What we believe
Short points of view on audiences, insight and the decisions they serve. Most were first written in 2023 and 2024 and have been rewritten for now.
Points of view
Now, Next, Not Yet and Never
"Target" or "don't target" is too blunt a choice. Most audiences sit in between, and each needs a different job doing.
Read →Why we say audiences
Customers are the people who've already bought from you. Growth usually sits with the people who haven't.
Read →Ask them to predict the results first
Stakeholders who say they already knew a finding often didn't. Asking them to write down a prediction first shows them, and makes the research land.
Read →Hurry up and wait
When a new insight capability launches, the stakeholder who goes second often gets better answers, sooner, than if everyone had gone at once.
Read →Serve the decision-maker's job, not the general report
General insight reports get filed. Reports built around a decision someone has to make get used.
Read →Give your audience a seat at the table
Audience insight changes decisions only when it's in the room where they're made. Too often it's in another building.
Read →How to structure an audience team
One senior owner for the audience, and two teams under them: one that understands the audience, one that proves what's worth doing.
Read →Data should inform judgement, not replace it
Audience data does two jobs well: it tests a leader's hunch and it narrows a choice. Making the choice is still a person's job.
Read →How we segment
A segmentation is a shared language before it's an analysis. And the same behaviour can come from quite different needs.
Read →Why segmentations sit on a shelf
A segmentation only works once the organisation understands it, agrees on it and acts on it. The research is the easy part.
Read →An audience strategy is a journey plan
A segmentation is a map. A strategy says where you're going, which way, and when you'll check the route again.
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