/ 01
KNOWN KNOWNS
What you already measure.
Method
The method is simple.
The work is not.
Trees and Rivers maps what you know, what you are missing, what nobody has asked yet, and whether your team can actually use it.
/ Fig. 00 — The method
The method
/ 02
KNOWN UNKNOWNS
What you know is missing.
/ 03
UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS
What is not on the radar.
/ 04
TEAM SKILL
Can the team use it?
/ 05
TEAM WILL
Will the team act?
↓
/ Output
APPLIED INSIGHT
Useful within the timeframe.
The method does not stop at finding signals. It checks whether the insight can survive the team, the timing and the real world.
What the method does
Most teams already have data. The problem is that data often explains the result, not the conditions around the result.
Trees and Rivers starts with what is already known, hunts for missing context, then looks for weak, strange or external signals that could change the question.
- Advertising Data
- Behavioural Signals
- Brand Context
- Cultural Clues
- Customer Actions
- Public Data
- Unusual Patterns
/ Fig. 01 — The known data pile
The knowledge map
The method uses a simple knowledge map. Known knowns are the things your team already measures. Known unknowns are the gaps your team can name. Unknown unknowns are the signals nobody has thought to look for yet.
/ Fig. 02 — The map of what is missing
KNOWN KNOWNS
Likes. Clicks. Shares. Sales.
KNOWN UNKNOWNS
Missing data. Missing context.
UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS
Weak signals. New questions.
Tree Data often starts with known knowns. River Data helps explore known unknowns. UFOs help surface the odd signals that may point towards unknown unknowns.
/ Fig. 03 — The team reality check
Team skill and team will
Finding the insight is only half the work.
The method also asks whether the team has the skill to use it and the will to act on it. A brilliant insight with no application path is just expensive noise.
TEAM SKILL
Can the team use it?
TEAM WILL
Will the team act?
Skill is about capability, clarity and confidence. Will is about appetite, alignment and action.
- Action Appetite
- Capability Gap
- Decision Pressure
- Internal Alignment
- Stakeholder Confidence
- Timing Reality
No insight and run
Too much of the industry treats insight like the finish line.
Find the clever thing. Put it in a deck. Leave someone else to fight procurement, politics, timing, language, legal review, personalities, budget and internal resistance.
No.
The best insight is the one that gets applied within the timeframe that matters.
We do not insight and run.
We insight and roll.
We insight and roll.
/ Fig. 04 — The deck is not the finish line
/ Fig. 05 — The useful insight filter
What the method checks
Every useful insight has to pass more than one test. It has to be interesting, but it also has to be usable, defensible and timed to the decision.
- Audience Fit
- Decision Use
- Evidence Strength
- Signal Freshness
- Team Readiness
- Timing Fit
Where it comes from
The method is shaped by human insight work, focus groups, interviews, workshops, campaign rooms, online communities, offline behaviour, brand-side pressure, agency-side delivery and the reality of getting ideas through complex organisations.
It is built for people who have to make marketing decisions with imperfect information.
- Agency Experience
- Algorithmic Context
- Brand Experience
- Global Perspective
- Human Insight
- Impact Focus
/ Fig. 06 — The room, the work, the world
/ Fig. 07 — Things we are not selling
What it is not
This is not weird data for decoration. It is not a dashboard skin. It is not a magic answer. It is not a trend list.
- A Dashboard Skin
- A Magic Answer
- A Trend List
- A Weird-Data Trick
What it is
It is a no-bullshit method for turning data, missing context, weak signals, team reality and timing into applied marketing insight.
It helps teams understand what happened, what was moving around it, what might be missing and what can actually be done next.
- Applied Insight
- Clearer Strategy
- Sharper Questions
- Stronger Briefs
- Useful Signals
/ Fig. 08 — The applied insight
The standard
Interesting is not enough.
A Trees and Rivers insight has to earn its place. It should be useful, defensible, relevant to the task, understandable to the team and capable of improving the decision.
The full method, source library, classification logic, workshop process and application templates are available on request.