A Day In The Life Of The Researchers Of The Future

 

Editor’s Note:  A few months back the ARF asked me to present on “The Researcher Of The Future” at re:Think 2013. We hatched an ambitious agenda for the presentation:

1. To showcase data from the most recent GRIT study on the skill sets clients and suppliers were hiring for to adapt their organizations to new realities in the space
2. Conduct a mobile ethnography study among the ARF “ Young Pros ” group to understand the attitudes and behaviors of Millennials working in the research space
3. Moderate a discussion at the conference with a group of client and supplier side young researchers to get their take on he results of the findings from both GRIT and the ethnography as well as what the industry needs to do to attract and retain young professionals.

Ambitious though it may have been, with the help of a lot of folks at the ARF and the major contribution of Julie Wittes-Schlack and her team at Communispace doing the mobile ethnography project, we did indeed pull it off.

What we found in the GRIT data is that the in-demand skill sets in the insights function have very little to do with traditional analytical, methodological, or project management abilities and a whole lot more to do with strategy, data synthesis, and communication. We also found almost perfect alignment between suppliers and clients; both are effectively hiring folks with the exact same profile, which is interesting indeed.

As we dived into the “day in the life” Millennial study we discovered that the next generation of researchers are well situated to capitalize on these trends: they are flexible, dynamic, tech savvy and impatient with the status quo. During a period of disruptive change, it seems that the new entrants into the MR talent pool may truly be the ideal candidates to assume leadership roles, and they are champing at the bit to do it.

The panel discussion tied these themes together, and from what I can tell participants left it with a new understanding oif the changing face of human capital in our industry and inspired by the opportunity this shift presents for our industry.  For a write-up of the session itself, check out this commentary from MediaPost

Obviously I wasn’t able to be there in person, but my business partner in Gen 2 Advisors, Gregg Archibald, took over for me at the last minute. That’s him rockin’ the stage in the picture above. Below is the deck he presented on the GRIT results.

Rethink researcher of the future from Lenny Murphy

Julie and the Communispace team created a truly fantastic video summarizing what they learned from the mobile ethnography project. Here is Julie’s write-up of the results and the video. It’s not to be missed.

Thanks again to all involved for the opportunity to be a part of this very cool project; I hope we can do more interesting (and impactful) things like in the future as well.

 

By Julie Wittes Schlack

“Why do millennials have such a bad reputation?” a millennial plaintively asked in a recent mobile ethnography project that we ran on behalf of the Advertising Research Foundation for the Re:think 2013 conference just winding up. “I just read another article quoting ad industry execs talking about how millennials act entitled and spoiled,” she wrote alongside an uploaded photo of yet another article about her generation. “…How reductive and insulting!”

This understandably irate young woman was one of 34 market research and consumer insights specialists under the age of 30 whom we asked to share some of the highlights and lowlights of their days. Specifically, we asked them to report on at least one:

• Frustrating, eye-rolling moment
• Instant of personal or professional triumph
• Promising tool or process
• Moment when they felt they had a better way to answer a question or accomplish an objective than the more senior members of their organization
• Moment when they learned something from a mentor