17 July 2025
NewMR recently had the pleasure of hosting Liubov Ruchinskaya, Head of Strategy Analytics and Consumer Planning at Diageo Northern Europe, for a deep dive into the evolving world of insights. With over 22 years in the industry, including extensive experience on both the agency and client sides, Liubov shared invaluable perspectives on the challenges and opportunities shaping our industry. This interview is a must-listen for anyone in the insights, analytics, or marketing industries.
Liubov Ruchinskaya NewMR July 2025
Liubov Ruchinskaya, Head of Strategy, Analytics, and Consumer Planning at Diageo NE, chats with Ray Poynter about the role of insights and the challenges it faces.
Here’s why you should tune in:
1) A Glimpse Inside Diageo:
Liubov describes her role within Diageo’s recently emerged business transformation cluster, which aggregates the analytics capabilities, from business effectiveness to consumer planning. She explains how insights are critical for Diageo to understand consumer needs and culture, create brand personas, and ultimately celebrate moments with their fantastic products. In a crisis-ridden world, insights professionals are the ones who can strategise the business and define investment opportunities, making their role more vital than ever.
2) Navigating the Sea of Change:
Liubov highlights the fundamental shifts our industry has undergone in the last 5-10 years, particularly with the rapid rise of agile companies and now, the profound impact of AI. Liubov emphasises that speed and agility are critical, and that professionals must adapt to AI quickly to deliver results in hours and minutes, not days. The interview also addresses the challenge of navigating vast amounts of data, stressing the importance of identifying relevant data points and ensuring effective data governance.
3) From Data to Actionable Insights:
A key takeaway is the shift from delivering data points to providing actionable insights that directly influence top-level business decisions. Liubov passionately discusses the need for new skill sets, including strong ‘soft skills’, the ability to build relationships with business partners, and influencing decisions using a clear, business-oriented language rather than lengthy reports full of charts.
4) Inspiring Achievements and The Insights Lighthouse:
Liubov shares the significant team achievements at Diageo, such as defining clear business priorities, centralising data, and making insights accessible. Perhaps one of her most notable achievements, and a focal point of the interview, is Insights Lighthouse, which she founded in February 2024. This leadership network for client-side representatives is rapidly growing and aims to revolutionise the insights industry by taking leadership in the era of AI and data centralisation. It is a platform for sharing best practices, creating a learning hub, and advocating for the critical role insights professionals play. The network is both inclusive and exclusive, offering free access to major industry events and supporting young talents.
5) Peering into the Near Future:
Liubov provides forward-looking advice for the insights industry, emphasising the urgency to understand and adapt to AI quickly, test synthetic data, and proactively create best practices rather than waiting for them. She envisions a future where AI agents and companions handle tasks, allowing insights professionals to focus on higher-value work. She asserts that companies adopting these capabilities early will succeed.
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