#52 - The power of elastic thinking: Connecting insights to decision making

Leonard Murphy, Chief Advisor for Insights and Development at Greenbook, delves into emerging trends in market research, how innovative methodologies and technologies (particularly AI) can drive better business decisions and shares strategies for improving data quality and engagement.

Deirdre van Zyl, Head of Innovation Planning for Africa at Diageo, discusses her passion for innovation in the complex markets of Africa, the transformative power of AI in the insights industry and the strategies for leading and motivating teams in a rapidly changing environment.

Steve Phillips, founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Zappi, joins us for his seasonal AI episode to share Zappi’s latest innovations in AI and the progressive work he’s been doing, how to actually get big, rich data and ultimately, how AI Agents will help brands create brilliant products that win with consumers.  Learn more about our AI Concept Creation Agents: https://www.zappi.io/web/marketing-agents 

Brett Townsend, co-author of Insights on the Brink and SVP at Quester, compares and contrasts his own book with The Connected Insights Revolution and discusses how, together, both offer a blueprint for insights professionals to transition from a project management role to a strategic advisor role and how to focus more on the fun parts of insights such as storytelling and customer empathy. Check out both books:  Insights on the Brink: https://tinyurl.com/mtwt3fyj The Consumer Insights Revolution: https://tinyurl.com/3jxeustu

Richard Shotton, behavioral scientist, author of The Choice Factory & founder of Astroten, discusses the power social proof and biases hold, where to apply behavioral science to better understand consumers and drive change and how to best maximize productivity with AI.

Jacci Weber, Team Lead, Pet Parent Insights at Mars Petcare & Co-Founder of the Insights Career Network, discusses the exciting parts of tech and its role in market research, her experience leading AI initiatives, the impact an insights professional should have and her passion for spreading pet parent centricity. 

Helen Wolf, Senior Director, Global Consumer Experience Insights at Colgate-Palmolive discusses how insights leaders have to zoom out for the big picture and zoom in for the detail that powers it, how to guide innovation by following the sun and shares why she believes joining multiple sources of learning is the skill that will differentiate insights professionals.

Stephan Gans SVP, Chief Consumer Insights and Analytics Officer at PepsiCo, shares how he started PepsiCo’s ongoing journey towards a fully connected insights function, talks through Zappi’s connected insights framework and explains why working in insights is like running a 30.4 mile marathon. Learn more about the connected insights framework here: https://www.zappi.io/web/a/connected-insights-framework

Steve Phillips, founder and CEO at Zappi, discusses the problems AI can help solve for insights, the benefits of synthetic data and data asset management, and ultimately, how to get real value out of AI.

Jordan Cusner, Head of Guest Insights at Popeyes, discusses how he created an insights department and made it indispensable to business leadership, shares the mantra of insights he lives by and reveals what should be the first slide in every deck you produce.