Businesses have been realising for some time that the only way to develop their edge is by genuinely putting their consumers at the centre of their business. What’s changed though, is it’s just not Insight or Marketing who should be the voice of the consumer. Everyone – Commercial, Finance, Sales should feel closely connected to their end user. In fact, the most consistently successful companies (think The Four Seasons, Apple, Amazon) mandate all stakeholders have their consumer at the forefront of their mind whenever a business decision is made.
To date, this is something most organisations have only paid lip service to. However, greater access to information and the rise of social media has created a more savvy, sceptical, demanding, empowered and confident consumer– one that is not afraid to call bullshit when a company is clearly not focused on categorically meeting their needs.
To walk the talk, Insights needs to be firmly placed at the centre of a business and it is this team that needs to lead the rest of the company into the world of consumers. No more doorstop PowerPoint decks, no more high level, esoteric insights which sound good, but leave you emotionally cold and strategically lost. The focus needs to be on:
- Motivating connection – making it simple to step into the world of the consumer
- Provoking emotion – do it well. Develop content that gets the whole business feeling the consumer. Cheering for them even. Be motivated to really try and help them
- Stimulating action – where the business so deeply ‘gets’ the consumer, that creating a solution is intuitive. Effortless even.
All nice ideas, but the question is how?
The concept of bringing insight to life is not new. Over the last decade (give or take) clients have been progressively attracted to agencies offering creative services. Taking the tomes that are U&As, consumer data and qual reports and translating them into something beautiful, tangible relatable and most importantly usable.
With developments in technology and the growing field of design research, the opportunity now exists to take this a step further – creating deeper more immersive consumers experiences for clients that truly allow them to step into and explore their world.
At Paraffin, we have taken this step. Whilst still offering powerful infographics and evocative consumer films, we also now translate sharp insights into 3D design expressions which invites our clients and all their stakeholders to step into the world and really get under the skin of their consumers. The incorporation of visual and sensorial cues create a shift from people nodding their heads saying ‘yes, that seems right’ to ‘oh my gosh, this totally reminds me of my sister, brother, father, mum, teacher….or even myself.’ Powerful stuff.
Talk to us about connecting deeply with your consumers and building a consumer-centric mindset with immersive consumer experiences.