Jess Gaedeke (00:00)
Welcome to Dig Inspiration, a quick recap where we dig deeper into the story behind the story. In each bite-sized episode, I'll revisit key moments from our incredible

the most inspiring parts of the stories they share. Today, we're dropping a quick reflection on some of the most memorable parts of my talk with Marat Fleytlikh Director, Consumer Insights at Purdue Farms.

So Marat told a story about his time at Kraft Heinz when he came on the Classico brand pretty soon after a redesign was in the works. And he shared some great lessons about not fixing what isn't broken. And that while you can learn from design iterations that take really big swings, there is a lot of risk in those big swings.

One of the tips he shared was that long-standing category players can really benefit from asking themselves, what would a challenger brand do? How might a challenger come in and disrupt this category? And with that as sort of the end of the spectrum reference, consider what stepwise changes would still move the needle in terms of design impact, but without the risk that's really inherent in those big swings.

So I thought that was really helpful framing for those considering a redesign for a longstanding brand.

On the topic of design, Marat had some great advice that I think some teams still miss, and that is involving the insights team at the start of the process. Insights represents the voice of the consumer, knowing what equities matter to people and why, what distinctive assets you just don't want to monkey with. They also understand the voice of the market because you simply can't consider a brand's design effectiveness

without the impact of the competitive set. And Insights knows all there is to know about the competitive landscape. So be part of the process. And I love what he said. It's less about insights. He reminded that you are a strategist, so roll up your sleeves and be a meaningful part of the team.

And one of the passionate points of view that Marat shared was about knowledge management, which is becoming an even hotter topic in our industry, right? How can we learn from the often decades of research, hundreds of studies and avoid unnecessary repeat research because the question has just been asked and answered sometimes multiple times. Marat was an early adopter of this thinking. And what really struck me is something that I've been hearing more and more from clients. And that is that AI for AI sake is frankly just becoming annoying.

So throwing AI at a data set just to say you did is just noise. But to prioritize applications of AI around the end benefits, which from Marat's story were time to insight, savings and money and resources because you're avoiding unnecessary research, having confidence in those recommendations. Now those are benefits that matter. And I think that's what good AI innovation does. It focuses on the end benefits.

So as we wrap up season three of Dig In, I just want to remind you of the crazy insight

full list of guests that I have been lucky enough to interview this season. Be sure to go back and check out these episodes. So here is the hit list. Katie Marston with Once Upon a Farm, Danielle Coopersmith, Kraft Heinz, Claire Ferrari with Verizon, Nikia Revalliac, formerly with Netflix.

Anish Raul with Sling TV, Kajuli Tanka with Microsoft, Denise Siebert with 3M, Elizabeth Oates, formerly with Ulta and now Author, Paul DeLarzac with Nestle, Jorge Calvacchi, Lazy Boy, Ron Burrage with Go Dutch, formerly with Hershey, Anna Estlund with Pernod Ricard, Nick Graham, formerly with PepsiCo and Mondeliz, Khary Campbell with Comcast, Rhonda Slaven, Synchrony Financial,

Jo Lepore, who is previously McDonald's and now at Digg, my one cheat where I brought on a Dig person this season. Brodie Dunn with PepsiCo, Liz Ackerley with Denone, Marat Fleytlikh with Perdue Farms. And so, wow, what a heavy hitting list of inspirational leaders. I'd love for you to go back and listen to those episodes. And hey, drop us a comment on what inspired you, what questions you have. We'd love for you to be part of the conversation and we'll see you next season for season four of Dig In.