The start of the final day of the Festival triggered memories of the many face-to-face ESOMAR Congresses. The enthusiasm of the two client-side researchers, Michelle Gansle of Mars and Gabriela McCoy of Bacardi, who kicked of the day, sparkled from the screen. It was the enthusiasm for being a professional, the enthusiasm for connecting with peers in the same situation in other companies, the enthusiasm for understanding people and bringing people, humans just as they are, on the radar. The last point seemed to be the ongoing theme during the Festival and concluded by Gabriela: “consumers are associated with transactions and humans are associated with connections”. It might be due to the pandemic, but the human focus resonated loud and clear during the Festival.
The winners of the YES award gave a good presentation and really went back to the base, the assessment of the demographics and key social-economic variables. It is great to see the concerns for the validity of the work in young researchers. Their approach was very well substantiated and analysed. What they did not know was that the solution they came up with was used sixty years ago, and was one of the reasons that ESOMAR was founded (global standardization of these variables). In the sixties, it was common to identify social class based on the possession of a TV, microwave and refrigerator, etc. The suggested solution of the winners was more behaviour-related, and particularly the life path assessment was interesting and creative. So, a very well-deserved award.
A highlight of the day was the third presentation of the ESOMAR Foundation. The case study from UNICEF and Marketeers Research to stop bullying kids showed how impactful market research can be and how involved the researcher and the client are, which drives impact.
On Monday, I was positively surprised by the quality of the business presentations, and today they were also worth watching. In the Confirmit interview with Ulrik Hjarnaa of UserNeeds from Denmark, Ray Poynters’ message that the share of DIY research is significant and growing resonated and was well illustrated. The panel discussion, during the Remesh business presentation, clearly showed how technology and (venture) capital are changing the industry.
Another highlight of the day was the refreshingly down to earth interview of Joaquim Bretcha, ESOMAR President, with Anna Godas of Dogwoof, a successful entrepreneur in documentary production and distribution. As she is a successful creative in the business world, and educated in storytelling, Joachim asked her about the holy grail of storytelling. And she eloquently and charmingly came straight to the point: “It’s about telling stories, telling them in very accessible ways, and I always thought of my job from the outside-in, rather than inside-out (..) Things shouldn’t start from what you need, things should start from what they need”. Anna clearly knows what she does.
The ESOMAR team really deserves all the credits and praise and a week to relax. The ‘old’ Congress is history, a new standard for virtual is set, next is the hybrid challenge. The profession and the ESOMAR community showed to be alive and kicking and is looking forward to creating the future.
