By: Melissa Dunn, EVP Marketing Communications at Suzy

Over the course of my career, I’ve worked with some of the world’s most iconic brands across agencies like BBDO, McCann Erickson and MRY. Whether launching global CPG campaigns for P&G’s Venus razors, helping finance brands like JPMorgan Chase launch new credit cards to connect with different demographics, or navigating the nuanced space of sponsorships for Verizon Wireless, one truth has always held firm: the insight comes first.

In those agency days, a powerful consumer truth was the bedrock of every great campaign. We weren’t just looking for data points – we were listening for the tension, the motivation, the story that could transform a brand from a product into a movement.

Now, as head of marketing at Suzy, an AI powered market research platform built for the modern world, I see the same principle apply – only faster, smarter, and more vital than ever before.

Why Some Brands Break Through (And Others Don’t)

Today’s consumer landscape moves at lightning speed. TikTok can crown a new brand darling in days, and expectations around relevance, identity, and responsiveness have never been higher. The brands that win are the ones that know their audience intimately and use insight not just to validate – but to guide the story.

Here are three standout examples that reflect how insight-driven storytelling is powering real-time cultural resonance in 2025:

‍Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Era and the Rise of Western Fashion ‍

When Beyoncé dropped her album Cowboy Carter and kicked off her tour, she didn’t just release music – she reignited an entire aesthetic movement. Her influence led to a spike in cowboy boots, fringe jackets, and denim across major fashion retailers, with brands like Levi’s and PrettyLittleThing reporting huge surges in foot traffic and sales. In the week after the album's release, Levi's reported a 20% increase in foot traffic to its U.S. stores and a 20% rise in its share price. TikTok exploded with #CowboyCarter style hauls, and resale platforms saw western-inspired fashion climb the search charts. The insight? Culture doesn't just reflect fashion – it drives it. Beyoncé's intuitive connection to what her fans crave, coupled with a broader reclamation of western Americana, created a moment that retailers smart enough to listen to could ride all the way to the bank.

‍Rhode Skin by Hailey Bieber‍

Rhode has become a Gen Z powerhouse by blending minimalist aesthetics with maximum cultural relevance. Led by Hailey Bieber, the brand took off on TikTok with a clear understanding of what younger consumers want in skincare – clean ingredients, stylish packaging, and viral moments. From the dewy “glazed donut” skin trend to limited drops of tinted lip treatments, Rhode has tapped directly into digital-first behaviors and a lifestyle-driven beauty ethos. Most recently, Rhode was acquired by e.l.f. Beauty in a move that validates its cultural cachet and underscores how deeply insight-driven strategies can create explosive brand equity. It’s a case study in leveraging platform-native storytelling and influencer authenticity to drive exponential brand growth.

JPMorgan Chase and the Rise of Digital Wealth for the Next-Gen Male Investor‍

JPMorgan Chase isn’t just a legacy bank – it’s becoming a cultural player in the financial wellness space. In 2025, the brand launched targeted creative aimed at Gen Z and Millennial men who are increasingly engaging in investing and personal finance through mobile-first tools. With its revamped Chase app and personalized digital wealth offerings, JPMorgan tapped into a core insight: younger male consumers don’t want a banker – they want a smart financial partner who fits into their lives as seamlessly as Spotify or Uber. Their creative leaned into this mindset, ditching stock-photo polish in favor of TikTok-style storytelling and real-world scenarios – earning credibility and traction across platforms. The messaging is less about retirement planning and more about empowerment, flexibility, and leveling up in life. Chase is betting big on a generation that doesn’t think of wealth as static, but as a tool to unlock experiences, freedom, and self-definition.

What Traditional Research Misses

Despite the pace of modern business, many research processes are still stuck in the past. Long fielding times. Static data. Reports that are obsolete the moment they’re delivered.

Traditional trackers, long-form surveys, and outdated focus groups can’t keep up with the cultural cycles we now live in. And while these tools have their place, they don’t answer the urgent call for immediacy, depth, and adaptability.

We need a new model - one that mirrors the speed of decision-making today.

The New Age of Agile, Story-Ready Research

At Suzy, we’re reimagining research to be both strategic and nimble. We’re giving teams the tools to spot the signal, understand the sentiment, and act with confidence. With the integration of AI across our platform, we’re ushering in a new level of efficiency and strategic foresight. AI is helping automate routine tasks, accelerate time-to-insight, and surface emerging patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed. This isn’t just a productivity gain – it’s a paradigm shift. Research becomes proactive, adaptive, and even more human-centered when AI helps you know what to ask, when to ask, and how to act.

• Suzy Signals captures macro-level cultural shifts and real-time news, helping you identify the “why now” moments worth researching. It doesn’t just tell you what’s trending – it helps you decide what to research and what to do next.
• Suzy Speaks is our AI-moderated conversational research product that enables brands to hear real voices, feelings, and experiences – at scale. It’s not checkbox data. It’s the kind of input that gives stories depth, emotion, and authenticity.

Together, these tools allow you to detect, explore, and validate ideas in real time. From campaign development to product innovation to brand strategy, they bring the research loop closer to the speed of culture - and make it more powerful than ever. 

From Insight to Action

Great storytelling doesn’t start with a brainstorm. It starts with a truth.

When I worked on global campaigns for brands like Visa and L’Oreal, our best ideas came not from assumptions, but from listening – to real people, living real lives, with real needs. That truth still holds today.

But the path from insight to action is getting faster – and clearer. With tools like Suzy Speaks and Suzy Signals, insight is no longer a static endpoint. It’s a launchpad. Whether it's validating a creative concept, shaping a product feature, or reframing a campaign narrative, research can now be the engine that drives velocity, relevance, and results.

The best teams don’t wait for insights – they build with them, in real time.

Lead by Listening

Whether you’re in F&B, fintech, entertainment, or tech, the imperative is the same: understand your audience deeply, move with agility, and craft stories that matter.

Beyoncé didn’t dominate charts and closets by guessing. Rhode isn’t dominating beauty counters through packaging alone. Chase isn’t attracting the next generation of investors with spreadsheets. They’re all rooted in insight. And the brands that lead the next wave? They’ll be the ones that listen first – bravely, consistently, and creatively.

We’re entering a new era of brand building – one that’s fueled not just by speed, but by resonance. The only way to lead in that world is to listen like your growth depends on it –  because it does. Get in touch with Suzy to start listening better.