How to gain consumer insights? (2023 edition)

This article will share the core methods of understanding consumers, from extracting product value to exploring social phenomena, from grasping emotional potential to logical deduction. Let's take a look.

*The insight here is mainly in the communication context

We are obsessed with consumer insights because companies are in urgent need of efficiency!

Marketing investment is about maximizing efficiency, communication should avoid doing useless work, and effective insight is a powerful lever for marketing communication.

The origin of insight is people, the process is products, and the end point is brand assets.

Products originate from needs, and brands are based on human nature, so we say that the origin of insight is people.

Even Ford's famous quote, "If I had asked consumers what they wanted, they would have told me 'a faster horse'," was based on consumer demand, but this demand was 'slightly ahead of its time'. However, being ahead of the times does not mean starting from scratch, but having roots to follow.

Sometimes we say that products create demand, but this is not right. We should say that product innovation caters to or transforms demand. Creating new demand is like water without a source and a tree without roots.

Observation is the appearance, insight is the core.

There is a saying in "The Godfather": People who can see through the essence of things in half a second and people who cannot see through it in their entire life are destined to have completely different fates.

In the documentary "Becoming Buffett", the old man said: The information and materials I read are available to everyone. Yes, becoming a millionaire, multi-millionaire, billionaire, or tens of billions are actually all in books. Reading, thinking, and concentration are the three greatest wealth in life.

Thinking can be divided into four parts from shallow to deep: data, information, knowledge, and wisdom (DIKW model).

Data is raw material and documents. Information is data that has been processed and has logic. Knowledge is to extract the connection between information and form specific knowledge information to complete the current task. Wisdom is the ability to predict the future by summarizing the past.

The wisdom level of insight lies in finding the fundamental driving force beneath a series of surface information, and then using this driving force for effective interpretation.

When I was working for brands, agencies, and entrepreneurs, I found that the success of many marketing campaigns lies in finding the Aha moment of consumer insight.

At that moment my heart skipped a beat. Perhaps this is the charm of insight. Let us further explore insight.

1. Definition of Consumer Insights

From the perspective of marketing communication, consumer insight is defined as: starting from products and brands, taking certain social phenomena as the origin, finding the emotional potential differences of the target population, and performing some form of interpretation on them.

Insights are not created out of thin air, but are a "contrasting" interpretation of consumers' existing behaviors.

Insight is not creation but transformation. Insight is to achieve twice the result with half the effort and to achieve a great result with little effort.

Insight is from the outside to the inside, from phenomenon to essence. It is an eye-catching form of innovation and a lever for communication.

2. Methods of Consumer Insight

1. Extract product value and brand characteristics

We say that the root of products and brands is human needs, but as for the implementation of consumer insights, the most effective way is to have a product and brand framework in mind in advance and then expand on it.

We need to keep asking:

At the product level, what are the selling points of our products? What value can they provide to consumers? What will impress them?

At the brand level, what is the philosophy of our brand? How do we get along with consumers? What words and actions of ours will move them?

2. Find a widespread social phenomenon

It is a kind of culture, a symbol, a sign, a social identity, a bond, and it is self-evident. It does not need to be explained with rigorous logic, but is rooted in the collective behavior of the Chinese people or a certain group.

For example, when I went home for the Chinese New Year, my parents often nagged me to wash my hands before eating when I was a child.

We can only see the big picture from the small details if we start with the collective sentiment.

3. Extract a concept of emotional potential difference

Communication lies in the strong vibration of emotions. We often say that being touched forms a flow of tap water. The logic lies in "ordinary but extraordinary" . Ordinary is the old insight, and extraordinary lies in the difference in emotional potential. The essence of insight lies in going with the flow and leveraging the power.

So, what are the new insights?

It is a kind of old and new momentum, a "although/but" logic, and a contrasting interpretation of phenomena. For example, when everyone thinks that dirty children are bad, we can actually say "dirty children are not bad children, because children's childhood is about exploration, let them be, because there is OMO laundry detergent."

Potential difference is a kind of "although/but". Although it is the real world, it is also an ideal country. Although it is a routine operation, it is also a moment of surprise.

This is a kind of logical consistency that seems contradictory but is actually reasonable, unexpected yet reasonable.

4. Perform some kind of logical deduction on the concept

The concept of interpretation is to find a way to tell a story and communicate with consumers with some appropriate explanatory logic.

3. Examples of Consumer Insights

1. Mercedes-Benz Women's Day——#It's women, but also us#

Distill the product selling points and brand characteristics: Mercedes-Benz is the "inventor of the car", and Bertha Benz is the "mother of the car" (Karl Benz's wife). She was not only an important business partner of Karl Benz, but also directly promoted the birth and commercialization of the world's first car, became the first female driver in human history, pioneered the first car "rally", and made the first advertisement for Mercedes-Benz in the automotive industry in the form of a reality show.

Find a widespread social phenomenon: We often encounter this phenomenon: women are often given the titles of "first", "best", or "only" when it comes to their achievements.

Distill a certain concept of potential difference: #It’s women and it’s us# no longer needs to be defined by “the first woman”.

The concept is a kind of logical deduction: the way women tell their own stories, in which Bertha Benz's story is softly implanted.

Next

Please take a seat

Please look at the lens

At first glance

They stand out

They stand out

They made history

But do they have to stand out?

If they were no longer just "the first"

“Best of the Best”

Or being the only woman in the spotlight?

What if being a female engineer wasn't so special?

What if the playing field could be more even?

I don't want to make history

I don't want to be the only one I'm just one of "us"

#It’s women, but also us#

2. Omo (Unilever) – #dirt is good/dirt is good#

Distill the product selling points and brand characteristics: Triple vitality effects, a product selling point that says goodbye to laborious scrubbing.

I found a widespread social phenomenon: it is a child's nature to love playing, and the joy of childhood is inseparable from exploration. But playing makes clothes dirty easily, and parents often scold children who go home wearing dirty clothes.

Distill a certain concept of potential difference: #dirt is good# Don't let your children miss their happy childhood, dirty children are not bad children.

Perform some logical deduction on the concept:

#Perhaps, this is the most regrettable childhood…#

A group of children playing happily, their clothes are dirty

The protagonist was afraid to play with them because he was afraid that his clothes would get dirty.

One of the children asked why

Protagonist: My mother will scold me if I make it dirty. You are so dirty. You will suffer the consequences when you get home.

Answer: No, my mother uses Omo, so she says goodbye to the laborious scrubbing.

Parents come to pick up their children from school.

Another child's mother said to him, "You were a good kid today," but she didn't mean to scold him when she saw his dirty clothes.

Another child made a rub-bye gesture to the protagonist

Protagonist: I want my mother to buy Omo too.

Standard version: Triple vitality effect, say goodbye to laborious scrubbing.

3. CCTV Public Service Advertisement——#Packaging#

Distill the product selling points and brand characteristics: advocate caring for the elderly.

I found a widespread social phenomenon: In the traditional Chinese context, parents' love for their children is selfless and regardless of cost. When they suffer from Alzheimer's disease, they will forget everything as the disease becomes more serious.

This distills a concept of potential difference: the father has forgotten everything and doesn't even recognize his son, but he still remembers that his son loves dumplings the most, and he puts them directly into his pocket to pack them for him.

The concept is deduced in a certain logic: At the beginning, the father suffers from Alzheimer's disease and can't even recognize himself. He forgets what happened in the last second. When eating out, the father actually puts dumplings directly into his pocket with his hands. The son is embarrassed, but the father's words shock the son.

Son: Dad, Dad, Dad, open the door, I, I am your son, I don’t have the key.

Dad: I...I don’t know you (

I don't know when it started, but my dad's memory has been getting worse and worse. He forgets where the refrigerator is, where the toilet is, and what he just did. He doesn't remember that he just had a meal, and sometimes when he walks to the door, he doesn't even remember that this is his home.

(One day at noon, I took him to the restaurant for lunch. My dad found two dumplings on the plate. He actually took the dumplings and put them directly into his pocket.)

Son: Dad, what are you doing?

(Guess what my dad said)

Dad: This is for my son. My son loves this the most.

End subtitle: He forgot a lot of things, but he never forgot to love you

4. Safeguard (under Procter & Gamble) Spring Festival Marketing - #wash hands and eat#

Extract the product selling point and brand concept: Product selling point: wash away bacteria, antibacterial protection. Brand characteristics: As one of the initiators of the first Global Handwashing Day in 2008, Safeguard has been advocating healthy handwashing habits for 8 consecutive years, and through Global Handwashing Day, it has promoted correct healthy handwashing knowledge to people to protect human life and health.

I found a widespread social phenomenon: the Spring Festival emphasizes reunion, the core of which is the New Year's Eve dinner, and eating is a grand ritual of the Spring Festival. When I was a child, my mother often nagged me to wash my hands before eating.

To extract a concept of potential difference: After so many years, when we go home for the New Year and prepare to eat the ritualistic New Year’s Eve dinner, what rings in our ears is still our mother’s nagging “wash your hands before eating”.

Make some logical deduction of the concept: divide washing hands and eating into three scenes to express three messages.

Opening question:

Do you remember the first words your parents said when you returned home?

When children come home, washing hands and eating is a sign of care

Bringing your girlfriend home, washing hands and eating is a way to integrate

When the father came home from work, his daughter said washing hands and eating is a tradition

(Mother asks granddaughter to tell son to wash hands before eating)

End version:

#Wash your hands and eat#

A call from home

5. Taiwan PX Supermarket - PX Economic Aesthetics

Distill the product selling points and brand characteristics: PX Supermarket, which focuses on cheapness and cost-savings, needs to make its brand younger.

Found a widespread social phenomenon: they don’t reject cheapness, but don’t want to be considered “poor”.

Extract a concept of potential difference: #Economic Aesthetics# Treat economic affordability as a philosophy of life/lifestyle

Make some logical deduction of the concept: highlight the concept of economic aesthetics through contrast.

Being beautiful is a capital, but spending money beautifully is a skill.

Coming to PX Mart won’t make you fashionable, but the money you save can make you make yourself fashionable.

Summarize

Insight is a kind of asceticism that requires constant observation and continuous digging.

Insight is not seeing the surface, but the insight gained through deep thinking.

Author: Zang Feng; WeChat public account: Strategist Zang Feng