Five questions we love answering

We love our work. Here are the five questions we're most passionate about helping you answer:

1. "What should my data (research, insight, analytics and CRM) strategy be?"
   Our process involves interviewing your leadership to gain a comprehensive understanding of the most important jobs they're trying to do that are currently unsatisfied with audience insight to work out how audience data can be used to assist their goals. We also speak with teams in other industries and your existing data teams to learn what's possible and how to achieve it. This information is then used to help develop a data strategy, CRM strategy, insight team org design and roadmap tailored to your company's specific needs.

E.g. A number of large media and entertainment companies have wanted to put audiences closer to the heart of their strategy. We interviewed stakeholders, insight teams and other entertainment companies to help them to lay out a roadmap to success. 

2. "Who is my audience, and what should my strategy be?"
   To answer this question, we segment audiences using surveys, transaction data, social audiences and artificial intelligence. We then identify priority segments taking into account segment fit, existing reach, and potential reach compared to competitors. From there, we can help you develop strategies to better engage them.

E.g. For many artists, books, media companies, luxury brands, retailers and consumer goods companies we've researched their audiences, recommended which audience segments to focus on and helped them to develop the product and marketing to meet their needs. 

3. "How should I develop my brand positioning to engage my audience?"
   We begin by examining your team's vision and values and the needs of your audience(s). From there, we work to find a brand positioning, strategy and write a brand book that is authentic and resonates with your audience(s).

E.g. For retailers and consumer goods companies we've interviewed audiences, staff and the industry to understand current perceptions of a brand. Then we've worked with them to develop new positioning that resonates with their values, goals and audiences. 

4. "Which partners should I pick to better engage my audience?"
   To answer this, we use billions of signals from social and digital platforms, and sometimes supplement this with survey research. We produce monthly dashboards for clients that explore demand for thousands of partners in dozens of countries. This information can then help identify which talent, media channels, and brand partners will be most effective in engaging your target audience(s).

E.g. We help Madame Tussauds to identify the talent they should celebrate with waxworks, music festivals to invest in lineups that resonate with their audiences, global consumer goods companies to partner with the right media, global entertainment companies to license the right IP and global technology and entertainment companies to pick the right talent for their content.  

5. "How can I tell data-driven stories using audience data?"
   To do this, we interview your team about the stories they want to tell and then gather data and industry perspectives to help craft these narratives. We then produce and present visually stunning reports designed to change hearts and minds.

E.g. We've written and helped with a number of reports: Global music trends and dance music industry valuation for the International Music Summit (report | video), the Economic benefits of the dance music industry to the UK (link), Dance Music’s Impact on Communities and Culture (link), Female representation in dance music (link) and the Annual Trapital Culture Report (link).

Reach out for more information on any of the above. We are always happy to share examples of our approach. 

Our team

After a decade of working together inside major brands, we’ve come together as a team to help many more brands.

David Boyle: David has 20+ years of experience developing audience intelligence and strategy capabilities that changed the culture and economics of the world’s most prestigious luxury brands and some of the biggest entertainment brands in the world. David loves the music industry and developing repeatable, scalable insight capabilities. 

Louisa Livingston: Louisa helps companies and brands grow and has worked across Consumer Insight, Innovation and CRM. She has built insights capabilities that help brands make better decisions. From EMI Music to Hachette and Harrods, she has built transformative teams. Louisa's passion is in the fashion and retail industries.

Richard Bowman: Richard has 15 years of experience covering FMCG, media and entertainment industries He has designed and delivered consumer segmentation for some of the world's biggest entertainment brands. Richard works closely with us alongside leading his own business, This Is Insight.

Edward Bass: Edward has over 15 years of experience working with leading international brands on social media insight projects, helping them develop winning strategies from actionable audience insights. His previous clients have included BMW, Samsung, Tommy Hilfiger, Universal Music and Bulgari. Alongside his work at Audience Strategies, Edward runs More Light, an agency focused on insight, inspiration, innovation and implementation.

Simon Jacobs: Simon has over 15 years of experience delivering insight and analytics solutions to some of the biggest entertainment, technology and luxury goods brands. His expertise is delivering solutions that make insightful findings accessible.

Eva Szokol-Humay: Eva is highly skilled at setting up, project managing and building analysis processes for complex, multi-country and multi-wave consumer insight initiatives across different industries ranging from the public sector, to international media companies, publishing, technology, education and retail.

Inspiration from all angles

We help individual brands that want to find growth as well as the next generation of analytics and insight service providers and the next generation of practitioners through leading annual conferences on insight, AI and data science. Together we will move the world towards a better, more impactful use of audience data. If you work with us you get inspiration from our work in every area of the insight industry. 

Strategy + Brands

With a blend of analytics-driven strategic thinking and experience working on audience strategies with some of the largest entertainment and luxury brands across the globe, we at our company bring a unique perspective to our clients. Our team has run insight teams in major global corporations, giving us a deep understanding of how brands feel and what they require to succeed.

Data, capabilities and tools

An Audience Strategy can require bringing together many tools and techniques. Here is an overview of those that we find most useful. 

Owned data: This refers to the data that is generated and controlled by you, usually through your digital platforms or apps. Examples include clicks on content, app downloads, engagement with specific features, and transactions made within your app or website. Owned data can provide insights into user behaviour, preferences, and the effectiveness of various marketing or promotional efforts.

Asked data: This data is collected by directly asking audiences for their feedback, opinions, or experiences. This can be done through surveys, questionnaires, or interviews. This is quant and qual research, mostly. But also includes customer satisfaction surveys and Net Promoter Score work. 

Gathered data: This type of data is collected indirectly by monitoring and analyzing the online activity of audiences, particularly on social media platforms. It includes social media mentions, shares, engagement with posts, and sentiment analysis of related content. 

It is a lot. But don't worry. No brand can do it all. We'll work with your brand to find the right suite for you. 

We believe in 'Informed Creativity'

The difference between success and failure often lies in understanding the role of data versus creativity and expertise in decision-making. We call our approach 'informed creativity'. Here is how we see it:

AI makes us better, quicker and clearer

We embraced the potential of ChatGPT early, viewing it as a powerful tool that complements our expertise rather than replacing it. We use ChatGPT extensively to enhance our work, including project planning, audience identification, survey question creation, and brand adaptation. We'll never upload your name, brands, documents or data. But we're proud that the efficiency of ChatGPT enables us to deliver high-quality work faster and with no additional costs, providing you with quicker, clearer, and better audience insights and strategies.

We want you to be at the forefront of innovation. So we worked with leaders across a diverse range of industries to write a series of books to help you use AI to grow your business: PROMPT: Practical guides growth using ChatGPT. And we've developed training courses that have worked for leadership teams in global consumer goods companies, professional services firms, market research firms, social media networks, and market intelligence firms, among others. With hundreds of satisfied trainees from dozens of companies, we're confident in the transformative potential of our training programs.