This podcast accompanies our article in the Oct ‘09 edition of ESOMAR’s Research World. Grab your copy here.

I had the privilege of chatting with inventor, entrepreneur and futurologist Ray Kurzweil recently. Here’s the full conversation in podcast form. (The full writeup will appear in October’s issue of Research World.)

Thanks to freelance media and marketing journalist Jo Bowman for the use of her dulcet tones in the outro

Music Theatrimus from the PMN

Below is a teaser featuring the following bods while we beaver away on the full edits…

• Sean Pillot de Chenecey, Captain Crikey
• keynote Oliver James, psychologist, author and broadcaster
• William Higham, Next Big Thing
• Dr. Nick Southgate, Grey Advertising

Thanks to guest hosts Sarah Davies, Alison Fydler and Chloe Fowler for their sterling work.

Do remember to subscribe to ResearchTalk (top left sidebar) so you get the full podcasts as soon as they’re out. And as always, feel free to embed the video on your own blog/website.

3mins | Produced @ AQR Trends Day ‘07 | More podcasts in this series

Series:Events Series:AQR Series:Trends07

Mark Earls’ latest contribution to life, the universe and everything is gaining traction. His new book rethinks how people make decisions and discovers as a result that much of current research practice is fundamentally flawed in its assumptions and interpretation of consumer behaviour. Quite fitting for this self-styled ‘Contrarian’. The book provides psychology underpinning for many recent phenomena such as social networking, engagement, conversations, ethnography, blogging and predictive markets by showing how we act as groups and not individually. Part of our monthly column for ESOMAR’s Research World magazine

 STARRING 

• Mark Earls, author, Herd: How to Change Mass Behaviour by Harnessing Our True Nature, Head Honcho, Herd Consulting

TIMELINE [17m19s]
00m00s Intro.
00m42s Why current research practices are wrong.
02m09s The industry is improving, but not enough.
03m21s The value of ethnography and predictive markets techniques.
03m57s ‘Herd’ questions the assumptions made in traditional research.
04m31s Improving opinion polling predictability.
05m10s Does ‘Herd’ have implications for all types of research?
05m29s Do social networking tools play a role in ‘Herd’?
06m48s The benefits of meme trackers.
07m10s Would ‘Herd’ have predicted the eventual success of SMS?
08m09s P&G Tremor panels.
08m58s Persuading others to adopt ‘Herd’ thinking.
09m35s Is Tesco a ‘Herd’ brand?
10m28s Co-creation, software beta testing and the open source movement.
11m34s Consumers co-creating ads.
12m10s Other brands that follow the ‘Herd’ philosophy.
13m03s Progressive research agencies.
14m17s Summarising the ‘model’.
15m25s Inspiration for writing the book.

Notable Mentions
Acacia Avenue.
American positivism.
Andrew Ehrenberg (Prof).
Blogs.
Bob Worcester (Sir).
BrainJuicer.
Co-creation.
David Goetz.
Digg.com.
Dodge.
Dove.
dunnhumby.
Ethnography.
Fiona Blades.
Gerald (Jerry) Zaltman: “How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market”.
Hall and Partners.
Harvard Business School.
Influence maps.
James Surowiecki.
Jeff Goldblum.
John Kearon.
MESH Planning.
Mike Hall.
MRS.
MySpace.
NHS.
Ogilvy & Mather (O&M).
OLR (Opinion Leader Research).
Open source.
P&G Tremor panels.
Predictive markets.
Social networking.
Spring Research.
Stephen Phillips.
TechMeme.com.
Tesco.
The Big Chill.
Tom Daly.
Unilever.
Wardle Mclean.
Wendy Gordon.
Wikis.
YouTube.

Quotes
“Post rationalisation is more important than sex.” (Jeff Goldblum).

“Individuals are really poor witnesses to the richness of their own lives.”

“We (MR practitioners) are still very bad at predicting.”

“I know that when an idea is interesting it creates energy … whereas most of our methodologies don’t look at that as an indicator.”

“The future may be much more two-way.” (in reference to P&G Tremor panels).

“This is perhaps one of the hardest things for business and market research to understand, consumers frankly tolerate us.”

“It’s never been harder to do marketing … we are at an inflexion point.”

Music Theatrimus from the PMN

Series:MarketingTalk Series:AdTalk

We all know about the surging economies in India and China and how they stand to become the largest within decades. But in this conversation with the passionate and authoritative Prof. Richard Scase, we hear how this and other global issues such as climate change and energy shortages, will affect everyone in both a personal and professional capacity. It’s not a pretty picture, but then again we need leading forcasters like Richard to get us all to act before it’s too late

 STARRING 

• Prof. Richard Scase, Academic, Entrepreneur, and Author, Global Remix

Recorded live at the Euro MR Event 2006

TIMELINE [15m19s]
00m00s Intro.
00m45s The seismic shifts in the global economy.
02m37s China and India will soon become the main global spenders.
03m30s What should companies be doing?
04m47s Global demographic shifts.
05m12s China and India as centres for research and entrepreneurship.
07m31s The implications of global shifts on the person in the street.
09m33s “Energy prices will treble in the next 5-10 years”.
10m05s Are China and India responding to the challenge of climate change?
10m59s How should governments respond?
12m14s Will we solve the issue of energy shortage before oil and gas run out?
13m42s Richard’s background.

Notable Mentions
Capital Radio.
China.
Energy shortages.
Global warming.
IBM.
India.
Inflation.
Kyoto Protocol.
Microsoft.
Nelson Croom.
Novartis.
P&G.
Unilever.
USA.

Music Theatrimus from the PMN

Series:MarketingTalk
Series:EMRE06 Series:Events

 GUEST  Kirsty Fuller, co-Founder and Chairman of the world’s largest qualitative consultancy, Flamingo International

 TOPICS  The new paradigm in branding (Jay-Z and Budweiser, co-creation, authenticity); The benefits of using intuition in research vs. being strictly evidence-based; EXCLUSIVE: Japan office coming soon

 NOTABLE MENTIONS  Andy Dexter, Apple, Budweiser, Chris Arning, Def Jam, Digg, Edny Tappy, Fiona Blades, Illuminas, Innocent, iPod, James Parsons, Jay-Z, Kate Moss, Levi, Maggie Collier, MySpace, Nike, Reebok, Simon Lidington, Top Shop, Truth Consulting, Walkman, YouTube

Music Brother Love and Martha Redbone from the PMN

Series:MarketingTalk Series:AdTalk
Series:Weekly

 EXCLUSIVE  ESOMAR Congress 2006 keynoters Julia Hailes MBE talks about the environment and sustainability, and Interbrand’s Rita Clifton talks about branding and engagement

 STARRING 

• Julia Hailes MBE, prolific environmental author, and Sustainability Consultant
• Rita Clifton, Chairman, Interbrand
• John Kearon, BrainJuicer (Host)

Recorded live at ESOMAR CONGRESS ‘06

TIMELINE [21m30s]
00m00s Intro.

Julia Hailes.
00m33s Intro.
01m14s The new Green Consumer Guide.
01m32s Reducing carrier bag wastage.
03m30s The environmental tipping point.
04m46s Driving change: the role of consumers.
05m33s Driving change: being a consultant.
06m49s The next milestone.
07m48s Advising national and local government.
08m20s Using celebrity endorsement.

Rita Clifton.
08m45s Intro.
10m03s Advising FTSE boards.
11m33s Memes and viral branding.
12m42s The work of researchers Populus.
13m08s The state of the research industry.
14m57s The role of research in predicting future trends.
15m37s Tremor panels.
17m11s The best research: topping & tailing.
18m57s Better presentations.

Notable Mentions
Asda.
BA.
Charles Leadbeater.
Co-creation.
DSG Intl (formerly Dixons Stores Group).
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
eBay.
Emap.
(The) Green Consumer Guide.
iPod.
John Elkington.
M&S (Marks & Spencer).
P&G.
Populus.
Sainsbury.
Sony Walkman.
Tesco.
The Times
Tremor panels.
Unilever.
YouTube.

Quotes
“Money is a great motivator…if you can get it so that market forces are pushing in the direction you want then I think that’s all to the good.” (Julia Hailes)

“This isn’t a golden age in my view for market research…I don’t think I would talk about it being in decline…” (Rita Clifton)

Music Theatrimus from the PMN

Series:MarketingTalk Series:AdTalk
Series:Events Series:ESOMAR Series:Congress06

 EXCLUSIVE  As official podcaster to the upcoming ESOMAR conference, we’ve secured some exclusive and meaty previews. In this, the second of four preview podcasts, we focus on trends and improving foresight accuracy

 STARRING 

• Stephen Phillips, Spring Research
  The ‘Snakes and Ladders’ Approach to Brand Choice
• Roger Smith, Gfk NOP
  Trends: Food, Diets and Wellbeing
• Nadine Critchley, NESTEC (Nestlé)
  Trends: Using Global Consumer Trends to Boost Business
• Mark Whiting, Moët Hennessy (Host)

Learn more about ESOMAR CONGRESS ‘06

THANKS
A huge thanks to Mark Whiting, his guests, and to Véronique Jeannin, director general of ESOMAR, and her team for their help in producing these podcasts.

TIMELINE [29m41s]
00m00s Introduction by Véronique Jeannin, Director General of ESOMAR.

The ‘Snakes and Ladders’ Approach to Understanding Brand Choice (Stephen Phillips).
01m56s Introduction.
03m27s The use of ‘verbal ethnography’.
04m06s Validation.
04m39s Commercial applications.
06m16s New principles to define purchase process.
07m19s Mapping social influences and networks.
08m46s Counter-intuitive interviewing techniques.
10m07s Case study.
11m19s Is it a proprietary approach?

Trends: Food, Diets and Wellbeing (Roger Smith. Client: Kraft).
12m05s Genesis of study.
13m05s Scope.
13m53s Key trends identified including the health paradox.
14m40s Benefits for Kraft.
15m52s Segmentation.
16m52s Trends vs. trendy.
17m48s Influentials vs. early adopters.

Trends: Using Global Consumer Trends to Boost Business (Nadine Critchley).
19m18s Introduction.
20m08s Issues with previous trends information.
20m42s Key trends identified and their validation.
21m29s Multimedia output.
22m07s The challenges of working with multiple agencies.
22m29s Key success factors and the launch of Mövenpick Ice Cream Naturals.
24m11s Applying trends information.
25m08s Keeping trends alive within Nestlé.
26m05s The creative use of budgets.
26m45s Benefits of new trends information.
27m31s Other aspects being covered at Congress.

Music Theatrimus from the PMN

Series:Events Series:ESOMAR Series:Congress06

 EXCLUSIVE  As official podcaster to the upcoming ESOMAR conference, we’ve secured some exclusive and meaty previews. Kindly hosted by Mark Whiting, Director of Marketing Intelligence Services, Moët Hennessy, and Program Committee Chairman, this is the first of four previews and focuses on improving foresight accuracy

 STARRING 

• Dr. Howard Moskowitz, Moskowitz Jacobs
  Stock Market Prediction
• Fiona Blades, MESH Planning Tools
  Using Mobiles to Improve the Accuracy of Marcomms RoI
• Thomas Perry, Oliver Tabino, SINUS Sociovision
  A Sensitive Approach to Screening Future Innovation
• Mark Whiting, Moët Hennessy (Host)

Learn more about ESOMAR CONGRESS ‘06

THANKS
A huge thanks to Mark Whiting, his guests, and to Véronique Jeannin, director general of ESOMAR, and her team for their help in producing these podcasts.

TIMELINE [36m41s]
00m00s Introduction by Véronique Jeannin, Director General of ESOMAR.

Stock Market Prediction (Dr. Howard Moskowitz).
01m29s Introduction.
02m43s Motivation.
03m16s Approach.
05m28s Validation.
05m55s Key challenges.
06m59s Commercial applications.
07m35s Competing approaches.
08m25s Overcoming the challenges.
09m09s The benefits of Howard’s unconventional background.
10m00s Is MR-driven foresight getting more accurate?
10m38s Drawing inspiration from James Surowiecki’s ‘The Wisdom of Crowds’.
11m10s Other sources of inspiration.
11m48s Other aspects being covered at Congress.

Using Mobiles to Improve the Accuracy of Marcomms RoI (Fiona Blades).
13m00s Introduction & motivation.
14m22s Approach and benefits.
17m25s Potential limitations.
18m07s Length of texting period.
18m45s Improvements to WoM measurement.
20m41s Importance of the post-interview.
21m35s The importance of context in marcomms.
22m06s How the technique improves accuracy.
24m08s The potential for under-reporting.

A Sensitive Approach to Screening Future Innovation (Thomas Perry and Oliver Tabino).
25m33s Introduction.
26m19s Approach and benefits.
27m00s The core psychographic segmentation.
28m14s Using ethnography to aid with long term forecasting.
29m08s Making the findings meaningful to client Deutsche Telekom.
30m44s Major decisions that have been taken using the system.
31m33s The risk of killing off good products/ideas.
33m09s The use of early adopters in forecasting.
34m06s Aspects being covered at Congress.
34m36s Validation.

Music Theatrimus from the PMN

Series:Events Series:ESOMAR Series:Congress06