No one in our industry gets fired for saying they are data driven.  But maybe they should?

There’s plenty of excellent data and analysis in FMCG and Retail.  But plenty of poor data and poor analysis.  If you are being driven by poor data, analysed poorly, then being data-driven is dangerous.

So, knowing you are working with good data and analysis is critical.

There are some great data sources.  We’ve probably all got examples of Kantar Worldpanel marginally misreading a category or retailer’s growth rate.  But step back and you have to admit it is a brilliantly managed, high quality data source that transforms our understanding of what shoppers are doing.  You could say the same about Kantar’s Usage panel.  There are excellent qualitative researchers conducting insightful depth interviews and focus groups.  Game changing surveys designed and analysed by people with the proper skills and training.

But then again…  For every good case, there may be a bad case.  The analysis of Kantar or survey data that (guess what?) seems to tell us that almost every new product or shopper activation drives incremental sales.  The surveys run cheaply through do-it-yourself panel providers, inappropriately structured and full of leading questions, designed to give the answers that suit the survey commissioner.  These are common problems that can cause expensive mistakes and which discredit the insight industry.  Worst case, they can make good people wonder if all this insight stuff is really worth the paper it’s written on.

So what can you do to make ensure you’re working with quality data, well analysed?

First, test for expertise.  Don’t be shy.  If presented data, ask the detail of what it is, how it is collected, and how it is analysed.  Don’t be satisfied until you really understand it.  With a few good questions, it will be obvious whether the presenter is fully on top of it.  If they aren’t, ask for someone who is.

Second, don’t be blinded by science.  I’ve rarely met someone who properly understands gains/loss and switching from Kantar, or how incrementality is calculated.  Don’t accept something unless you can understand it.  You might think others understand it but they probably don’t.

Third, have an expert in your camp.  You wouldn’t go to a legal discussion without a lawyer. You wouldn’t make big financial decisions without an accountant.  So don’t be data led unless you have a trusted advisor who understands where the data comes from and how it should be analysed and interpreted.  There’s a reason successful companies invest in highly qualified insight and analysis people.

Is it good to be data led?  Depends on the data.  Depends on the quality of the analysis.

​Jeremy Garlick is a Partner of Insight Traction, consulting with FMCG and Retail companies. He was formerly Head of Insight at Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Premier Foods.

Click here to access our other recent articles for the Grocer…