It’s switching season out there for Insights communities. I know a lot of people are planning their budgets for next year right now, and that’s why we’re doing this series. This is part two of a ten-part series talking about some frustrations I felt when I was on the client side as a researcher and a client of a leading provider of Insights communities. 

Is your consumer insights community partner taking a backseat?

The second reason to switch Insights community providers is when your partner struggles to lead the insights conversation and defaults to order-taking. Ideally, an effective insights community partner is going to be able to bring true thought partnership to the table. 

These teams can do what they’re told and they often execute with excellence. But learning-design stays pretty basic and they’re not necessarily bringing fresh ideas to the table. The best insights communities providers are the ones that truly understand:  

• Your brand and your business
• Quantitative and qualitative research and how the two pieces fit together 
• How to create effective and creative multi-methodology learning plans
• How to evolve your learning plans throughout the year as things change

Your partner should find creative ways to inform answers to complicated questions for high-priority initiatives. And not only within research design but within the analysis, having the confidence to assert, “Hey, have you thought about this?”

Not only should your partner be bringing proactive thoughts on the “So what?” into recommendations, but they should also be asking “Now what?”. I see more often than not that this type of thought partnership is lacking in the realm of insights communities. 

How to evaluate your insights community team 

If you feel like your insights community team is just running down a checklist, then maybe you should be asking yourself these questions:

• Does the insights community team propose creative ways to address your research objectives and your learning needs, or are they just defaulting to my own direction?
• Are they inclined to think outside the box, or are they just checking the box to work through the workflow?
• Are you getting enough attention from experienced experts on your account, or are you just getting sort of the junior team or the B team? 

If the answer to any of these questions is yes – or even made you pause to think – you should consider Finch brands.

Your trusted partner: a real-world brand consultancy

Finch Brands is a real-world brand consultancy that’s finely attuned to crafting creative and effective research that connects to real-world brand decisions.  

Our purpose is to help brands win when it matters most and within insights communities. That’s what we focus on every day. We take a fundamentally different approach as a copilot for your insights. Think of us as riding shotgun right there with you in the front seat, instead of the back seat.  

We combine the ability to execute with excellence but also help push your thinking, come up with new ideas, create research plans to match your goals, multi-methodology approaches, custom-tailored learning plans, and creative ideas for how to blend quant and qual together.  

If any of that sounds good to you, contact our team today. I look forward to connecting!

About the Author

John Ferreira is Chief Insights Officer at Finch Brands, a leading insight-driven brand consultancy. In 2016, John identified the need for a better solution in the insights community space to help solve the pain points he felt when he was a client himself. The result was FinchSight insights communities, which helped Finch Brands grow over 1,000% in the following 5 years by solving real problems for clients. Prior to joining Finch Brands, John spent 11 years at Campbell Soup Company with roles in consumer insights and brand management spanning brands such as Campbell’s Chunky Soup, Prego Italian Sauce, and Swanson Broth.

To stay ahead of the curve, companies need to invest in foresight to make informed bets on the future. This includes environmental scanning, trend and mega trend analysis, technology assessments, and scenario planning.