As part of his industry leadership activities, Crispin Beale, Group President of Behaviorally, has been instrumental in the ESOMAR Insight250 initiative, identifying the top research practitioners and innovators, and their contributions to the insights industry. He has conducted a stellar interview with 2021 designee Kyle Findlay (Senior Data Science Director of Kantar South Africa) on the growing role of data science (read the entire interview here).
It is a great read, even if you’re not a data scientist, and parallels our own beliefs about where the insights industry is heading and how data science is going to help us get there. Specifically, Kyle talks about the power of tools such as AI. He describes how he believes data science solutions empower insight consultancies who embrace them, extracting patterns and understanding from ever larger datasets, automating statistical processes and providing holistic pictures of markets and customers. He outlines how data science augments the human skills of research professionals, democratizing access to insights, and helping researchers support their clients faster.
One thing Kyle mentions that aligns 100% with our vision is that “your data science product is only as good as the data you have access to”, which is why we have invested heavily at Behaviorally in tools that tap into the world’s largest behavioral database for packaging. Amassed over decades and constantly refreshed to reflect how consumers do what they do, we have leveraged AI-based image recognition and computer vision, in combination with our unique behavioral framework of predictive KPIs, to enable brands to win in that most valuable moment when a consumer makes a purchase transaction.
It’s early days for data science, and at Behaviorally we are optimistic that data science will be a key component of our evolving solutions that help clients realize value from their marketing. To paraphrase Kyle, data science enables the researcher to become “psychologist, statistician AND data-driven story-teller”. Perhaps most critically, it also empowers insights professionals to drive the growth agenda of brands further forward.
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