Someone decided that your coffee tastes the way it does…and it wasn't an accident. Behind every flavor that hits a shelf is a web of consumer research, cultural context and calculated risk that has to drive decisions faster than ever.

In this episode, we're joined by Basak Oker, Marketing & CSI Director, Europe at Givaudan Taste & Wellbeing, who has spent 18 years at the intersection of flavor science, consumer behavior and brand innovation. Basak makes a compelling case that the insights function isn't there to validate decisions — it's there to remove randomness from innovation entirely. She breaks down how flavor trends move through the system, from Michelin-starred bar treks to mainstream shelves, and why that cycle has compressed from five years to six months.

We also cover:

• Why a strawberry flavor that signals joy in one market signals medicine in another + what brands must do before assuming anything travels globally
• How faster access to existing research shifts insights teams from reporting functions to genuine growth enablers 
• What GLP-1 medications, Gen Alpha purchasing power, and "fantasy flavors" mean for the next wave of food and beverage innovation

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Most companies say they’re market-led — so why do decisions still feel slow, reactive, or overly cautious?

In this episode of the Insighter's Club Podcast, Ross is joined by Tracy Berry, Founder of Berry Insights, Vice President of the Council of Competitive Intelligence Fellows and former Senior Intelligence Analyst at the U.S. Department of Defense, to explore what truly turns insight into action.

Drawing on experience spanning national security, SaaS, and enterprise organizations, Tracy shares why competitive intelligence only creates advantage when it’s designed for decision-making — not just monitoring.

You’ll hear:

• Why “being market-led” is often misunderstood
• The difference between data, signals, and real intelligence
• How the what / so what / now what framework drives action
• What corporate insight teams can learn from defense-grade intelligence tradecraft
• How to build trust, narrative, and decision confidence with leaders

A practical and thought-provoking listen for insight leaders, competitive intelligence teams, and anyone focused on turning insight into impact.

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Your biggest AI risk in 2026 isn’t model collapse. It’s insight teams still acting like report factories in a market that now runs on intelligence infrastructure.

In this episode, Ross sits down with Stravito Founder & CEO Thor Olof Philogène to map where the insight function really stands after a year of AI acceleration, failed pilots, and rising expectations. They unpack why AI is no longer “the strategy” but the infrastructure enabling it and why the true competitive edge now lives in the 3 U’s of data: uniqueness, usability, and utilization.

Together, they explore how leading organizations are shifting from static knowledge repositories to living intelligence systems, turning years of “research waste” into reusable capital that compounds over time. They dig into the uncomfortable truth about data quality in a democratized world, the widening gap between access and literacy, and why commercial acumen and storytelling have become non-negotiable power skills for insight leaders who want a real say in growth.

If you’re ready to operate in the market as it is (not as you remember it), this conversation is your early field guide to 2026.

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Insight teams are facing a dangerous illusion: believing technology alone will elevate their influence while culture quietly erodes it. This is the unfiltered, hard-hitting conversation every insights leader needs to hear right now.

In Part 2 of this special live episode of The Insighter's Club Podcast, recorded at the Stravito Insights Summit 2025 in Paris, three powerhouse leaders dig into one of the most misunderstood and most business-critical  drivers of insight transformation: building a knowledge culture that outperforms any software, platform, or AI tool on the market.

Featuring Seema Hope (VP of Insight, The Economist), Leo Moore (Senior Director, Category Strategic Insights & Analytics, Kellanova), and Christopher Rastin (Head of Global Customer Research, E.ON), this conversation exposes what teams get wrong when rolling out knowledge hubs,  the art of “democratization” and where it can backfire, and the emerging industry  fault line around synthetic data.

Together, they unpack the real operating levers that make or break insight excellence in the age of AI: cultural discipline, curation, human judgment, and the courage to challenge hype cycles.

In this conversation, we tackle:

• The hidden cultural blockers that undermine self-service platforms and knowledge hubs.
• Why dynamic curation (not static libraries) is the new bar for insight democratization.
• Where GenAI genuinely accelerates workflows and where it’s dangerously unreliable.
• Why synthetic data could become the industry’s biggest ethical discussion.
  
  

If you’re committed to future-proofing your insight function, this episode isn’t optional, it’s the tried and tested roadmap.Join The Insighter’s Club and get exclusive industry insights, expert analysis, and cutting-edge trends delivered straight to your inbox.

Insight teams are at a crossroads: stay safe and stay small or claim a seat at the growth table. This is the operating playbook to move from “report factory” to strategic co-pilot.

In this special live episode of The Insighter's Club Podcast, recorded at Stravito Insights Summit 2025 in Paris, three trailblazing leaders unpack what it really takes to dismantle silos and hard-wire insights into decision-making: Seema Hope (VP of Insight, The Economist), Leo Moore (Senior Director, Category Strategic Insights & Analytics, Europe at Kellanova) and Christopher Rastin (Head of Global Customer Research, E.ON). Together, they reveal tried and tested decisive levers: KPI alignment, process design, internal PR, and finance fluency, that turn insights from a cost center into a value engine.

In this conversation, we tackle:

• Why silos persist (competing KPIs, turf, trust) and a practical path to break them permanently.
• Why “delivering data” isn’t enough and how to lead with a conclusion, then prove it fast.
• The secret to embedding insights early (not post-hoc) without losing ownership or control.
• How to democratize insights so they scale, without diluting standards or rigor.
• The underrated power move: becoming best friends with finance to show real ROI.
  
  

If you’re passionate about multiplying your impact as an insights leader, this episode is a call to action to upgrade your operating system, not just your methods.

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Your best insight isn’t getting ignored because it’s wrong; most likely, it’s invisible. If your work keeps dying in inboxes, the problem isn’t the data; it’s the delivery.

In this episode, we sit down with Candice Walton from Lloyd’s Banking Group to unpack a non-’buzz’, career-defining topic for senior insights leaders: how to engineer impact. Candice breaks down how her team moved from “answer factory” to insight as a reusable asset, built an Insight Newsroom to craft headlines and actions, and used storytelling, format experimentation (newsletters, webinars, video, infographics) and engagement analytics to make insights spread fast.

We also cover:

• Building a measurable engagement funnel for insight (readership, dwell, comments, actions).
• Why “describe it to a 10 year old” beats jargon for executive attention.
• Operating a drop-in Insight Newsroom to cut noise and sharpen story.
• Protecting proactive time so you can respond faster when news or regulation hits.

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You probably don’t need another study. You need to use the ones you already paid for. Every year, good insights get lost in slide decks, folders, and “we’ll come back to this later.”

In this episode, Jake Burghardt, former Amazon research leader, now at IntegratingResearch.com shows how to rescue the gold that’s already in your archive. We talk about why teams keep re-asking the same questions, how to turn a 30-page report into a one-page keeper, and simple habits that bring insights into the room when decisions are made. If you lead consumer insights, this is a gentle but firm nudge: less chasing new data, more making your best work usable, visible, and hard to ignore.

• A quick test for when an “old” insight is still useful and when it’s not.
• A weekly “rediscovery” habit that surfaces past insights right before planning.
• Easy ways to show impact (without buying another tool or building a dashboard).
• Where to plug insights into briefs, roadmaps, and OKRs so they shape decisions.

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Consumer data is losing its credibility and it’s not just because of bots. For years, incentivized surveys and outdated methods have been quietly warping the truth, leaving brands guessing about what customers really think.

In this episode, Stephanie Clapham, Director of Research at Latana, tells us why the old ways aren’t working and what’s replacing them. She shares how her team is ditching tired panel systems for fresh, ad-based sampling that finds real people in their real environments, no incentives, no professional survey takers. Steph lays out how brands can earn back trust and uncover insights they can truly stand behind.

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Insight teams are at a crossroads: stay safe and stay small, or take bold steps to become strategic growth drivers.

In this special live episode of The Insighter’s Club Podcast, we bring together three trailblazing leaders who are shaping the future of consumer insights. Recorded at The Stravito Insight Summit in Austin, Texas, Kristi Brown (Chick-fil-A), Michelle Sullivan (Target, General Mills) and Kristen Oeltjenbruns (Cargill) sit down to explore the path to insight excellence.

In this candid conversation, we tackle some pressing industry issues:

• Why are insights teams still stuck in silos, and how can we break these barriers once and for all?
• Why delivering data alone is no longer enough and how to transform it into actionable storytelling.
• What’s the secret to embedding insights throughout your organization without losing ownership or control?
• Why democratizing insights is the key to the future and how gatekeeping can limit your career growth.
  
  

If you're passionate about amplifying your impact as an insights professional, this episode is a call-to-action to elevate your approach and make a lasting impact across your business.

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Too often, insight teams are asked to deliver fast answers, neglecting the time, tools, or trust to get them right. The cost of that remains usually invisible – until it’s not.

In this episode, Jane Frost CBE, CEO of the Market Research Society, digs into why the true job of insight professionals is synthesis, not exclusively analysis, and what it takes to move from being data providers to trusted strategic advisors in today’s organizations. We also discuss:

• Why great insight is built on connection.
• The importance of stakeholder relationships
• How treating insights as reusable assets strengthens long-term decisions

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