Insights are a load of crap
Paul Hindle is sick of the advertising industry’s penchant for labelling every scrap of information as a ‘killer insight’.
Yes, I agree, my headline is click-bait.
What I really mean is, most of what passes for insights is a load of crap.
Much of the advertising industry-at-large – and often the media discipline that I work in – appears to have drunk the Kool-Aid that states no worthwhile communications plan can be achieved without an insight. A ‘killer insight’ even, as I occasionally see it breathlessly referred to.
My two favourite “insights”:
– Men like sport
– Young people like music
THANK YOU!
Well said Paolo.
A recent favourite. “We’d like your insights by 5pm.” As if that’s how it works.
No worries Rochelle, here are some insights I prepared earlier…
welcome to what it’s like to be a creative.
“this audience are time poor”
Ha ha. Splendid. Had to be said.
Not only are media agencies the least qualified to create genuine insights (an organisation where account management and planning are the same thing can’t prioritise insight generation) they’re also needed the least for planning media. When media agencies struggle to deliver basic information about media consumption i’d rather they focused on that, than another generic un-actionable insight in multi agency strategy soup.
You clearly lack an understanding of how media agencies work… no one thinks account management & planning are the same, in fact the majority of agencies have completely separate planning teams. I’m guessing you’re suggesting that creative agencies are better suited to come up with insights? This despite their lack of data and preference to gut feel over any actual research. Also, I’m reading correctly, you’re implying that media agencies shouldn’t do the media planning? For your clients sake I hope they don’t listen to you.
@Media it would appear you have never worked with a decent strategy-led media agency before. They do exist! The fact that the author of this (excellent) article has spent most of his career in media agencies illustrates the point. Thanks for your patronising advice as well. As it happens, ‘I’d rather’ you learnt how to write a better-constructed sentence than a 5th grader.
I really do love this article you’ve summarised it very well, however, even though you may not draw ” new / genuine / action changing insight” from a dataset, the sheer power of data is very strong otherwise you are just a person with an opinion and honestly, there are way too many floating around for anyone to care
I agree. That’s my point. Data and obvious observations can fully inform compelling, effective campaigns, and indeed in the real world do so far more often than genuine insights. So as an industry let’s be OK with embracing that, and stop feeling the need to stick an insight party frock on them each time.
Agree – and I’m in the ‘insights’ business. That’s why I talk about ‘simple human truths’…sometimes what we uncover is a real insight, sometimes it’s just an articulation of a problem, a challenge, an opportunity, and not necessarily ‘new’, just clearly and simply articulated, so clients can act on it…
Two other classics of the genre:
– People value experiences over things
– Mums want “me time”