Welcome to the Market Intelligence Festival in São Paulo!
A festival is an excellent definition of what we expect to see over the next couple of days. “Festival” means celebration and partying, but also implies the exhibition of a diverse collection of pieces, as we would see in an art or a movie festival. This variety of genres coexist without a single theme that unifies them other than being a selection of excellent objects, oriented to engage the audience. Such multiplicity is certainly a powerful metaphor about the sign of our times as researchers. The boundaries of our profession are continuously disrupted, increasingly vague and plural, and challenged from multiple angles, not only by our own movements but also by the dynamics of many close professions, namely behavioral economists, social listeners or data scientists, to name a few.
In this exciting scenario, the aim of a festival is less to convince anyone about a unique way of being an expert in the market intelligence field and more about showing the many possibilities open to our professional lives. Of course, we acknowledge that our careers take place in a context that is far from being free of hurdles. Our region is still economically unstable and dependent on volatile commodity prices, as well as trapped by political polarization too often dominated by simplistic and highly ideological tales coming from either side. Some local progresses against poverty have not changed the root of deep social inequalities. Last but not least, we have to accept the region is still relatively marginal in the global market research landscape. The latest ESOMAR Global Market Research report estimated its market share is a mere 3%[1].
However, this also shows the size of the growth opportunity. Latin America represents almost 7% of the world’s GNP and 9% of the world population. Its over 600 million inhabitants are, for instance, about twice the population of the EU 5. Furthermore, if we consider LATAM as a single territory – as it is often simplified from the outside – according to IMF 2018 statistics of nominal GNP, the region would be the third global economy, after the US and China, just above Japan and larger than Germany, the UK, France and India. Thus, while we may need to recognize the current limitations to our part of the world, we shall not underestimate the opportunity to make the market intelligence industry a closer match, not to LATAM “future potential” or “cultural richness” as is usually said, but to the extent of the current real size of its marketplace.
As part of the efforts to develop the sector in the region, I would like to take this chance to appreciate ESOMAR for consistently running this conference, which is now in its 24th edition. I personally see ESOMAR as highly contributing through its two apparently opposite, but truly supplementary characters. On the one hand, like a grandfather (now in its 70s) ESOMAR brings its long-standing wisdom, teaching a few principles that have passed the test of time and have remained valid across decades. This means drawing the red lines we shall not cross, but also sharing the best practices coming from around the globe. At the end of the day our industry – before offering insights, data or strategic guidance – fuels something more basic, which is confidence. Insight users really buy a service that relies on processes that can only be seen indirectly and they do so, essentially, because they trust the integrity of the researchers behind their projects. ESOMAR, by putting together a set of principles, provides the boundaries so that we can all agree on what it means to honor that trust.
At the same time, ESOMAR brings the freshness of the teenager, giving a preview of the future, offering clues about which contents, ideas and methods will shape an industry that has recently undergone an extreme transformation and continues to move at high speed towards roads that are not yet completely drawn. I am sure many of the people here can share many experiences, in which being part of an ESOMAR conference have lit that unexpected inspiration. I can definitively do so. A side remark in a presentation, or a casual word during a coffee break with someone that you vaguely recall and that later on, evolves into a viable solution to a colleague need, a new line of business, or maybe a complete reinvention of your professional career.
Of course, there is no way to anticipate the outcome. No matter which advances we can make in our predictions, there is still no method, no sophisticated analytics, no artificial intelligence algorithm capable of providing any close clue about how and when this inspiration may erupt.
The best that the organizers can do is to put together a vibrant environment and offer a good selection of presenters and let the magic do its work. I believe that I can speak in the name of my colleagues at the committee, by saying that the inclusion of a collection of outstanding presentations, which we had the privilege to preview, is a goal that has already been achieved for this edition. We were supported by a record number of submissions this year, with so many superb presentations with scores of very good or higher that we would have had enough to run another parallel conference! I do not want to be a spoiler here, but let me just share a few lines from among the many impressive papers that will be discussed.
We will learn for instance, how out-of-home media can now be measured by big data, coming from artificial intelligence reading satellite map images, cell phone carrier data or mobile apps. We will also see how neuroscience, facial coding, or a digital laboratory simulating social media can be used to improve the effectiveness of our communications. Also, how design thinking can be critical to emulate the success of virtual trade leaders, even for the most traditional of our retail channels. We will learn about some of the endeavors that digital giants like Amazon, Facebook or Twitter are working towards, as well as why the road to happiness in the life of a corporation starts by confronting the naked truths, as shared by some of the interesting stories we will be hearing around Coca Cola, Sanofi, Oi Brazil, L’Oréal and Royal Canin. While we will see many innovative approaches, a side lesson is that well applied research – even when using growing technologies as big data, AI or automation – is still less about sophisticated tools and more about good judgment.
Finally, let me give you some personal advice about the best way to take advantage of the next couple of days, based on what I have experienced coming to ESOMAR conferences. Try not to be too stressed about seizing all opportunities, to push yourself too hard about meeting every person you have planned to, or recording each word of every single presentation. If you really do not know how, when and what may provoke you, then you just need to be in your best mood to find your inspirations. So just try to breathe, relax and enjoy the journey – and may the spark light in you!
Diego Casaravilla
Programme Committee Chair
[1] ESOMAR. (2018). Global Market Research 2018: An ESOMAR Industry Report. Amsterdam: ESOMAR, pp. 10.
