Fact: Lysol Kills 99.9% of Germs

Fact: Lysol kills 99.9% of germs. Insight: When cleaning their homes, consumers are concerned about the health of their families. Fact: When eating Cheetos, people get the powder on their fingers and rub them on something. Insight: Adults get a feeling of mischief and youthfulness when eating junk food. Fact: Women and girls are falsely portrayed as perfect by mass media. Insight: Women and girls have an innate low self esteem in reaction to how they see women in media around them, and they want this media to reflect more realistic body images.

Facts are not insights. All of the above examples show that when it comes to advertising, facts are important, but insights are key. Finding the motivational factor that can change human behavior is the difference between a good advertisement and a great one. Lysol found that a major concern for household cleaners is staying healthy. Cheetos found in focus groups that when adults eat junk food such as Cheetos they consider it indulging and thus it brings out their mischievous sides. Dove didn't have to look too far to figure out that across the board, women and girls feel inadequate in comparison to the portrayals in mass media and by the beauty industry. Research indicated in all three cases that there was an emotional motivation that could be tied to their products and lead to increased purchase considerations for these products.

But emotion is not necessarily the only key to finding a great insight. There is one overarching principal that applies to finding insights and separating them from the facts. While facts are truisms about a product, brand, consumer, etc., insights are the WHY. Insights in a way explain something that was already inherently true. Jeremey Bullmore of the WPP Advisory Board once wrote, "Why is a good insight like a refrigerator? Because the moment you look into it, a light comes on." An insight really explains the why, the true nature of something.

Bill Bernbach said, "At the heart of an effective creative philosophy is the belief that nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature, what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action, even though his language so often can camouflage what really motivates him." This still explains what an insight is today.

Insights are hard to define but the above can serve at least as working definitions of the term. Another concern though, is about where do insights come from? Who finds them and how and where? This is where planning comes into play and shines in the spotlight. Forbes describes, "the job of the planner is to ensure that the work produced by the agency is effective, digging up consumer insight and refining it so it can fuel creative ideas." The role of the planner is invaluable to finding the best consumer insights and making sure they are executed as to have the best effect.

Sources:
The Heart of Effective Advertising
Why is a Good Insight Like a Refrigerator?