Transforming Insight Podcast
Episodes
Episode 87: Transforming Insight at eBay
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Thomas walks us through the vision that has guided his team's development — anchored in three powerful questions: Where do we play? How do we win? A...
Episode 86: Transforming Insight at Sage
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Eddie takes us through how his team at Sage has shifted from traditional research cycles to a more agile, consultative model, one that keeps pace with...
Episode 85: Increasing our personal impact
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Personal impact isn’t just a quality for Insight leaders to focus on; it’s something we should all consider if we want to thrive and survive in a ...
Episode 84: What’s Insight’s role in modern marketing?
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Ria's transition from traditional Insight roles into marketing and digital positions demonstrates how embracing broader responsibilities can amplify a...
Episode 83: Leading insight in 2026
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
How are you feeling about the environment within which your Insight team will work this year? Do you work in a market sector that is thriving? Is your...
Episode 82: Christmas roundtable
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lisa and Emma share their experiences from the IMA’s recent Insight forums, highlighting the positive atmosphere and the encouraging conversations a...
Episode 81: Black Box Thinking revisited
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ten years ago, Steve Wills and I became rather obsessed by this book, and it helped contextualise some of our thinking on Insight farming – the crit...
Episode 80: Making transformation personal
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I hope you agree that these are all critical aspects to consider if we want to lead or play a part in the transformation of our Insight teams. By docu...
Episode 79: Bigger than biscuits
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Some of the IMA’s most successful Insight leaders have gone one step further, and estimated the value that the Insight team itself has added each ye...
Episode 78: Assessing Insight’s performance
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Management guru Peter Drucker said many years ago that “what gets measured gets managed” which many have adapted to ‘what gets measured gets don...
Episode 77: Perfecting Insight’s processes
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
So the 7th P of the Insight Leader’s Playbook is for Process.Process might not always sound the most exciting topic but the way we approach can ofte...
Episode 76: Summer roundtable
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We start with AI: Where have Insight teams moved to in their adoption of AI tools? How do they feel about that adoption? How can we learn from each ot...
Episode 75: A practitioner’s approach to Insight products
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Clare and I shared a stage at Quirk’s London in May, and we were reflecting on the amount of disruption in the corporate Insight world at this momen...
Episode 74: Refreshing Insight products
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Any small business owner writing a playbook would want to consider their company’s products and how they’re packaged. Similarly, as Insight leader...
Episode 73: Prioritisation to drive growth
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This has a particular bearing on how we approach the prioritisation of our work. In episode 72 we explored the twin importance of Insight leaders assi...
Episode 72: Setting Insight priorities
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
But whose priorities are we talking about?Who identifies the business issues that Insight could investigate?Ho much agency does the Insight have in al...
Episode 71: Nurturing partner relationships
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In our conversation, we look at the busy workload of both client-side Insight teams and market research agencies, and the empathy that the best of eac...
Episode 70: Working with Insight’s partners
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James is joined by IMA Senior Insight Adviser, Roy Hammond, who developed a more strategic approach to managing agency relationships at Barclays.In th...
Episode 69: Easter roundtable
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James is joined by Emma Jones, the IMA’s Head of Content, and Lisa Dutton, Head of Customer, to look back at the term just gone, and forward to the ...
Episode 68: Supporting Insight people through change
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James is joined by Lara Meyer, an expert on Insight team stress and well-being, to discuss the ongoing importance of developing Insight professionals ...
Episode 67: Developing your Insight people
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Arguably it’s never been more important than it is today, because the environment in which we are generating insights and impact the business is cha...
Episode 66: How Insight leaders improve their team profile
14 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Join us as we explore the transformative journey of Insight teams striving to elevate their influence within organisations. We are thrilled to be join...
Episode 65: How Insight leaders build their team profile
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We're excited to welcome IMA associate Debra Walmsley, and Jana Prahl, Insight leader at Savage X Fenty, who share their experiences and expertise. W...
Episode 64: How Insight leaders define purpose
13 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sandra discusses her journey at ASOS, highlighting the importance of establishing a cohesive purpose when integrating diverse analytics and Insight te...
Episode 63: Defining your Insight team’s purpose
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ultimately what you put in your playbook is for you to decide. But James’s suggestion is that we all use a 9 P framework. How do we decide which to...
Episode 62: The ADDER checklist
23 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A framework that could work very well in combination with the 9 Ps of the Insight leader’s playbook which were described in episode 61, and which wi...
Episode 61: A playbook for Insight leaders
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Organisations can only make sustainable, profitable changes if they take better decisions. Not just on occasion, but across the board, when senior man...
Episode 60: Accelerating the evolution of Insight
21 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
But by the end of 2020, it was becoming clear that in many organisations, the lockdowns and the disruption they caused to normal living and purchasing...
Episode 59: Transforming Insight at McDonald's
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we discuss the ambitious strategies driving McDonald's UK and Ireland's customer engagement, Fainareti underscores the critical blend...
Episode 58: Investing in Insight
16 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If we routinely estimate the size of the prize before we prioritise projects, and then record the value delivered by the business and other department...
Episode 57: Applying commercial thinking
03 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Having explored the importance of building commercial foundations for our work in episode 52 and getting into the habit of estimating the size of the ...
Episode 56: Transforming Insight at Google
19 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we examine the evolution of Google's approach to insights and prioritization, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Laura ...
Episode 55: The value of valuation
05 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Some years ago I interviewed Sue Whelan Tracey, former commercial director for one of the UK's big four banks, and at that time a director at Moneyfac...
Episode 54: Summer roundtable
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
But the topic that’s resonated most for us personally and many of our members has been Insight team wellbeing and the ways we can all identify and h...
Episode 53: Transforming Insight at Lloyd's Register
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we dig into the transformative power of integrating various disciplines within data analytics to answer complex business questions. D...
Episode 52: Building commercial foundations
04 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If we want to transform our Insight team’s commercial impact, we need to build a commercial foundation for our work.What does that look like? What a...
Episode 51: Optimising impact through commerciality
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Over the last 20 years, there has gradually been more focus on commercial thinking in Insight teams, and some organisations have made notable progress...
Episode 50: Transforming Insight at Nestle UK
06 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Topics DiscussedA look back at Carolina’s past roles (2:30)Seminal moments in Carolina’s Insight career (11:50)Learning from transformations at Pe...
Episode 49: Respecting the rhythms and rituals
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s episode looks at the fourth pathway, process, and this one is a bit different because it starts not with the Insight team, but with the rest...
Episode 48: Improving your Insight team's reputation
09 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, James and Lisa look at the reputation of our Insight teams, and how we need to manage it carefully to enhance our positioning. ...
Episode 47: Easter roundtable
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We also see this as a time of team change, with lots of restructures, some redundancies, and a loss of people with years of experience. In response, t...
Episode 46: Transforming Insight at Coca Cola Europacific Partners
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Topics DiscussedHazel’s journey to becoming Associate Director of Insights at Coca-Cola EP(1:38)Enabling colleagues to self-service their data needs...
Episode 45: Increasing the awareness of Insight
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There’s no point developing detailed brand concepts if nobody has heard of our companies in the first place. And the same is true for our Insight te...
Episode 44: Transforming Insight at Transport for London
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Topics DiscussedRenate's journey to leading the Insight Team at TFL (1:50)Navigating the team through a re-org (4:21)Annual goals, priorities and team...
Episode 43: Developing the Insight team brand
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
According to the entrepreneur.com website: ‘Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your p...
Episode 42: Optimising our position
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An Insight team looks outwards to an organisation’s customers and markets and shines a light on issues of strategic importance. In stormy weather, ...
Episode 41 - Christmas roundtable
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode…How can our teams adopt Insight tools & systems to make the communication part of our roles easier and more effective? (2.31)How can...
Episode 40: Transforming Insight at Deliveroo
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Topics DiscussedLooking closer at Hayley’s switch to Deliveroo (2:00)Transforming Insight culture to look more toward consumer understanding (4:48)T...
Episode 39: Building an Insight team
17 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To discuss that topic, James is joined by Debra Walmsley, one of the most inspirational corporate Insight leaders in the UK. Debra has led Insight tea...
Episode 38: Adopting an Insight perspective
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In his celebrated book, Factfulness, Hans Rosling said that:‘People constantly and intuitively refer to their worldview when thinking, guessing or l...
Episode 37: Insight skills & attributes
12 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What skills and attributes do the most successful Insight teams recruit for? Which do they find it most difficult to develop? And which would Lisa pri...
Episode 36: Working on our teams
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Topics DiscussedThe Insight leadership framework (1.50)Working on our Insight teams not in them (5.30)The Insight playbook (9.08)Introducing the 9Ps (...
Episode 35: All about the people
14 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Clever analysts, incisive researchers, creative Insight managers... these people can bring joy to working in an Insight team and unlock a world of pot...
Episode 34: Summer roundtable
03 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Topics DiscussedLearning from Quirk’s New York (1.40)From reactionary service providers (4.50)What is an Insight-driven organisation? (8.55)The IMA’...
Episode 33: Transforming Insight at Carlsberg
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nick speaks about his time at Carlsberg and how he was able to successfully transform their Insight analytics function. We hear about how he worked to...
Episode 32: Implementing our strategy
06 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Topics DiscussedThe importance of implementation (0.45)Change management principles (3.25)Learning from a corporate strategy guru (7.15)The implicatio...
Episode 31: Identifying options
15 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Topics DiscussedDeveloping a mission statement with your team (2.27)The importance of conscious choices (4.40)Think creatively and think big (7.48)The...
Episode 30: Defining your ambition for Insight
01 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I think it’s only possible to create a successful vision for your Insight function by examining both the potential ways that Insight could make a d...
Episode 29: The opportunity for Insight
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jane leads on Insight strategy and draws on her wide experience to explain why developing a strategy need not be daunting and can actually be a very v...
Episode 28: A strategy for Insight
04 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
So that’s what we’re going to focus on at the July 2023 Insight forums and for several of our podcasts this season.Please listen to find out more!...
Episode 27: Easter roundtable
30 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Topics DiscussedBringing Insight teams back together (2.30)Renewed interest in assessing Insight capability (5.04)Recruitment challenges (6.45)The Ins...
Episode 26: Painting Insight pictures
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
So why are visuals so important? A few years ago, our colleague Julia Joskey carried out the IMA’s first best practice research on this topic, and s...
Episode 25: Sharing Insight stories
02 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Topics DiscussedLearning from the Insight author (2.30)Writing headlines like an Insight journalist (4.28)Making time to edit (6.31)It’s not rocket ...
Episode 24: Shaping Insight stories
16 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this 16-minute episode, James looks at how progressive Insight teams can drive change by using the SCQAB structure. It’s great for framing projec...
Episode 23: Insight communication programmes
02 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this 17-minute episode, James looks at how successful Insight teams can drive change by developing Insight communication programmes. He is joined b...
Episode 22: Transforming Insight at Sainsbury's
19 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This breadth of experience strengthened her ability to look at things more holistically, rather than looking at Insight in an organisation through one...
Episode 21: Driving change through communication
05 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For the most successful Insight teams, that includes a proper communication programme; an ability to shape and share stories; and an awareness of visu...
Episode 20: Nudging decision-makers
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An understanding of behavioural biases is critical for anyone who runs market research projects; you’ll know that there’s always been a gap betwee...
Episode 19: Influencing for introverts
08 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Several years ago, the IMA’s Julia Joskey looked at ways we could all harness the power of our introverts. More recently, at the November 2022 Insig...
Episode 18: Transforming Insight at Card Factory
24 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Liz talks about the transformation she’s been on throughout her career and how she takes her learnings and “Blueprint” for what a successful Ins...
Episode 17: Improving stakeholder relationships
10 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
So how do the most successful corporate Insight teams improve their relationships with stakeholders? Please listen to this week’s podcast to find o...
Episode 16: Seek first to understand
27 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, James is joined by Lisa Dutton, Senior Adviser at the IMA, and an expert on influencing skills.Lisa provides her top tips for choosin...
Episode 15: Driving change through influence
20 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An Insight team needs to solve problems and identify value opportunities for its company, but then it also needs to drive the corporate changes necess...
Episode 14: Transforming Insight at Carnival
06 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Jan describes what it was like to lead an Insight team at an organisation that had to close its global operation during the pandemic,...
Episode 13: Developing Knowledge Systems
29 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The smartest systems are no replacement for developing an acute understanding of Insight’s purpose and role in your company; acting as consultants t...
Episode 12: Cultivating Knowledge
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, James is joined by Emma Jones, Senior Insight Manager at the IMA, and an expert on Insight farming.Emma provides her top tips for Ins...
Episode 11: Sowing the seeds
15 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this 16-minute episode, we’ll begin with Sowing the seeds – crystallizing and recording our findings.Topics DiscussedThe practical steps to tak...
Episode 10: The evolution to Insight farming
08 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We need to move away from a world where we spend all our days hunting for new insights, because wise Insight teams know that Insight farming is more ...
Episode 9: Insight investigations
23 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What happens next in an Insight project will depend on the question you have identified and the sources of information and data collection available t...
Episode 8: Transforming Insight at Halfords
09 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The really important questions when you join any company are ‘How does this organisation make money?’, ‘What are its drivers of success?’ and ...
Episode 7: Nailing the real business issue
26 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Einstein said that if he had an hour to solve a problem, he would spend fifty-five minutes thinking about the underlying problem and five minutes thin...
Episode 6: Making up the numbers
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Does the idea of making up the numbers fill you with horror? It shouldn’t… making up the numbers, in other words becoming comfortable with estima...
Episode 5: From the market to the money
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
To produce insights, we need to reframe our approach to Insight activity. We should move away from a focus on functional disciplines like market resea...
Episode 4: Transforming Insight at ASOS
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sandra talks candidly about the challenges she faces and the lessons Insight teams can learn from Finance, and she also recommends a book that has cha...
Episode 3: The purpose of Insight
20 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Insight is an expensive business so we have a collective responsibility to make sure that our organisations are getting the best possible return on th...
Episode 2: What Is Insight?
13 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 1st secret of successful Insight teams is that they agree on a more progressive definition of insights and insight as a basis for all their subseq...
Episode 1: The best time ever to work in Insight
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
But, be honest, do you work in an Insight-driven organisation? Very few of us can say that we do, in fact Insight teams across every sector in Europe ...
Transforming Insight Podcast - Trailer
01 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the Transforming Insight podcast, we not only explore all 42 secrets outlined in the Transforming Insight book, but we also talk to senior corpor...