Is your marketing content speaking to your audience? Does it accurately showcase your expertise?

Lucy Davison, Founder & CEO of Keen as Mustard Marketing, shares essential steps to spicing up your communications by ensuring your content reinforces both your brand and matches up with your target audience.

From the very first steps of understanding your brand identity to choosing the right content channels, dive into the five key strategies for creating impactful content that supports your brand on Greenbook’s Grow your insights business expert channel.

When we take these steps to heart we can drive better engagement and stronger differentiation in the marketplace for better brand success.

Read the full article: Sealing the Deal: 5 Steps to the Perfect Brand-Content Match

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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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For the finale (well, it was after lunch) of two packed days at IIEX EU in Amsterdam, Colonel Mustard Lucy Davison brought together our expertise in insights communication with the hottest topic of the moment – AI. We teamed up with Hennieke Potman, Global Consumer and Market Insight Manager from Flora Food Group to share our research into a common question we hear when advocating for thoughtful, structured insights communication: “Why not just use AI?”

In true research fashion, we put AI to the test in a real-world experiment: could it help us communicate insights faster, better, cheaper, or more effectively? The answer: not yet. While tools like ChatGPT, Piktochart, and Synthesia showed promise, we learned that human input is still essential – for structure, storytelling, data safety – and sanity.

Our brief was to create materials that went beyond Powerpoint reports which could be shared in Flora and which should make a measurable impact.

Here’s what we found out…

Lesson 1: The short-list only gets shorter

We began by exploring the landscape of generative AI tools, testing a wide range from LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot to tools like Claude and NotebookLM. We wanted to see if they could meet key criteria: data secure, low-cost, easy-to-use, time-saving, and genuinely useful. We also explored visual content generators like Custom GPTs, Vyond, Pictory, and our current favourite, Gamma, to see how they handled video and infographic production.

To ensure a fair comparison, we used the same input each time – a dense, 48-slide insights deck filled with data, charts, and infographics, on gender equality. We asked them to create videos, infographics and summaries – the materials for Flora to share.

The results? Very mixed. The tools varied widely in output, usefulness, and quality – and some offered more headaches than help.

Yes, generative AI can produce content based on your input – but that’s where the optimism ends. When we fed our insights deck into popular tools like ChatGPT, the results were underwhelming (and occasionally laughable).

Even custom GPTs designed specifically for infographic creation for example, could barely manage a bar chart. The outputs were incorrect, cluttered, or just plain bizarre – a classic case of hallucination.

And animated videos? Let’s just say the chaos on screen earned a solid laugh from the IIEX audience – but not for the right reasons.

Most of the tools we tried did not make it through the first round of testing.

Lesson 2: Trust still matters – read that data security clause!

Amongst the dozens of tools we tested, a few stood out for producing semi-decent outputs – notably Gamma, Piktochart, and Synthesia. These made our initial shortlist thanks to their ease of use and relatively polished results.

But when we looked closer at their data policies, things got murky. Scrutinising legal clauses and privacy terms quickly became a task in itself. And while many in the insights world love Gamma, its data protection terms are vague at best – offering no clear commitment that your input or output won’t be used to train their models. For this experiment, where we were working with confidential Flora research, that was a dealbreaker. Gamma had to go.

Lesson 3: It’ll take (your) time… A lot of it

AI tools love to promise the same things: faster, better, more efficient outcomes. And yes, in some cases, they delivered. For example, ChatGPT-4o (with its latest image generation update) helped us create custom visuals for our infographic. But other tools? Across the board, we found that the tools required a lot of human editing, creative judgement, and iteration – more than without using them.

Take Synthesia. It’s a platform that lets you create talking head videos using stock avatars – or even one in your own likeness, complete with your voice. Sounds futuristic, right? And on the surface, it is. The editing interface is user-friendly, and generating an avatar version of Hennieke was eerily realistic.

But things got manual, fast. We still had to write the storyboard, script the content, and manually adjust everything from tone of voice to timing and animation. After seven iterations and over five days of tweaking tone, timing, and visuals, we finally got a version we liked. Ironically, doing it the ‘old-fashioned’ way and filming Hennieke presenting, would have taken us just three. So, while Synthesia automated the avatar, the rest still relied heavily on human creative direction.

The same was true with Piktochart. It gave us a decent starting point for our infographic, based on a storyboard we fed in – but missed key insights, context, and tone. We had to fill in the gaps ourselves, then redesign fonts, colours, and layout elements to align with Flora’s brand. What began as a “smart” AI quickly became a clunky design tool. In the end, using good ol’ Adobe design platforms – with a real human at the helm – proved quicker and better for the job.

In total, the Flora and Mustard team spent over 60 hours producing all the content.

What does this mean for insights communications?

The bottom line? These tools not plug-and-play. AI can support the process – if you’re prepared to invest more time editing, refining, and steering output than you would without them.  Above all they don’t replace the creative thinking and sharp eye that only humans bring.

What is important to know is that when we shared the final materials and measured impact at Flora, the content captured attention and sparked engagement across the board – proving again the value of thinking beyond the PowerPoint report and creating insight communication campaigns that resonate.

Final lesson: AI is promising but people make it meaningful

Of course, AI isn’t the problem – it’s the expectation that it can do it all. The creativity, context, and quality control still need to come from people – AI just gives us a new set of crayons to colour with.

Experimenting with these tools reminded us just how valuable we are.

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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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