As technology continues to evolve and improve, how we live our lives is also constantly changing. And because we live in a consumer-orientated society, new technologies are assuming a greater role in how we buy and consume goods and services, creating a new paradigm in the process.

In the “old days,” long before the internet and smartphones, the yellow pages, TV ads, and print media were the standard means by which consumers learned about products, but today’s tech-savvy consumers do their own research in a series of “micro-moments” that work in a circular process. Successful brands that understand these micro-moments and how they relate to their consumers are poised for even greater success as smartphones improve and wi-fi continues to expand.

The term “micro-moment” was first coined in a 2011 e-book written by Jim Lecinski and published by Google, titled, Winning in the Zero Moment of Truth. The book

When 95% of new products fail, there are no excuses for guessing what your customers want. In times of financial turmoil, businesses and consumers are more modest when spending. And as brands reassess budgets in light of economic hardship, many may look to how they can optimize their insight solution.

But there are two things brands must have in mind when re-evaluating their budgets.

Firstly, insight is invaluable. More so than ever as customers are shying away from spending. Living in these liquid times, it’s never been so crucial to understand why, how, and what your target audience is shopping for.

Secondly, research doesn’t need to break the bank. It should make you money in the long run. According to this Forbes article, ‘to fully understand customer practices, attitudes, and sentiments, and gain inspiration for innovation and marketing, it pays to conduct qualitative and quantitative research.’

So how can

In my career I have had the privilege of establishing an insights function from scratch twice, once for an Asia Pacific regional footprint in an established large global organization, and more recently in a young Singapore-based business.

These two experiences have been quite some years apart, so it has been interesting to reflect on the changes in the nature of the work, the skills needed in an insights team, the technology available for our work and the challenges faced by insights practitioners.

A lot has changed, however one thing that I feel is persistent is the challenge of really achieving “insights to action” and leveraging the cumulative value of insights work.

A phrase that regularly pops up on process frameworks, job descriptions, and roadmaps, “insights to action” refers to the shift that we expect to take place when decisions and actions are taken as the result of providing a new

One of the best investments any company striving to be more customer-centric can make is an insights engine.

A Harvard Business Review article describes insights engines as market research groups with a “fundamentally strategic role,” responsible for distilling insights that “enable transformational actions” for their organizations. We’ve defined an insights engine as “a combination of the right people, technology, and processes to increase the accessibility and visibility of insights, ultimately empowering stakeholders to make customer-centric decisions.”

In both definitions, the key is that research groups must be distilling and distributing insights in ways that drive meaningful business decisions. And that means organizations shouldn’t just be investing in conducting or commissioning research, but in ensuring the resulting insights are packaged, shared, and preserved in ways that maximize their value.

Implementing an insights management platform, which centralizes insights and makes them easily accessible to stakeholders, is often one of the first steps