You’re taking over as MD of Active Insight – how are you feeling?
It comes at such a dynamic moment in time for us.
Active Insight has spent 26 years helping 500 organisations across the leisure, culture, health and education sectors use data to make better decisions.
Our work has always been about helping them understand people more deeply so they can deliver better experiences and outcomes. The fact I now get to lead that mission is both an honour and a huge responsibility.
We’re extending our reach beyond facilities and into places, so we can meet people where they are
Understanding people through their own voice is incredibly powerful. Our consumer insight platforms exist to help organisations see the world through the eyes of the customer, to understand their motivations and barriers to participation in physical activity.
How is your senior team changing?
Active Insight’s founder, Mike Hill and director, David Monkhouse, are moving into strategically-focused positions. Mike will lead the development and delivery of our partnership with Sport England’s Moving Communities, while David will dedicate more time to the growth of our events.
What are your personal priorities?
To stay true to why Mike Hill started the business – measuring and managing customer experience. We’re proud of our history, but also excited about what comes next.
We’re moving into a period of significant investment, particularly within our consumer insight and customer experience platforms – Enquire, Onboard, Engage and Retain. These products are already transforming how our clients understand and respond to customer behaviour, but the next 12 months will see us increasing real-time feedback touchpoints. As part of this, we’re also extending our reach beyond facilities and into places, so we can meet people where they are.
Where are the biggest opportunities for the sector?
Data insight is no longer a ‘nice to have’, it’s an essential part of business intelligence for decision-making and strategy development.
I believe personalisation will become increasingly important and we’ll also see the shift from periodic to continuous insight to better reflect the experiences of customers and not just rely on isolated snapshots in time.
Social connection underpins participation and community-building, so if we can also understand that deeply and respond to it intelligently, we’ll bring more people into activity and keep them longer.
How is access to data transformational?
We’ve been providing data the sector can use to counter inequalities and ensure all communities have access to opportunities to be physically active.
We partner with organisations such as UK Active, supporting them with insight – for example, the Mental Health In Motion report (www.hcmmag.com/MHIM).
All feedback – both positive and negative – gives a chance for organisations to learn and improve.
How will you future-proof the business?
We’re not only thinking about today’s customers, but also tomorrow’s, including Gen Alpha, who engage with brands very differently.
WhatsApp, Snapchat, frictionless interfaces and personalisation will all shape how the next generation communicates. Our digital evolution will support that shift.
Any feedback – even negative – gives a chance to learn and improve
We’ll also be exploring new markets and developing global relationships. Growth matters, but it must be grounded in purpose, collaboration and value.
What’s your overarching vision?
Our vision is to connect people through insight to enable the creation of memorable experiences.
We believe the relationship between operators and suppliers is intrinsically linked and through insight-sharing, collaboration and conversation, we can grow stronger as a sector.
Expect to see more actionable takeaways and opportunities to learn from one another, whether through our events or direct partnership work.
More: www.active-insight.org
