How to reclaim the strategic role of insights

The insights function is at a critical crossroads. Despite an abundance of real-time data, many teams are losing influence, facing tighter budgets, faster turnaround expectations, and growing reliance on self-serve tools that bypass expert researchers. Too often, insights functions operate reactively responding to requests after key decisions are made reducing their role to a transactional service rather than a strategic driver of growth.

Yet insights have the potential to play a far more powerful role. The experience at Netflix illustrates this shift. As competition intensified and subscriber growth faltered, insights were used not just to report data, but to reframe the role of brand in a crowded market. By synthesizing existing data, identifying cultural shifts, and provoking leadership with the right questions, insights helped reposition brand as a strategic priority, influencing decision-making and aligning teams around a clearer vision.

To achieve this impact, insights teams must evolve. They need to deeply understand both customers and internal stakeholders, craft persuasive narratives rooted in human truth and develop clear, actionable points of view. Their work should act as a catalyst for decisions rather than a record of findings and be communicated in ways that actively shape strategic conversations.

Ultimately, insight is not defined by the volume of data, but by the quality of thinking it enables. It sits at the centre of decision-making, connecting information to meaning and guiding organizations toward clearer, more confident choices in increasingly complex environments.

What this means for us:  For marketing agencies, this evolution is critical. Clients increasingly expect agencies to go beyond execution and act as strategic partners. Agencies that embed insight into their thinking can guide brand positioning, unlock differentiation, and justify investment decisions with clarity and confidence. In crowded markets where many brands look alike, the ability to translate insight into meaningful strategic direction becomes a key competitive advantage