Do your clients really understand what sets you apart? If your message is muddled or blending into the noise, it’s time to rethink how you communicate. It’s not enough to just say what your insights company does and how it helps clients, your content and strategy must clearly communicate this. That’s where positioning comes in.

In the fourth and final instalment of the Marketing Applied series on Greenbook’s Grow Your Insights Businessexpert channel, Iosetta Santini cuts through the fluff to show you how sharp positioning can set your brand apart… And keep it memorable. You’ll learn how to craft a value proposition that speaks to your audience, align your message across every touchpoint, and internalise your positioning so that everyone in your team tells the same story.

If you want your brand to resonate rather than just exist, this is one you can’t miss.

Read the full article: Marketing Applied Part Four: Stop the Fluff, the Art of Positioning

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Without a clear strategy, marketing efforts can become scattered and ineffective, so how can you fight this?

In this third instalment of Marketing Applied series on Greenbook’s Grow your insights business expert channel, Iosetta Santini emphasises the importance of diagnosing challenges, setting objectives, understanding the market, and targeting the right audience before jumping into the implementation phase.

Strategic marketing requires intentional choices: deciding what to do and not do, anchored by a well-thought-out objective. By kicking off with diagnosing your product and market, you are ensuring you have defined the right goals so everyone can align their efforts to lead to real impact – not wasted resources.

Want to maximise your marketing success? Start with strategy.

Read the full article: Marketing Applied Part Three: Tactics Without Strategy Is the Noise Before Defeat

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Do your prospects know who you are, but forget you when it matters most? In the insights industry, awareness alone isn’t enough. What really counts is being remembered at the right time: when buying decisions are made.

In part two of her Marketing Applied series on Greenbook’s Grow your insights business channel, Iosetta Santini unpacks the concept of mental availability: why pairing it with brand awareness is like the ketchup to your mustard, and how you can build it into your marketing. From distinct branding to customer-focused messaging and being part of industry events, discover the steps to ensure your company stays top-of-mind.

Read the full article: Marketing Applied Part Two: What You Need to Know About Mental Availability.

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Research conferences are full of buzz – but sometimes it’s more noise than clarity. Amidst the AI talk and similar shiny promises at Quirk’s London, it was easy to lose sight of what really makes this industry tick.

That is why one session stood out for all the right reasons: Vodafone Business’ ‘Creating Authentic B2B Thought Leadership’. It was a timely reminder for strong thought leadership doesn’t just inform – it builds trust, proves value, and challenges decision-makers to look at their business problems in new ways – especially crucial in a progressively tech-driven market.

More than a message

What began as an internal trends report soon evolved into an outward-facing campaign, designed to offer real value to customers – not just the sales team. By addressing genuine business pain points, they transformed insight into impact.

But they didn’t always get it spot on. During their 2018–2019 ‘Future, Ready?’ campaign, Vodafone found one question kept surfacing: Who is ready? What does it actually mean to be future-ready? Businesses will always have follow-up questions, and you campaign needs to be ready to answer them. So back they went to the drawing board.

The outcome was their ‘Fit for the Future’ campaign – built on a robust framework that helps businesses assess their own readiness for what’s next. With just a short online assessment, companies can now find out how ‘fit for the future’ they are – directly addressing customer questions and creating ongoing value.

Why did it resonate? The key factor that made this work was because it didn’t just speak to customers – it supported them. The most impactful thought-leadership isn’t just about broadcasting ideas; it’s about solving real problems, offering clarity, backing it up with research, and showing up as a true partner.

Guiding principles for robust thought-leadership

So, how do you actually get started? Luckily, the team at Vodafone Business offered up some practical principles and not just theory:

• Secure internal buy-in.

Before you even begin, get your colleagues on board.  Make sure the value of the campaign is clear and aligned with your business objectives. Without internal support, it won’t gain traction.

• Offer something of real value.

Your story needs to be original, credible, and genuinely useful – something your audience won’t easily find elsewhere.

• Prove you know your stuff.

Build your narrative on research. Even small-scale desk research can go a long way in establishing authority and direction.

• Collaborate for credibility

Partner with trusted institutions to boost credibility, deepen your research and amplify your reach (Vodafone worked with the London School of Economics!).

• Get the delivery right.

Even a strong message can fall flat without strong execution. Work with the press and recognised industry voices to validate and broadcast your campaign (they worked with The Economist).

And remember: it’s not about commercialisation… yet. This is about brand positioning, building trust, and being recognised as an expert in your space. You’re playing the long game.

Vodafone Business has the stats to back that up:

• 88% of decision-makers say their respect for a business increases after engaging with thought-leadership.
• 41% of C-Suite execs have invited a company to pitch after encountering their thought-leadership.
• 45% say it directly led to choosing to work with a business.

So, the next time someone inevitably asks, “How do we commercialise this?” – that’s your answer.

Thought-leadership isn’t about the quick win. It’s about creating the kind of long-term impact that shapes how decision-makers see you, long after the campaign is done.

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In a sea of AI talk and industry buzz, Vodafone Business reminded us what real cut-through looks like. They reminded us that true impact comes from insight, integrity, and a commitment to supporting clients, not just selling to them. A big thank you to Quirk’s London for curating a programme where meaningful ideas like these could shine. It was a timely reminder that while technology may shape our future, it’s the strength of our thinking – and our ability to communicate it well – that truly drives the industry forward.

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The insights industry in London was buzzing last week as Quirk’s London took over the city on the 7th and 8th of May – right after the bank holiday Monday. As the newest member of Team Mustard, I had the chance to dive headfirst into the event on the first day, surrounded by some of the brightest minds in the world of insights.

Now that we’ve all had a moment to catch up on emails and come back down to earth, I wanted to take a moment to reflect. As a marketer who’s new to both the Quirk’s experience (my very first conference!) and the insights industry more broadly, I came in with fresh eyes and ears, ready to soak it all in.

Going all out

That morning, I headed to Quirk’s London expecting the usual corporate conference humdrum – grey suits, quiet nods, maybe a few branded pens. But to my surprise, I was met with an energetic crowd ready to learn, mingle, and – most importantly – have fun. The atmosphere was lively, the conversations buzzing, and the swag? Next level.

Of course, there were the expected sweet treats and branded notebooks (and more pens), but some exhibitors truly raised the bar. Personal highlights included:

• Kantar’s cappuccino booth printing your face on the foam
• PureSpectrum’s full-on Build-a-Bear station
• Reckitt turning attendees into fantasy-style Top Trump cards
• And Cambri, who were giving away an Oura Ring (yes, really!)

If there’s one thing I learned, it’s this: conferences are far from boring – and to stand out, you’ve got to go all in. Yes, people are there to learn, network, and talk business – but they’re also people who want to be surprised, delighted, and engaged. The best brands know how to do both.

And while the prizes, swag, and unlimited coffee were definite highlights, what stayed with me most were the bigger themes being explored – so let’s get into the serious stuff.

AI: The coolest toy on the playground

As anyone who went can testify, it was impossible to miss the overwhelming buzz around AI and emerging tech – it’s clearly the most talked-about new toy on the playground, and every company wants a turn. A huge chunk of the presentations focused on it – some a little, most a lot.

There’s no doubt that AI is proving to be a powerful tool for researchers on both the client and supply side – offering efficiencies we couldn’t have imagined a few years ago. But after sitting through several talks, the presentations started to blur together – many sounding like a pitch with similar promises of faster turnarounds, higher accuracy, and leaner workflows.

That’s why Manny Rodriguez from Forsta made a point that cut through the noise: truth and accuracy are not the same thing. “Garbage in, garbage out,” he reminded the packed Room 5. The message was clear “The future is still human” – AI might be transforming research, but it’s still the people behind it who make the work matter.

This stuck with me throughout the event. As a marketer working in the market research space, it’s clear that the trust, transparency, and expertise you believe in – whether in a brand or a piece of work – doesn’t come from the tool itself, but from the people using it.

A Mustard favourite: thought-leadership

It’s no surprise that one of our favourite topics at Keen as Mustard is long-term brand building – and thought leadership is one of the most powerful ways for businesses to deliver on that. The team at Vodafone Business summed this up brilliantly during their presentation, ‘Creating Authentic B2B Thought Leadership’. They explained that great thought leadership builds trust, proves value, and nudges potential B2B buyers into action by challenging them to rethink their business problems – while also positioning you as an expert worth listening to.

For Vodafone Business, what started as an internal document tracking trends, quickly evolved into something much bigger. Once they realised it could offer genuine value to their customers – not just to internal sales team – they flipped it outward. The results? Transforming it into thought-leadership that is truly useful to businesses, built on a robust framework that assesses businesses for future-readiness. Businesses will always have follow-up questions, and your campaign needs to be ready to answer them.

So, what made it work?

The key is simple: great thought-leadership – backed by solid research – must offer real value and lasting credibility to keep your audience engaged. That means identifying pain points and offering meaningful, actionable solutions – directly addressing customer questions and creating ongoing value.

What really matters beyond the stage

As valuable as the sessions were, Quirk’s London wasn’t just about the talks and tech – it was about the people. For me, it was a chance to learn, laugh, and (yes) discover who’s surprisingly tall in real life – all part of a fascinating first step into this buzzing, brilliant insights community. From chatting between sessions and finally putting faces to familiar names, to sharing dinner and debriefing over drinks: it was a reminder that, at the end of the day, the insights industry is built on real human connections.

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Creating a gold standard of LinkedIn networking

LinkedIn has transformed itself into a community building tool that is both, a blessing and curse. It has become a place where reputations are built, conversations begin, and new opportunities emerge. However, it is also a new language to be learnt and best enjoyed with a solid understanding of its full potentials.

LinkedIn has over a billion users worldwide, but only 1% actively creating content… This offers a real opportunity for any company ready to show up, share insights, and build a strong brand presence. With this many users, it is no surprise it has become such an important platform for companies: research shows that 82% of people are more likely to trust a company when its senior executives are active on social media(1) and 70% of employers say that a personal brand is more important than a resume (2) so, a with a cornucopia of branding opportunities such as LinkedIn available for free, you’d be foolish not to use it.

Stop Selling, Start Showing Up

Let’s get started, it’s important to shift how you think about LinkedIn. It isn’t a space for hard selling or cold pitching (is it ever?) – it’s about building credibility by being visible, helpful. Instead of pitching, focus on being visible and valuable. By consistently offering relevant insights, you’ll naturally become known as someone who creates solutions. When you consistently offer relevant ideas and perspectives, people will associate your name with creating solutions to the problems they have.

If you’re aiming to get more out of your time on LinkedIn, the formula is simple: write, connect, and engage. These three actions increase your visibility and help you build a solid network.

If you’re looking for a quick guide on what to do on your LinkedIn, start with these 3Cs:

• Create your own experiences and knowledge – aim to be seen expert in your field on the platform. How can you add value for your audience?
• Curate content from others that you believe your network will find useful or interesting, with your own thoughts spicing up the conversation.
• Converse with those in your network. Ask questions, tag others who might have something to add, and respond to comments. Show people you are an active, curious member of the community.

But how exactly can you approach doing these, you ask?

Write to be seen, share to be heard – just make sure people want to hear it

Posting is key to showing people what you, and your company, is an expert in and why you are distinct. But… How do you find the right subject, tone of voice, and how much information is too much information?

To get answers for this, we must start small. Begin by sharing your insights once a week or a month to build confidence. Focusing on topics that align with your specific interests and areas of expertise. This approach ensures an authenticity and relevance in your posts that’s specific to you. Communicate your ideas with a calm confident expert voice but always make sure you aren’t alienating potential clients with overly complicated jargon.

Aligning your content with your brand is crucial. Here are some key things to keep in consideration when you’re creating content for LinkedIn:

1. Understand your own Identity and messaging: Ensure your content topics reflect your company’s mission, values, and unique value proposition.
2. What are your campaign objectives: Align your marketing strategy with clear business goals, whether it’s building brand awareness, establishing thought leadership, nurturing leads, or strengthening existing client relationships: know what you need before you go in.
3. Know your audience and their interests: Who do you create for, Tailor your content to address your audience’s needs, what are their pain points? Their interests?, when you know position your brand as a reliable resource.
4. Focus on your brand’s actual expertise: Highlight your company’s strengths and repeat key messages to reinforce your brand’s distinct benefits.
5. Choose the right channel: Select content forma

ts and platforms that that work for you, make sure you align with your brand’s tone and communicate this to your target audience.

Delve deeper in our Greenbook ‘Grow your insights business’ article, “Sealing the Deal: 5 Steps to the Perfect Brand-Content Match,” where Colonel Mustard Lucy Davison discusses the importance of this alignment for a healthy brand that keeps you visible and valuable in more detail.

Connections count

Your network also plays a huge part, in not just your presence online but also your company’s – so, it’s worth putting in the effort to grow it thoughtfully. Connect with people you’ve gelled with at events or online, and always send a message when you request to connect – it makes a difference. The more people you’re connected with, the more people see your posts and updates, and the greater the chances that something good will come from it. More on this in the next section…

Engage with consistency

Neither you nor your company page needs to post every day to stay visible. A lot of the value comes from just engaging with posts: like, comment on, and repost your company’s updates – these posts will come up on your connections’ feed! Aim to do this with every post to increase post impressions. On the other hand, you should do the same with content which you find relevant. Sharing your opinion on a subject you’re an expert in will show others that you are active, curious, and interested in what you do! Not only that, it will keep you and your company on people’s feeds (and minds)!

Put the “Pro” in Profile

Before increasing your activity, take some time to make sure your profile is up to scratch. It should be completely filled out: a clear headline, a summary that reflects who you are, and a recent photo, nothing overly fancy, just professional with a friendly tone.

The content of your profile should highlight the value you bring. Ask yourself this; what do I do really well? What do people rely on me for? What would a friend say if they had to sum me up in four words? What do I enjoy doing when I’m not working? (Hint: you don’t need to mention all of this in your headline and don’t say your role!) Networking isn’t for bragging about job titles, details like these are repetitive and quickly forgotten. Show your spark to the masses, while also highlighting your expertise, will be what sets you apart. The more authentic your profile, the more memorable it becomes.

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Ultimately, creating strong engagement on LinkedIn is about being consistent. Share valuable insights, build genuine connections, and stay active within your professional community. If you write regularly, grow your network thoughtfully, and interact with purpose, you’ll build a reputation that sticks.

Stay visible, stay valuable, and the results will follow.

(1) https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/why-personal-branding-is-crucial-for-ceos-in-todays-world/468320
(2) https://wisernotify.com/blog/branding-stats/

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Are you struggling to make your brand stand out in a crowded market? Are you focusing too much on hyped up consumer marketing mantras and not enough on getting long-term impact?

If your feeling lost on the way to the top of your buyers’ shortlists, then you need to rethink your approach to brand awareness. On Greenbook’s Grow your insights business expert channel, Iosetta Santini breaks down why the journey to being remembered is just as important as being found in part one of her Marketing Applied series. Learn how to stay top-of-mind with potential buyers, create lasting impressions, and ensure your brand is in the conversation before the search even begins.

Find out how your insights company can stay revenant on our Marketing applied part one: Why we’re obsessed with brand awareness.

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Notes from the audience of the Festival of Marketing

Picture this: a warmer than average October day, a room filled with marketers from all walks of life, each armed with a notebook, a pen, and a cup of coffee. It’s Festival of Marketing Day, and, as I’ve run out of pages, I’m ready to read out my notebook to who wants to listen.

Kill complexity

First out to talk to the troops is the fearless marketing maestro Mark Ritson. I’m not going to describe my anticipation and excitement for this session, but by the end I was vigorously (some might say too enthusiastically) clapping my hands.

What is changing in marketing? In a gripping talk about marketing duels and enlightenments, Ritson questioned the very bedrock of marketing strategies: “Much more often than not, segmentation is pointless”. You heard that right—80% to 90% of the time, segmentation misses the mark. He referred to Samuel Brealey’s article, “Anti-personalization: The best ad for one is the best ad for all,” emphasizing the need to simplify marketing strategies as what’s good for one person tends to be good for most people.

With the role of segmentation changing, is targeting also losing the battle? The double-edged sword of the digital era is micro-targeting. Did you know that the narrower your audience, the more engaging your copy must be? Yes, the targeting is more accurate, but is it effective, or necessary? Ritson talked about a return to mass marketing – not meaning targeting “everyone” but all potential buyers, albeit with a more sophisticated approach. So, after a wild swing towards complex targeting, it seems that mass marketing might be making a return. Tesco, for example, is already putting in place successful two-speed strategies –mass marketing through TV advertising, and more accurate targeting through digital channels.

The battle on positioning is one that we’re fighting daily at Keen as Mustard, and Ritson’s words hit home: “Positioning isn’t an end; it’s a way to get customers to associate your brand with your core attributes.” Say goodbye to those long, wordy statements. If you want it to work keep it short, sweet, and focused on what sets you apart from the competition. And here’s a wakeup call: “British consumers wouldn’t care if 94% of brands disappeared.” In other words, nobody cares about your brand as much as you do. So, kill the complexity and focus on cut-through.

Sharp videos

Cut-through and engagement are battles that Preethi Sundaram, Director of International Marketing at Vimeo, is fighting too. Did you know that 82% of internet traffic is video? Here’s the punchline: only 1% gets viewed to completion. At Keen as Mustard, we’re strong believers in the power of images but what is it that gets engagement? The advice from Vimeo is that “Ugly works”. Go straight to the problem and talk about that. Don’t be afraid of raising that difficult question. And in a time where screens are only getting smaller, and the available content is multiplying “Have a face at the beginning”, building that emotional human connection from the start can keep viewers till the very end. If you have already worked with us on video content this isn’t news to you, as we’ve certainly asked “do you have any consumer interviews? Any Voxpops?”. Voices, faces and human emotions are the unbeaten star of the show.

The Order of the Long-Term Brand Building

The Festival’s marketing warriors talked about one of the battles that is closest to our hearts: mental availability. As Anouschka Elliot, MD at Goldman Sachs says: “Mental availability is extremely important.” It’s key to brand success, especially in a B2B context. But – of course there’s a but – convincing the C-suite and stakeholders of its worth is not an easy win. It’s the ongoing marketers’ dilemma of how to demonstrate to a number-hungry board, that saliency is what the business needs for growth.

On the same panel, PwC and Jellyfish Global reiterated that mental availability shouldn’t be confused with awareness (more on this later), and that the marketing funnel is limiting. It’s good to have a simple structure to follow, but it should be adapted and evolved depending on the single organisation and its customers. Tom Roach, the Vice-President of Brand Strategy at Jellyfish International, reworked the standard marketing funnel saying goodbye to the classics—awareness, consideration, conversion—and marching towards the new —build, nudge, and connect. It’s a whole new emotional layer. An extra spice to your marketing for that extra kick.

Next up, The B2B Institute was also ready to fight the battle for mental availability. And just to clarify, with mental availability we mean increasing the probability that your brand comes to mind in different buying situations; “which is the most customer-centric marketing goal,” said Peter Weinberg Global Head of Development at the B2B Institute. “To win the market you need to win the minds” says Peter, the true ‘Knight of the Order of the Long-Term Brand Building’. And isn’t it true? Especially in a busy context like insights.

Something else we often repeat to our clients is that most buyers in B2B are future buyers (referring to the 95:5 rule by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science), and that’s why mental availability is so crucial for growth. However, there’s still an obsession with lead generation, mostly based on the illusion that because it’s measurable it works – and we see that all too clearly in the insights industry. This lead-only mindset is opening a space to feed the top of the funnel for those who are willing to put some eggs in the long-term basket, and work on “memory-generation” rather than lead-generation. “Prime the market with what we called pre-suasion rather than persuasion,” said Peter.

A single front

In other words, you can’t influence a buyer you’ve never reached. It’s a losing battle. The marketing “circle”, as The B2B Institute call it, should be much larger than the sales one – to allow for greater reach – but they should both strongly align. However, a study from the B2B Institute found that the average alignment between marketing and sales is only 16%, meaning that the two departments are talking to different buyers. There is a lot to be done in the B2B marketing space, but starting with understanding that mental availability will give you a strong – and essential – advantage over your lead-gen-obsessed competition is key. And we all know that “numbers” are king in our industry, so look for some signs that signal an increase in mental availability. Sales being one of them (more reach, more leads), but also hiring (high mental availability could bring 95% higher response to recruitment), and marketing (determine what is that increased the chances for your buyers to become leads).

Marketing is a discipline that is often not understood or misunderstood (even by marketers themselves) – hence why it can be demoralising, and it can feel like shouting at the wind. But what I’ve learnt from this event is that there is a lot of alignment amongst marketers as to what works in B2B generally that we can apply to insights. Worldwide experts, global company leaders, professors, creatives, and consultants, all maintain a compact theoretical and practical stronghold to win the old battles of building brands long-term, feeding the top of the funnel, aligning with sales, keeping it simple, and being customer centric. And, even if our only weapons are the double-edged swords of digital, the marketing funnel, and almost unmeasurable successes, we’re relentlessly, unanimously, pursuing our mission.

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Back in December, we challenged you to find out your communication style with our Hollywood-themed quiz. Well, the results are in of the world’s first and only survey of insights professionals about communication. 260 of you completed our quiz and now we  are opening the envelope to reveal what we learnt about the insights profession.

First of all, although the quiz was a bit of fun the issue is no joke: 63% of you stated that communicating data and insights is challenging. This challenge carries through in the overall results distribution – fewest were best actor (16%) and the majority were best cinematographer (33.5%), followed by the best director (24%) and best supporting actor (24%).

Overall, this result appears to reinforce the image of insight people as slightly ‘behind the scenes’, technical and low profile when compared to other professions. The best cinematographers make a huge difference to a movie but don’t get the accolades – name one. This is reinforced by the responses to the question about communication style, with most researchers describing themselves as collaborative (37%) or consultative (34%) rather than charismatic (15%) or creative (14%).

The biggest communication challenge which 37% of researchers said they struggle with is always assuming people know what they mean. We’re going to come back to this in a future blog on developing the essential consultancy skills to ensure you and your audience are fully in tune. It’s not just about avoiding jargon and not making assumptions, but about the ‘two ears, one mouth’ approach – realising that communication is a two-way street, with listening more important than speaking.

It’s worth noting that the slightly recessive tendencies that many of you cited, did not follow through to how people described their behaviour in meetings with 40% of you saying you love bringing new ideas to the table and providing creative spark and just 14% preferring to listen than talk. Given that listening skills are crucial to communication, perhaps that balance needs to be redressed. It seems that within a smaller group researchers love to shine and be inspiring.

We’re here to help all researchers make the most of the roles they are playing and achieve an Oscar no matter what the film. Fame is a flavour, and Mustard makes it pop. Want to learn more about your star power potential in communication? Get in touch!

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How to make case studies work for you in insights

An insights company without case studies is like Batman without Robin. Demonstrating your value through a case study is fundamental to thought leadership and growth. Plus, there’s the added advantage that most clients are burning with curiosity and FOMO; the number one thing that they want to know is what you are doing or have done for other companies like them. But producing case studies is often a big challenge within MRX and one of the areas our agency or supply-side clients need most help with.

Before we start, we should point out that here at Mustard Towers we know about client confidentiality. We could paper the walls with the NDAs we’ve signed to ensure we do not share the communications work we do with global clients. We feel your pain. But we have also managed to share work we have done with several leading global companies (including Coca-Cola, Bic and Nestle Purina) in the media, conference platforms and, of course in our marketing.

So, here is a quick guide to producing case studies that will work for you.

Three steps to heaven

First of all, it’s worth pointing out that there are three levels of client attribution, and we always recommend a company uses a mix of these in their marketing.  The first is just showing that you have worked with a company by using their logo on your website or in your credentials. I’m not going to go into that here, but our suggestion is always “ask forgiveness not permission”. Put (the correct) client logo on your site and take down if asked. It’s worth pointing out that none of our agency clients in 16 years has been asked to remove a logo we put on their website.

The second level of client attribution is testimonials. By this we mean short, attributed verbatim from named clients. If you cannot name the individual, then at least name the company and give a job title. Without attribution testimonials are of very little value, (we suggest you just make them up and say what you like). For genuine testimonials, just send them a note with a draft for them to edit in whatever way they are comfortable.

Testimonials should be used in lots of ways, dotted on every page through your website (not in a dedicated area, this will be ignored), on social media, in your proposals (again dotted throughout) and in your credentials presentations.

Finally, there are full case studies. These are based on a recorded client interview or written questionnaire, drafted into an article or blog post or recorded as a video interview or podcast. A full case study will be a shorter version of the HBR/business school style case and will generally follow the format of business context and challenge, a description of what you did to help or solve the problem and the results for the client business. The result is never that you presented a report or completed the research, however enormous and hard that was. The result is what the client did with it – the learnings, actions taken and if possible, a demonstration of the positive contribution to the client’s organisation.

Getting results

This is where most case studies fall down. You must have the kind of relationship with the client that allows you to follow up with them a while after the project was delivered to find out how it went. Of course, doing this is a great business development/client relationship building opportunity but one which many insight companies fail to do for all sorts of reasons (ongoing negotiation on other projects not wanting to rock the boat, fear of drawing attention to potential failure, fear of drawing attention to a client’s failures, too junior a team on the project not able to have strategic consulting conversations with the client, attention elsewhere, the list goes on). As we know, MRX companies often hate to do research into themselves. Not being able to follow up with a client is sometimes symptomatic of the type of relationship agencies have with clients – which is why companies dealing with more senior clients often have the best chance of getting good case studies (and hence winning more of the right kind of client work).

You need to know if you have the results before you start the case study process. So, talk to the client, find out what happened and go from there. If you do not have the right, or any, results, then the client is not the right one for a case study. Revert to a testimonial or just using their logo.

If you do have the right relationship, know you have some results to write about, and have secured permission to do the case study in principle, then the best way to craft the content is via a set of pre-approved questions.  We usually craft a discussion guide and supply it to the client before doing a recorded interview, but you could also send over a set of questions on email and ask the client to respond. The first approach is usually better as it’s quicker and easier for the client to just chat for 30 minutes. You then know exactly what they said and can write up the case study using their verbatim as quotes. You can also lift relevant verbatim and use them as testimonials. If you do a video interview then you will need to edit it down to a tight enough format, ditto a podcast.

Once the case study is packaged then we send it over for clearance.

Clients often ask what will be done with the case study before they give permission. Our suggestion is to say at the outset that you will use it on your website and no more. Most clients do not see this as a problem. If the content is really interesting, then you can go back after you have the case published on your site and ask if it would be possible to do more with it. The main point is to avoid your client having to go to their legal team to get permission to publish. Legal teams will give a flat no to any request like this as life is too short for them. However, once a case is published on your site, there is nothing to stop you asking the client if it is OK to share it with more people.

In our experience, the hierarchy for where clients are happy to share a case study is first of all your own website and newsletters (and hence social media), then via an insights industry conference or webinar platform (typically done in conjunction with the client), then in the published media or external platforms.

If all this feels like too big a thing to deal with, remember you only need one good story which you will revisit and re-use in your marketing for years. There will always be people who had no idea you worked with Pepsi, and who would still be interested to hear about it even five years later. Do one case study really well, and you can just rely on logos and testimonials for the rest.

To wrap up, we always recommend partnerships. Network, meet people and then approach a company you want to work with, suggest an innovative new service or idea you would like to trial. Do an experiment with this client on the basis that you will share the results. You may need to pay for the sample, or do the research at cost, but the content will be gold.

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