Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data Collection

Ulli Appelbaum is the founder of First the Trousers Then The Shoes, Inc. The consulting firm has been grounded by execution rather than deliverables, resonating with Ulli’s beliefs on strategies and the creative process. Today, he sits with Sima Vasa to talk about the power of extracting insights from data.

Ulli Appelbaum - Advertising Ever Since

Ulli’s US advertising career started 16 years ago. He has immense fascination and passion for the concept of positioning. Additionally, the knowledge of how people can influence perceptions others form fueled his drive to become successful in the field.

His many experiences in advertising opened up opportunities in a vast array of fields. After a while, he switched to account planning, gaining exposure to planning and market research. He then received an offer in Minnesota, which trailblazed his expansive career that branched out to both traditional and digital platforms.

Turning Data into Insights

Ulli recently launched a set of method cards with exercises and questions that will help people generate insights from data. Anyone toils with looking into big data to gain these insights that are proven indispensable tools in furthering the market research industry.

“Insight is such an important concept in the world of marketing. But it's often misunderstood or misused. Everything is an insight nowadays.“ - Ulli Appelbaum

An Output and a Process

According to Ulli, insight is a process and an output in a sense. There will be no insight without the process. The process then entails diving into available data in order to make sense of these data and make the connections that will eventually resolve into the aha! moment people struggle to arrive at.

“Because there is so much more data out there, more and more people think that new data leads to new insights, which it can, but it doesn’t have to.” - Ulli Appelbaum

Quick links to connect with Ulli Appelbaum:

Website - First the Trousers The Shoes, Inc.

Aha! The Indispensable Insight Generation Toolkit

LinkedIn

Twitter

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Sima is passionate about data and loves to share, learn and help others that share that passion. If you love data as much as her, subscribe on iTunes and don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Rolfe Swinton is known as the blockchain expert. He joins Sima Vasa in this episode to talk about the potential and applications of this fundamental technology that can change the workings of the market industry.

Rolfe Swinton - Promoting Blockchain Insights

Rolfe has recently joined GfK where he's taken on a new role as Director of Data Assets. GfK is currently on a mission to reinvent its business and to refocus for the future of the insights industry.

He is also the co-founder of IIeX's Accelerator, a new program that is helping bring new capital resources to help very early stage companies targeting the insights industry. Rolfe also co-founded a forum in an effort to promote the understanding and application of blockchain in business models.

Blockchain: What's in a Word?

In order to better understand blockchain, it must first be separated from cryptocurrencies. It's a very specific use and application of blockchain, but it is by no means the be all end all.

“When we talk about blockchain, we want to think about not just things that have caught people's imagination now but direct consumer applications.” - Rolfe Swinton

The blockchain is a fundamental technology, but there's very few people who have dug deep enough into it to fully grasp its significant applications and actual use.

BitCoin, Granddaddy of Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a digital asset that is unique and transferrable, BitCoin being the most famous example. BitCoin is an innovation that has gotten a lot of people excited and at the same time scared. Springing from an idea on paper, BitCoin became a global phenomenon a few years after somebody set up the first block in its blockchain.

With a starting price at one-sixteenth of a cent, BitCoin blew up by the fact that it satisfies the many attributes of money to extremes. It’s hyper-portable, with an infinite value per unit of weight, and infinitely divisible. However, its built-in settlement layer, a function that does not exist in currencies today makes it all the more interesting.

“Because of this, some people would refer to blockchain as essentially, the trust protocol.” - Rolfe Swinton

Quick links to connect with Rolfe Swinton:

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Sima loves to hear from her listeners with input, questions, suggestions and just to connect! You can find her at the links below!

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Sima is passionate about data and loves to share, learn and help others that share that passion. If you love data as much as her, subscribe on iTunes and don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Tia Maurer is a Group Scientist at the Procter & Gamble Company. She sits with Sima Vasa to discuss data integrity, statistical significance, surveys and automation, and the shift to behavioral-based research methods.

"Your analysis and insights is only as good as your quality of data and rarely is your data file 100% error free." - Tia Maurer

Tia Maurer - Seasoned Product Researcher

For more than 20 years, Tia has worked closely with Beauty Care products researchers. She specializes in consumer research and product development.

She has designed, developed and piloted many emerging consumer research methodologies to fuel innovation and guide product development. Among the brands she's worked on are Cascade, Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Olay, and Pantene.

Developing a Brand Message

At Procter & Gamble, they have two research groups. One focuses on consumer market knowledge, while the other focuses on products research.

“Nowadays, reliable data is really critical to us and our product development… it's really imperative to confirm the accuracy of our data file before we’re really commencing analysis.” - Tia Maurer

Part of Tia's job is to translate the needs of the consumers into the technical requirements of the brand. She helps ensure that the products reflect the kind of messaging they need to market.

P & G Data Collection

Their researchers primarily use two types of data, and one of which is consumer testing data. They conduct surveys on various global platforms as well as gather input from comments and testimonials.

"I think there has been a shift in more behavioral research...The reason is really simple. We’re learning that what people say and what they do don’t always match." - Tia Maurer

According to Tia, the length of time it takes to launch a brand depends on the product and the company's mission. One project they had, for example, took them five years to launch.

Quick links to connect with Tia Maurer:

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Sima loves to hear from her listeners with input, questions, suggestions and just to connect! You can find her at the links below!

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Sima is passionate about data and loves to share, learn and help others that share that passion. If you love data as much as her, subscribe on iTunes and don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Melissa Sauter and Duncan Lawrence join Sima Vasa to share a bit of history of Market Strategies International (MSI) and Morpace. The two leading market research companies are combining after the acquisition by a private equity firm, STG.

In today's episode, they share the separate histories of their companies and the factors leading to the merger.

"We're better together. The merger was meant to be." - Duncan Lawrence

Duncan Lawrence - History of Morpace

Morpace was founded about 40 years ago in 1975, with a focus on automotive. Some decade and so down the road, they realized the need to broaden their focus and do something different. In 1990, they merged with the company Market Opinion Research (MOR).

This merger allowed them to venture into healthcare and financial services, among other other areas. Since then, Morpace has focused on growing organically. They have expanded globally and erected several offices in the United Kingdom, Los Angeles, and China.

Melissa Sauter - Market Strategies: A History

Almost 30 years ago, five former employees from MOR founded MSI. This history of the firm ties back to the Morpace's history of mergers. Since leaving MOR, the five founders of MSI grew and drove the evolution of their family.

In 2006, a private equity firm acquired MSI. The company subsequently grew through a series of acquisitions of three companies. These developments opened the opportunity for new capabilities, industry focus, and talent.

MSI has been in technology, telecommunications, consumer service, retail, and energy for the past three decades.

The Merger's Driving Force

Both companies have been looking for an exit strategy for the past few years. MSI and Morpace share a lot of similarities culturally and structurally. The fact that they both differentiate in the markets through deep history knowledge, operational excellence and truly superior client service makes the merger only natural.

Most shareholders look into company size when considering mergers, but that is not the sole reason for this move. MSI and Morpace are big enough to offer talent but small enough to consistently deliver on the client service. Melissa Sauter and Duncan Lawrence say that this is their top priority.

"We have no aspirations to be the biggest in the market... It's about optimizing the scale to best serve our clients." - Melissa Sauter

Quick links to connect with Melissa Sauter and Duncan Lawrence:

Market Strategies International

Morpace

Press Release on Merger

Sima loves to hear from her listeners with input, questions, suggestions and just to connect! You can find her at the links below!

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Sima is passionate about data and loves to share, learn and help others that share that passion. If you love data as much as her, subscribe on iTunes and don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Joe Catling is the Head of Analytics at Relish Research. Today he sits down with Sima Vasa to discuss marrying client or 'big' data to market research data, the challenges of doing so, and the future of advanced statistical or machine learning techniques.

“What I think we're going to see is a democratization of a lot of machine learning, big data tools, which can make them more accessible for people.“ - Joe Catling on future perspectives

Joe Catling - From Mathematics to Analytics

Joe studied mathematics in university and eventually managed to transition into a standard research track. This enabled him to focus on advanced statistical techniques as they pertain to market research.

He currently leads a team of thirty based in London. While there's a standard suite of research techniques available for those in his field, his role also entails finding new and creative ways of doing things.

Marrying 'Big' Data and Research Data

There's a rich data set that you can't get any other way apart from research, including psychographic data. Meanwhile, companies are collecting vast amounts of information on their customers and prospects.

Marrying these two data sets should be a natural part of the process in market research, but it seems more people hit a dead-end and fall apart in the fusion. This is mostly due to a lack of awareness of its importance.

“That’s when, I think, you end up with research and big data that kind of become more than the sum of their parts. That you get to insight that you really couldn’t have done in isolation, from one just data source or another.” - Joe Catling

The Challenge: Client Teams

Few clients would necessitate the need for combining data sets as if it's not an obvious part of the process in market research. A lot of it seems like a function of structure in the client teams.

“This idea of coming up with something where both feed in and both are integral to the processes is something that I think not a lot of people are thinking and talking about it in that kind of way.” - Joe Catling

Quick links to connect with Joe Catling:

Relish Research - Website

Relish Research - Twitter

Sima loves to hear from her listeners with input, questions, suggestions and just to connect! You can find her at the links below!

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Sima is passionate about data and loves to share, learn and help others that share that passion. If you love data as much as her, subscribe on iTunes and don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Brian Califano is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of AcceleratngCFO. Today he joins Sima Vasa in an episode dedicated to current trends of finance and the role of data in how we budget our financial results and plan for business future.

Brian Califano - CFO: A Significant Service

AcceleratingCFO offers Chief Financial Officer (CFO) services for small to medium size businesses, specializing in entertainment, media, and technology industries. They assess the needs of their clients and help them come up with effective marketing strategies to bolster their businesses.

The mid-market region comprises 90% of American companies. While CFO's value is apparent when taken in the context of budgeting, performance, and even buying or selling, this portion of the market doesn't see this expertise.

Trends in the World of Finance

Brian's interactions with his clients has made him see symptoms of acceleration going on in the marketplace. A lot more people are getting into buying and selling. More companies are availing of CFO services to seek the expertise of people who have been into boardrooms and studied terms that are advantageous to owners.

“Lots of companies are looking to either buy or sell their business… They’re starting to assess their business and see whether or not they’re going to be big enough to have an impact on the industry they're in.” – Brian Califano on finance and data trends with clients

Starting Your New Business

There are many financial considerations when planning to start a new business. Many people turn to lending, among other means. A plethora of references to guide anyone in this venture is available, but it's only one factor to consider.

“At the end of the day, in terms of really believing in yourself and getting a business off the board, it's usually the best way to do it.” - Brian Califano On using friends and family to raise funds for a new business

Quick links to connect with Brian Califano:

LinkedIn

AcceleratingCFO

Sima loves to hear from her listeners with input, questions, suggestions and just to connect! You can find her at the links below!

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Sima is passionate about data and loves to share, learn and help others that share that passion. If you love data as much as her, subscribe on iTunes and don't forget to leave a rating and review!

In today's episode, Sima Vasa talks with Roddy Knowles. Roddy is the Director of Product and Innovation Research at Research Now SSI. His leadership runs the machinery that leverages technology to effectively support products.

Technology underpins processes by which innovation comes to fruition. This is what Roddy and his team are working to achieve.

Technology Behind the Process

Today, tech advancements are coupled with ways to make more efficient various research processes. This is seen from data collection to generation of reports. There’s a constant goal to make work at the back end of everything easier and quicker.

As Roddy says, there are lots of technologies working as the machines underneath all these other technologies that run research methodologies.

Roddy Knowles Diving Deep into Automation

Process automation is key to a streamlined user experience. It opens a lot more opportunities for the collection of data. In addition, it equips researchers with the means to deliver fast and efficiently.

But there’s been a clamor to shift the conversation away from automation in a broad perspective. People have become more critical of what it actually brings to the table.

“Let’s stop talking about automation itself, but what is it actually doing. Why are we using it? How is it improving data analysis?” - Roddy Knowles

Not for Everyone and Everything

It’s important to remember that respondents come from different marketing segments. This means that they have different needs. Naturally, they will desire different experiences from products.

Engagement differs from one person to another. Research is just as specific.

“It’s not necessarily a one size fits all… Which is the way that research is often designed.” - Roddy Knowles

To hear more about Roddy Knowles' insights on research, technology, and brand experience, download and listen to the episode!

Quick links to connect with Roddy Knowles:

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Sima loves to hear from her listeners with input, questions, suggestions and just to connect! You can find her at the links below!

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Sima is passionate about data and loves to share, learn and help others that share that passion. If you love data as much as her, subscribe on iTunes and don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Simon Chadwick is the Founder and Managing Partner of Cambiar Consulting. He and Sima Vasa discuss the shifts in the research industry and the Gen Z potential in the workplace. How different are they from the Millennials? Tune in.

"If we look in the news we are constantly reminded that this is a generation that thinks rather differently ... it's much more about authenticity, much more about show me the evidence." - Simon Chadwick on gen Z’s impact on the industry

Market Reseach Industry - Simon Chadwick

Simon is popularly known as the rockstar of the market research industry. According to him, the year 2013 saw the rise in investments in data and analytics. Billions of investments came since then.

But the past two to three years showed a precipitous collapse in the industry. This year is focused on the stabilization of coming investments.

Investments and Industry Shifts

Venture capital firms now have to focus on returning investments to tons of investors.

"They are just basically doubling down on their successes and not pouring new money in." - Simon Chadwick

Shifts in the industry are also taking place. In data collection, for example, we're seeing a combination of big data and passive metering. Job roles also have to be clearly defined in order to make things easier.

Generation Z in the Workplace

Every generation has its own stereotype. There's a generation of heroes, another of conformists, and of rebels. What potential does Gen Z hold?

"Gen Z is coming up as a hero generation." - Simon Chadwick

The oldest Gen Z member is most probably around 22 years old today. Having evidence to understand people and make a difference is a unique attribute that they typically possess. In the near future, the research industry can become their go-to workplace.

To hear what Simon Chadwick has to say about the market research industry and the potential of the Gen Z members in the workplace, download and listen to the entire episode!

Links from the show and connect with Simon Chadwick:

Cambiar Consulting

Simon on LinkedIn

Twitter @simonchadwick

Sima loves to hear from her listeners with input, questions, suggestions and just to connect! You can find her at the links below!

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Sima is passionate about data and loves to share, learn and help others that share that passion. If you love data as much as her, subscribe on iTunes and don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Simon Chadwick Bio:

Simon Chadwick is the Founder and Managing Partner of Cambiar, a management consulting company dedicated to the market research industry. Prior to that, he was Global CEO of NOP World. He also ran six research companies within Kantar. He is also active in the leadership of the market research and analytics industries and is the immediate Past Chair of the new Insights Association, a result of the merger of CASRO and the MRA. He and his colleagues at Cambiar are prolific authors and commentators on the research profession and publish a series of studies on the state of the industry every year. In addition to his role, Simon is Editor-in-Chief of Research World, ESOMAR’s global magazine, and serves on the Board of Directors of a number of research-related companies. Simon is a Fellow of the Market Research Society. He holds an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University, England.

Hermann Kudlich is a Denmark-based business development partner at LEGO Brand Group. Today, he touches base with Sima Vasa. They talk about how coming up with innovative ways to marry physical and digital experiences can be fun, albeit challenging.

Physical Experience in the Digital Age

For over nine years, Hermann has worked with product innovation and lean startup methods at LEGO, leading major digital initiatives and product launches. But the times have changed. In this age of advanced technology, he continues his mission to create products that will entice the traditional and tech-savvy audience.

His working experience at LEGO has always been dosed with fun, down to the bricks scattered in boardrooms, inspiring creativity. This very nature of the workspace is what makes team members highly innovative, which is exactly what they need to be.

Hermann Kudlich The Testing Process

LEGO’s testing process ensures that they are up to date with a generation’s preferences. While it’s complex, Hermann admits that it’s one of the things that make his work enjoyable.

“LEGO does a lot of testing…doing it the right way creates amazing output. To me this is the perfect innovation process.” - Hermann Kudlich on LEGO’s testing process

By going through this rigorous testing process, they are able to come up with the perfect solutions to keep innovating. Its importance can’t be undermined, as it will determine the future of the brand.

Driven By Research

Research is key to LEGO's branding. The testing process involves co-creation sessions with children and their parents. The children’s reaction to and interaction with LEGO determine the whole testing, down to the design.

“As a designer, everyone has an opinion on what you do… The basic rule in our process was no one should have an opinion outside of the test.” - Hermann Kudlich on LEGO being driven by research

With these in mind, LEGO enables its teams to build a brand that is evidence-based and well-adapted to the changing times.

To hear more about Hermann Kudlich’s LEGO escapades, download and listen to the episode!

Quick links to connect with Hermann Kudlich:

LinkedIn

LEGO

Sima loves to hear from her listeners with input, questions, suggestions and just to connect! You can find her at the links below!

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Sima is passionate about data and loves to share, learn and help others that share that passion. If you love data as much as her, subscribe on iTunes and don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Annie Pettit has a masters in data quality and online surveys. She was a certified organizational psychologist with the Ontario government. Annie then moved into the private sector doing research on the research of data quality and it's analytics, social media analytics and now is a freelance researcher advising companies on best research practices and research reports.

The Market Researcher - Annie Pettit

Annie Pettit will argue that the market researcher has not changed one iota. She defines a market researcher as one who strives to understand consumers and markets. There's nothing to do with a questionnaire, big data, neuroscience or technique; it's the end purpose.

In that sense, in traditional research, we've normally used focus groups and questionnaires.  Just because researchers are not using these techniques does not mean they are not market researchers. We're all in this game together whether we call ourselves market researchers or we don't quite see ourselves as researchers.

"I am a big fan of letter of the law over the actual law." Annie Pettit on the new GDPR guidelines

As researchers, we already know the process of working with human data and can utilize the new technology at an advantage to do really great things with the new techniques.

The New Data Sets

Annie sees the biggest chunk of people willing to say they want to use the new data and try new stuff. But those same people are still clinging to tried and true, valid and reliable data. The actual application is much lower than what people say they want to do but gradually the new techniques are being used more.

"It's sort of on the way to mind-reading...It would be amazing if this was a tool used with consent" - Annie Pettit on new MIT research

Right now it appears to be mostly curiosity from the client side. They want to see what we can do with this stuff.

Social Media Data

Working in the social media industry, put Annie on the cutting edge of many things. Many of the conversations she had in the early days were how social media research is actually market research. She'd explain how it uses sampling and box scores how it's quantitative and even so far as privacy and ethics related to these types of data.

For people in social media who hadn't considered sampling or privacy ramifications, all of these conversations were new. They were primarily focused on the technique and not on the people underlying the data.

To hear what Annie Pettit says next about data quality, reading minds, social media and consent, download and listen to the entire episode!

Links from the show and connect with Annie Pettit:

Annie's Love Stats website

Annie on LinkedIn

Annie on Twitter

The Listen Lady

7 Strategies and 10 Tactics to Become a Thought Leader

People Aren't Robots: A practical guide to the psychology and technique of questionnaire design

Sima loves to hear from her listeners with input, questions, suggestions and just to connect! You can find her at the links below!

LinkedIn

Twitter

infinity-2.com

Sima is passionate about data and loves to share, learn and help others that share that passion. If you love data as much as her, subscribe on iTunes and don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Annie Pettit Bio:

Annie Pettit, Ph.D., FMRIA is a freelance research methodologist who specializes in survey design and analysis, data quality, and innovative methods. Starting out as a Certified Industrial Organizational Psychologist, her work has included psychometric test development within the Ontario government and bisthe Chief Research Officer of a social media research company. Annie is now an invited speaker at conferences around the world and frequent author of refereed and industry articles. She won a 2015 Ginny Valentine Award, 2014 ESOMAR Excellence Award for the Best Paper, 2014 MRIA Award of Outstanding Merit, 2013 ESOMAR Best Methodological Paper, and the 2011 AMA David K. Hardin Award. Annie blogs at LoveStats, tweets at @LoveStats and is the author of The Listen Lady, a novel about social media research,People Aren't Robots, a questionnaire design book, and7 Strategies and 10 Tactics to Become a Thought Leader. She can be reached at [email protected].