Insights in Real Life: 4 Takeaways from The Quirk’s Event LA
Brennan Mullin and Amy R. Castelda are all smiles upon arriving.
By: Brennan Mullin
I joined W5 in April 2021. During that time, the pandemic was far from over. I’ve made a lot of connections in the industry through both the clients we’ve worked with and colleagues in my field, but with one caveat:
I had never actually met them. At least not in real life.
99% of the colleagues I’ve met in the marketing research field have been exclusively online, until last week. Enter The Quirk’s Event in Los Angeles.
Designed to drive market research forward, The Quirk’s Event gives research professionals the chance to network and connect. Finally.
In addition, The Quirk’s Event features dozens of speaking opportunities for marketing researchers from agencies and research teams at some of the world’s biggest brands to share what they’ve been up to. Here are some of our team’s key takeaways from the event:
AI is Here…
Technology like AI and ChatGPT were a major part of the conversation across several seminars and event vendors.
It’s amazing to see the application of AI across categories. Take real estate for example: when people are looking for homes with Woodside Homes, they’re shopping with their eyes. The company didn’t have a great understanding of which images worked and had no brand standards for their photographers. To set themselves up for success, they needed an edge. Woodside Homes shared how they were using AI-assessed photos to make photos of homes for sale more appealing by using AI-powered tech, combined with quantitative marketing research, and have participants select the most appealing images. The result? More attractive images for their website and a new set of uniform brand standards for photographers to capture.
… But Human Insights Haven’t Gone Away
Tech is a great solution to speed up the research process, but at the end of the day, research that connects with participants in a deeper, more human way still connects.
Take PepsiCo. They’ve been focused on making their quantitative research more engaging. Using cognitive psychology to understand how participants tick, they’ve been able to tailor their research processes to get more quality data. This includes measures such as being mobile forward to reflect the relationships participants have with their phones, applying the aforementioned cognitive psychology to the survey itself to keep participants focused, and even using emojis to capture participants’ emotions. This connection isn’t just for fun, it ensures higher quality data from survey to report.
Fandom and Culture Matter
Several sessions focused on how building brands is intrinsically tied to creating “fandoms” and understanding what audiences want to keep them coming back. For Savage X Fenty, smarter incentives like coupons and discounts based on a shopper’s previous history with the brand keeps participants responding to surveys and shopping with Rihanna’s lingerie brand.
Quirks Events are the networking capital for market research community!
Insights provider SmartyPants’ session was entirely about how they study the cultivation of “fans,” exploring several different niches like basketball megafans and Arianatars (Ariana Grande fans, for the uninitiated), the consumer journey from makeup fan, to drag fan, to RuPaul’s Drag Race fan, to the rejection of the term “gamer” from the community of “people who play games.” Tapping into these niches can be valuable as they allow us to think beyond typical demographics and get deeper into audience interests and speak to their niche in an authentic, honest way.
Looking to the Future
As researchers, we’re constantly asking questions to understand participants more deeply. But how can we ask questions that look ahead and be proactive about solving problems in their early stages before they become headaches? Organization is key.
Smarter research comes with breaking things down and thinking simply to solve complex problems. At their session at Quirk’s, Instacart’s research team shared how they classify and organize their research methodologies. The three categories were:
Understanding Needs
Communication with Consumers
Measuring Progress
W5’s Solutions framework works similarly in tying together research methodologies with the problems they solve. To help brands understand their audience, we use profiling research like Segmentations and ethnographic studies. To uncover whitespace, we use innovation work like Consumer Journeys and Jobs-to-be-Done. When evaluation of current processes is needed, we test and refine with Concept Testing and Marketing Communications Testing or Conjoint research. And to track, we set benchmarks with year-over-year surveying.
No matter your research question, we have a methodology to help you reach your goals. Are you thinking about your next research project? W5 can help! Reach out and we’ll be happy to discuss your needs and craft a solution.
In Conclusion
The Quirk's Event provided valuable insights into the market research field, especially in the age of the pandemic where most connections and networking happened exclusively online. Highlighting the importance of technology such as AI, but also the significance of human insights, it was a great opportunity to learn and connect and will be interesting to see how these insights shape the future of market research!