At some point (hopefully not too often), we’ve all sat through a presentation in which we were bombarded with facts, data and information that was loosely packed together but failed to tell a connected story.
Often, these sessions are characterised by the erroneous and interchangeable use of concepts like observations, insights, takeouts and human truths, where there is little connection between them and the absence of a useful “so what”?
The misuse of these concepts is not only problematic from a definition point of view. The biggest shortcoming is what is missed when they are not understood and therefore not applied appropriately for their intended purpose.
Let’s start by clarifying what these concepts are before we dive into how they can be useful to a brand looking to challenge the category, create a strong following, and become distinct.
Observation, insight, human truth
An observation answers the question: what is happening? It’s an objective and factual account of what’s happening in the operating context. This can be drawn from data, information, research or indeed something that you have noticed. Observations describe what is happening.
For example, one could observe that shoppers are interacting with the platform but, at some point, do not complete the purchase. Observations are important as they provide a foundation from which we can establish an understanding of the operating context.
An insight answers the question: why is this happening? It’s the interpretation of what’s happening in the operating context. While it should be informed by observations, it is usually subjective as it requires sense-making from what is being observed and provides the underlying answer to why something is happening.
In this example, the insight into why carts are being abandoned revolves around the payment process being too complicated or taking too long. Importantly, insights crystallise the actual challenge and reveal opportunities for action.
Human nature
So, if your ‘insight’ does not provide a direction, you are probably still dealing with an observation.
A human truth answers the question: is it a bigger phenomenon? It’s a fundamental and enduring aspect of human nature, which is true across different contexts and mostly true for different people.
A human truth is connected to observation and insight but is also true beyond the category being considered. The example used highlights ‘The Principle of Least Effort’, whereby people will naturally choose the path of least resistance or effort, which is true in the e-commerce category, but just as true in fitness, nutrition, daily routines, etc.
Identifying a human truth not only broadens potential solutions – where you can steal with pride from other categories that are faced with the same human truth – but also deepens the response by connecting to something fundamental to your target.
We’ve established that observations are the starting point for any effort to generate knowledge and understanding. Methods to collect observations are vast and well-developed, so this concept can be parked. While insight provides direction within the context of a particular category, human truths open up opportunities to connect in multiple ways.
Now all this may not be anything new. But you’d be surprised how misaligned teams are on these basic concepts. Let’s apply these concepts effectively.
Challenging path dependence
If the power of insight and human truth lies in the ability to provide direction, we need to understand how best to unlock that power, particularly for a challenger who needs to be 10x more effective than competitors to overcome inertia.
Challengers need to be more effective because they have an ambition that far exceeds their resources. Therefore, a solid understanding and application of these concepts inject a level of relevance that powers their marketing efforts to work harder.
But using these concepts in the same way we always have inevitably results in the same types of solutions we have always produced, and limits our effectiveness because we are:
- Defining the issues in the same way
- Asking the same questions
- Analysing data in the same way
- Evaluating options in the usual manner
We call this path dependence: locked-in self-reinforcing processes, mental models, and solutions. While everyone may have similar sets of information and inputs, challengers view these through a different lens to break path dependence.
For example, insights can be turned into opportunities by asking intelligently naive questions, as an outsider would of the category.
As a challenger, human truths help ground the progress challengers bring to categories and society in something real that people can connect with. By adopting an approach that seeks to break path dependence, challengers elevate observations, insights, and human truths.
This approach is useful in many ways, for example, it can provide direction to: craft a clearer and compelling brand role or become more specific with target definition to build a tribe of like-minded people.
Crafting a compelling brand role
We helped Yoco articulate a compelling brand role that was not only true to its category but also relevant to people across multiple categories. Based on our insights and human truth, we set out to define what Yoco would challenge and the monster it would take down.
Let’s distinguish between an enemy and a monster: an enemy is a threat to you individually, but a monster is a threat to the larger community and naturally galvanises people.
The monster: INSTITUTIONAL RED TAPE.
Whether you’re a small business or working in a large corporation or the public sector, you are surely familiar with the feeling of being held back by the bureaucracy and politics of the system.
This idea resonates and is one that people can rally behind. It also provides a clear mandate for the brand in terms of the products, services, and innovation it can offer small businesses to help them thrive.
Building a tribe of like-minded people
Working with Nexu, a telehealth platform in Spain, we observed that people were highly dissatisfied and apathetic toward a broken healthcare system. The insight was that people were not receiving quality care and outcomes, given long waiting times for appointments.
Also, people continued to subject themselves to the system, even when the reason for their visit no longer persisted. The human truth: learned helplessness. This helped clarify the type of people Nexu wanted to attract and build a tribe around: THE IMPATIENT.
Those willing to take their well-being into their own hands and reject being subjected to the shortcomings of a broken system. It wasn’t just about arbitrarily defining a tribe, but rather defining it in a way that people see themselves in it. Now, who wouldn’t want to be a part of such a movement?
By double-clicking into insights and human truths, through the application of different tools, and approaching the issues from a different perspective, we have gained a deeper understanding and identified broader opportunities for both of these brands to thrive in the market.
Challengers succeed by establishing meaningful and unexpected connections, truly comprehending the context, and finding innovative ways to engage with it. It’s important to recognise that these are all tools at our disposal, and as mentioned before, it’s essential to understand each tool’s purpose and use it accordingly.
By doing so, we can establish a strong foundation to drive progress within the category and beyond.
Tumisang Matubatuba is a strategy director at Delta Victor Bravo (representing eatbigfish in Africa).
