We keep hearing the same frustrating fact from the insights community: More than half of all insights never lead to action.
And to be clear, this is not a research problem. The studies are correct, and your teams have the skills. But the truth is, it’s an organizational problem.
Insights land in inboxes, sit in slide decks, and get buried under competing priorities. No one takes ownership, and nothing changes.
At Quirk’s New York, we wanted to unpack that problem and start asking how we can solve it. So, we brought together four insights leaders who’ve not only faced this problem but have also overcome it. They shared their perspective on why insights get buried and what it takes to create business impact.
The Panel:
- Alyssa Masucci, SVP, CX Research & Insights, Citi
- Kikke Riedel, SVP, Strategy & Insights, MilkPEP
- Shuchi Sethi, Global Insights Director, Suntory Global Spirits
- Moderated by Colleen Funkey, Owner, Grey Zebra
Here are four lessons we learned from their conversation.
1. Engage stakeholders early, and keep them engaged
If your stakeholders aren’t engaged during the research process, don’t be surprised when they don’t act on the results. One of the most consistent themes from the panel was the importance of involving stakeholders (especially marketing, creative, and commercial leaders) from day one.
We’re not just talking about a kickoff email. You need to treat stakeholders as true partners throughout the journey. That includes aligning on objectives, helping them understand the research design, and staying connected at key milestones.
Some teams, like Shuchi’s, go a step further and create “co-pilot” roles, cross-functional partners who stay embedded with the research team throughout the project.
“You can’t expect to get a big team in every single meeting all the time, but having a co-pilot from the brand team, or another stakeholder who’s with you every step of the way, they can help evangelize in the larger organization. Both cross-functionally, but also with senior sponsors.” – Shuchi Sethi, Global Insights Director, Suntory Global Spirits
2. Make deliverables memorable and accessible
Your research will not have an impact if no one remembers it – or, worse, if no one sees it.
Our panel hammered home the importance of simplicity. That means you can’t overwhelm stakeholders with a 50-page slide deck or report. Instead, use frameworks, sound bites, and video reels.
All this is a storytelling effort to highlight the “so what.” Translating complex findings into practical language that can quickly be understood and shared.
But just as important as how you tell the story, you must also make that story accessible. That might mean building a dashboard, creating one-pagers, or housing findings in a central, visible location. Because if the only place your insights live is in a forgotten email thread, they’ll never make it into a meeting room with decision makers.
“I almost feel silly saying this because it feels very elementary, but keep it simple and stupid, and communicate a lot in sound bites. If you only have a couple of minutes or half an hour with somebody, for me at least, what has worked really well is not to make things too technical.” – Kikke Riedel, SVP, Strategy & Insights, MilkPEP
3. Stay involved beyond reporting
For many teams, research ends when the report is released. But for the insights leaders on this panel, that’s only the halfway point.
Driving action means staying involved long after delivery, especially in environments where creative decisions, product updates, or go-to-market plans are being finalized. The insights team needs to have a seat at those tables, not just to explain findings but to advocate for how they’re applied.
Insight teams should be present for the “what now?” and not just the “what did we learn?”
This could mean participating in creative reviews, facilitating working sessions, or joining strategy conversations to help translate insights into real-world execution.
Creating value from insights also requires teams to invest time and be intentional. Too often, teams spend 80% of their time executing and only 20% thinking about how to drive impact.
“We’re in meetings with creatives to continue representing what we learned in the research and how that translates to optimizing those materials that will go live in a few months. We’re still part of the conversation, we’re still part of a bigger team, we’re part of a bigger effort. It’s not that we finish the work and see you later.” – Alyssa Masucci, SVP, CX Research & Insights, Citi
4. Prioritize action from the design stage
Too many research projects stop short at action because the next steps are unclear. If you want to drive business impact, insight reports need to be decision-ready from the start.
That begins at the briefing stage. Before collecting data, stakeholders and insights teams should align on two questions. So what? And what now? What business outcome are we trying to drive? And what decisions will this research directly inform?
This ensures that the research focuses on actionable business gaps, not just curiosity. It also helps teams deliver outputs that relate directly to real-world actions, such as updating a value proposition, refining creative, or adjusting go-to-market timing.
“I do really take a lot of effort into nailing that brief and being very articulate and specific about the business impact we’re trying to achieve. So right there, from the get-go, you’re bringing people into that conversation, and you’re getting them to think about research and insights in a more strategic way, and how it is a tool that will help them and help all of us achieve that business impact.” – Alyssa Masucci, SVP, CX Research & Insights, Citi