Understanding Shopper Journeys Remains a Strategic Imperative Every purchase is the result of a journey. Consumers enter that journey with pre-existing needs, preferences, habits, and brand predispositions. Along the way, they encounter a variety of touchpoints that shape their decisions – from online information and recommendations to product displays, packaging, pricing, and in-store experiences. Understanding these journeys is critical for two reasons.

For Pernella Geluk, innovation only drives brand growth when it starts with relevance and is followed through with discipline, adequate timing and entrepreneurship. As an independent marketing and innovation consultant, she helps food companies turn consumer and customer insight into concrete concepts, successful launches and long-term growth. Working mainly in FMCG food, both on the consumer side and increasingly in B2B, Pernella sees innovation not as a pipeline of new prod

Why AI Agents Make Deterministic Code More Important

Six years ago, Kia Netherlands stood on the verge of a major brand transformation. Since then, the brand has introduced a new global identity, strengthened its position in electric mobility and became market leader in the Netherlands. For Maaike Aarts, Manager Communications and PR at Kia Netherlands, that growth was not driven by one single factor, but by the ability to bring a global strategy to life locally supported by the right mix of products, a strong dealer network an

Introduction In recent years, DVJ Insights has done a lot of research into what marketers consider to be the most important KPI to determine the success of marketing. What most companies have in common is that success is mainly measured by a brand's sales or market share. Still, it is difficult to direct marketing based on sales. It is often preferred to use various brand KPIs that have the most influence on sales in order to achieve growth.

In just over a decade, Schysst Käk has grown from a small Swedish start-up founded by brothers Amir and Alex Kheirmand into a fast-growing food company that expects to reach close to SEK 800 million in turnover. Built around the idea of making kebab easy to prepare and enjoy at home, the brand has effectively created its own category, ”Home Kebab”, in Swedish grocery retail. For Alex Kheirmand, Founding Partner and Chief Commercial Officer, the growth has not come from inve

Customer-centricity has always been the Foundation of Great Innovation Innovation has never been about technology alone. The most successful innovations emerge when companies identify and address meaningful customer needs. Whether it is simplifying everyday tasks, removing friction from experiences, or enabling entirely new ways of solving problems, the underlying principle remains the same: consumers do not buy innovations because they are technologically sophisticated. They

Marketing has never been more complex. Consumers move across countless channels, attention is fragmented, and businesses face constant pressure to deliver short-term results. Yet for Héctor Rivero, Senior Marketing Manager at McDonald's Spain, the fundamentals of brand growth remain remarkably simple: understand people, define a clear message, and stay consistent over time. In this conversation, he shares why marketing should be viewed as a company-wide capability, why shor

Utrecht, 26 June 2026 – DVJ Insights is proud to announce that Dennis Hulsebos has been named Young Talent of the Year at the Data & Insights Awards in the Netherlands. The award recognises young professionals in the research and insights industry who show courage, think beyond the obvious, and bring fresh and creative ways to move the profession forward. Dennis’ win continues a strong tradition of talent recognition at DVJ Insights. Over the years, several DVJ colleagues hav