INSIGHT FORUM: 2015 Year in Review

In 2015, meetings and benchmarks focused on how to effectively disseminate insights internally, get senior marketing support and deal with an ever-increasing and sometimes overwhelming amount of consumer data.

The group met twice in 2015 and now counts over 130 members as part of its network. Hosted by Barclays and Brown-Forman, the INSIGHTFORUM covered behavioural economics, brand tracking and managing online communities, as well as less commonly-used research techniques, such as Implicit Association Tests (IAT) and eye-tracking.

Celebrating a century of market research (the industry traces its roots back to 1916 when the Literary Digest ran the first national opinion poll among its readers), WFA launched its own “Future of Insights” research in partnership with BrainJuicer, a global market research agency.

The research explores marketers’ perception of the role of insights, common challenges in working with practitioners and offers practical advice in terms of how marketers and insights specialists might work together more strategically for the benefit of their brands.

INSIGHTFORUM in numbers:

• INSIGHTFORUM is 1.5 year old


• 139 insights specialists in the global network, covering 60% of WFA’s corporate network


• Met 2 times in London


• 40 members attended meetings


• 5 global benchmarks on research methodologies


• 1 survey on brand tracking


• 1 whitepaper on the “Future of Insights”

2015 attendees:

• Michael Jensen, Arla Foods


• Elinor Bateman, Barclays


• Tania Sowka, Bayer


• Jo Wisbey, BP


• Nick Wright, BP


• Laurence Miklichansky-Maddocks, Brown-Forman


• Begonia Fafian, Coca-Cola


• Guido Rosales, Coca-Cola


• Christian Veysseyre, Danone


• Marco Aureggi, Ferrero


• Lars Lengler-Graiff, IKEA


• Steve Hill, Jaguar-Land Rover


• Andrew Habgood, Jaguar-Land Rover


• Adam Langridge, Jaguar-Land Rover


• Christian Ohm, Mazda


• Christine Antoine-Simonet, McDonald's


• Russell King, Orange


• Elena Boisseuil, Nissan-Europe


• Beatriz Minamy, Nissan-Europe


• Yvan Goupil, SAB Miller


• Stephanie Hericotte, Swarovski

What will 2016 bring?

Behavioural science and ethnography are not new techniques within the research community, but the use of them is still not widespread amongst marketers. Yet WFA research on the “Future of Insights” demonstrates marketing has a desire for consumer insights functions to be considered as strategic consultants. 2016 may therefore be the year that insights teams respond to this desire and take broader brand strategy into consideration, pushing for more widespread adoption of these new ideas and research methods within marketing.

For more information, contact Steve.