Audience insight and research that helps you understand what drives people
The most effective communications start with understanding people. Whether you’re developing
a campaign, launching a service, refreshing a brand or engaging a specific audience, the better you
understand the people you’re trying to reach, the more effective your communications will be.
At SBW, we help organisations understand what matters to their audiences, what’s shaping their
decisions and how best to connect with them. Through research, insight and engagement, we help
organisations make confident decisions, reduce guesswork and create communications that resonate.
Why understanding audiences matters
It’s easy to make assumptions about what people think, need or want. But audiences are
rarely all the same. Different people have different experiences, priorities and perspectives,
and what resonates with one group may have little impact on another.
That’s why audience insight is so important. The better you understand the people you’re
trying to reach, the easier it becomes to make informed decisions, develop more effective
campaigns and create communications that connect, build trust and make a difference.
Our approach
Every project is different, but one thing stays the same: great communications start with understanding people.
Before we start thinking about messaging, channels or creative ideas, we build a clear picture of the challenge. That means understanding the audience, but also the wider context, including the organisation, service, market, competitors and environment in which communications need to work.
The stronger the understanding, the more confident we can be that our communications, campaigns and strategies will connect with the right people and achieve the desired outcome.
Audience research and discovery
We always begin by understanding the challenge. Depending on the brief, that might include audience research, focus groups, stakeholder interviews, social listening, market research, competitor reviews, desk research, service audits or creative testing.
The goal is simple: to understand what matters to people, what’s shaping their decisions and how we can connect with them more effectively. Those insights help inform strategy, creative development, messaging and campaign delivery.
Audience segmentation and personas
Not all audiences are the same. We use segmentation, personas and audience profiling to build a clearer picture of different audience groups, helping organisations understand who they’re trying to reach and how communications can be tailored to different needs and perspectives.
Understanding what drives decisions
Sometimes understanding what people do isn’t enough. It’s equally important to understand why they do it. We use proven approaches, including COM-B, EAST and Think Feel Do, to uncover what’s influencing decisions and identify opportunities to create communications that resonate.
Creative testing and validation
Insight doesn’t stop once a strategy has been developed. We test messages, creative concepts and campaign approaches with real audiences to reduce risk, build confidence and make sure communications are clear, relevant and effective before they go live.
Measurement and evaluation
Understanding what worked is just as important as understanding your audience in the first place. We use audience feedback, campaign evaluation and ongoing insight to understand what’s making a difference, identify opportunities for improvement and help shape future communications.
Our work
These examples show how we’ve helped organisations uncover
valuable insights and make more informed decisions.
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NHS WalesHelp Us Help You
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Welsh GovernmentHate Hurts Wales
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Welsh GovernemnetTalk With Me
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Welsh GovernmentSingle-Use Plastic Ban Wales
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Welsh GovernmentLeasing Scheme Wales
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Welsh GovernmentClimate Action Wales
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Welsh GovernmentWorkplaces of Wales: Let’s get it sorted
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Welsh GovernmentParenting. Give it Time.
Why SBW?
Audience insight sits at the heart of good decision-making. Whether we’re supporting
a campaign, shaping a brand, engaging stakeholders or exploring a new challenge, we
start by building a clear understanding of the people we’re trying to reach and the
environment in which communications need to work.
But insight on its own isn’t enough. By combining research, behavioural insight and
integrated communications expertise, we help organisations interpret what they’re
learning and turn it into practical action. From shaping strategy and messaging to
informing creative development, channel planning and campaign delivery, we help
ensure communications and marketing activity support wider organisational objectives
and deliver meaningful results.
Frequently asked questions
Audience insight helps organisations build a deeper understanding of who they are looking to reach and engage. It identifies who we should be speaking to, explores what matters to them, what’s shaping their decisions and how communications can connect with them more effectively.
Audience research can be valuable at any stage of a project. It can help shape strategy at the start of a campaign, test ideas and messaging before launch, validate creative concepts, improve services and evaluate the effectiveness of communications once activity is underway.
We use a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods, including surveys, focus groups, stakeholder interviews, workshops, social listening, behavioural insight, market research, competitor reviews, creative testing and campaign evaluation. The approach depends on the challenge we’re trying to solve and the decisions the insight needs to inform.
Audience segmentation is the process of dividing larger audiences into distinct groups based on shared characteristics, lifestyle, behaviours, motivations or needs. This helps create more targeted communications.
Yes. We regularly use frameworks such as COM-B, EAST and Think-Feel-Do to better understand behaviours, explore what influences decisions and create more effective communications.
Yes. We use focus groups and stakeholder workshops to explore perceptions, test ideas and gather qualitative insight that can inform strategy and campaign development.
Yes. We regularly test messaging, creative concepts and campaign approaches through audience research (market testing) and digital testing to refine communications and improve performance.
Audience insight provides the foundation for more effective communications. It helps organisations understand who they need to reach, what matters to them, what influences their decisions and which messages are most likely to resonate. It can also help identify the best channels, timing and opportunities to connect with different audiences. Those insights can then inform strategy, creative development, media planning, stakeholder engagement and campaign delivery.
No. While understanding audiences is central to our approach, we also explore wider factors that influence communication success, including stakeholder views, organisational objectives, market conditions, competitor activity, existing perceptions and service understanding. This helps create a clearer picture of the challenge and identify opportunities for more effective communications.
Let’s start with the challenge
Whether you’re developing a campaign, refreshing a brand, testing an idea or trying
to understand why people think, feel or behave the way they do, we’ll help you uncover
the insights that lead to better decisions and more effective communications.
Get in touch to start the conversation
Leticia
Managing Director
Rich
Head of Client Services
