Visualizing Insights

Working in the insights department of an advertising agency is both rewarding and fraught with challenges. "Insights" are gleaned from data. The recently spotlighted "big data" equates to "big news." This trend, at the very least, keeps our insights department interesting.

However, it's also true that insights are often seen as "boring" and treated merely as the "prelude to explaining important strategy." Expectations aren't particularly high. Of course, as someone who actually works in the insights department, I disagree. Honestly, I think insights are the most enjoyable work in this industry.

An old adage: "Find what you truly love to do, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."

Wikipedia defines insight as "a deeper understanding of a person or a situation."

Here's an example. You become close with a highly capable colleague at work. Yet on social media, they only post pictures of kittens. That aspect of your friend is insight. Another example: You remain friends with an ex-lover on social media. They post selfies obsessively and show little interest in others. This is also insight—insight about yourself, rather than them. Because after the breakup, you realized you've changed and grown, while they haven't.

Gaining deeper understanding of people or products is fascinating. It becomes even more compelling when that insight is shared and remembered by more people. Genuine insight builds relationships, facilitates information transfer, and aids memory. Humans remember only 20% of what they read, but 80% of what they see. It's only natural that images and photos dominate social media.

We recently developed a new method for visualizing and presenting insights: posters heavily utilizing infographics. We consolidate discoveries about people or products into a single image with text to share with others. This approach is well-received by clients because what people actually remember from presentations is the insight itself. Clients take these posters back to their offices to concisely share the insights with their superiors and staff.

In the world of big data, we discovered an interesting method for transforming data into something meaningful—condensing accumulated knowledge into images and text, then converting it into the client's strategy.

(Supervised by: Dentsu Inc. Aegis Network Business Bureau)

Posters that visualize insights using extensive infographics