Rachel Walker.
The AdNews end of year Perspectives, looking back at 2024 and forward to next year.
Rachel Walker, Chief Strategy Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi Australia
At the end of 2024, I’m reflecting on the importance of consumer insights in what we do in creative agencies. And how we should continue to hunt for them and train in how to do that.
Judging and attending the Effie awards ceremony in Sydney this year, it was clear that the winners – and I daresay the winners in previous years, too - are based on a powerful consumer insight.
Creativity has been shown to be a driver of business growth, and consumer insights are at the heart of great creativity. So, insights aren’t only important for creative relevance; they are important for business results.
A couple of insights on show at this year’s Effies:
Grand Prix winner Aldi recognized that their shoppers loved them but were still seeing other supermarkets on the side. The problem was they didn't believe you could do a satisfactory "big shop" at Aldi.
Arnott’s found themselves awash with proprietary brand rituals and moments embedded into Australian culture. Whether sharing a Teevee snack with your mates, tucking into Tiny Teddies with your threenager, or licking Monte Carlos clean with grandad (separate biscuits, obvs). Arnott’s facilitates the kind of small moments in life, like spending time with loved ones, which really are the big things.
But here’s the thing.
It’s been my experience that formal training in insight hunting is scarce. So scarce, in fact, that I’ve never received any myself. And I’ve worked in some great agencies. I’ve just had to muddle along and work out how to do this part of the job as I go, watching and learning each day.
I recently produced some insight training here at Saatchi & Saatchi and found myself without anyone else’s training to steal ideas from, which would almost certainly have made it that bit better.
But in a nutshell, I truly believe the best way to find insights is to talk to consumers. Like, really talk. We’re in a bubble, and so are our clients. We need to get out and discover what their lives and interaction with your brand and category are really like.
Desk research and surveys are useful and can shed light on the competitive context and consumer behaviour, and validate an insight once you’ve found it.
However, to unearth how consumers really feel, the tension your brand can resolve, and the emotional benefit you can give, there is no substitute for meeting them. Buyers, potential buyers, lapsed buyers, experts. One-on-ones, groups, shop-alongs. Whatever seems relevant, and if it can be in person rather than online, so much the better.
The wider the net, the greater the likelihood of finding something revelatory. In a country as vast as Australia, chances are that some - if not most - of your qualitative research will be online. And the time it takes to recruit might limit what’s possible in your timeframes. But don’t let that stop you from talking to consumers. Time is ever shorter in our world, but there are quick ways to do this; even spending a lunchtime talking to brand buyers in your own office could provide nuggets of wisdom right on your doorstep.
In fact, I’d put in a good word for muddling along.
I’ve uncovered insights in the most unpromising of situations. Like when the expert I really wanted to speak with wasn’t available when I arrived for our meeting, I could talk to his junior colleague instead - who provided our inspiration. Or, like when car insurance stopped us from taking people on a drive in a rental car for reactions, we could only park the BMW we’d rented outside the agency and let respondents rev the engine and see the dashboard twinkly lights. In hindsight, we delved deeper into the behind-the-wheel emotions than might have been possible while driving in busy traffic.
It may not be what you had in mind, and probably not perfect, but there’s gold to be found in any conversation with the consumer.
So, here’s to a 2025 filled with many more consumer conversations, insight hunting, and future award winners.
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