The 5 Changes Accelerating Market Research Innovation

Looking back at 2000 I smile when I remember most major global clients didn’t even have internet connections at their desks. So, I was perhaps a bit over-enthusiastic to set up a business using technology to help companies get closer to their customers. It took time to convince clients our data was truly robust and representative. It was a slow build – but now I feel confident in claiming us as experts in consumer innovation.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but what of foresight? The only thing we can all foresee is major sea-changes and innovations taking place in insights. And some of these will totally change the way we work and the way we connect to consumers going forward.

 

Here are my top five:

1. Technology as a way to surface emotions

It seems counterintuitive, but as technology progresses, what is really changing our sector is how we use it. The interaction between technology and understanding emotions is going to become more and more important. Whether that’s neuro, implicit or super-fast Tinder-style techniques, it’s not really about the tool anymore, but the integration of digital to bring to life consumer understanding. We like to talk about technology as the enabler for insights – affording us new ways to elicit consumer expression and new ways to report and activate. This will only get bigger and better.

 

2. Implementing the real definition of agile

In the last few years agile has become the operative word for all sectors – What? Another agile RFI? But it is often misused and misunderstood.

People think agile means fast and cheap. But it is not about cost. The true meaning of agile in the Google sense is bringing your consumer into the development cycle earlier – and rapidly iterating and optimizing based on their input and involvement with your stakeholders. It means being selective in choosing the best options, and accepting failure, in order to improve.

We are already seeing general shifts to test and learn – and implementing the real definition of agile. In the future I see this becoming the only option for innovation.

 

3. Test and Learn

Let’s face it, stage-gates are dead. Your innovation process needs to reflect the true customer journey, because the customer path to purchase ceased to be linear the minute the internet started. We need to navigate the multiple complexities of consumers’ lives and their myriad of choices. So, when you combine agile with Test+Learn, you are better able to collect multiple small data points across this journey. It means investing less but potentially killing off more ideas to minimize risk.

Innovation and insights processes need to have this common goal – this is where the majority of our global clients are focusing now.

 

4. Going deeper to understand why

Because of the impact of behavioral economics, understanding emotional drivers at a deeper level is what many marketers focus on today. This is becoming more and more predominant in all industries, whether it’s CPG or Big Health with patients & HCPs. Big data is real and it has given us the what. But it doesn’t always reveal the why. The true value of insight is in understanding underlying motivations, so this intersection of emotions with big data is where the future lies.

 

5. Anytime and anywhere: the importance of flexibility

There are many ways to interpret Flexibility, but for us at buzzback flexibility means supporting our team to work anywhere any time. We’ve been ‘walking the talk’ as I say for 20+ years. Indeed, we have worked hard to build a culture that encourages individual responsibility, combined with collective creativity and innovation. The pandemic has, of course, incredibly accelerated this process and now we see our clients and their customers grappling with the same. Virtual and digital are now more than ever part of our lives and the lives of the consumers we research, shaping new behavior and trends. From e-commerce (growing 50-60% in many markets), to telehealth, (also growing exponentially), office team huddles, and personal connections. We’re now used to talking through screens. Zoom, Teams, Hangout, there’s a new tool every day for us to meet in completely new ways. Even my parents in their 80s are Zooming with family.

 

It is clear that the future will bring new ways of connecting that will put flexible technology at the centre of all communications – both for doing research and for how we work and live. It’s just not completely clear what that will look like. Perhaps the only thing that can truly be predicted is a faster acceleration of change for the next 20 years. I’m excited to see what comes true, and even more excited for what I can’t predict.

 

Photo by Rodolfo Clix from Pexels