Improvisational Insights

How should marketing play insights?

The purpose of finding 'ah ha' or 'oh no' moments is to change the business; and those kind of insights come from the application of creative and analytic thinking.   I've heard it said that jazz musicians make the best analysts so the idea of improvisation within a structure or framework seems a good way to think about insights.

Consumer self-expression and dynamic connections mean that channels and platforms should be viewed more like suggestions rather than prescriptive things that marketing plays repeatedly over and over.  As a participant we have to adapt our approach in real time by taking cues from others; the result is that no performance is necessarily the same.  The notes in the media plan score become merely a jumping off point.

But to orchestrate something beneficial in a fluid environment still relies on some form or structure.   From a marketing perspective, that focus could come from several directions.

• How should messages be constructed?
• How do we arouse interest?
• How do we build trust?

Within these questions insights provide the ability to use tools and platforms to land back on the important tones of the brand's chord.