Innovation calls for a different approach to insights. This presentation is a basic introduction to Propellerfish's approach to consumer insights on innovation projects as presented at an innovation conference in 2014. Alex Marquez is the founder of Propellerfish, an innovation agency with offices in Singapore and London that specializes in global projects. We help organizations turn growth opportunities into the products and services that make growth happen in the real world. www.propellerfish.com

1. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
HOW INSIGHTS FUEL GROWTH & HOW TO GENERATE INSIGHTS THAT MATTER
ON INSIGHTS & INNOVATION

2. 01 A BIT ABOUT ME
!
02 HOW INSIGHTS FUEL INNOVATION
!
03 HOW TO GET THEM
!
04 INSIGHT IN ACTION
!
05 SOME DISCUSSION
WHAT I’M GOING TO TALK ABOUT
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3. PROPELLERFISH HELPS ORGANIZATIONS INNOVATE.
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4. WHAT WE DO:
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01 INNOVATION PROJECTS 02 CAPABILITY BUILDING 03 TECHNOLOGY
We run projects to help
organizations bring new
opportunities into focus and
develop the products and services
that help them grow.
We partner with organizations to
increase their capability around
insight and innovation through
courses and process design.
We deploy our proprietary
collaboration platform to help
organizations channel the
brainpower of their employees
towards key innovation briefs.
We do three things.

5. WHO WE WORK WITH
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We helped Shell invent
the future of petrol
stations in time to
prototype two locations
in Europe.
We helped Audi reinvent
their customer experience
to delight customers in
Hong Kong and China.
We ran a 12 week innovation
process to develop a pipeline
of new products which all
aced BASES and feasibility
testing.
We deployed our online collaboration
platform as an internally branded
system called “SnackLab”!
!
We ran a project to develop packaging
insights for Asia Pacific markets.

6. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
WHY WE’RE TALKING ABOUT INSIGHT AT
AN INNOVATION CONFERENCE?

7. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
INSIGHTS BRING OPPORTUNITIES INTO FOCUS

8. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
WHAT IS AN INSIGHT?
A seemingly patronizing question:

9. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
MOST MEN WE INTERVIEWED IN THESE MARKETS DID
NOT WANT US TO LOOK THROUGH THEIR PHONES.
Insight or observation?

10. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
MOST MEN WE INTERVIEWED HAD PHOTOS THEY
WOULDN’T WANT THEIR MOTHERS TO SEE ON THEIR
SMART PHONES.
Insight or observation?

11. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
BECAUSE THE LOWER MIDDLE CLASS IN EMERGING MARKETS
HAVE LITTLE PERSONAL SPACE AT HOME, THEIR MOBILE
PHONES BECOME THEIR PERSONAL SPACE LIKE A BEDROOM
OR CLOSET IN A DEVELOPED MARKET.
Insight?

12. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
BECAUSE THE LOWER MIDDLE CLASS IN EMERGING MARKETS
HAVE LITTLE PERSONAL SPACE AT HOME, THEIR MOBILE
PHONES BECOME THEIR PERSONAL SPACE LIKE A BEDROOM
OR CLOSET IN A DEVELOPED MARKET.
A much better insight…

13. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
(WHAT IS CURRENTLY HAPPENING) Because
(THE REASON WHY IT’S HAPPENING)
WRITTEN INSIGHTS TEND TO BE STRUCTURED LIKE THIS

14. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
AS COFFEE BECOMES MORE INSTANT IT BECOMES LESS SATISFYING
Because PEOPLE TURN TO COFFEE AS A BREAK AND WANT THAT BREAK TO LAST.
(WHAT IS CURRENTLY HAPPENING)
(THE REASON WHY IT’S HAPPENING)

15. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
30% of people leave your showroom without ever interacting with a salesperson because
there is no clear meeting point where they can make their presence known and seek help.
INSIGHTS DON’T HAVE TO BE BIG TO BE USEFUL

16. 8 INGREDIENTS TO GREAT INSIGHTS
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01 RICHNESS OF DATA
02 BREADTH OF PERSPECTIVE
03 TANGIBILITY OF STIMULUS
04 CLOSENESS
05 HUMANITY
06 OPENNESS
07 REFLECTION
08 TIME

17. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
01 RICHNESS OF DATA02 DIVERSITY
03 TANGIBILITY OF STIMULUS
04 CLOSENESS
05 HUMANITY
06 OPENNESS
07 REFLECTION
08 TIME

18. MARKETING INSIGHT
Verbal
DESIGN INSIGHT
Visual

19. VERBAL INSIGHT WORK HAS LIMITATIONS WHEN IT COMES
TO DESIGN & INNOVATION
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“Packaging is all
pretty easy to use.
It opens easily.
It’s fine.”

20. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
TWO PROBLEMS WITH WRITTEN INSIGHTS
MARKETERS ARE BIASED. CONSUMERS LIE.

21. GREAT INSIGHT WORK IS MULTISENSORY AND MULTIMEDIA
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22. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
01 DIVERSITY OF INPUT
02 BREADTH OF PERSPECTIVE03 TANGIBILITY OF STIMULUS
04 CLOSENESS
05 HUMANITY
06 OPENNESS
07 REFLECTION
08 TIME

23. CONSUMER CENTRICITY HAS ITS LIMITS

24. Consumers we spoke to loved vertical packaging
and spent more time holding it while talking to
us as compared to other types of packaging.
Retailers told us they had a feeling it
flew off the shelves because it was easy
to grab ad go.
A hand surgeon talked to us about how hands
were designed to pick up vertically oriented
objects more easily than laterally oriented ones.
DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES HELP YOU UNDERSTAND
A STORY ABOUT VERTICAL PACKAGING

25. Consumers gave us many of the same insights around which the
category has already been established and left us with little new
insight around with to reinvent the anti-aging space.
A taxidermist got us to a brilliant idea for a new anti-
aging process based on their job preserving skin on
dead creatures.
A STORY ABOUT TAXIDERMY & ANTI-AGING
DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES INSPIRE

26. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
What they told us their social life
was like.
What their girlfriends told us their social life
was like.
A STORY ABOUT TEENAGE BOYS IN RUSSIA
“I know a lot of people. We spend a lot of money in the
best night clubs and meet lots of women.”
“He and his friends play lots of video games, chat with each
other on ICQ and probably look at a lot of dirty websites.”
DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES KEEP PEOPLE HONEST
We recruited teenage boys to talk to us about their lives in Moscow. We didn’t tell them we had also recruited their girlfriends to sit behind the glass at the focus group with us.

27. PLANNING FOR PERSPECTIVE
CONSUMERS
THEIR PEERS
AGGREGATORS
CATEGORY EXPERTS
CULTURAL EXPERTS

28. 01 DIVERSITY OF INPUT
02 BREADTH OF PERSPECTIVE
03 TANGIBILITY OF STIMULUS04 CLOSENESS
05 HUMANITY
06 OPENNESS
07 REFLECTION
08 TIME

29. AN OFT FORGOTTEN DISTINCTION
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What many organizations test. What organizations actually sell.
Sometimes I wish I had a better
understanding of how my car worked, but
the manual can be a little confusing.
!
Audi’s A-Dash is an interactive manual that
resides on a tablet and can tell you not just
about the model you’ve purchased but
also give you actual real-time information
about your car.
!
Because getting to know your car should
be as easy as driving it home.
THE INTERACTIVE MANUAL

30. 01 DIVERSITY OF INPUT
02 BREADTH OF PERSPECTIVE
03 TANGIBILITY OF STIMULUS
04 CLOSENESS05 HUMANITY
06 OPENNESS
07 REFLECTION
08 TIME

31. HERE HEREVs.Vs.

32. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
What he told us. What his refrigerator told us.
CLOSENESS PUTS DATA INTO CONTEXT
“I keep myself healthy by only
buying healthy foods so I can
keep my diet healthy.”
A STORY ABOUT HEALTHY EATING

33. 01 DIVERSITY OF INPUT
02 BREADTH OF PERSPECTIVE
03 TANGIBILITY OF STIMULUS
04 CLOSENESS
05 HUMANITY06 OPENNESS
07 REFLECTION
08 TIME

34. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
THEY’RE PEOPLE NOT CONSUMERS
THEY’RE PARTICIPANTS NOT SUBJECTS
IT’S A CONVERSATION NOT AN INTERVIEW
IT’S AN EXPERIENCE NOT A STUDY

35. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
01 DIVERSITY OF INPUT
02 BREADTH OF PERSPECTIVE
03 TANGIBILITY OF STIMULUS
04 CLOSENESS
05 HUMANITY
06 OPENNESS07 REFLECTION
08 TIME

36. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
A STORY ABOUT “INCORRECT” TWITTER HABITS
“Our parents are on Facebook so Twitter is where we
share our more personal stuff.”

37. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
01 DIVERSITY OF INPUT
02 BREADTH OF PERSPECTIVE
03 TANGIBILITY OF STIMULUS
04 CLOSENESS
05 HUMANITY
06 OPENNESS
07 REFLECTION08 TIME

38. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
DATA POINTS
PATTERNS
INSIGHTS (INTERPRETATIONS)
OPPORTUNITIES
What we saw and heard in market.
Common patterns within the data worth digging into
Why we believe these patterns are emerging
What’s the commercial opportunity this insight unlocks for us?

39. Copyright Propellerfish Private Limited 2013
01 DIVERSITY OF INPUT
02 BREADTH OF PERSPECTIVE
03 TANGIBILITY OF STIMULUS
04 CLOSENESS
05 HUMANITY
06 OPENNESS
07 REFLECTION
08 TIME

40. PRINCIPLES IN ACTIONPRINCIPLES IN ACTION

41. QUESTIONS.
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42. LET’S KEEP IN TOUCH.
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ALEX@PROPELLERFISH.COM
@ALEX__MARQUEZ (2 X _)
WWW.PROPELLERFISH.COM