I started off my career as a market analyst in the tech sector in the early 90’s. At the time, the tech industry was a very different and siloed subculture and a subsection of the world economy, largely confined to the back offices of large corporations. I was spending my time analysing CD-ROM market penetration and trends in Computer Integrated Manufacturing. On the surface, it was not the most dynamic period in my career.
One day, in the late fall of 1994, I heard Bill (one of our brightest young analysts) exclaim over our low cube walls “This is it!!!” I quickly walked around to his desk, and he showed me Netscape Navigator for the first time. Honestly, I didn’t get it — really slow rendering of low-res graphics for a few uninteresting sites. I could see a lot more dynamic content on the latest CD-ROM titles, or on any one of my 13 cable TV stations. Not for the first or last time, though, Bill was several steps ahead of me. One month later, Marc Andreessen came into our suburban, Connecticut office to lay out Netscape’s vision. After that three hour meeting, the pulse in our small cubicle city was palpable. Yes, this was something fundamentally new, with potentially massive implications, and in a story most of you witnessed or have heard multiple times, the Internet age was upon us. Tech moved from the back offices of business into our daily lives, from being defined by pocket protectors and calculator watches, to billionaires and Superbowl commercials. In short, we were witnesses to history-in-the-making.
In my opinion, we are similarly witnessing and writing a new history for the insights industry right now. Indeed, there has never been a more dynamic time for the insights industry! Businesses’ growth strategies hinge on unlocking data-driven insights. Billions of sensors and devices are forming massive streams of data, which are ripe for insight but remain largely untapped. Human profiles are evolving from basic demographics to the mapping of entire genomes. With these new worlds of data open to us, people and organisations are increasingly demanding control and privacy of their personal information. Insight creation is evolving from humans using machines to humans collaborating equally with machines. Businesses seek opportunities to deliver dynamic and customised experiences to their customers at scale, based on intimate knowledge of customers’ behaviours, wants and needs.
The 2019 Congress theme of TRANSFORMATION was a deliberate choice, and in many ways an easy one. In the early part of this decade, many wondered if our insights industry had run its course. A few years later, we wondered “what’s next?” Recently, we have seen green shoots of industry evolution. Now, at every layer of our industry, we are actively transforming. The Programme Committee enthusiastically read and carefully curated a selection of work that demonstrates this industry transformation in myriad ways:
- Read about the ways in which we are experimenting with data. Pernod is stitching multiple data sources and insight methods together, to deliver dynamic content and messages to an emerging target audience, helping their business harness “The Micro-Moments That Matter”.
- Read about how we are using insights to transform brands and customer experiences. Autotrader and Join the Dots redefined business success in Autotrader’s Retail Awards, “Redefining Digital Excellence” and repositioning Autotrader in the process.
- Read about how we are evolving our insights methods. Ogilvy and Kantar have developed a coordinated set of behavioural “lenses” that decode personality traits, cultural cognition and personality styles to reveal “The Real Why and the Hidden Who”.
As you dig into your colleagues’ work, you will see that we are not wondering about transformation. We are not pondering transformation. We are not considering transformation. We. Are. Transforming! I am very excited for our time together in Edinburgh. At this stage in our industry’s evolution, we can both celebrate the tangible progress we have made and explore the possibilities in front of us. I would like to thank our thoughtful and energetic Programme Committee for their efforts in curating the fantastic ideas and experiences captured here. Lisa Courtade, Karolina Tutaj, Lynn Potts, Nijat Mammadbayli, Graeme Lawrence and Grace Yu have done yeoman’s work digesting, discussing and deciding on the content and presentations you will read here and see at Congress. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with you all and I believe all our Congress delegates will appreciate the time and energy you have spent in selecting and supporting this body of work. Thank you!
Reed Cundiff
Programme Committee Chair
To register for ESOMAR’s CONGRESS 2019, taking place in Edinburgh from 8 to 11 September, please go to this page. 16th of August is the standard registration deadline so be quick and register before the rates go up!
