1. No longer can marketers see the world from the inside out, driven by internal operational structures and siloed marketing functions. Now the focus is on outside-in marketing, seeing things from the customer’s perspective, believing in customer value creation, customer orientation and customer experiences as the essential keys to success.

2. In parallel, a wealth of scientific development in the understanding of human behaviour has left research poised to collaborate with brands on developing new ways of gaining insight; ways that put the customer at the heart of the company and the brand in the heart of the customer.

3. As the field of cognitive science develops the role of insights professionals in the marketing arena is increasing dramatically. Our knowledge of human behaviour has grown exponentially and has in fact challenged many traditional beliefs. 

4. The biggest impact has been in three key areas:

i). Actual behaviour vs. reported behaviour

ii). Unconscious and emotionally based processing and decision making

iii) The major role context plays

5. On the plus side, there are definite signs that marketing companies are adopting a customer-centric focus. Customer management and interaction is moving out of sales and into marketing. 

 
6. But the focus is sometimes too narrow concentrating only on improving the customer experience, rather than bringing together all the elements of the broader brand experience, and ensuring the customer is the focal point for all aspects of the business.