Consumer insights: What are they and how to find them?

If you’ve ever had the feeling that your marketing plan isn’t achieving the desired objectives, don’t wait any longer. It’s time to review your strategy. Knowing your target audience is crucial for success, and consumer insights are the starting point on the path to success. We’ll tell you what they are and how you can find them.

What is a consumer insight?

A consumer insight is the discovery of consumer data that allows us to take action to grow the brand or business. It’s that piece of information that, when you see it, you say, «Aha, now I understand, and this can help us change our way of offering our products or services.» It’s the data that gives meaning to your brand, your campaign, or your media planning and aligns marketing with other departments like product or CX behind a common idea.

A good consumer insight meets three conditions:

• It’s based on consumer observation. It’s not a hunch or an idea; it’s based on quantitative or qualitative data that explains a consumer reality. It’s knowledge extracted from data.

• It’s a discovery. A new perspective. Something we didn’t know or couldn’t quantify or demonstrate and is now supported by objective data. When you see it, you have an «aha moment.»

• It generates a business opportunity. A consumer insight is useful for growth. It’s not just something interesting to know and not know what to do with; it’s «actionable» and can be used to take action.

Examples of consumer insights

Sometimes, a consumer insight is easier to recognize than to explain. But if the phrase «you’ll recognize it when you see it» isn’t enough for you, here are some examples of consumer insights we’ve liked.

• Unmet needs: The ASICS team discovered that many people who run do so to clear their minds, leave worries behind, and, paradoxically, to rest. This consumer need is not usually present in most sports product campaigns, where meeting goals, achieving better results, or improving physical fitness are more commonly featured. That’s why the ASICS «run to stop» campaign connects with a more hidden, intimate need, less present in conversations, yet highly relevant to runners.

• New consumption moments: Judging by the communication that the Philadelphia brand has done in recent years, one of the goals of their communication is to associate themselves with everyday consumption moments that help expand the brand into more frequent consumption occasions. And what moment is more frequent than breakfast? If the brand can carve out a larger place in the breakfast market, it can grow and become essential in the daily routine of many people. That’s why Philadelphia has launched many communication campaigns over time, including the Philadelphia Breakfasts in 2018 campaign.

• New targets: Generation Z doesn’t want to be like their parents, and opening an account at a traditional bank may seem like a distant world to them. But they still need to make payments, so they will need a solution. That’s the idea behind Imagin, Caixabank’s brand for young people, to present its proposal. The Imagin campaign leaves no doubt that it wants to break with the image of a traditional bank and position itself as an alternative to meet the needs of a young audience.
• Category entry points: What triggers could make you decide to change your insurance company? Knowing what they are allows a brand to position itself as the alternative when they arise. This has been the focus of Mutua Madrileña’s communication, which has launched many campaigns to associate itself with them. There’s one execution for each case, such as when your car insurance premium goes up despite not having filed any claims or when you are forced to go to a repair shop that isn’t your choice.

Before launching a campaign, all brands work with data that supports their strategies and helps agencies formulate their creatives, so consumer insights have played a role in all of them.

How to create good consumer insights?

Obtaining good consumer insights requires several stages:

• Hypothesis formulation: Before collecting data, it’s necessary to imagine what information could be useful to take action, and this requires marketing experts to get involved in imagining scenarios and possibilities to contrast.

• Data collection: Market research provides countless tools to create the data on which to base consumer insights, either through quantitative online market research or qualitative research that provides deeper understanding.

• Creating the insight: A consumer insight is much more than data. It’s a story based on data to show us new business potential. This is where research and marketing experts will add the most value by turning research results into stories and proposals that the management team will be interested in hearing and supporting.

Market Research and Consumer Insights

Gathering the information you need to create your own consumer insights is easy with the right tools. At We are testers, we have a very versatile platform that allows you to combine different quantitative and qualitative methodologies to gain a better understanding of the consumer. If you need help choosing the methodology or designing your questionnaires, we have a team of research experts who will be happy to assist you. With the automation of the research platform, you can obtain your data quickly and spend more time thinking about how to present the results for maximum impact in your organization. Contact us to learn all the details!