Insight isn’t optional – it’s the engine of marketing that works
We live in a world saturated with data, but clarity is still rare.
Today’s marketing leaders are expected to deliver measurable results faster than ever, all while navigating evolving customer behavior, emerging technologies, and increasing commercial pressure. It’s no longer enough to be creative or efficient.
You have to be right – and you have to be relevant.
And that begins with something many skip: understanding.
Start with the truth – not assumptions
Marketing professor Mark Ritson often says that great marketing is built on three clear steps: diagnosis, strategy, and tactics — in that order. Skip the diagnosis, and the rest becomes fragile. At Sunrise, we describe this as: Investigate, Navigate & Activate.
Too many businesses jump straight to tactics, assuming they already know their market and their customers. But assumptions are dangerous. In over two decades advising sales and marketing leaders, I’ve seen this again and again: the companies that grow consistently are the ones that stay curious.
They don’t wait for answers to arrive. They don’t rely solely on sales anecdotes or legacy knowledge. They actively seek current, structured, and actionable insight — and they make it part of their rhythm.
They understand that diagnosis isn’t a once-every-five-years strategy day. It’s a discipline. Because when your understanding of the market is outdated, so is your plan — and your competitive edge fades with it.
What do we mean by market and customer insight?
Market and customer insight refers to evidence-based understanding of how customers think, feel, and behave — and how those behaviors are shaped by broader market conditions, competitors, and cultural context.
A true insight explains the why behind the what. It’s not just about knowing what customers are doing — it’s about understanding their motivations, their unmet needs, and the emotional or practical triggers behind their choices.
An effective insight might:
- Reveal customer needs your current offer isn’t addressing
- Identify new decision drivers or loyalty signals
- Show how customer priorities are shifting in your category
- Challenge assumptions about your value proposition
Most importantly, an insight must lead to better decisions. If it doesn’t influence strategy, improve execution, or drive relevance, it’s not insight — it’s just information.
More data does not mean better decisions
The explosion of dashboards, metrics, and analytics has led many to believe they’re well informed. But more numbers don’t guarantee better thinking.
Dashboards show what is happening. They don’t explain why it’s happening — or what to do about it. That’s why high-performing organisations invest in insight capabilities that go beyond reporting.
Insight professionals bring structure, context, and depth. Marketing teams bring creativity, intuition, and commercial focus. When those strengths combine, companies gain the ability to move fast, but with purpose.
AI is not a shortcut — it’s a tool
There’s increasing pressure on marketing to adopt AI for speed and efficiency. But efficiency without understanding is just automation of guesswork.
AI can be powerful — but only when guided by people who know what to ask, what to test, and what matters. Used in the right hands, it accelerates insight. Used in isolation, it risks generating shallow output.
The customer isn’t waiting — and neither can you
Customer expectations evolve faster than most companies are prepared for. What mattered last year may not matter now. Preferences change, competitors adjust, and loyalty fades.
This is why customer understanding needs to be continuous. Not a campaign add-on. Not a post-project review. It should be built into how decisions get made, every quarter.
The most agile and successful companies are the ones that treat insight not as a task, but as an organisational habit. It informs their value proposition, shapes their messaging, and sharpens their relevance.
From insight to foresight
Marketing today isn’t just about launching — it’s about learning.
The organisations that thrive don’t assume. They investigate. They build strategy on real insight and adapt as their market changes. They treat understanding as a competitive asset — not a passive report.
Because in a world moving this fast, the difference between leading and lagging is knowing what matters, before everyone else does.
