Send us a text 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 re...

Send us a text 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 ...

Send us a text 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 writingJonathan'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 b...

Send us a text 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 pointsLearning from police interrogation techniquesThe importance of the ‘love ...

Send us a textDelighted 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 creati...

Send us a textIs 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 daysWhy consumer insight businesses often do...

Send us a textHave 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 Rese...

Send us a textVery 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 WorldwideJuggling 20+ launches per yearIntegration of tradit...

Send us a textA 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 ManchesterLessons for founders The importance of experience metrics and correlation with market shareThe (hitherto hidden) impact of retail media on brand equity and advocacySetting up a ‘data as a service’ propositionThe role of the Market Research CouncilWha...

Send us a textSo 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 fu...

Send us a textUnlock the secrets of neuromarketing with Marco Baldocchi, a trailblazer in the field of neuroscience and marketing. Ever wondered how the brain determines which brands we remember and which we forget? This episode promises to reveal how engaging key components of the brain such as the hippocampus and limbic system can transform fleeting impressions into lasting brand loyalty. Marco walks us through: Cutting-edge techniques for measuring brain activity, such as gaze tr...

Send us a textGet an insider’s perspective on Warner Brothers Discovery's corporate strategy team, focusing on insights and analytics that drive business operations across movies, TV shows, streaming services, and games. Vera delves into the importance of consumer behavior and trends in optimizing current practices and identifies future opportunities in emerging technologies. Among other areas, in this episode we cover: How AI can genuinely be usefulTechniques used to evaluate emerg...

Send us a textImagine you’re buying a new bike….you’ve been to multiple websites, you’ve seen several ads, you’ve clicked on some but not others, read reviews on different sites and…eventually you buy the bike. However, how does the bike seller understand the contribution of each marketing channel? And where should they invest next for other customers?This is just one of the questions, which John Readman founder of Ask Bosco addresses in the latest Futureview podcast. Origin...

Send us a textWhat if the stereotypes we hold about different generations are completely misguided? What if we don't know how to define them properly? Or if we're making up generations that simply haven't (yet) been properly defined?Well, Sharalyn Orr of The Estee Lauder Companies is coming to the rescue with part 2 of our interview....Join us as we debunk the myth that Baby Boomers are resistant to technology and reveal the defining traits of Gen X, molded by the upheavals of the late 60s an...

Send us a textJoin us for the season four premiere of FutureView, where we sit down with Sharlyn Orr, Executive Director of Global Marketing Innovation at Estee Lauder Companies. Sharalyn takes us through her fascinating shift from journalism to consumer insights to marketing and the crucial role of subject matter experts in managing information overload within large organizations. Among other areas we cover:- How Sharalyn almost became a policewoman (kind of)- Moving from TV news...

Send us a textA pleasure to have Amy Cashman on this week’s podcast. Amy is the CEO of Kantar’s Insights Division for the UK and Ireland. Obviously Kantar is one of the best known and biggest names in the insights industry but a lot’s changed in recent year. So, we get into all that and more, including Understanding how Kantar has evolvedBalancing corporate responsibilities with staying in touch with clientsHow how the business thinks about poduct development processesH...

Send us a textA pleasure to have on Sarah Beachler in a really great chat. At the time of recording Sarah was Senior Director of Consumer Insights at Nike and formerly at Meta as Global Head of Marketing Research for Reality Labs, at Google as Head of Global Consumer Insights for Hardware, Retail and Gaming and Head of Market Research and Consumer Insights at Sephora.So, a fantastic foundation of experience to get into a range of industry issues including: - &nbs...

Send us a textSo, how do influencers really contribute to marketing campaigns? How do you measure that impact and compare with other forms of media? Enter the perfect person to get under the skin of these issues…. Gaz Alushi, President of Measurement and Analytics at Whalar, one of the leading agencies in the creators space. Gaz is formerly of Meta, Pinterest and Snap and his work has shown evidence of a 2.4x ROI from creators campaigns. We we had a great conversation, incorporating&nbs...

Send us a textWhat are the practical ways AI is going to change research - not just in the future, but in the here and now? Arguably, there’s no one better to talk to on that front than Kathryn Topp, the CEO and co-founder of Yabble. As Kathryn describes, she and and her co-founder, Rachel O’Shea, introduced their first generative AI tool in 2020 with Open AI since ADD and I was lucky enough to talk through:Integrating the insights flow into one platformIntroducing generative AI into the plat...

Send us a textFrom stingrays and hot coals (listen to find out) to building one of the leading companies in facial coding, emotion AI and behavioral leading models, Matt Celuszak of Element Human has had quite a journey. Matt’s always astute, engaging and in this interview we get into the issues above and more, including Strengths and weakness of facial coding dataEvaluating the intersection of claimed and behavioral data setsUnderstanding effectiveness of content for the BBC...