They were all topics of discussion at the ARF Industry Leader Forum in San Francisco. Bob and I attended, and it was a day jam-packed with information from some of the best minds in the industry. 

Gigwalk was a breakout session sponsor, and we got to talk directly to insights professionals about the future of insights and what the industry needs to do to get there. Here’s just a bit of what we learned.

Methods of market research: Surveys are often the first thing to pop into people’s heads when you think about market research. So what are some of different ways to get insights that keep the subject engaged?

Observational research was a hot topic of the day.  What kind of insights can be garnered from observing how people behave in stores, or when exposed to different advertising? Companies such as Neuro-Insight are even bringing brain-imaging technology to the world of market research. 

One method we’ve seen many of our clients use is on-location interviews. There’s so much value to data collected on location, when shoppers are in a buying mindset. 

There are lots of different qualitative methods, but how do we make the survey better? In Andrew Reid’s presentation, “Stop Asking Stupid Questions,” he spoke about the reality that is the future of research: Fewer questions, that are better targeted and more relevant.    For example, using social integration to answer the questions that have already been answered, like marital status or occupation. 

Research challenges and their solutions: Agencies and clients alike are expected to deliver more, faster.  However good research can’t be rushed.  Fortunately, there are companies out there helping researchers  deliver on these increased expectations.  Kaggle is organizing the world’s data scientists to help solve your big data crunching problems, and companies like Gigwalk are helping you collect the data you need, faster.

There were so many great conversations and talks, we couldn’t possibly cover it all here. We’d love to talk more with insights professionals and shopper marketers about where they see the future of insights.  Get in touch and we can tell you about how to use insights for a presidential campaign and what kind of people like Cheetos. (No really… one of the highlights of event was John Thorpe’s talk about the methods used to get insights for the award winning Cheetos campaign)

~Kamla Kasichainula

Marketing Manager at Gigwalk