Two-and-half years ago we did this podcast with Danny Wain who, at the time, was in charge of learning and development at research firm RI.

Ever since then we’ve wanted to capture his considerable experience on how to get the most out of talent and share it with you in bite size chunks, something we can finally do today. We’ve filmed seven episodes which we’ll put out weekly (with a hiatus during August).

Each episode is a mere 2-3 mins long, short enough for even the busiest managers or talent folks out there (that’s right, these are aimed at anyone with line management responsibility or whose job spec involves nurturing talent). Moreover, the series will cover all sectors, not just research.

The series begins with a look at ways to make a business case for learning and development. Next week we look at how you can take advantage of Google’s approach to innovation. And then we’ll tackle some other challenges including persuasion, trust and measurement. All good stuff

This initiative has involved a significant amount of our time which we’re bringing to you free. So if there’s any potential sponsors out there who’d like to support this effort plus get your name in front of a bunch of thought-leaders, drop us a line as we’d love to work with you.

By the way, Danny’s now set up his own talent and learning and development consultancy, do check it out.

As always, we hope you enjoy this. And do please share this with as many people as possible through twitter, Facebook, email etc.

Our article in the Jun ‘09 edition of ESOMAR’s Research World. Grab your copy here.

Professor Robert Shaw is Honorary Professor of Marketing Metrics at Cass Business School and the author of ten books including Marketing Payback, We talk to him about the current state of marketing effectiveness and his new initiative designed to improve it.

In the current recession, marketing is under extreme pressure, as cost cutting sweeps business. Luckily marketers have plenty of opportunity to improve their effectiveness, since in the boom years they had become very inefficient, and money was routinely wasted on marketing activities that did not deliver, and mistakes were ignored and often repeated.
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Our article in the Apr ‘09 edition of ESOMAR’s Research World. Grab your copy here.

Memes aren’t merely some abstract academic idea. They are real. And they’re becoming big business.

In a market dominated by firms that aren’t from the mainstream research community, Vittal anoints Nielsen BuzzMetrics and TNS Cymfony as the leaders in “a pack of strong performers.”
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Our article in the Feb ‘09 edition of ESOMAR’s Research World. Grab your copy here.

How a passionate focus on value along with other basic approaches are helping retailers to survive and thrive during the downturn.

In this Darwinian environment, retailers need to adapt or face the real prospect of death.
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Our article in the Jan ‘09 edition of ESOMAR’s Research World. Grab your copy here.

Martin Lindstrom’s new book and company, Buyology, hope to kick start the next wave of neuromarketing. Will they deliver?

So, just what is Buyology all about?
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Our article in the Dec ‘08 edition of ESOMAR’s Research World. Grab your copy here.

Brand health monitoring is an important tool, particularly during tough economic times when managing RoI becomes critical for CMOs. But what are some of the tools, and are they fit for purpose?

And voltage? That, says Walshe, reflects how effectively consumers move up the bonding levels. Strong brands tend to have high conversation ratios between the levels.
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And the winner of the Buyology giveaway is…Elizabeth Luke.

Elizabeth is a senior at the University of Southern California spending her final semester abroad at the University of Amsterdam. She is a communication major with an interest in persuasion and consumer behavior. She will be graduating magna cum laude in December 2008, and shortly after, she will begin her career as a research analyst for emerging consumer products at Nielsen BASES.

Elizabeth’s book is on the way, thanks again to Martin Lindstrom and publishers Random House.

Here are Martin’s responses to some of the questions you sent in (thanks for all the entries):
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Our article in the Nov ‘08 edition of ESOMAR’s Research World. Grab your copy here.

In an age where innovation is de rigeur, we look into how well qualitative is keeping up with the times.

But far from being a Luddite, Forrest is innovating, it just takes him a while to acknowledge this. And that’s not dissimilar from the initial reaction we get from others we spoke to.
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Our Spotlight column in the Mar ‘07 edition of ESOMAR’s Research World. Grab your copy here.

Being prepared and empowered to take risks is fundamental to true innovation and progress.

In the words of Sir Ken Robinson, the inspirational Educator and Innovator, “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”
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Our Spotlight column in the Jun ‘08 edition of ESOMAR’s Research World. Grab your copy here.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are privileged to witness the start of a new movement. A movement that is revving up to do what The Cluetrain Manifesto did for marketing communications. Welcome to VRM.

Well, Mr. Searls is at it again. Not satisfied with inspiring consumers to use the web to redress the balance between marketers and consumers (e.g. via blogs), he wants to move things up a gear. And blogging strategist Adriana Lukas is along for the ride.
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