Making Customer Understanding Everyone’s Business
For too long, insights lived in silos. Whether housed within a dedicated research function, outsourced to specialist agencies, or buried in static PowerPoint decks, the real value of consumer understanding was often lost in translation, or worse, never made it beyond a monthly board meeting or brand strategy review.
In many organisations, research was treated as a one-time input, something commissioned, packaged, and presented. It served leadership and strategy teams well but rarely filtered down to those making day-to-day decisions: the brand manager drafting a campaign, the product owner shaping the user journey, or the CX team fielding customer concerns in real time.
Even when valuable insight was captured, its reach was limited. By the time it reached those who needed it most, it was often too late, too abstract, or too dense to act on. Insight became a report, not a tool. A deliverable, not a dialogue.
But that’s changing. Rapidly.
In 2025, we’re witnessing a clear shift in how businesses view and use insight. It’s no longer just an outcome of research; it’s becoming a core organisational utility. Like data and design, it’s being embedded across workflows, departments, and decision-making frameworks.
Today, insight is expected to be accessible, actionable, and always on. This is not about democratising for the sake of efficiency. It’s about empowering people across the organisation, from marketing and product to CX, HR, and even finance, to listen, learn, and respond to what customers need.
In this new model, insight isn’t gated or guarded. It’s liberated.
Welcome to the age of insight democratisation, where understanding customers isn’t just a function, it’s a culture. A culture where curiosity is encouraged, decisions are validated with evidence, and the customer voice is no longer filtered through hierarchy or distance.
This shift isn’t just about making data available. It’s about making it meaningful at every level, and that’s where the opportunity lies.
Why is this happening?
In today’s hyper-competitive landscape, marketing and product teams are under pressure to act fast. Long, linear research projects, once the norm, are being replaced by agile, iterative insight loops.
Whether it’s reacting to consumer sentiment, testing a new campaign, or responding to macroeconomic shifts (like inflation or AI disruption), speed is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s a survival trait.
- According to a 2024 PwC UK report, over 70% of UK marketing leaders said they require access to insights within days, not weeks, to remain competitive in digital channels.
- Forrester highlights that companies using agile research methods are 2.5x more likely to report revenue growth over their peers who rely on traditional, slower research cycles.
This pressure is fuelling a move toward more accessible, real-time insight platforms, and embedding insight capabilities directly into business functions, not just central teams.
Rise of Self-Serve Research Tools
Platforms like LifeStars are reshaping how organisations gather insight. Once the domain of trained researchers, survey creation and data access are now reaching marketers, product managers, and even sales teams.
LifeStars is:
- Faster to deploy (minutes, not days)
- Easier to use (no need for a research degree)
- More flexible, allowing for quick “gut checks” on messaging, product features, packaging, or consumer sentiment.
A 2023 GreenBook Research Industry Trends (GRIT) Report found that over 60% of UK-based client-side researchers were actively expanding access to self-serve research tools across departments. Microsoft Ireland’s 2024 AI adoption study found that 49% of Irish companies are using generative AI or smart automation to support decision-making, including quick-turn research tasks.
This empowerment of non-researchers is a clear signal that insight generation is no longer exclusive, it’s becoming decentralised and woven into daily business routines.
Cultural Shift Toward Customer-Centricity
Customer-centricity is no longer a slogan. It’s a strategic imperative, especially in the UK and Irish markets where consumer expectations are shifting fast, driven by economic uncertainty, environmental values, and digital empowerment.
In response, brands are pushing to ensure that everyone, not just the insight team, has access to the voice of the customer.
- The EY Future Consumer Index (2024) reports that 62% of Irish consumers are actively changing how they spend due to the rising cost of living, meaning businesses must constantly tune into these evolving behaviours.
- A 2023 Accenture Ireland report highlighted that companies with high levels of customer-centricity outperform peers in trust, retention, and growth, and those companies tend to distribute insight across functions rather than silo it.
- The (UK-based) Market Research Society (MRS) workshops increasingly focus on “insight activation,” acknowledging that insight is only valuable if it’s used, and that means making it accessible and actionable across the business.
In short, customer understanding shouldn’t be a one-department job anymore. It should be a shared responsibility, and insight access is the first step.
What does democratised insight look like in practice?
Democratised insight is about putting usable, timely consumer understanding in the hands of more people across a business, not just the insights team. It’s the operationalisation of customer-centricity. Here’s what that looks like in practice:
1. Short-Form Surveys and Feedback Tools in Daily Workflows
Rather than lengthy questionnaires and formal research briefs, companies are embracing short, focused surveys.
This allows for:
- Quick sentiment checks post-campaign.
- Instant feedback on product tweaks
- Internal testing of messaging or ideas
- According to a Qualtrics 2023 Insight Usage Report, 48% of UK-based enterprise clients now conduct at least one “pulse check” survey per week, often outside the insights department.
- LifeStars enables brands to gather customer opinions in quick, incentivised bursts, making customer closeness a habit, not a phase.
2. Dashboards Everyone Can Access, Clear, Visual, Actionable
Modern insight teams are moving away from static slide decks and toward dynamic dashboards that update in real time and are usable across departments.
These dashboards provide:
- Key customer metrics (e.g. NPS, sentiment, purchase triggers)
- Quick visualisations of recent research
- Alerts or trend flags for fast-moving issues
According to PwC’s UK Consumer Insights Survey (2023), 55% of businesses now use shared customer dashboards accessible across marketing, CX, and product functions.
Tools like Power BI are increasingly being integrated into teams’ everyday workspaces, with insight visualisation a top upskilling priority (source: MRS & DataIQ 2024 Insight Leaders Report).
3. Embedded Insight Roles Within Cross-Functional Teams
One of the biggest changes in democratised insight is placing insight practitioners inside the teams they support, rather than in a centralised “support function.” That might mean:
- A researcher embedded in a product team doing A/B tests and ethnography.
- An insight analyst working directly with brand and comms teams.
- Shared Objectives and Key results that connect marketing outcomes with consumer understanding.
A 2024 Deloitte UK report on the Future of Work found that cross-functional insight pods (e.g., marketing + research + data science) are now standard in 62% of fast-growing brands.
This model improves insight activation, i.e., how insight gets used to drive decision-making, a key challenge highlighted by the MRS Delphi Group’s Insight Alchemy White Paper.
4. On-Demand Consumer Panels with Guardrails
Not every team member is a trained researcher, but that doesn’t mean they can’t tap into live consumer feedback. On-demand access to panels, via tools such as LifeStars, is enabling faster testing of:
- Advertising concepts
- Packaging options
- New feature preferences
The best organisations put guardrails in place (e.g., template question banks, research ethics guidance) so non-researchers can safely run small tests without compromising rigour.
- According to the GreenBook GRIT UK/Ireland 2023 supplement, over 58% of mid-sized firms in the region now give “non-insight” departments some level of panel access for quick turnaround work.
The Benefits of Democratised Insight
So, it is a trend but why bother? Is it worth the change? As more organisations shift from siloed research models to democratised insight frameworks, the business outcomes go beyond operational convenience, they create strategic advantage. Here’s how:
Faster Decisions
As mentioned earlier, when insights are available at the fingertips of marketers, product managers, or customer success teams, without bottlenecks or sometimes lengthy formal research commissions (more on this here https://lifestars.com/market-research/), decisions happen much faster.
- Teams can test ideas before investing time and budget.
- Dashboards allow decision-makers to pivot based on live feedback.
- Campaigns, pricing, messaging, or CX journeys can be optimised in days, not weeks.
According to PwC UK’s “Future of CX” report (2023), companies with real-time insight capabilities are 38% more likely to report improved customer satisfaction year-on-year.
More Relevant Creative and Messaging
Creative campaigns that resonate starts with understanding. With broader access to insight:
- Copywriters can check language that aligns with customer tone.
- Designers can test visuals that align with real emotional triggers.
- Campaign strategists can avoid tone-deaf messaging and build relevance from the start.
This leads to fewer misfires, stronger campaign ROI, and messaging that reflects what real people care about right now, not what was true in a research deck six months ago.
The IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) found that UK campaigns informed by audience insight delivered, on average, a 30% higher effectiveness score in long-term brand building.
Deeper Organisational Empathy for the Customer
When only a few people see customer research, empathy (and sometimes understanding) is limited to a slide deck. But when teams across the organisation regularly engage with real feedback, behaviours, and motivations:
- They understand customer pain points better.
- They build emotional connection to audience needs.
- They are more motivated to build products, services, and experiences that help.
This cultural shift turns customer-centricity from theory into practice.
In a 2024 EY Ireland study, organisations that fostered “shared customer understanding” across departments saw a 22% uplift in customer lifetime value (CLV) compared to those where insight was siloed.
Less Waste, Fewer “Flop” Campaigns Based on Assumptions
Assumption-driven marketing is expensive. Without timely, distributed insight:
- Campaigns are built on hunches, not facts.
- Products are launched without clear validation.
- Budgets are burned on messaging and products that don’t land.
Democratised insight creates micro-validation moments, quick customer input before you scale, so teams’ course-correct early.
Kantar’s 2023 Global Marketing Report showed that 49% of failed campaigns could have been avoided if “basic pre-market testing” had been done, a gap democratised tools now aim to fill.
The Watchouts of Insight Democratisation
Democratising insight is powerful, but without structure, it can create noise, not clarity. Here are three critical areas to manage:
Strong Governance
When more people have access to data and research tools, there’s increased risk of misinterpretation, overconfidence, or cherry-picking results to support a hunch.
- Set clear protocols on data use, privacy, and reporting.
- Appoint insight leads or “custodians” to oversee quality and consistency.
Think of this like version control for decision-making.
Training in Research Fundamentals
Not everyone needs to be a researcher, but without basic understanding, insights can be misunderstood or misapplied.
- Offer light-touch training in things like sample bias, question design, and how to interpret qualitative vs quantitative results.
- Provide templates and guidance that keep DIY research grounded in best practice.
It’s about enabling curiosity without compromising rigour.
Clear Frameworks: DIY vs. Call the Pros
Not all insight needs to go through a full research cycle, but some absolutely should. Without clear guardrails, teams may overstep or under-resource key decisions.
Create a decision tree or checklist:
“Is this campaign-critical?”
“Is this legally sensitive?”
“Is this exploring unknown customer behaviours?”
- Encourage collaboration between functional teams and expert insight pros when stakes are high.
- Democratisation works best when it’s a partnership, not a free-for-all.
Of course, when you work with LifeStars you are backed by an award-winning research team that is an active member of the Market Research society and runs projects all over the globe all the time – we’ve got your back. We are not techies doing research (we could name a few who are!) but research and marketing experts who have worked with our tech colleagues in Audience Collective to build a unique system for customer and colleague closeness AND insight democratisation.
In summary, Democratised insight isn’t about sidelining researchers, it’s about amplifying their impact by enabling more teams to engage with customer thinking in a responsible, real-time way.
This is what modern, customer-led organisations are doing:
- Empowering everyone to listen
- Guiding them to ask better questions.
- Making insight part of daily decision-making, not quarterly reviews
When consumer expectations are changing rapidly and agility is now essential, this model is not just innovative, it’s becoming essential. Insight used to be a final step. A phase. A box ticked.
Now, it’s a shared mindset. The best brands are turning insight into a habit, not just for researchers, but for everyone who shapes the customer experience.
Organisations are increasingly fostering collaboration between departments to generate and utilise consumer insights. By breaking down silos, companies ensure that insights are shared and applied across marketing, product development, and customer service functions, leading to more cohesive strategies. Also, there is a growing emphasis on enhancing data literacy among employees to democratise access to consumer insights. Training programs and workshops are being implemented to equip staff across various departments with the skills to interpret and apply data effectively.
In this new era, insight is no longer just a department.
It’s a culture. A culture that household names such as Kelloggs, Spotfiy and Booking.com have embraced.
Kellogg’s undertook a significant transformation by restructuring into a matrix organisation, aiming to reduce silos and enhance integration between units. To support this change, they implemented a next-generation insights platform that allowed stakeholders to self-service knowledge. This democratisation of insights enabled teams across the company to access and utilise data more effectively, fostering a truly insights-driven culture.
Spotify has effectively democratised data by ensuring that various departments, including marketing and user experience teams, have access to the metrics needed to improve engagement and tailor campaigns. Their data scientists work to make data accessible and actionable, enabling teams to optimise content offerings and enhance user experiences.
Booking.com has embraced a culture of experimentation by democratising access to online controlled experiments. They developed a central repository of experimental results and a generic, extensible code library, allowing employees across the organisation to design, run, and analyse experiments independently. This approach has led to a more agile and innovative environment, where data-driven decisions are made at all levels.
Our challenge to you, the reader:
If your teams are still waiting on quarterly research reports or relying on gut feel for big decisions, it might be time to rethink how insight works inside your business. In a world where consumer behaviour shifts weekly, the brands winning today are those that stay constantly attuned, not through one-off studies, but by embedding fast, accessible, and everyday insight into the fabric of decision-making. LifeStars was designed to support exactly that: democratised, fast feedback from real people, helping everyone from brand managers to CX leads act with more confidence and clarity.
So, here’s the challenge, what would be different in your organisation if everyone had access to customer truth, not just the insight team?