Why connected insights are the next evolution of research

Imagine your company has tested 500 ads and 200 product ideas, generating thousands of consumer responses over the past five years. 

Now imagine starting your next campaign as if none of that had ever happened.

That's how many organizations still operate. Every research project answers an important question, then gets filed away in a presentation or dashboard while the next project starts from scratch.

This approach isn’t a failure of market research. But it is a failure of not having the right tools and workflow in place to benefit from the compounding effect. Today's pace of business demands a way to connect every consumer insight into a system that gets smarter over time.

In this article, I’ll explore the difference between traditional market research and connected insights, and walk through how to build a connected insights framework to get more out of every campaign.

Market research encompasses a range of methodologies, from surveys and focus groups to concept testing, pricing studies and advertising research. While the methods vary, they all share the same goal: helping organizations answer a specific business question before investing time, budget or resources. The problem is, they’re often disconnected and only applicable to one thing at a time. 

Here’s a look at what market research conducted traditionally does well and where it falls short:

What it does well

Traditional market research excels when you have a clear objective. 

For example, a brand developing a new product might conduct concept testing to understand whether consumers find the idea (think: new chip flavors) appealing before investing in manufacturing. A marketing team may test several advertising concepts to identify which one is most likely to drive purchase intent before committing millions in media spend. And retailers routinely use pricing research to understand how price changes affect demand, while consumer goods companies test package designs to determine which one stands out on the shelf.

Traditional market research is designed to answer specific questions, such as:

• Which package design performs better?

• Should we move forward with this product concept?

• Which advertisement storyboard is more effective?

• What price will consumers accept?

The challenge begins after those questions have been answered.

Where it falls short

Traditional market research is designed to answer individual business questions rather than connecting the dots over time. 

That approach works well for making a single decision, but today’s marketing campaigns work at speed and volume that are ongoing. Brands are launching more campaigns, testing more creative and generating more consumer data than ever before. The opportunity isn't simply to answer today's question—it's to learn from everything that's come before.

Matt Cahill, Senior Director of Consumer Insights Activation at McDonald's, describes how his team shifted its innovation process by looking beyond individual concept tests and learning from previous work:

"I think in our innovation system, the first thing we realized was, because we're in a lot of the same places, the easiest way for us to get better is to learn from what we've done historically... learn from where you've been and force that step. If you don't force that step, it won't get done. It's easy to skip because everybody wants to have the new greatest idea ever and you don't want to acknowledge that someone has probably had a similar idea before. I always call that getting a headstart. Why wouldn't you want a headstart with all this knowledge that we had before? It's just going to make your outcome better."

Instead of asking, "Should we launch this concept?" connected organizations can ask, "What have the last 100 concepts taught us about building a better one?"

As organizations generate more consumer data—from research studies to advertising tests to channel performance to their latest innovation and more —the opportunity shifts from answering individual questions to connecting those answers. That's the foundation of connected insights.

The Connected Insights Framework helps organizations turn consumer data into continuous business knowledge. Built on four layers, each layer builds on the previous one, transforming individual research projects into a connected system that supports faster, more confident decisions. 

Layer 1: Connected data

Every organization generates plenty of consumer data. Research studies, sales figures, CRM records, media performance and website analytics all provide valuable pieces of the customer story. The challenge is that these sources often live in separate systems and are owned by different teams.

Connected data brings these sources together, creating a shared foundation so teams can have a more complete understanding of how the data impacts decision-making. 

Layer 2: Connected intelligence

Once the data is connected, the next challenge is interpreting what matters.

Connected intelligence applies AI and advanced analytics to identify patterns, trends and relationships that are difficult to uncover simply by reviewing individual reports. Instead, organizations can learn from hundreds of projects simultaneously.

For example, a marketer wants to know why one campaign dramatically outperformed another. Looking at a single report is interesting, but analyzing hundreds of campaigns can show why the one performed strongly and any trends they can take away. Innovation teams can compare years of concept testing to understand which product attributes repeatedly resonate with consumers.

In our annual Connected Insights Imperative report, we describe this shift as moving from reporting individual findings to generating organizational knowledge. It uses AI as a force multiplier so teams can discover patterns at a scale that would be difficult or impossible through manual analysis alone.

Layer 3: Connected decisions

Insights only create value when they influence decisions.

Connected decisions transform analysis into practical recommendations that help teams prioritize what to do next. Reviewing analytics shows what happened, but connected decisions help identify the opportunities most likely to improve business outcomes.

This represents an important shift in the role of insights teams. Rather than acting as order takers who answer individual research requests, when connected decisions start being made, they start being seen as strategic partners who can help guide business decisions with connected consumer knowledge.

Layer 4: Connected action

The final layer closes the loop by turning insights into measurable business outcomes.

Insights are embedded into everyday workflows, helping teams optimize creative, improve innovation, refine customer experiences and evaluate business performance. Just as importantly, the results of those actions generate new consumer data that feeds back into the system.

Every campaign, product launch and customer interaction contributes to a feedback loop that makes future decisions smarter. That’s the difference between connected insights vs. market research. 

Each of these layers can be attributed to where your organization sits in our Connected Insights Framework:

Traditional market research and connected insights both help organizations understand consumers. The difference between connected insights vs. traditional market research is how that knowledge is captured, connected and applied over time.

Connected insights don’t replace traditional market research. They expand its value by connecting individual research projects into a system that helps organizations learn continuously.

The role of insights is evolving. Marketing organizations are producing more campaigns, launching more products and generating more consumer data than ever before. At the same time, business leaders expect faster decisions and greater confidence in where to invest.

Connected insights help organizations meet those expectations.

Faster learning

Traditional market research is designed to answer today's questions. Connected insights help organizations learn from every question they've already answered.

Instead of treating each project as a standalone study, connected insights build on previous research, allowing teams to identify patterns, apply historical learning and make better decisions over time. As more consumer data becomes available, every campaign, concept test and product launch strengthens the organization's knowledge base rather than ending with a final report.

Better collaboration

Consumer insights are most valuable when they extend beyond the insights team.

Connected insights give marketing, innovation, product and leadership teams access to the same consumer knowledge, reducing duplicate work and helping teams make decisions from a shared understanding of customer needs.

Stephan Gans, SVP and Chief Consumer Insights & Analytics Officer at PepsiCo:

"We partnered with Zappi to build research solutions our teams could use consistently across the world... through consistency and owning our own data, we now have greater consumer centricity. We are getting smarter and smarter over time by connecting all our data across brands, countries, categories, on and off platform to give us meta learnings."

Rather than relying on isolated studies, organizations can identify patterns across brands, categories and markets to make more consistent, evidence-based decisions. 

Greater business impact

The ultimate goal is making better business decisions.

Organizations that connect data, intelligence, decisions and action can identify opportunities earlier, optimize creative more effectively and improve innovation over time because every new project benefits from previous learnings.

The role of insights is changing and while traditional market research has its place, ongoing research is becoming important business infrastructure. 

As AI accelerates decision-making and the volume of consumer data continues to grow, organizations that can connect research, business context and action are better equipped to respond to changing markets, identify opportunities and make decisions with greater confidence.

Connected insights provide the framework for making that shift so brands can get more value from their data.