--- title: Blog | FlexMR | Strategic Thinking description: Strategic Thinking | Exploring the latest thinking on insights empowerment, from the crossroads of marketing, research and technology. --- close ## Ready to level up your insights? Get ready to streamline, scale and supercharge your research. Fill out this form to request a demo of the InsightHub platform and discover the difference insights empowerment can make. A member of our team will reach out within two working days. close ## Cost effective insights that scale Quality insight doesn't need to cost the earth. Our flexible approach helps you make the most of research budgets and build an agile solution that works for you. Fill out this form to request a call back from our team to explore our pricing options. 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Join Camp InsightHub, our free demo platform, to discover the future of research. [Sign Up Today](https://insighthub.flexmr.net/users/new) - ![FlexMR InsightHub](https://blog.flexmr.net/hubfs/Website_Files/Images/Navigation/insighthub_screenshot.png) Read a brief overview of the agile research platform enabling brands to inform decisions at speed in this PDF. 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[Get Your Score](https://resources.flexmr.net/insights-empowerment-calculator) - ![MRX Lab Podcast](https://blog.flexmr.net/hubfs/Website_Files/Images/Navigation/flexmr_podcast.png) The MRX Lab podcast explores new and novel ideas from the insights industry in 10 minutes or less. [Listen Now](https://resources.flexmr.net/mrx-lab-podcast) - ### Featured Stories - [Specsavers Informs Key Marketing Decisions with InsightHub](https://resources.flexmr.net/specsavers) - [The Coventry Panel Helps Maintain Award Winning CX](https://resources.flexmr.net/coventry-building-society) - [Isagenix Customer Community Steers New Product Launch](https://resources.flexmr.net/isa-insights) - [Curo Engage Residents with InsightHub Community](https://resources.flexmr.net/curo) - [Strategic Thinking](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/strategic-thinking) / 6 MIN READ ## Participatory Approaches to Customer Closeness: Exploring Co-Design Labs in Insight #### Dr Katharine Johnson # [Participatory Approaches to Customer Closeness: Ex...](https://blog.flexmr.net/participatory-customer-closeness) Most research still treats customers the way it did twenty years ago: as people we study, not people... [Read more](https://blog.flexmr.net/participatory-customer-closeness) 6 MIN READ #### Dr Katharine Johnson - [Events (1)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/events) - [Insights Empowerment (38)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/insights-empowerment) - [Practical Application (179)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/practical-application) - [Research Methods (285)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/research-methods) - [Strategic Thinking (239)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/strategic-thinking) - [Survey Templates (7)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/survey-templates) - [Tech & Trends (397)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/tech-trends) ### [Participatory Approaches to Customer Closeness: Expl...](https://blog.flexmr.net/participatory-customer-closeness) Most research still treats customers the way it did twenty years ago: as people we study, not people we build with. We send the survey, run the focus group, watch the usability session, then take what... [Continue reading](https://blog.flexmr.net/participatory-customer-closeness) 6 MIN READ #### Dr Katharine Johnson ### [AI Frontiers of Market Research: Value Creation and ...](https://blog.flexmr.net/ai-value-creation-and-disruption) The current era of AI proliferation presents an as-yet untamed frontier: an inherently uncertain landscape that breeds existential anxieties of survival, prospecting promises of lucrative opportunitie... [Continue reading](https://blog.flexmr.net/ai-value-creation-and-disruption) 8 MIN READ #### Dr Matthew Farmer ### [Customer Centricity: A Complete Guide for 2026](https://blog.flexmr.net/customer-centricity-guide-2026) Customer centricity is an organisational capability, not a tagline. It's the sustained practice of orienting decisions, resources, and priorities around what genuinely creates value for the people you... [Continue reading](https://blog.flexmr.net/customer-centricity-guide-2026) 13 MIN READ #### Caitlin King ### [How Online Research Communities Support Enterprise I...](https://blog.flexmr.net/enterprise-insight-community) Online research communities have become essential infrastructure for enterprise insight teams navigating the pressure to deliver faster, deeper customer understanding. But managing these communities w... [Continue reading](https://blog.flexmr.net/enterprise-insight-community) 9 MIN READ #### Caitlin King ### [Making VoC and CX Insight Work Across Departments](https://blog.flexmr.net/operationalising-voc-cx-programmes) Organisations have access to more customer feedback than ever before. So why does so little change? [Continue reading](https://blog.flexmr.net/operationalising-voc-cx-programmes) 5 MIN READ #### Alanna Moreland ### [How Insight Functions Reclaim Strategic Agency](https://blog.flexmr.net/insight-function-strategies-for-agency) Customer insight teams often ask for a greater seat at the table. They want more influence over decisions, stronger stakeholder engagement and a bigger role in setting organisational priorities. [Continue reading](https://blog.flexmr.net/insight-function-strategies-for-agency) 7 MIN READ #### Paul Griffiths ### [Creating an Engaged Insight Community With Behaviour...](https://blog.flexmr.net/engaged-insight-community-behavioural-science) An insight community is a long-term, continuous, always-on research space where members can log in and participate whenever it is convenient for them. Unlike a standalone research project, it enables ... [Continue reading](https://blog.flexmr.net/engaged-insight-community-behavioural-science) 8 MIN READ #### Hannah McGeoghegan ### [Workshops and Beacons: A Guide to Building Customer ...](https://blog.flexmr.net/workshops-beacons-customer-salience) Most organisations are not short of data, insight or decks.Their biggest challenge is not whether customer understanding exists since most teams have access to more customer insight than ever before. ... [Continue reading](https://blog.flexmr.net/workshops-beacons-customer-salience) 9 MIN READ #### Ed Hill ### [Communities and the Post-Cookie Future of Marketing](https://blog.flexmr.net/communities-post-cookie-future) The abundance of data available at our fingertips is not an uncommon topic in the industry these days. Neither is the question: how do we use it effectively? [Continue reading](https://blog.flexmr.net/communities-post-cookie-future) 6 MIN READ #### Caitlin King ### [Empathy, Emotion and Compassion in Customer Closenes...](https://blog.flexmr.net/empathy-customer-closeness) Empathy, compassion, and emotional understanding are increasingly recognised as essential components in building a culture of customer closeness, yet many organisations still struggle to move beyond a... [Continue reading](https://blog.flexmr.net/empathy-customer-closeness) 6 MIN READ #### Thea Baker ![](https://www.flexmr.net/skin/images/images-custom/48f118ee-cef9-42d6-b60b-5575d5ac26e3-flexmr_footer.svg) - [Home](https://www.flexmr.net/) - [Contact Us](https://www.flexmr.net/contact/) - [Privacy Policy](https://www.flexmr.net/legal/privacy/) - [Cookie Policy](https://www.flexmr.net/legal/cookies/) - [Terms of Use](https://www.flexmr.net/legal/terms-of-use/) [Follow us on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/flexmr/) [Follow us on Twitter](https://twitter.com/_flexmr) [Follow us on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/flexmr) [Follow us on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/c/FlexmrNetOnlineResearch) [![Grit Top 50 Logo](https://www.flexmr.net/uploads/photo-gallery-include-images/34/44258f4d-7452-40d6-bb23-0e220c8ba21f.png)](https://www.greenbook.org/mr/grit/business-innovation-edition) [![ISO 27001 Alcumus](https://www.flexmr.net/uploads/photo-gallery-include-images/34/fa89f9b3-d866-43b8-8de0-4a052a9053d8.png)](https://www.alcumus.com/en-gb/certification/iso-27001/) [![Cyber Essentials Plus Logo](https://www.flexmr.net/uploads/photo-gallery-include-images/34/cba57df6-75a2-4544-9599-dcc0c2f14b79.png)](https://blog.flexmr.net/hubfs/Public_Files/Other/FlexMR_Cyber_Essentials_Certificate.pdf?__hstc=163229475.dde2c3d212762f49b059c9f62e7537a0.1624542718433.1626339489304.1626701624468.7&__hssc=163229475.2.1626701624468&__hsfp=3142549060) © FlexMR 2021. 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