Insights2020 was designed to give business, marketing and insights leaders a strategic framework and practical guidelines for building a consumer centric organization, with the insights strategy, structure and capability aligned to growing the business.
It follows on from Marketing2020, and the problem it takes up is stated in one line: organizations are data rich but often insights poor when it comes to understanding what customers really need.
Key findings
- The study set out to define four things: the role of insights and analytics in driving business strategy and growth, how to organize the function, how to build its capability, and how to emulate the leadership competencies and behaviors of overperformers.
- The scope is organized into six areas: role, strategy, structure, capability, leadership and performance.
- The evidence base is more than 300 vision interviews with CMOs, insights leaders, chief executives and key opinion leaders, spread across regions.
- The advisory board is chaired by Unilever’s chief marketing officer and includes leaders from Verizon, WPP, GroupM, Google, Volkswagen, Tata, Wharton and the ARF.
The questions in each area
On role, the study asks what decision support is provided for past, present and future, whether insights work is integrated into the strategic process or done ad hoc, and how and why the role is changing.
On strategy it asks whether the function is a competitive advantage or a cost center, and how resources are allocated in money and people.
On structure it asks about the operating model, organizational principles, roles and responsibilities, and links to other functions. On capability it asks about processes and methodologies, tools and data sources, people, skills and partners.
On leadership it asks about behaviors, expertise and cultural aspects, and about the difference between overperformers and laggards. On performance it asks about budget and return on investment, performance indicators and benefits.
What participation involved
Contributing meant a 60 minute vision interview by phone, with an invitation to take a 15 minute quantitative online survey afterward.
In return participants received the full report and access to a resource center, and could circulate the survey link inside their own company to produce a pulse-check for their organization or sector.
An optional benchmark went further, comparing the participant’s own organization against the whole study and against top performing companies on key metrics, with a working session to discuss what it implied.
The benchmark carried thresholds. A minimum company size of 5,000 employees and a net response sample above 50.
Who ran it
Millward Brown Vermeer describes itself as a global marketing consultancy focused on unleashing purpose-led growth through consumer insight-led marketing strategy, structure and capability.
Its track record is Marketing2020, which drew over 350 CMOs and 10,000 marketers across 92 countries, was discussed in more than 20 CMO round tables, and produced the cover article of a Harvard Business Review edition in June and July 2014.
Scope and limitations
This document introduces the study to prospective participants. It describes scope, method and benefits rather than reporting findings, which had not yet been produced.
Source
This page summarises Insights2020: Driving Customer-Centric Growth – Program introduction, by Millward Brown Vermeer, May, 2015.