The Empathy Advantage : Creating Insight That Captivates
24th October 2024
Jamie Halliday
We’ve all been in insight debriefs where there is a ‘moment of magic’ or an ‘Aha moment’ – when a specific insight engages and energises the room and enables clarity for decision making.
I remember with crystal clarity the moment at a workshop ten years ago when one of the attending marketeers complained that a dimly-lit video showing a tired young man struggling to understand a bank letter was an example of a participant not taking the research seriously – because he was reading it too late in the evening.
Someone else in the room was a step ahead: “But this is exactly when people read bank letters.”
An electric hush of realisation fell over the audience. We got it. We had all been there. This tired, cognitively strained individual was the real-world context they needed to be writing for. And if he can’t understand it, then we’re failing.
So, what’s the difference between exceptional insight – the kind that inspires brands into action and implementing something truly effective in driving human behaviour – and those run-of-the-mill insights that end up sitting gathering dust in a folder, inspiring no one?
The answer is empathy, enhanced by science.
Empathy is the quality that allows us to imagine the experience of another person as if we were them – to see through their eyes, metaphorically.
It’s something that only humans can really do for other humans. AI can do wonders – but not this (yet). It doesn’t have the mirror neurons in the brain that make it possible for that magic moment to happen.
It’s critical because that emotional connection, that sense of “I get it!”, is what drives strategic decision making. It drives action, turning insight into something that unlocks consumer behaviour – and positive commercial outcomes for brands.
Empathy is vital, because it unearths critical emotions – allowing us to feel as consumers feel. As our behavioural and neuroscience colleagues at Walnut will tell us – emotion is essential for understanding behaviour. We can’t move forward without it. Emotion underpins decision making.
At Walnut, we use empathy – enhanced by science – to bridge the say-do gaps that are at the heart of our client’s most challenging questions. We blend our behavioural and neuroscience knowledge into our research to draw out meaningful human truths that are otherwise hidden from view.
This is how we help you ‘get it’ – to create those ‘Ah ha moments’ that matter.
There’s more to come soon on our expert approach blending empathy and science – to deliver human insight with punch. Stay tuned and watch this space.
Interested in knowing more, sooner?
Drop me a message at jamie.halliday@walnutunlimited.com
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