The Challenge
Elaine leads the five person marketing research and insights team at a global apparel brand. The brand's commitment to research had inadvertently created a volume of information that the brand managers found difficult to mine and use. The company's crucial insights were often unknown or inaccessible to the very teams that needed them most.
An internal audit starkly illuminated the issue, revealing that regional marketing teams collectively spent an amount equivalent to 20% of the central research team's budget procuring data and insights that the company already possessed. This substantial financial leakage stemmed from several core problems:
- Information Silos: Vital data and analyses were frequently embedded within extensive PDF documents that regional teams lacked the time to thoroughly review.
- Ineffective Discovery: Enterprise search tools proved inadequate for cases where users didn't know exactly what they were searching for.
- Synthesis Required: Answers to many questions were spread across multiple sources requiring intimate familiarity with the entire research corpus.
- Bandwidth Constraints: The research team's significant backlog often led to regional marketers bypassing the team altogether.
The Solution
To address these challenges, Elaine implemented 99Ravens first as an intelligent intake form for research and data requests. The deployment included an AI-enabled research workflow that guided teams through the process of formulating their requests and enabled:
- Intelligent Data Suggestion: The platform automatically analyzed marketing team requirements and suggested existing data and insights from the brand's vast internal archives.
- Structured Research Request Generation: For information gaps, 99Ravens assisted in crafting precise, structured research requests.
Results
The implementation brought measurable transformation:
- Reduced Redundant Spend: Initial projections indicate savings of 50-75% on previously duplicated research.
- Increased Data Utilization: The number of different files cited more than doubled as a broader set of insights are now being used.
- Improved Research Alignment: New research requests are substantially faster and overlapping requests are easier to combine.
- Enhanced Team Efficiency: Marketing teams reduced data search time by 60%, while the research team saw a 60% increase in proactive trend insights.
Work with Us
If you've got a corpus of internal or third party research that is under-used by your marketing team then book a demo today to find out how we can turn cloistered knowledge into immediate value.