The Insights Family Strengthens Manchester Operations with Key Hires and Innovation Focus

The Insights Family, a global leader in kids, teens, parents, and family market intelligence, has announced growth and expansion across its Manchester operations, following significant investment from BGF – one of the largest and most experienced investors in the UK and Ireland.

Building on the successful funding round, The Insights Family has strengthened its Manchester team with key appointments, including Adam Woodgate as VP of Research Solutions. Adam brings a wealth of expertise in programming, content creation, and media research to the role. He will oversee the research solutions team, working closely with brands, media buyers, and content creators, providing strategic advice based on media consumption patterns and emerging kids and family trends from the 700,000 interviews conducted annually by The Insights Family.  

Other key additions include:

• Stephen Finch as VP of Product. He brings 13 years of experience in product management, including a significant tenure at Dunnhumby. Stephen has a proven track record of guiding teams through the entire product lifecycle, leveraging data science and machine learning.

• Sophie Tanner as VP of Marketing. She joins with a strong background in driving growth across different revenue streams through strategic marketing initiatives. Sophie has previously worked at Thomson Reuters and The Business of Fashion, where she led marketing for their subscription and events business.

• Andrew Roocroft as VP of Finance. Andrew brings a decade of experience in enabling and scaling high-growth finance teams, most recently at Gartner Magic Quadrant software businesses Blue Prism and Dematic Software. He trained as a Chartered Accountant at Grant Thornton in Manchester and Paris.

• Victoria Cookson as People & Culture Manager. Previously working at Resonance Labs and Havas Lynx, Victoria has a strong background in the AI and digital agency landscape, managing HR strategies and large-scale culture initiatives for global businesses.

Tom Williams, CEO of The Insights Family, said: “We are strongly committed to attracting top talent in the region, with each person bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to our business. Together with the great team we already have in place here, they will enable us to enhance our product development capabilities, drive business growth and further recruit the best talent.”

The strategic hires follow further investment in the company’s data science and technology capabilities, underpinned by academic research. This strengthens its ability to provide organisations with deeper insights into the kids and family ecosystem.

These include: the nuanced preferences, behaviours, and evolving needs of the kids, teens, and family demographic; the dynamic market landscape, including emerging trends and new entrants; and the consumption patterns of kids and their influence on parental and household purchasing decisions.

Nick Richardson, Founder of The Insights Family added: “Based in our Manchester headquarters, these hires are of critical importance as we look to move our business to the next level, helping us to drive our ambitious growth plans.”

The Insights Family team will be at Brand Licensing Europe in London from September 24-26, 2024. Visit stand #D218 or book a meeting in advance: go.theinsightsfamily.com/ble2024

Q&A with Adam Woodgate, VP of Research Solutions, The Insights Family

Congratulations on your new role! What attracted you to The Insights Family?

• Thank you. Research is having ‘a moment in the sun’ right now. Brand owners, content developers, broadcasters and publishers, marketeers and distributors need to make the right decisions around business planning, investment and decision making. With consumption of media and entertainment ever more fragmented, access to high-quality, reliable, independent, real-time insights is critical. Since 2017, The Insights Family has been providing insights into the attitudes, behaviours and consumption patterns of kids, teens, parents, and families. For me, it’s tapping into more than three decades of media experience and combining that with the data to deliver meaningful insight to a broad customer base.

Since joining, what have you been most impressed with at The Insights Family?

• The diligence of the team and their commitment to our customers.

Can you share some of the key developments you and your team are working on and what we can expect to see in the coming months?

• I’m looking to enhance the product offering across research solutions. That means simple and effective custom research, e.g. Flash Surveys, Deep-dives, and Brand Health-checks. On the non-custom side of the business, it means identifying opportunities to create new, inspiring reports in addition to serving customers with curated insights and continuing to develop and expand our market tracking and sector reports.

What excites you most about the future of the industry, and how do you see The Insights Family playing a pivotal role in that?

• A senior manager at a media company once approached me after speaking about ‘touchscreen native’ kids at a conference. He said that although they didn’t include content for kids, it made him more aware than ever that one day a new generation with different passions and interests would be part of the audience. Having insight on this emerging audience was essential for the business to get their content commissioning and acquisition strategy right. The data we collect across all the countries we survey gives our customers the edge, ensuring they stay ‘laser-focused’ on the end user, i.e., the audience.

What advice would you give to companies looking to better understand kids and families as they prepare for 2025 and beyond, and how can The Insights Family help them achieve this?

• I’ve always believed every company should have an eye on kids, even if they operate in a sector where kids don’t consume their products. All kids grow into adults, and that’s when you need to know how they think, how they feel, and what motivates them. We can give businesses those insights now, so they are ready for when today’s kids get their first pay cheque.