From insight to impact: Leap Insight’s Sharlene Zeederberg on putting the customer back at the centre

In the second edition of ADMA’s Capability Spotlight, customer insights expert Sharlene Zeederberg explores the enduring value of customer insight, shares the fundamentals she sees marketers forgetting and reveals why she finds teaching so rewarding.

To start, could you share a little about your career to date?

 I started my career at what was one of the biggest research agencies in South Africa, where I learned the intricacies of both qualitative and quantitative research, and the importance of the “so what” in terms of finding the insights from the data.

When I moved to London, I transitioned to the client side, working for Nestlé as a senior market researcher, and then as an NPD (new product development) manager across their milk brands. That’s where my love of innovation comes from.

When I moved to Australia, I joined Unilever as part of the first intake transitioning the market research function into a consumer insight focused one. It was an exciting time to work in the industry, because we were trying new things and moving beyond research and product centricity into customer centricity.

For the past 20 years, I’ve run my own research and insight business, facilitating innovative thinking workshops and conducting both qualitative and quantitative research. My core passion – and what drives all my work – is putting the customer back into business decision-making.

It’s easy for marketers to get caught up in the brand planning process, focused solely on their objectives. I see my role as bringing the customer voice into those conversations.

What have been some of the professional highlights along the journey so far?

Being part of the consumer insight team at Unilever was a standout. We introduced new ways of working and did some great things, and that group of people remain an important source of professional inspiration to me.

There have been moments where our insights work has directly shifted business outcomes. An example that I always like to talk about was for some stainless steel wipes. When the advertising team was really struggling to crack the advertising, we did some consumer connection research, just talking to people who had recently bought stainless steel appliances.

Through it all came this consistent theme that people buy these appliances for the way they look in store but they never look like that at home. It’s super simple, which insights often are in retrospect, but it unlocked the creative opportunity and allowed the ad agency to create an ad that directly lifted sales every time it ran. It also highlights how valuable it is to talk to real people to get insight. I like to say insights start with an eye.

I think the thing I’m most proud of though is the work we recently did for Asthma Australia. We chatted with children and their parents about their lived experience of asthma to try and uncover why people don’t take the condition seriously enough. We developed a six-factor model about the different influences on an individual’s Asthma control, including the role and knowledge of the health care provider as well as the parent’s personal attitudes to health.

It’s been shared at various health conferences, which is rewarding.

How did you get into the education space and what have you learned from it?

I began by writing a couple of courses for a TAFE higher education program. I worked with Mike (Zeederberg) to develop an Introduction to Digital Marketing course for first years, and later created and taught a second-year subject on buyer behaviour, which is a subject I’m quite passionate about. So often we think we make rational decisions, but almost everything is driven by influences we are hardly aware of.

I love teaching. I’m a facilitator at heart, so it’s an extension of that.

One thing I’ve learned from teaching is that people arrive with very different levels of prior knowledge and motivation. But everyone can both learn and add value back to the rest of the group.

What do you enjoy most about marketer education?

This is the real world, it’s not just theoretical. Marketers have actual problems to solve, so if we can help them do that, especially by keeping the customer front and centre of their thinking, then that is very rewarding,

I enjoy seeing “aha!” moments – when someone realises they can apply a framework or concept directly to their world or job.

And I love the interactivity of it all. I learn just as much from my students as they do from me because during a teaching session, I get to experience some of their world too.

What’s one marketing skill or principle you think will never go out of style, no matter how much the industry changes?

For me, customer centricity will always matter. Even in a world of AI and automation, without a customer you don’t have a sale. Sometimes I think we forget that.

The world is more cluttered, attention is more fragmented and we are overwhelmed by choice and the pressures of marketing in this new age. But the better we are at empathising with our customers, the better we’ll be able to cut through and engage.

There is a lot of focus on getting good NPS scores, or similar. But that’s not customer centricity, it’s just a metric. For me, businesses that respect their customers, understand their needs, hold customer knowledge close and design programs and experiences that reach these people on a deeper, more meaningful level are the ones that will win out.

Marketing is evolving fast. Which skills do you think are most critical for marketers to invest in today?

While marketing technology and the broader marketing landscape is evolving quickly, the foundational theory of marketing hasn’t changed. Marketing is still an exchange of value: we provide products and brands that meet people’s functional, emotional or symbolic needs, and in return they pay for them, advocate for us and stay loyal.

So yes, marketers need to understand things like AI, automation, social media and emerging platforms. But these skills sit on top of the fundamentals: how people make decisions, what matters to them and how insight drives differentiation and deeper connection. Without that grounding, the tech skills just add more noise.

What are the biggest challenges you see for marketers trying to keep up with the pace of change in digital and data?

 People are overwhelmed by choice, by constant opportunity and ceaseless change. One big challenge is people trying to do everything and reacting to every new shiny thing rather than setting clear strategic priorities.

This kind of thinking tends to be more tactical instead of strategic and can result in a disparate number of activities that don’t ladder up to anything meaningful. In the noise of innovation, many lose sight of the basics.

Why do you think continuous learning is so important?

The world is changing constantly and competition is fierce. Continuous learning keeps you relevant and helps you apply your experience to new contexts and new ways of thinking.

It’s also important for our brains because learning keeps us mentally flexible and resilient. Without ongoing development, you risk becoming obsolete. Continuous learning isn’t optional, it’s essential.

What role do organisations like ADMA play in shaping the next generation of marketing talent?

ADMA plays a crucial role because it has a holistic view of the industry and is not focused on one niche. ADMA looks at the whole picture of what skills marketers need and ensures those skills are recognised and valued broadly.

Because ADMA’s programs are built by marketers, they’re grounded in real industry needs. They set a shared standard and create consistency across the profession, which is incredibly important.

What’s the best piece of professional or life advice you’ve ever received and how has it shaped your approach?

About 10 years into my career a career psychologist suggested I needed to rethink how I share information. I’m good at seeing patterns, and often can see the conclusion without making all the steps. She showed me the need to take people on the journey, not just present the conclusions as a ‘fait accompli’.

It’s an important lesson. If we want people to buy into what we are presenting, we have to build the right story that takes them on the journey.

And finally, what do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Work is a small part of my life. I love knowledge for the sake of knowledge, and currently I’m fascinated about everything regarding the brain and how we think.

For some reason my past self can’t grasp, I’ve become quite addicted to exercise. Of course, like everyone I like travelling, but I like off the beaten path adventures. Watching wildlife up close or seeing how real people live in different parts of the world. I love star gazing, exploring small bars and the world of craft gin and hanging out with my friends and family.

ADMA’s NextGen Marketer Series
Sharlene is the instructor for course, Insights, Strategy, Action! – an immersive, hands-on program that equips marketers, researchers and business leaders with the tools to transform customer understanding into growth-driving outcomes.