“First of all, they’re missing out. They’re missing out on a key component. You don’t know what you don’t know…there is a whole void out there that you have no idea about that could unlock product ideas, promotional ideas, competitive advantage, and you just don’t know because you’re not spending time learning about it.

I could give a million stories about how consumer insights helps us with, like I said, with a product, with positioning, with competitive threats, and dealing with them, because you know you need knowledge for everything else you’re doing in your business. You didn’t go in there and find finance people who know nothing about finance. They have knowledge in that area. You need that knowledge, and you need this consumer knowledge, too. It’s an integral piece that not everybody recognises.

Don’t wait until you’re in a slump…because there’s a new competitive threat out there or your products aren’t selling… You’ve lost…that insight as to what was going on. Or maybe they would have seen it coming. Maybe there would have been red flags coming up and you’re missing that opportunity to gather that intelligence on an ongoing basis. And if you wait until you’re in a crisis position, you’re in trouble.”