UGA MMR ALUMNI

Insights Association held its NEXT conference this past spring in New York City. The City that Never Sleeps is a fitting location for this conference, as the innovations showcased at the conference have driven the industry toward efficient solutions that are “always on”.

AI, automation, and mobile experiences were hot topics at the conference, but NEXT also included sessions on macro trends that are important to understand for the future of brands and the insights industry.

Liza Kindred from Mindful Technology spoke about one of those macro trends that should be on our radar as we continue to rely on technology for inisghts. Liza talked about the negative impact of being constantly distracted by our mobile phones, so much so that some people are ready to break the ties altogether (like this blogger). She also challenged the usefulness of connected devices, from seemingly “normal” devices like smart watches, to pretty out there things like sweaters that tell you what mood you’re in. Technologies like these are intended to make us more aware, but sometimes they inundate us with information we don’t know what to do with, or make us reliant on the technology instead of actually experiencing mindfulness.

So how does this impact marketing research? Here are my thoughts.

Be respectful of our online respondents’ time

Our panelists could literally be doing anything else with their time, but they choose to share their opinions with us online. Let’s try not overload them with difficult tasks and long surveys. If we abuse their time, eventually they might disengage from research. My Women in Research mentor Lisa Wilding-Brown (InnovateMR) compares panelists to polar ice caps -- once a panelist is gone, they aren’t coming back; we’re responsible for keeping them engaged.

Carefully consider communication from brands

Relevant messages timed at optimal intervals will be crucial for brands to maintain positive relationships with customers. Both of these factors are prime research topics for understanding the importance and meaning of personalization for customers. How many of us ferociously scroll to the bottom of emails to hit UNSUBSCRIBE because we are sick of being

Innovate with the customer in mind

One of the MANY things I learned in Dr. Fox’s class was about the shift from organization-centric to customer-centric cultures and how that impacted marketing and marketing research. He warned us against the follies of organization-centric companies as he showed off that flashy Nimslo camera. The Nimslo was created for technology’s sake without any real customer need. Even worse, the development process was extremely time consuming and expensive -- not customer-friendly! Some of the new technologies that companies are introducing kind of remind me of the Nimslo. Yeah, it’s cool, but can it do anything useful for me, or is it just an expensive gadget that demands my attention? Brands should be sure to keep the voice of the customer involved in as many R&D steps as possible before they’re added to Fox’s list of marketing mishaps.

Aside from the sessions, conferences are also a great way to meet up with MMR alum! I had the chance to meet up with some of my former classmates from the Class of 2017!

Dec 4-6, 2019 | UGA MMR Research Summit https://www.futureofinsights.com/

• Dec 4 - Career Fair & Evening Welcome Reception 
• Dec 5 - Research Summit and Evening Reception
• Dec 6 - Master Class Workshops

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