The odd thing are these fantasy Bulmers drinkers, presumably there in order to tick the ‘a drink for younger people’ box on the LINK test. But distracting, don’t you think?

What do you expect?

What would delight you?

What would disappoint you?

So, for example, they uncovered that a lot of the athletes felt intimidated by the imagined cost and complexity of the London transport system. So they gave them all free Oyster passes. Simple, really.

I guess the question is, could you ask these of your prospects and act on the answers?

So much that passes for insight is commonplace or wishful thinking that we need a new standard, rather like universities now insist on A* to find the really clever kids.

Richard in full:

That’s why at Saatchi & Saatchi we use the word revelation in place of insight. This isn’t yet another definition it’s an action standard that demands people raise their game and their expectations when it comes to finding and delivering insight. A revelation does exactly what it says on the tin, it insists that what follows is in some way an astonishing disclosure about people, the brands they engage with or the wider world.

No revelation, no insight, it’s as simple as that.
And how to you find revelations? Well I have a few handy tips to help you on your way.
Firstly and simplest of all, ask yourself does it sound and feel like a revelation to you? Is what you have found, been told about or read truly an astonishing disclosure or is it a statement of the bleeding obvious ?
Secondly, real revelations live in the real world not in viewing facilities or behind one-way glass. They show themselves in the day-to-day lives of your customers as much to be observed as reported on. Get out and understand what your customers really care about and what is actually going on in their lives.
Thirdly, in the words of that great marketing commentator, Donald Rumsfeld, look for the unknown unknowns. Revelations will come from the least expected places not simply from finding the answers to questions that you already have – look for the things that you didn’t know, you didn’t know.
And finally the truth is that much that claims to be insight in the world of marketing is actually corporate wishful thinking that over estimates the importance of a brand or product in people’s lives. The route to revelation is through banishing vanity and accepting the honesty and rawness of genuine insight.
Enjoy the conferences, articles and presentations about the killer trends for 2012, but remember two things. Try as I might can’t find a single presentation on trend predictions for 2008 that contained the phrase ‘global economic cataclysm’. And remember that it’s genuine and behaviour changing insights – revelations even – that offer the best protection and opportunity for our brands in the coming year.

Or perhaps this only does a good job at defining which category you’re in? Perhaps you get interesting when, having established your category credentials, you begin to taste of something else: c.f. Eddie Stobart or UPS, where peace of mind is essential, but you’re really buying the taste of adventure, expansion and possibility. To be continued.

One of the core things he (and improv theatre teaches) is that you have to make an offer. Nothing happens unless you do. If you tune your offer to what’s going on in front of you, interesting things happen. If you make a positive, bold, human offer, very interesting things happen.

What else is marketing about? (Discuss)

You value independent thought: at the same time,  you read a paper that you know has a specific political or commercial agenda.

Once you’ve established this, it creates a tension between our thinking and actions that we seek to resolve.

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

It’s actually quite good advice, and Sticky Marketing is full of good ideas.

But still.

Some niche / ‘deep’ brands are growing towards their natural share; some are struggling because they’ve grown beyond it.

If you have the sense that you are disfiguring what is natural and strong about your brand,  or you’re getting breadth at the expense of the depth that made you grow, then you may be trying to outgrow your natural share.