The secret behind the top creative brands
In 2019, Hinge launched an ad campaign that transformed the dating world.
This campaign was inspired by a simple yet profound observation: people were not happy with online dating.
Hinge’s research revealed a deep frustration with modern dating. People were sick of one-night stands and tired of swiping. They wanted real, long-lasting connection. Out of that insight, Hinge’s famous tag, “The dating app meant to be deleted,” was born.
This revelation and articulation of the insight led to a new dating experience, and Hinge, with over 28 million users and more than $400 million in revenue, became the fastest-growing dating app.
The key takeaway? Powerful insights inspire remarkable creative work, improve customer experience, and increase your odds of success.
What’s insight?
An insight is a revelation hidden in plain sight. It expands and deepens our understanding of a problem by shining a new light on what’s familiar — what we thought might be common sense. It’s the gold that great creative entrepreneurial minds extract from company data and the world around them to make great work that looks and feels good and gets results.
Let’s play a game.
I tell you the insight. You tell me the brand.
Ready?
The insight: People don’t just buy sportswear; they buy a mindset. Fitness is more than a physical activity — it is about personal transformation, overcoming resistance, and striving for greatness.
What’s the brand?
If you thought Nike, you’re correct.
The Just Do It mindset is largely responsible for Nike’s rise as a global powerhouse.
Another good example is Mailchimp’s “Empower the Underdog.”
The insight: Small business owners don’t just need email marketing — they need someone who believes in them and helps them look professional. This insight transformed Mailchimp from an email service into a $12B marketing platform for small businesses.
Strong insights lead to strong concepts. Strong concepts lead to remarkable creative work. Remarkable creative work leads to a more profitable, fulfilling, and successful business.
Lucky for you, you’re only two steps away from better insights.
A Two-Step Process for Better Insights
Step 1: Gather information
To draw insights, you first need to talk to your target market. Insights come from observations, remember?
Direct (and indirect) conversations with your target market are crucial. You can use several methods for gathering important information:
Interviews: One-on-one interviews for an in-depth understanding of individual experiences and perspectives.
Focus groups: Facilitate group discussions to observe interactions and trends and gather diverse opinions.
Casual conversations: Don’t sleep on the informal, day-to-day conversations with friends, family, and coworkers who represent your target market.
Ask open-ended questions. Encourage people to share their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to your work.
And please, don’t let your lack of friends or introversion stop you from gathering information. You can expand your search by looking to other sources for information. To name a few:
Online reviews: Customer reviews on Yelp, Amazon, and Facebook offer honest feedback. Pay attention to the language used and look for patterns in compliments and complaints.
Social Media: Stalk your competitors. Assess the tone of posts, follower interactions, and post engagement. Search social media for similar products, brands, or topics to see how people talk about them.
Opinion pieces: Newspapers and magazines can present insightful perspectives on culture and society. The titles and opening sentences of these articles can be particularly revealing and lead to powerful insights.
These are all great ways to collect valuable data on your target audience. Data you’ll alchemize into valuable insights.
Step 2: Analyze and Synthesize Information
Once you’ve collected your data, you need to analyze and synthesize your findings.
Look for patterns: Identify recurring themes, sentiments, and behaviors across the different sources. I noticed many creatives were frustrated with sleazy marketing tactics and overwhelmed by business jargon. So, I launched this series to help artists think like entrepreneurs.
Identify unusual observations: Pay attention to surprising or unexpected findings. These could be unique product uses, unconventional opinions, or contradictory behaviors. If I’m a ceramicist and notice customers buying my mugs not for drinking but as planters, I’m going to create a special line of planters with drainage holes and matching saucers.
Pay attention to strong emotions: Insights often emerge from strong feelings of joy, frustration, fear, or desire. Look for comments and behaviors that reveal these underlying emotional drivers.
Articulate the insight: Once you’ve identified a potential insight, articulate it as a clear, concise statement. This statement should capture the essence of your discovery and reveal a truth about our humanity. For example, the observation that people feel sad after finishing a delicious meal could be articulated as: “The last bite of a delicious meal is a sad moment.”
Final Thoughts
The best creative entrepreneurs are insightful, consistently drawing inspiration from the world around them.
Extracting valuable insights takes practice, but the more you dig, the better you’ll become at discovering the creative gold that leads to fulfilling and profitable work.