Now that's Significant

Ray Poynter joined us on this episode of Now That's Significant to talk about the good and bad choices that market research teams can make in the coming year, and how they need to embrace change in order to get ahead.

In the show...

We talked about the overarching themes and trends facing the insights industry over the next year or two.

Ray shared with us several particular challenges that the industry will need to grapple in 2023.

We talked about what organizations can do to hold on to their best people.

We discussed the insights professional’s role in helping its organization grapple with high inflation.

We touched on data quality initiatives

We looked some key initiatives on improving DEI

Ray talked about how market research and insights teams can leverage technology to help them deliver better outcomes for their organizations.

We explored what the agency/buyer relationship might look like in 2023.

And finally, we discussed the split of traditional v new methodologies in the market research world.

Enjoy the episode.

In this episode of Now that’s Significant, a market research podcast, Michael Howard, the head of marketing at Infotools discusses how market research and insights technology is most successful when it is invisible. 

- I discussed how market research and insights technology is most successful when it is invisible.

- What happens when market research and insights technology is visible?

- What kinds of technology there are across the end-to-end processes of the market research industry.

- The conundrum facing insights teams – do you go all-in-one or fit-for-purpose?

- What success looks like when market research and insights technology is invisible

- The role agencies play in making market research and insights tech invisible

- Considerations to make if you are looking into new market research technology

Enjoy the show

In this episode of Now that's Significant, we were joined by market research and insights technologist, Mike Stevens, from Insights Platforms. 

We discussed:

> The subject of ResTech, otherwise known as market research and insights technology, and how it is the new normal for insights professionals.

> ResTech is a term that has been floating around for a while now, Mike gave us a good understanding of what it is and where it sits in our daily lives.

> The challenge insights functions have in choosing either ERP/all-in-one generic software or fit-for-purpose, market research-specific technology.

> We touched on who is buying ResTech and how this compares to selecting agencies, briefly touching on the skills gaps that non-research users have.

> We dived into the buying journey and behavior for different types of market research data, which included reasons why ResTech buyers may 'fall out' of the sales process.

> Mike discussed how agencies fit into the world of ResTech, and also what the future holds in this space.

We hope you enjoy the show.

On this episode of Now that’s Significant, a Market Research Podcast, we were joined by Professor Michael Brereton, a leader in the global marketing research industry. Michael retired from Maritz Research after eleven years as its President and CEO, then subsequently joined the faculty of Michigan State University’s Eli Broad Graduate School of Management. He is an Executive in Residence and teaches Marketing Strategy in the Master of Science in Marketing Research Program.

We dived into Michael's rich commercial/academic experience to discuss what skillsets are required by tomorrow's leaders of the insights industry.

We talked about how tomorrow’s leaders in the insights space need different skills in order to serve their organizations with meaningful market and consumer intelligence. 

We looked at how the double-digit growth the insights and analytics market experienced in 2021, which included examining the differences between traditional processes and ResTech. Digital data analytics in its current trajectory could soon be the largest aspect of our industry.

Michael shared six trends that he’s identified concerning the response to change our sector is facing.

We discussed how one of the overarching themes arising from these trends is the decentralization of insights, decision makers having the ability to dive into the data if they want.

We covered the hard and soft skills that Michael has seen as being particularly desirable when it comes to recruitment, which then flowed into what roles of the future could look like too.

Finally, we looked at the different skill sets that are required by insights professionals of the future, and how Michigan State University is helping its students prepare for whatever tomorrow brings.

Master’s in Marketing Research – Eli Broad College of Business | Michigan State University (msu.edu)

Enjoy the show

On this episode of Now that’s significant, a Market Research Podcast, Andrea Mitlag, Client Engagement Manager at Infotools talks to Simon Banks, an international keynote speaker and author, podcaster on creativity, innovation and design and a recovering professional artist. They explore the subject of curiosity and how we can develop and harness its potential.

The covered:

What curiosity is and how we can harness its benefits when we use Traveller’s eyes, always looking at the world as if it was the first time we were seeing it.

We were reminded how 95% of the people that Simon has engaged with through his extensive coaching and consulting engagements believe that they are not creative, they cannot utilize the power of curiosity, which we now know is not true.

They discussed how curiosity may or may not be something that we are born with, and how there are ways we can develop it.

Simon and Andrea talked about the need for us to slow down in order for us to let our curiosity run its course, especially when it comes to generating insights.

They looked at the role of technology in scaling our curiosity.

And the discussion finished on what brands have to gain when they establish that culture of curiosity.

Here are Simon's details if you want to reach out to him.

·        Web: www.simonbanks.com.au

·        Pod: www.occupationalphilosophers.com

·        Book: https://www.simonbanks.com.au/book-a-thousand-little-light-bulbs/

·        LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonbanksvisualfunk

We're also very thankful to Feedspot for the inclusion on their list of top 30 market research podcasts. Check out all the others who are helping further the cause of our fantastic industry here: https://blog.feedspot.com/market_research_podcasts/

Enjoy the show.

In this episode of Now that's Significant, we were joined by Anne Brown, Chief Executive Officer and Principal of Gazelle Global Research Services, a Market Research global sample and operations company. Her extensive international data collection, data processing and management experience brings a high level of practical knowledge to both clients and staff. Her lengthy livelihood in custom research has enabled her to build a set of comprehensive skills she utilizes to help guide projects in a wide range of industries.

Through the episode, we talked about the need for the insights community to significantly raise the levels of respondent experience we're currently providing the world. This is not just from any one company or individual, but across the board.

Anne shared some of the reasons why experience levels are where they are and some potential options for improvement.

We looked into some of the reasons why it's been so hard to offer better experiences, plus what happens when we get it right.

And lastly, we were reminded of the progress we have actually made, and how grateful we should be of those taking proactive measures to making our industry better. After all, we all know the benefit and necessity of what we do. That's why it's so important we all lift our game.

Enjoy the show.

On this latest episode of Now that's Significant, we were joined by we’re joined by Ethan Kellough, Co-Founder and Chief Product Technology Officer at Highlight, an Agile In-Home Usage Testing Platform that is making it fast and easy to conduct research with physical products.

On this episode, we discussed the gulf between physical and digital product teams.

How the pace of innovation in the software industry quickly outpaced the physical product industry

The physical product industry is full of waste and is ripe for optimization

The lessons that the software industry has learned over the past 20 years can be directly applied to physical product research

You shared three lessons that physical product researchers can implement right away

• The best data is the data that most closely reflects reality
• Invalidate, don’t validate 
• Size research effort proportional to the risk of being wrong

We also discussed how the physical product research space changed in COVID and how in the next decade you’re hoping to see more agility come in at all stages of physical product research

Hope you enjoy the episode.

On this episode of Now that’s significant, a Market Research Podcast, we were joined by Nancy Hernon, CEO and Co-founder of G3 Translate, a translation agency dedicated to cultural relevancy and inclusion giving a voice to the consumer in a time where linguistic and cultural norms are ever-changing. 

We discussed how one size doesn't fit all in market research, and the critical role of international survey design in today's insights world.

We covered:

• Culturally relevant survey design.
• Knowing and understanding your respondents and how they want to be spoken to.
• Dos and Don'ts of survey design for international surveys.
• Ensuring the survey design itself works for all markets, not only linguistically but technically.
• Examples of what can happen when international survey design isn't used.
• The future of translation in market research and the role of AI.

Enjoy the show

In this episode of Now that’s Significant, we were joined by Marion Elliott, Director of Client Solutions at the Schlesinger Group.

Marion’s experience in the market research field began in software and technology, she now works to help clients employ ResTech solutions to future-proof their insights practice.

An avid follower of the latest trends and innovations, Marion is enthusiastic about market research technology and insights. Since 2018, she has served as the lead on WIRe’s “WIRe in Color” initiative, which seeks to strengthen the connections among—and raise the visibility of—women of color in market research.

On this episode, we discussed Marion’s work in the ResTech space, as well as her invaluable contribution to WIRe in Color across the industry.

We talked about the work that WIRe in Color is doing. The leadership and mentor programs, etc., which are helping people to find their place and their belonging in the industry.

We touched on performative diversity as well, which is about making sure that companies just aren't checking boxes when it comes to DEI, but actually putting in things that will give longevity to these initiatives as well.

We covered off how far we've come, especially considering what many have and still do go through in their lives.

And we also went into ResTech and the role that that plays and in market research but also and diversity, equity, inclusion, and access. Marion shared with us what she is really excited about when it comes to the innovation that’s hitting the market, some of which includes platforms that are bringing together multiple methodologies.

We hope you enjoy the show.

On this episode of Now that’s Significant, a Market Research Podcast, we have a new guest host in John Bird, EVP of Client Development at Infotools.

John is joined by two inspiring insights professionals - Sherri Dansby and Damon Jones, founding members of the Insights Association's IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access) Council. Sherri, Damon, and the IDEA Council are working to fulfill a mission to deliver measurement, education, and standards of excellence to address the lack of representation in the insights profession and the populations it researches. 

Sherri and Damon we’re excited to share what the IDEA Council has accomplished since its inception in 2020. They talk about our “IDEAtor” fellowship program for young professionals, Equity Toolkit, and our “research on research” efforts to understand the current state of inclusion and diversity (aka DEI) in the industry and how to improve the execution of market research studies.

They provide some good advice for insights professionals regarding what they can do to bolster their IDEA efforts.

At Infotools, we know the value of providing organizations with representative insights. And with every improvement done before survey data is collected, i.e. who we hire, who strategizes. who designs, what is asked, who asks, how it is asked, who shapes, etc., the better we all will be as a result.

Here are some links discussed in the episode:

“The Evolution of Demographic Questions”, a position paper on how to ask demographic questions on Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Race and Ethnicity. https://bit.ly/IDEA_Qs.

https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/idea-council

Enjoy the show.