Sources of Inspiration and Insight

Written by Helen Trimm, Insight Manager at Now.

Last night I went along to an APG Young Planners event called ‘Sources of Inspiration and Insight’.

The night was hosted by BBH’s John Harrison at their Kingly Court offices.

John shared with us his biggest bugbear – that all too often we are focused on finding the consumer insight, when actually insight can come from other places (like the product, the competition or the media environment for example).

We then went through some great ads, discussing the insights behind them before getting into teams and coming up with our own insights (from various sources of course) for a couple of briefs.

I’m always guilty of referencing the same old examples of ads in presentations so enjoyed being reminded of some corkers that I’d forgotten about.

Insight from the product

Volvo – When others show safety by showing kids belted up in the back of a car, Volvo did this

Insight from the staff

Barnardo’s – In research staff described how, when young kids come to them, they can see how their lives can go one of two ways. It’s their job to get them on the right one.

Insight from the consumer

Birdseye – Mums described how Birdseye was a “9 out of 10 brand, in a 4 out of 10 category”. They didn’t have a problem with Birdseye as such but with the frozen category. They felt eternally guilty about feeding their kids dinner from the freezer

Insight from the media environment

Yeo Valley – The organic yoghurt brand stood out from the competition by buying spots only during The X Factor and adopting the language of The X Factor for this great ad.

Insight from the competition

Lurpak – When others are showing photo-shopped ‘perfect’ looking food, Lurpak celebrates the realities of cooking in all its glory