This Handbook has been just over one year in the making.
the seed for the ROI of Insights Handbook was planted
The idea for the Handbook was born in a conversation over dinner with Lukas Pospichal,
Managing Director at GreenBook. We were discussing the many challenges and opportunities facing the sector, and the conversation turned to the challenge of decreased client budgets coupled with increased demand.
We discussed the learnings from the BCG, Yale CCI, and Cambiar 2015 Consumer Insights Benchmarking Study, including the finding that few Insights functions are seen as strategic business partners within their organizations, and the finding that a key characteristic of those that are is that they measure their ROI.
A lively discussion ensued about why that is, and we both agreed that one reason is that many Insights leaders don’t know how to measure ROI or even how to get started. Perhaps, empowered by a bit of Dutch courage, I promised to do something about it
and the seed for the ROI of Insights Handbook was planted.
the GRBN ROI of Insights initiative was born
The GRBN Board was quick to give their support and the GRBN ROI of Insights initiative was born soon after, enabling the ROI of Insights to become one of GRBN’s strategic initiatives alongside the Participant Engagement Initiative.
My next step was to talk with Simon Chadwick, Chair of Insights Association, who was a major contributor on the BCG, Yale CCI, and Cambiar 2015 Consumer Insights Benchmarking Study, in order to more fully understand the insights from their research and the implications for our initiative.
New research undertaken in partnership with BCG
Based on that discussion, it was decided that further research, specifically focusing on the ROI of Insights measurement was needed so we approached Boston Consulting Group about partnering on some new research. Thankfully Christine Barton, Senior Partner and Managing Director at BCG, agreed to partner with us. As a result, BCG led a research project, which involved both quantitative and qualitative research, focused on increasing our understanding of the current state of ROI of Insights measurement.
The key results from the research can be accessed from here and full report from here.
This Handbook builds upon this research, in particular, the qualitative in-depth interviews
conducted with Insights leaders earlier this year, and I hope the result is a tool which Insights leaders across the globe will embrace in order to better demonstrate the value of what they do.
Many thanks
It would not have been possible to produce this Handbook without the input and support of many people and organizations. In particular, I would like to thank:
- Christine Barton, Pierre Dupreelle, and Mario Simon at Boston Consulting Group
- Simon Chadwick, Cambiar
- Dapresy, our premier sponsor on the Handbook, in particular, Torbjörn Anderson and Beth Rounds
- The GRBN Board members, in particular, the Officers, Debrah Harding, Diane Bowers, and Elissa Molloy
- Cait Wilson, from the University of Utah for her diligent quality control of the Handbook
- Everyone who participated in the research, in particular, those who gave up their time to talk with me: You know who you are
I hope you find this Handbook to be both useful and inspirational. I wish you every success in using the Handbook to demonstrate your value to the organization, help grow the business and grow your budget, as well as advance your career.
Please drop me an email with any comments or questions.
Andrew Cannon
Executive Director, GRBN
firstname.lastname@grbn.org
www.grbn.org
www.grbnnews.com
