
Head of Insight Activation Studios
InSites Consulting
anouk@insites-consulting.com
Tom De Ruyck
Managing Partner
InSites Consulting
tom@insites-consulting.com
Annemiek Temming
Head of Strategy & Insights Danone Benelux
& Corporate Communications