Case Study
Business Issue
A UK-based telecommunications company often found its insight team brought into planning too late, typically being asked for “any insights on customers” right before critical meetings. Without foresight, they lacked the time and context to connect existing research, synthesize findings, and make recommendations aligned with business objectives. This reactive dynamic limited their influence on strategy and left opportunities to shape direction untapped.
Custom Approach
We partnered with the client to design a generative AI-powered forecasting model that integrates cultural foresight with existing consumer insight. The model was built using four key inputs:
- Consumer Cultural Calendar – mapping behavioural patterns and life-need moments, underpinned by a framework of consumer needs and an award-winning longitudinal survey defining behaviour- and attitude-led moments throughout the year.
- Predictive insights – drawing from more than 210 trend reports to anticipate shifts likely to impact the category.
- Behavioural insights – synthesizing over 60 commissioned research studies (including segmentations, CEX, usage data, proposition testing, and brand tracking) along with 18,000+ consumer opinions, conversations, and reactions available online.
- Stakeholder interviews – ensuring the model addressed real planning needs and business relevance.
AI synthesized these diverse inputs into a single model that:
- Identifies what matters in people’s lives, from macro forces and life needs to emerging trends linked to those needs.
- Pinpoints moments to deliver in—periods of the year when consumer needs peak.
- Guides activation, helping the client match the right tools and services to the right needs at the right time.
The result is a scalable, adaptive framework that is both predictive and commercially relevant, giving the client foresight they can act on with confidence.
Growth Outcome
The new model shifted the client from reactive to proactive planning:
- The insight team gained a seat at the table earlier, with lead time to deliver evidence-based recommendations.
- Planning conversations are now anchored in the customer voice, ensuring propositions and campaigns align with real needs.
- The business benefits from an agile, efficient system that provides short-, medium-, and long-term foresight, at a fraction of the cost of running new primary research for every planning cycle.
- For consumers, the outcome is products, services, and communications that reflect what truly matters in their lives.
By embedding foresight into the planning process, the company created a competitive advantage: faster, more relevant decisions that anticipate change rather than react to it.
Stronger forecasting can have a big impact on your bottom line? Contact us to learn more.
