In the past week, Behaviorally’s European team have been virtually sitting down with senior leaders in the insights industry in our Behaviorally Speaking livestream series to discuss the latest trends today and what the future of insights will look like. These conversations included these special guests and topics:
- Stan Sthanunathan (Formerly Executive Vice President – CMI, Unilever) on “All Things Transformative in MRX”
- Chris White (Senior Manager Strategic Insights & Analytics, Johnson & Johnson) on “Transformative Role of BeSci”
- Kristin Luck (Founder, ScaleHouse & ESOMAR President) on “Building Brands to Disrupt Industry”
- Eric Salama (Formerly CEO of Kantar, Chair of Comic Relief, & Board Director of Morning Consult) on “Progress Over Perfection”
- Pete Markey (CMO, Boots UK) on “Omnichannel Strategy in a Post-COVID World”
- Crispin Beale (Formerly Chair of MRS & UK ESOMAR Representative) on “The Future of Insights”
One of the most interesting themes to emerge include how vital it is for the insights industry to transform and evolve. Looking back as previous world crises, Kristin Luck predicted a Post-Pandemic 6% boom in the economy in the United States alone with numerous other countries also seeing positive upswings. With that positive thought in mind, the winners in our industry will be those who succeed at evolving and innovating in different ways to meet the behavioral changes brought on by COVID and the resulting need of clients to understand and manage them.
Furthermore, technology has helped the insights industry work faster, cheaper, and better. In the past, clients could only have two out of the three but now, they expect to have it all. Stan Sthanunathan recommended outsourcing processes utilizing technology so we may insource critical strategic thinking.
Speaking of time, Eric Salama shared his belief that speed in itself is a deliverable. Delivering faster insights is of the utmost importance. Clients now just expect answers to their critical problems overnight, if not within hours. Time is currency now and business decision making has to take place at such accelerated speeds.
The other technological phenomena highlighted in our Leadership Livestream is the growth of e-commerce. Pete Markey stated that online sales at Boots have increased 100% year after year; he underscored the importance of being able to meet customer’s needs especially in relation to to omnichannel strategy from click-and-collect to home delivery. Chris White pointed out how it is important for insights partners to provide their clients with the behavioral implications of what consumers are doing and their decision-making – especially in relations to their shopper journeys online.
In the final livestream with Crispin Beale, he summarizes the positive future of insights. We live in an uncertain world, but insights pull the truth out of factual data and provide a narrative for action. With the right partner, clients can trust the precise elements insights provides to define and diagnose the steps to help them drive shopper growth.
To watch all the insightful livestream episodes, please visit
www.behaviorally.com/behaviorally-speaking/
THE AUTHOR
Janice Lai is the Marketing Director of Behaviorally (formerly PRS) and
leads the company’s marketing efforts. She has been with the Company since 2010 having escaped law school. Ask her for recommendations on the best local restaurants or how she got her mortuary sciences degree. She is now based in Phoenix with her partner and two dogs, a chihuahua named Stitch and a pug named Bruce Wayne Lee. Follow her on Twitter @iamJaniceLai or connect with her on LinkedIn.
