Insight is an elusive but powerful precursor to any great action or creative execution. It's also quite difficult to pin down and explain. We decided to ask Matt Riley, who is Head of Communications Planning for Network BBDO, and a much loved ex-QuirkStar, to explain his approach to gaining insight for brand strategy.

Can you define what insight is? Do you think it is useful to?

Let me start by saying that ‘insights’ are made to sound like magical little bubbles of clarity – they are not always that magical and I believe the best insights are the most simple ones. Having said that, an insight gives you license to connect with a consumer. It’s a piece of knowledge that exposes a human truth and allows us to craft a relevant message around it.

An insight means nothing though unless it’s brought to life in a way that is entertaining/relevant and is not too invasive. An insight is the start of any effective (and hopefully award winning) piece of creative work. It makes the idea true, and if there is no real insight the idea is just a gimmick.

How do you get insights? Are they found through research or some kind of process? Or do they arrive un-announced?

I personally believe that good insights come from being a bit obsessive about consumer culture and people’s behaviour. Its hard work and you need empathy – you have to try and crawl into someone else’s skin.

I always recommend sitting at coffee shops or hanging out on street corners when you are early for a meeting or something – you’d be amazed how many ideas you start to have just by being a creep.

Right now digital is really opening up lots of mind-boggling ways to learn about people – but analytics and content interaction is only the surface. If you just hang out online you’ll pick up how people are behaving and what their agendas are. Facebook and Twitter are great (I have a love-hate relationship with FB) - you get to watch people live their lives without the filters that face-to-face interaction puts on.

Do insights need to be new/fresh angles or can they be thoughts that have always existed, you just never thought of them in that way?

It's more about taking someone’s everyday behaviour that they don’t even realise that they do anymore and reminding them in a really surprising way. It’s the mix of insight and creative execution. Social Media (and the net in general) is such fertile ground for great creative work because we do everything on autopilot because we are coping with so much info.  Here are two examples that spring to mind:

• Harry Potter Tweets - Entrenched behaviour (using shortened urls) + insight of every Potter fan wishes he was Harry = cast a mischievous spell on your mates.
  
• Dr Pepper Chatroulette April fools - Expected outcome (chat to ugly naked guy) + insight of every guy wants to hook up with a cheerleader (obvious right!) = the chat of your life becomes a killer April fools' joke.

I’ve got this pet agenda. I hate digital (and any media) that is used just because it's new. Right now there is a race to use new platforms and I think you need to get to a critical mass of usership in order for the human behaviour to filter through….So I say “sssshhhhh little horsey”. Let's watch a bit and then ride off into the creative sunset.

How do you know when you've reached a point of understanding that can guide your decisions in putting together a strategy for a brand? Does a lightbulb appear above your head?

You need universal insights to base an entire brand on (most of the time), so you know you hit it when every one you bounce it off can relate to a similar experience. I need lots and lots of these little chats before I feel comfortable.

With the huge amounts of data available online, is it easier or harder to reach that point of insight - and can you reach it with data rather than, say, direct interviews? Is the data more honest or does it leave more room for interpretation?

I always try to start with data – numbers are great for painting broad pictures – but then you have to talk to real life people to get the nuances of things. Simple free online survey tools (Survey Monkey and Google Docs embedded questionnaires spring to mind) also help if you have a client willing to ask questions.

Like I mentioned before, the net has a lot of life on display and it goes beyond just numbers. Take that great Google ‘Love story’ viral as an example. Tools like Google Trends will tell you what people are searching for – but the magic comes when you understand why they where searching in the first place. That second part is always going to be about where basic human needs are meeting the bigger social/societal influences.

The slideshow below is an extract from a presentation showing how one can find insight by taking a look at human behaviour online.

Also check out:

• Tips for Plotting a Winning eMarketing Strategy
• Dr Carla Enslin on eMarketing's Role in Brand Strategy
• How to Set Useful and Holistic eMarketing Goals