Let's bravely pursue transformation in research & insights

Everyone keeps talking about change in research and has done so for decades. Our Executive Director Geoff Lowe says it’s time to be brave and really start pushing for transformation in the market research industry. We recently interviewed Geoff for a Q&A piece for the Insights Association blog, “Hey, market researchers, it’s time to be brave.” His decades of experience in the insights space give him a unique perspective on what has changed, and what still needs to change in the industry.

In the interview, Geoff talks about how he thought the industry would look today. Thirty years ago, he was optimistic that companies would start investing in solutions that would democratize data and insights sharing in innovative ways. However, he goes on to say that, perplexing as it is, many insights professionals are “still delivering hundreds and hundreds of Excel tables of static data, just like we did in the 1980s with hundreds of table printouts.” This is not true innovation.

Geoff believes that some of this lack of progress can be attributed to people being unable or unwilling to speak up. There are genuinely better ways of doing things; solutions that solve many disconnects and inefficiencies along the market research workflow. They are faster, more cost-effective, and deliver quality insights. But researchers must be assertive and tell clients and colleagues about the better solutions that exist and commit to using them. 

This means no longer being afraid of change. Using the right digital solutions can provide the control that insights professionals need, while also creating exponential value - maximizing “the chance that people in frontline positions can see the ROI on the insights investment.”

He concludes with this thought: “Be brave. You are the expert. Stand up and push a truly modern, innovative way to share access to data for collaborative insights generation. Stand up for putting instantly accessible data at the fingertips of those who directly use it in their business for generating real value.”