--- title: "The100: Elephants, 60 minute insights and the return of the Goldfish" description: Insights in an hour? “In 2011, it felt like there was more time to find a meaningful insight that could help a brand achieve cut-through. But today, the pressure to ‘get an insight in (what feels like) an hour’ has never been greater.” Simon Lamey talks about re-finding the customer. It’s so good, I’m going … image: https://hello.watchmethink.com/hubfs/Untitled%20design%20(32).png --- [![Bombayworks logotype](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/WatchMeThink_September_2023/images/wmt-logo_inverse.svg "Bombayworks logotype")](https://watchmethink.com/) - [What we do](https://watchmethink.com/#) - [Watch Me Explore](https://watchmethink.com/what-we-do/watch-me-explore) - [Watch Me Develop](https://watchmethink.com/what-we-do/watch-me-develop) - [Watch Me Use](https://watchmethink.com/what-we-do/watch-me-use) - [Watch Me Shop](https://watchmethink.com/what-we-do/watch-me-shop) - [Who it's for](https://watchmethink.com/#) - [Consumer Insights](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/consumer-insights) - [Shopper Insights](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/shopper-insights) - [Category Management](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/category-mangement) - [Innovation & Product Development](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/innovation) - [Sensory & Consumer Science](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/consumer-science) - [Packaging](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/packaging) - [Marketing](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/marketing) - [About](https://watchmethink.com/about) - [The 100 Blog](https://blog.watchmethink.com/) - [Contact](https://watchmethink.com/contact) - [Login](https://watchmethink.com/dashboard) - [Sign up](https://watchmethink.com/#) - [Corporate users](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/client) - [Request registration here](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/client) - [Consumer](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/contributor) - [Get paid to review products](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/contributor) Menu # The100: Elephants, 60 minute insights and the return of the Goldfish - Home - [Blog](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog) - The100: Elephants, 60 minute insights and the return of the Goldfish - [Blog home /](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog) [Alistair Vince](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/author/alistair-vince) 10/05/2018 [The100](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/tag/the100) [0 Comments](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-elephants-60-minute-insights-and-the-return-of-the-goldfish#postComment) 2 Minutes ### **Insights in an hour?** > *“In 2011, it felt like there was more time to find a meaningful insight that could help a brand achieve cut-through. But today, the pressure to ‘get an insight in (what feels like) an hour’ has never been greater.”* [Simon Lamey talks about re-finding the customer](https://www.apg.org.uk/single-post/2018/04/06/Can-Planners-Really-Find-An-Insight-In-An-Hour). It’s so good, I’m going to quote him again: > *“What \[matters\] is allowing time and space for those serendipitous phrases that spill from a customer’s mouth. Phrases that reframe the problem and the solution in one go. Phrases that give you a ‘revelation’ (something that Google has yet to master).”* No matter on which hook you hang your hat, you’d be hard pressed to argue against the merits of meeting the customer. Simon says: it doesn’t have to hard – [yes, about that…](https://watchmethink.com/) ### **Lose the attitude?** Perhaps the squad at Adam & Eve/DDB didn’t quite understand the target consumer when creating their recent National Lottery ad?  [From most accounts, it’s an epic failure to comprehend working class culture.](https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/does-new-national-lottery-ad-fail-understand-working-class-culture/1494032) Soho’s adland failing at such a thing? Surely not, I hear you say. I thought Trevor Beattie summed it up best: > “*On current form, adland wouldn’t recognise working-class culture if it came home from yoga and found its life partner bent over the Aga by it*.” As I’ve said before, [consumers aren’t just mums from Surrey.](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/consumers-arent-just-mums-from-surrey-alistair-vince/) ### **Goldfish Crackers** Here (for me) is [an odd story of how IDEO got an energy company’s employees to “empathise” with low-income customers](https://hbr.org/2018/09/to-get-employees-to-empathize-with-customers-make-them-think-like-customers?) who weren’t paying their utility bills, even in the middle of a frigid US Midwest winter. How? By giving the employees [Goldfish crackers](https://www.pepperidgefarm.com/product-categories/goldfish-crackers/)… Then asking them to hand some over for every benefit they got (sitting down at the meeting; taking the stairs, not the lift) to the point where some couldn’t afford to pay for the necessity of lunch. I get the point. But really?  It has the risk of trivialising the importance of empathy. ### **I spy an elephant** I’m all for being fully immersed in the consumer’s world and here Britvic has made a laudable effort to get closer to their younger customers, but the title of the project sums up the elephant in the classroom: [Museum of Childhood](https://www.thedrum.com/news/2018/09/17/britvic-creates-the-museum-childhood-inform-its-marketing-team-how-children-interact). And where are the children? They had more adults telling them what it’s like to be a child, than children telling them what it’s like to be a child. ### **Roll up roll up** As a small reward for putting up with my litanies, I have a few tickets left for our London event on 11th October 2018: [The Power of Finding your Truth in Marketing](https://hello.watchmethink.com/the-power-of-finding-your-truth-in-marketing). These last 9 remaining tickets I’m giving away for free. Email me. Come and listen to some epic speakers. I’m sure all of them have mastered these [techniques on how to get people to listen to presentations](https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/318442). ### **The case for brevity** And so, as you get the end of this missive, maybe you’re wishing I’d read this: [the art of writing short emails](https://medium.com/s/story/the-art-of-short-emails-5bedcac067ee). I know one person who’s thinking that… Hi, Danny! 😉   P.S. (Sorry Danny!) We decided to reintroduce an [about us](https://watchmethink.com/about) page on our site, but this time took the liberty of having a good deal of fun with it – as you’d expect.     --- #### Tag: [The100](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/tag/the100) #### Share: - [Follow us on Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-elephants-60-minute-insights-and-the-return-of-the-goldfish) - [Follow us on Twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-elephants-60-minute-insights-and-the-return-of-the-goldfish&text=The100:%20Elephants,%2060%20minute%20insights%20and%20the%20return%20of%20the%20Goldfish) - [Follow us on Linkedin](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-elephants-60-minute-insights-and-the-return-of-the-goldfish) - [Follow us on Pinterest](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-elephants-60-minute-insights-and-the-return-of-the-goldfish&text=The100:%20Elephants,%2060%20minute%20insights%20and%20the%20return%20of%20the%20Goldfishdescription=Insights%20in%20an%20hour?%20“In%202011,%20it%20felt%20like%20there%20was%20more%20time%20to%20find%20a%20meaningful%20insight%20that%20could%20help%20a%20brand%20achieve%20cut-through.%20But%20today,%20the[...]&media=https://3461170.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/3461170/Untitled%20design%20%2832%29.png) --- --- ## From the archives If you like The100, maybe even found it vaguely enjoyable (steady now), you can have a ganders at our previous issues. Fill your boots. [The100](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/tag/the100) 04 September, 2026 #### [The100: Patterns that aren't, time well spent and the knights of Arundel](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-patterns-that-arent-time-well-spent-and-the-knights-of-arundel) The leadership of sound bites It’s a strange old time in research and insights at the moment, eh?… [Read More](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-patterns-that-arent-time-well-spent-and-the-knights-of-arundel) [The100](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/tag/the100) 21 August, 2026 #### [The100: Neurononsense, the gym test and the Republic of Olvana](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-neurononsense-the-gym-test-and-the-republic-of-olvana) Cite me if you can If I had a cent for every time I heard “95% of purchase decisions are… [Read More](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-neurononsense-the-gym-test-and-the-republic-of-olvana) [The100](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/tag/the100) 07 August, 2026 #### [The100: Discount loops, The Batman Effect and crimes against the Y axis](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-discount-loops-the-batman-effect-and-crimes-against-the-y-axis) Yellow sticker syndrome Mark Ritson has staged an intervention against price promotions and given… [Read More](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-discount-loops-the-batman-effect-and-crimes-against-the-y-axis) - Get started - [Login](https://watchmethink.com/account/login) - [Sign up: Corporate User](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/client) - [Sign up: Consumer](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/contributor) - Resources - [Terms for Thinkers](https://watchmethink.com/terms) - [Terms for Adhoc Work](https://watchmethink.com/terms-for-adhoc-work) - [Terms for Subscriptions](https://watchmethink.com/terms-for-subscriptions) - [Terms for Agents](https://watchmethink.com/agent) - About - [Contact us](https://watchmethink.com/contact) - [About us](https://watchmethink.com/about) - [Blog](https://blog.watchmethink.com/) - [Privacy policy](https://watchmethink.com/privacy) - [Equality, diversity and labour standards](https://watchmethink.com/equality-diversity-labour-standards) - Social - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/watch-me-think) - [Twitter](https://twitter.com/watchmethink) ![cyber-essentials-plus](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hs-fs/hubfs/WatchMeThink_September_2023/images/cyber-essentials-plus.png?width=96&name=cyber-essentials-plus.png "cyber-essentials-plus") ![mrs-logo-cps](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hs-fs/hubfs/WatchMeThink_September_2023/images/mrs-logo-cps.png?width=216&name=mrs-logo-cps.png "mrs-logo-cps") ![watch](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hs-fs/hubfs/WatchMeThink_September_2023/images/watch.png?width=213&name=watch.png "watch") Watch Me Think © 2025. All rights reserved. ![](https://px.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=1498698&fmt=gif) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Alistair Vince", "url" : "https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/author/alistair-vince" }, "dateModified" : "2025-12-03T09:30:09.855Z", "datePublished" : "2018-10-05T08:00:04.000Z", "headline" : "The100: Elephants, 60 minute insights and the return of the Goldfish", "image" : [ "https://hello.watchmethink.com/hubfs/Untitled%20design%20(32).png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-elephants-60-minute-insights-and-the-return-of-the-goldfish", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://hello.watchmethink.com/hubfs/wmt_logo_rgb_for-web-1.png" }, "name" : "Watch Me Think" } } ```