Finding Insight

“If there is insight about insight, this book delivers on that promise. Part insights cookbook, case study analysis, and research compendium, this book was a refreshing read. Prepare to have your mind confronted, your practices challenged, and your sales growth supercharged. I’m glad I went along for the ride and hope to leverage these frameworks, tools, and hard-fought lessons in my own classroom and in my work with companies.”-CHRISTINE MOORMAN, Founder, The CMO Survey and T. Austin Finch Sr. Professor of Business Administration, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University “Marketing does not deliver ROI unless it changes human behavior, yet behavior change remains one of the most challenging tasks for the modern marketer. Behavior change requires deep human truth or real insight into why beliefs and behaviors exist. The authors of Finding Insight graciously suggests you don’t need to read every page. I strongly suggest you read every word lest you find yourself settling for less than real insight and something far less than actual ROI.”-DARYL TRAVIS, CEO, Brandtrust “Insights is one of the most difficult topics to teach, and for many, difficult to even define. Mitch and Melinda have done a masterful job in demystifying this important topic and providing practical steps to find the insights that help your firm to create more value.”-KEVIN McTIGUE, clinical professor of Marketing, Kellogg School of Management “In my healthcare marketing career, I had the privilege of working directly with Mitch and Melinda. In reading Finding Insight, I am delighted by the way it captures the depth of their experience. Each chapter tells a story and shares a practical example. It reminds us and points out the importance of being curious, of listening, of learning and applying, thereby linking a business to its culture, its people and results. This is a valuable book. I will keep it close by!”-RICHARD D. PILNIK, chairman of the Board DiaMedica and past president of Quintiles Commercial Solutions “Finding Insight is a must-read for marketers and market research. The biggest challenge that marketers face is making sense of the data they have. Sure, graphs and charts make it easier to see the data, but they often keep you from seeing the gold hidden in the data—that is the insights. These insights are not lying out in plain sight. Getting to the insights takes being curious, noticing what seems different than expected, and figuring out what to do with those details. What Spaulding and Tull have done in Finding Insight is lay out this problem, share why it happens, and then provide concrete and practical tools for solving the problem. Why I really love this book is that this skill is really hard to teach. It’s easy to teach people how to make graphs. It’s hard to teach them how to connect dots, dig deeper (a phrase my students are likely tired of hearing from me), sit with the data, and then go explore more information to really understand what’s going on here. It’s way easier for them to just create charts. I wish that I’d had Finding Insight for my students over the past twenty years. In addition, the repartee between Spaulding and Tull is fun to read. They have great examples, some of which I use in every class I teach. The combined skill and experience of these authors comes through in every chapter. I recommend anyone in business, but especially marketers who truly want to understand their customers, should read Finding Insight, and then practice using the ideas!”-M. KIM SAXTON, clinical professor of Marketing, IU Kelley School of Business “Back in 2001, as I transitioned into my first marketing leadership role, I was told by my mentor at the time that the key to understanding human behavior is to understand the unspoken truths behind those behaviors. And that the key to understanding those unspoken truths lies in one’s ability to see beyond the obvious. The process of insights discovery and synthesis is undoubtedly the key to delivering truly differentiated marketing execution. It was through my work with Mitch and Melinda, which began decades ago, that my passion for cultivating this skillset was catalyzed. And this is where Mitch and Melinda excel in Finding Insight. Through a chapter story format, they bring to life how insights are discovered and, more importantly, how they drive impact when executed properly. For those who are seeking to deepen their skills on how best to navigate the process of getting to those unspoken truths that influence human behavior, Finding Insight provides a blueprint. Well done, Mitch and Melinda.”-TONY EZELL, EVP, president North America & chief marketing officer, Becton Dickinson “Insights-led marketing transformed my personal approach to marketing mid-career. I was taught by some of the brightest and best during what I consider to be my pivotal assignment of my marketing career, leading the Global Cialis team for over eight years. Finding Insight unlocks the power of insights and how to best leverage it for any brand. My first exposure was 2003, and twenty years later, the brand impact of this work remains though we’re in a very different environment as marketers. The tactical implementation may have changed, the criticality to marketing strategy still burns brightly.”-JOHN BAMFORTH, executive director, Eshelman Institute for Innovation, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy at Chapel Hill “Melinda and Mitch’s live learning programs have been a must for my team. I have seen the value of implementing their approach to insight development firsthand as a participant in their programs and as a leader in my organization. Finding Insight brings the essence of their live programs—how to connect the unconnectable—that is when the magic happens. For me personally, insight discovery is a part of human thinking that everyone has access to. Following their practical tips in this book will help anyone organize their thinking and confirm (or challenge) their gut feeling.”-ETHEL LARSSON, vice president, head of Psychiatry Business Unit, Lundbeck U.S. “To become a great marketer, you have to be able to discover and use insights. In Finding Insight, Mitch and Melinda share years of experience. They provide practical approaches from a mix of tools, techniques, and theories. This is also an entertaining resource, full of great examples and stories—ones in which the authors explain the key concepts, then provide questions to ask and the frameworks to use to move your brand or business forward.”-TIM CALKINS, clinical professor of Marketing, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University “Learn to Win has had the privilege of partnering with Mitch and Melinda for years, and their professionalism, humor, and insight into marketing capabilities have consistently impressed our team. Finding Insight offers a unique approach to understanding human behavior, helping to define and describe those deep truths that describe how people truly are. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a deeper understanding of the world around them and the people within it.”-SASHA SEYMORE, co-founder & COO, Learn to Win “I have been in the business of understanding human behavior in my customers, my employees, and my family for thirty-two years. I have discovered the most meaningful changes that I can help foster come from developing insights into the emotional experience of the people God sends to me. I am almost daily being asked to help find or unlock an insight to help a person overcome something terribly difficult. Finding Insight is an unbelievable tool for helping men like me. I so wish Melinda and Mitch had written this years ago. It will become a textbook for training leaders at Heart of a Man. The gateway to growth for every person is the insights that come from the help of a trusted friend. This is a powerful tool every leader needs to be competent in using.”-BILL MOORE, CEO, Heart of a Man, and former CEO, PacMoore