From Insights to Great Messaging (Half Day)

Insights’ Critical Role in Breakthrough Communications
(Half Day Workshop)

Insights provide a portal into our customer’s subconscious. Specifically, real and effective customer insights can dramatically improve your chances for successful marketing communications. Insights go beyond the quantitative research equally available to our competitors and the often superficial findings of qualitative research. Currently, our brands compete in an “age of sameness.” Insights help differentiate them from commoditized products into sustainable brands.

However, insights are often poorly understood, inaccurately identified, and frequently confused with customer needs, requirements, commonly accepted beliefs, and/or facts. In fact, “faux” insights are far more evident in marketing plans than actual customer insights. Thus the lack of effective messaging and real innovation in products, services, and customer communications.

Program participants learn a clear, direct insight definition, how to differentiate real from “faux” insights, how insights are discovered through a detailed understanding of our target audience, how creative “ideas” are based on insights, and how to assess, comment, and coach creative work to reinforce unique consumer Insights.

This highly engaging and interactive workshop focuses on your unique marketing issues. Participants leave with actionable concepts they can immediately apply to real-time marketing situations.

This workshop is an excerpt of the ANA Full Day workshop “From Insights to a Great Marketing Mix.” 

Who is this course for?

This workshop is for marketers involved in brand management and building, marketing communications, and product/service innovation. It is appropriate for all marketing levels. Particular priority should be placed on marketers charged with leading marketing communications, where Insights play a critical role. This course is ideal for those being considered for rotation into a marketing role and/or those who work extensively with marketing, e.g., market research, field sales, public relations, etc.

Workshop Benefits

The benefits of attending this workshop fall under the following key drivers of growth: improving marketing effectiveness, increasing marketing efficiencies, and improving marketing ROI.

This workshop helps attendees improve marketing effectiveness by teaching them:

• How to go beyond data/information to discover actual customer insights
• How insights are truly Insights versus merely data points, needs, and/or wants
• How to understand Insights’ impact on the entire marketing mix

This workshop helps attendees increase marketing efficiency by teaching them:

• To understand the critical role that a detailed target audience description plays in insight discovery
• How to use insights to guide marketing communications and communication processes
• How to assess, comment, and coach the creative development process to speed development

This workshop helps attendees improve marketing ROI by teaching them:

• How to maximize the creative briefing process with “tight” briefs containing real Insights
• How to apply the “idea” process, based on insights, to shorten the creative cycle time

Download the full agenda here

Roderick M. McNealy

Roderick M. McNealy is principal of McNealy Advanced Communications (MAC), whose mission is to provide insight-driven, customer-focused marketing solutions. Rod’s 38-year career has focused on marketing and advertising, and he worked in a variety of marketing leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson for 31 of those years. Rod has conducted management training and formulated implementation strategies for companies located in the United States, Europe, and Asia. He has consulted with health care, public and private sector organizations, and the U.S. Navy. 

Rod is a member of the ANA Faculty and is an in-demand speaker. He conducts marketing and advertising courses at Princeton University, the Yale School of Management, and Mount Holyoke College. He is the author of two books: Making Quality Happen and Making Customer Satisfaction Happen. Rod is a Princeton University graduate, with a Bachelor’s degree in American History. He received his M.B.A. from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration.

Mary Czarnecki

Mary Czarnecki is a co-founder of MAC Marketing Partners, the customer-centric marketing agency for market-leading brands. Mary has 20 years of experience driving revenue and customer impact growth for Fortune 100 companies and is no stranger to the "virtual environment," having delivered consulting and training services "remotely" since 2015. She is a regular advisor to market-leading brand teams and in addition to her work with MAC Marketing Partners, she applies her expertise in brand building and social media strategy to develop personal brand platforms for high-impact female entrepreneurs and executives to accelerate both career and business success.

Mary has been acknowledged as a top instructor for the ANA’s Marketing Training & Development Center and has developed several online courses for business leaders and entrepreneurs. She also leads live virtual group coaching programs for executives and entrepreneurs on topics such as virtual leadership, brand development, and online business growth.

Mary received her M.B.A. and M.E.M. from Yale University and B.A. from Princeton University.