Managing for breakthrough insights

Finding your insight

In the current day gig, I got to do something that's almost always a hallmark of a winning position. I get to call my shots.

What does this mean in a marketing and advertising context? Well, I can't get into the very proprietary details, because you have to be one of our clients to benefit from what's being learned. But I can tell you my qualifying points on what I'm looking for in an insight.

1) Does it have a story?

Think of this as the analytics equivalent of an elevator pitch. To me, this means that what you are bringing to the table comes from work that you've done before. Also, that you can summarize it quickly. It's not that you need to dumb down the business, but you do need to be able to explain the insight at a 5,000 foot level, and not get lost in the weeds. People are busy, and they shouldn't have to live in your head space for a half an hour to get the benefit.

2) Does it have measurables?

Especially in creative executions, there's nothing like putting numbers to your new way of doing things. It takes everything away from who did what and whose role is being threatened, and into the realm of an optimal learning engine, where everyone has some skin in the game from better art.

3) Does it scale?

When it comes to analytics, you don't want one-off solutions that can't be used outside of a single execution or two. What you want is that classic old-school direct marketing gold, where you can replicate the win in other places.

A final point: there really isn't anything better, in this line of work, then having your goals in your own hands. Because when you've been a consultant for as long as I have, you know the speed in which you want to work, or the tangents where you are going to explore. Explaining every step of the way probably means you are going to skip steps, or never take the long way and learn something deeper.

So if you ever find yourself managing someone in my tribe? Don't just get their buy in. Get their all in, because when you do that, you'll get so much more than what you were asking for.

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Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes at top right. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.