I first wrote this as a quick Linkedin post in French, and the word ‘insight’ tends to be used in its English form in business Frenglish. On that note I recommend the excellent and amusing video series Your English is bien de la merde, and in particular the episode on Business English. All that to say I had a bit more time and translated it, amending and removing some notes about translation that don’t make as much sense in English.
A few notes about the concept of “insight”, particularly in branding and communication (but not only). It is a vast subject and not obvious. I’ll try to list the basics:
– The concept of an insight as it is used in marketing communications and design tends to be difficult to understand and explain. The Cambridge Dictionary defines the word insight as: (the ability to have) a clear, deep, and sometimes sudden understanding of a complicated problem or situation.
– In the French post, I commented on different words, because the word insight doesn’t have a direct translation, which led me to look at the differences in meaning between an insight and a revelation. Back to the Cambridge dictionary for revelation: “the act of making something known that was secret, or a fact that is made known.”
– It’s interesting to consider both words in English too, because I believe a revelation is not necessarily an insight, but a (good) insight should be revealing.
– An insight requires context. If there is no clearly defined context (usually a problem to be solved or an opportunity to be exploited), then there is no insight. Go back to the previous step which is typically about answering “What are we actually trying to do here?” What is the problem ?”
– An insight is a fact, observation, or truth that sheds new light on the problem or situation, and reveals one or more directions that will lead to a solution. However, the insight is not a solution.
– An insight serves to bring a new vision and inspiration that will lead to a solution. If you’re not inspired, there’s probably no insight, or it might be weak.
– It is not exactly or solely a matter of rational understanding. In the same way that if you have to explain a joke, it’s unlikely to make you laugh. A (good) insight is gotten or grasped rather than intellectually understood.
– I often use the candle problem as an example with my students, which is pictured here (Dan Pink talks about it in a TED talk). It comes from an experiment dreamed up by psychologist Karl Duncker in 1946. Imagine being in a room with a table against a wall. On the table there is a candle, a box of tacks, and a book of matches. The problem to solve is this: how do you get the lit candle fixed to the wall in such a way that it won’t drip wax on the table?
– When we break down what leads to the solution (I’ll let you think about it, or you can go find the answer online), we can identify the insight that leads to the solution, which in this case is a psychological principle.
We can probably continue to explore the theme, say if you have a different definition, comments, or questions! And I can help you identify issues or insights for your branding and communication questions too.
