Insight Platform Selection, Implementation & Scaling - Case Study

This project focused on selecting and implementing a global insight platform to act as a single source of truth for research and insights.

The challenge was to move from fragmented, siloed knowledge to a scalable, accessible system, while aligning business needs with technical, legal, and compliance constraints and driving long-term adoption across the organisation.

Context

As the insights function scaled globally, there was no centralised way to store, access, or reuse research. Knowledge was fragmented across teams, tools, and markets, limiting visibility, slowing decision-making, and reducing the return on existing research investments.

Teams were often duplicating work or unable to find relevant insights that already existed. At the same time, any solution needed to meet strict requirements across security, privacy, and compliance, given the nature of consumer research data.

Objective

The goal was to identify and implement a global insight platform that would:

Act as a single source of truth for research and insights
Improve discoverability and reuse of existing knowledge
Enable self-serve access across product, marketing, and commercial teams
Align with internal technical, legal, and compliance requirements
Be scalable and embedded into day-to-day workflows

My Role

I led the initiative end-to-end, from initial problem definition through to platform rollout and adoption.

I defined requirements and success criteria across multiple stakeholder groups, ensuring the solution reflected real business needs rather than acting as a passive repository. I then ran a full vendor selection process, including a formal RFP, coordinating cross-functional evaluation across business and technical teams.

Following selection, I worked closely with the chosen insight platform provider to configure the platform, define taxonomy and structure, set up SSO-based access, and oversee the migration of legacy research content.

In parallel, I designed and executed the rollout and adoption strategy, including stakeholder alignment, internal marketing, and enablement activities to ensure the platform was actively used rather than simply deployed.

The role required close coordination across insights, product, marketing, IT, legal, compliance, and procurement teams, acting as the bridge between business requirements and technical implementation.

Approach

The programme was structured across several interconnected workstreams.

I started by aligning stakeholders across insights, product, marketing, and commercial teams to define use cases, requirements, and success criteria. This ensured the platform would support real workflows and decision-making processes.

In parallel, I worked with IT, legal, and compliance teams to define technical requirements, including SSO integration, access controls, and data protection standards, ensuring any solution would meet internal governance requirements.

I then ran a formal vendor selection process, using structured scoring across functionality, usability, scalability, and compliance. This included detailed reviews of security and data handling practices, as well as cross-functional input to ensure alignment across business and technical needs.

Following selection, I led implementation in partnership with the provider, including configuring the workspace, defining taxonomy and content structure, setting user roles and permissions, and migrating existing research into the platform in a structured and usable way.

Finally, I designed rollout as a phased adoption programme rather than a one-off launch. This included workshops, internal campaigns, and the creation of champion networks within teams to drive ongoing usage and embed the platform into everyday workflows.

Output

The project delivered a fully implemented global insight platform, including structured content migration, defined taxonomy and governance, SSO-enabled access, and a clear operating model for ongoing usage and management.

Impact

This established a centralised and scalable insight platform that significantly improved visibility and accessibility of research and insights across the organisation.

It enabled more efficient reuse of existing insights, reduced duplication of research, and allowed teams to access relevant information more quickly for decision-making.

More broadly, it introduced a more structured and consistent approach to knowledge management, helping to embed insight-led decision-making across product, marketing, and commercial functions.