From Data to Direction: How Strategy Director Laura Agricola-Moss Turns Insight into Impact

A conversation with Laura Agricola-Moss, Strategy Director at Keep Left In a landscape saturated with dashboards, metrics, and trend reports, the real challenge isn’t access to data — it’s knowing what to do with it. For Laura Agricola-Moss, Strategy Director at Keep Left, meaningful insight emerges when data collides with cultural context, reframes the problem, and reveals a path to action.

In this Exec Edge Q&A, Laura shares how her team turns noise into narrative, why the most strategic decisions often start at the cultural margins, and how brands can stay agile without getting distracted by what’s merely ‘trending.’ Q: What does a truly valuable data insight look like to you — and how do you know when it’s time to act?

Not all data leads to insight. But when it does, a valuable insight doesn’t just tell you something interesting. It reveals a tension. It exposes what’s really going on beneath the surface and points to potential ways forward. It might highlight a contradiction in brand behaviour or uncover an unmet emotional need. You know it’s time to act when that insight reframes the problem, and when the conversation shifts from “what should we do?” to “now we know what really matters.”

Q: When you're swimming in dashboards, metrics, and reports, how do you distinguish real signals from background noise?

Real signals don’t always come from structured data — often, they emerge from the cultural margins. Digitally speaking, these are Reddit threads, TikTok trends, subcultural creators, or thought pieces that spark genuine conversation. These sources show you what people are feeling and caring about before it hits a dashboard. That’s where we find the ‘why’ behind the numbers and the early indicators of change. Data gives you measurement, whereas cultural discourse at the margins gives you perspective.

Q: Can you share a moment where a specific data point or trend led directly to a strategic pivot or key decision?

In a recent campaign for a mental health provider that supports truck drivers and warehouse workers, one stark data point changed everything: the trucking industry ranks last out of 19 sectors for mental health.

Digging deeper through qualitative research with truck drivers, we uncovered the cause: long-haul drivers spend 10+ hours a day alone in a cab (and their heads), leading to a cognitive process called mental rumination — a known risk factor for depression, especially when it is excessive, which was the case for our audience.

This insight led to a critical shift in our strategy. We had to connect with drivers in the cab, in the moment — not just outside of work hours. So, we transformed radio ad breaks into audio wellbeing content, delivering time-based advice and relatable stories directly to drivers along Australia’s most remote freight routes.

Q: Are there frameworks or methods your team uses to convert insight into business advantage?

We always begin with the audience. At the end of the day, the consumer problem is the business problem, and solving a real, felt problem is the foundation of any viable business. So our approach and frameworks blend qualitative and cultural research to do two things:

1. Snap the organisation out of its own echo chamber.Sometimes a business thinks it has a pricing issue, a comms issue, or a retention issue — but 9 times out of 10, these are symptoms of a consumer problem. Which one? We help stakeholders diagnose that.
   

2. Reveal how the brand or business can show up to help resolve that tension.Maybe the audience doesn’t feel understood. Maybe they don’t trust the brand. Maybe they don't see value. When you identify and solve the real tension in the consumer’s world, the business metrics shift.
   

Q: How do you stay agile with data — making decisions fast, but not recklessly?

We focus on trends, not just what’s trending.

Trends are long-term cultural shifts, like the growing focus on workplace mental health or the evolution of flexible work. These build slowly, but they shape audience expectations for years.

Trending content, on the other hand, is fast, ephemeral and reactive. That’s where the risk lies — because chasing what’s trending without context can pull brands off strategy, dilute distinctiveness, and create short-term noise instead of long-term value.

Strategic agility comes from anchoring in the trend and only tapping into what’s trending when it genuinely aligns with the brand and audience.

Q: How does your team help the broader org go beyond the numbers to execute on what the data’s telling you?

We bring the numbers to life through the words and lived experience of the customer.

A substantial body of behavioural research shows that narratives and vivid details are more memorable than metrics or statistics alone.¹

By anchoring data and insights in real verbatims, we help stakeholders feel the problem and remember the insight (not just read the data) — which accelerates understanding and buy-in.

¹ References:

• Harvard Business School: Memorable Leaders Tell Stories, Not Stats

• Psychology Today: How Storytelling Comes Together Inside the Brain