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In a world like sports  - where a clean number can seal a deal, but a fuzzy story can sink it - how do you ensure data fidelity and really robust conclusions? And what's the data behind the scenes that moves investment?  Well, I can't think of anyone better to explain that balance than the  fantastic  Nicole Pike, Global Head of Sport for YouGov (and formerly head of video games and E-sports at Nielsen.)  We dig into:

- Nicole's journey from pet food research to movies, video games, e-sports and sport.

- How audience behavior has shifted in the world of games

- Where AI helps analysis without breaking trust

- The unique mechanics of entertainment sector forecasting

- The reality behind the E-sports boom

- The emergent uses of consumer data to fill out stadiums and monetize sports content

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If you’ve just raised $20m for an insights business is that a win? Or are you just taking on debt and potentially unrealistic expectations around business model?  Just a couple of the subjects we get into in part 2 of the opening interview of the new FutureView series with Jonathan Williams of One Strategy Studio. In part 1 we explored Jonathan’s entrepreneurial journey thought the insight space and we now move onto the question of funding and financial sustainability the sector, including:

 -          The importance of value, rather than time, based pricing

-          Why it may not be a good ideas to ask consumers (in the first place, anyway)

-          How far can you get using AI

-          Dealing with concerns around hallucinations

-          Why raising money through VC/ PE may not be the right model for insight businesses

-        Does SaaS work for insight businesses>

-         What Jonathan has changed his mind about recently…

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Delighted to talk to Jonathan Williams, successful founder of multiple agencies who has consistently pushed the boundaries of strategic insight...and how technology can help.   Among other areas we cover:

• Thinking about the creative process in music and writing
• Jonathan's journey and learning having successfully launched and sold  Clear Ideas (to M&C Saatchi), MASH (to Kantar), and Discover AI (to Talkwalker)
• The creation of One Strategy Studio – an agency powered by AI personas working alongside human strategists to drive projects end to end.
• The paradox of time-based billing - the ore efficient you get, the less you can charge. 
• Imagining a new direction for a major movie franchise. 

And that's just part 1. In part 2 we move onto the impact of VC/ PE funding on the insights business,  whether SaaS type models can really apply to the insights world and how to successfully interface AI with the insights world. 

All episodes available at https://www.insightplatforms.com/podcasts/

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What a pleasure to welcome on Catherine Willis of IHG Hotels and Resorts onto the podcast. Catherine is a font of knowledge and brings to bear amazing perspective.   In addition to our chat about the importance of beige food and darkened rooms (qual researchers, you’ll understand), some highlights from our conversation:

How to uncover true consumer motivations

• Identifying and addressing anxiety points
• Learning from police interrogation techniques
• The importance of the ‘love spark’ in car purchase
• Advice for young people entering the industry
• The impact of AI
• Lessons from Ford, Cox Communications and LG Electronics

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Delighted to have on Steve Phillips, the Founder, former CEO and now Chief Innovation Officer of Zappi. Steve is one  the foremost thinkers and entrepreneurs in consumer insights, marketing and innovation,  a veteran of several  start ups and the driving force behind Zappi, who took on a $170m investment from Sumeru Equity  Partners in December 2022 to drive further innovation.  

We have a great conversation including: 

• The story behind Zappi’s creation and growth
• Advice for entrepreneurs
• How to instill true benefits from  automation
• The balance between self-service and conventional agency offerings
• Using meta-data and AI models to ideate before testing
• The use of AI agents
• Managing the transition from CEO and ensuring staff still say ‘no’

With thanks to Insight Platforms for their support and MX8 Labs for sponsoring. 

All episodes available at https://www.insightplatforms.com/podcasts/

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Is brand tracking totally broken?  Or just boring? Well, maybe it’s neither. I’m delighted to chat to James Turner (JT) who is the founder and CEO of Delineate, the pioneering firm challenging the status quo in a critical sector. Drawing on experience and learnings from Circana, BT, Black Swan and Edelman, JT is great company and offers a unique perspective. Among other areas, we discuss:

• Learning to handle ‘big data’ in the early days
• Why consumer insight businesses often don’t have their data houses in order
• Learning from the world of PR
• Moving from brand tracking to campaign tracking….and back again
• Lessons for founders
• What’s next for Delineate

If you want to support the podcast and future episodes, please follow/ review etc on Apple, Spotify etc. 

All episodes available at https://www.insightplatforms.com/podcasts/

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Have you ever thought about how environmental principles could translate into consumer insight? Not necessarily in the sense of more sustainable approach to the practice of market research, (although that is clearly very important) but evaluating how we can take learnings from the interaction of natural ecosystems and apply those to understandings of businesses and their interactions with consumers….nope, me neither!

Well, fortunately, the brilliant Erin Sowell of Thoughtful Research has done exactly that. Erin is  the emerging leaders representative for the MRC and has developed her framework in association with the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia and among other areas we cover:

• What is ecosystem science?
• How principles from the natural world interrelate with business
• The LEARN, ADAPT and ENGINEER frameworks
• Intersections and differences with traditional market research
• The Emerging Leaders program at the MRC

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Very topical this week for all you WICKED fans - we have on Owen Myles of Universal Pictures, explaining how film studios adjust their marketing in relation to a film’s likely performance. Owen also adds in some great lessons from his time at other brands and agencies, as well as a refreshing twist on what makes a good brand/ agency relationship.  Among other areas we cover:

• Lessons from Kantar, Sony Europe and BBC Worldwide
• Juggling 20+ launches per year
• Integration of traditional and new measures to anticipate success
• Differences between U.S. and international approaches
• The state of the film industry post Covid

With call outs to Chris Massey, Henry Heywood, David Boyle and thanks to Insight Platforms for their support and to MX8 Labs for sponsoring.

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A real pleasure to have Fiona Blades, Founder and Chief Experience Officer of Mesh  Experience on the podcast.  It’s a great conversation, incorporating: 

• What you can learn from the indie music scene in Manchester
• Lessons for founders 
• The importance of experience metrics and correlation with market share
• The (hitherto hidden) impact of retail media on brand equity and advocacy
• Setting up a ‘data as a service’ proposition
• The role of the Market Research Council
• What makes a good client
• And why teenage boys really wear deodorant (yes, really). 

With call outs for SMG, the Path to Purchase Institute, the Market Research Council. And thanks to Insight Platforms for their support and to MX8 Labs for sponsoring. 

All episodes available at https://www.insightplatforms.com/podcasts/

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So delighted to have on Stefanie Zammit of Bang & Olufsen, formerly of  Marks and Spencer, and Starbucks. There’s so much fantastic perspective and insight from Stefanie in this episode….not least do’s and don’ts of work in the Middle East, learning how to socialize research at M&S, and researching at Starbucks during the pandemic. You’ll also learn about Stefanie’s unintended moment of stardom in Sri Lanka…

Some of the key areas in this episode:

• How client side is fundamentally different from agency: “the final report is only the beginning”.
• Research and analytics departments are flip sides of the same coin: distinctions are often artificial and not helpful.
• How insights infrastructure and sequential knowledge building enables you to optimize resources.
• Budget restrictions can sometimes be a benefit (really?...yes!).
• Lessons from mentors
• Hygiene factors and what really makes a good agency stand out
• Key considerations in structuring a research department

Listen in to find out more....

All episodes available at https://www.insightplatforms.com/podcasts/

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