That was the intriguing notion being discussed by Annelies Verhaeghe of Insites Consulting at the recent Cloud of Knowing meetup.

As John puts it:

[In the Insites study] bloggers were asked to provide images of what they perceived to be cool at a music festival they were attending. Researchers, marketing experts and 4 different types of crowds were then given the task of evaluating these and providing perceptions of their own. The bloggers then graded these in terms of the insights they generated. The 4 different types of crowd included those who were at the festival and also those who were not. And those who knew the bloggers and those who did not. The result showed that crowds appeared to be a better source of insight. And that the most fruitful crowd was one familiar with the context (ie present at the festival) and unfamiliar with the blogger (at several degrees of separation). A fascinating paper which has given Insites a way to use crowds to increase insight generation (they claim) by 200%!

Watch the video to discover what Annelies found.

An insight is…A consumer truth that hasn’t previously been articulated…
(Sue Frost)

Who’d have believed you could devote two whole days of an event to talk about ‘insight‘? Well, fresh from some of the sessions, our little group convenes for a 12 min roundtable to nail what insights are, how they can be recognised, and what’s needed to raise the bar on insights delivery across the whole sector

 STARRING 

• Johannes Hartmann, VP Consumer & Market Insights, Unilever Foods
• Peter Laybourne, Chairman, Fathom International
• Sue Frost, Director, Big Green Door

Recorded @ ESOMAR Consumer Insights ‘07

ESOMAR was kind enough to reimburse travel and accommodation expenses

Timeline [12m52s]
00m00s Intro.
00m46s The definition of ‘insight’.
01m44s Setting the bar high.
02m07s Spotting insights.
02m40s How can most agencies claim to provide insights when they are so rare?
03m57s How often do clients want insights from agencies?
04m49s Deciding whether a piece of research is likely to deliver insights.
05m40s The need for partnership between clients and agencies.
06m43s Courage – ‘you have to be brave’.
07m14s The need for training, role models and intuition.
08m47s Intuition needs to be traceable back to behaviour.
09m40s Johannes: it’s about consciousness and trust.
10m36s Insights should trigger an instant emotional response.
11m00s Measuring the impact of insights.
11m34s Using training, intuition and experience.
12m00s The panel’s call of action to the sector.

Notable Mentions
Authenticity.
Consumer insights.
Diageo.
GfK.
NOP.
Research International.
Wendy Gordon.

Music Theatrimus from the PMN

Thanks to Jo Bowman, freelance media and marketing journalist, for their dulcet tones in the intro and outro

Series:Events Series:ESOMAR Series:CI07

Many clients don’t even realise there’s a problem
(Fred John)

 WIN ‘07  Recorded during a world leader meeting, our panel discusses ways to shift MR from a profession that uses closed, carefully controlled methods of data collection to one that cedes control and spends more time listening to people as they air views naturally, and so become more attuned to the new world of consumer self-expression and empowerment

 STARRING 

• C. Frederic John, Research Leader, MasterCard
• Frits Spangenberg, ESOMAR President and founder, Motivaction
• Larry Brownell, Executive Director, MRA
• Philip De Wulf, co-founder and partner, The Mission House

Recorded at the ESOMAR WIN ‘07 event

ESOMAR was kind enough to reimburse travel and accommodation expenses

Timeline [15m41s]
00m00s Intro.
00m40s The curse of declining participation rates.
01m13s Who should be solving the issue?
01m52s Do clients recognise that this is an issue for them?
02m28s Client purchasing managers need educating.
04m02s Consumer behaviour is changing and this is affecting more than just MR.
05m30s Clients are not interested in methodological issues.
07m35s Solutions: client education; become respondent-focused; ceding control.
10m12s What’s involved in giving up power and control?
11m09s Overcoming vested interests.
11m58s Web 2.0 and the importance of community-building.
12m49s Will more corporates engage with consumers via blogs?
13m10s Is it time to expand MR’s catchment?
14m12s Final thoughts.

Notable Mentions
Access panels.
Blogs.
Bulletin boards.
CMOR.
Dell.
Forums.
Kim Dedeker (P&G).
Microsoft.
MySpace.
Respondent Participation Summit 2006.
Second Life.

Quotes
“This problem has been developing over 30 or 40 years, and us trying to redirect a river on a short term is not a good idea…it’s a long term project.” (Larry Brownell).

“If research is going to elevate this and its status within the corporate world then it has got to be ‘you have got to be able to bet your job on this.’” (Larry Brownell).

“…there’s a shift from boxed approaches to open approaches…people want more freedom of expression…[MR] tools development should go in the direction of listening tools rather than questioning tools.” (Philip De Wulf).

“The challenge is to let go of that feeling of power…I don’t like to be put behind the mirror as a consumer, I like to look people in the eye, to be listened to.” (Philip De Wulf).

“The way access panels are built now do not comply with the rules of community building: you are not the architect, it’s the community itself that defines the rules.” (Philip De Wulf).

“The industry is evolving faster than the profession.” (Fred John).

“You constantly have to reinvent your own existence.” (Frits Spangenberg).

Music Theatrimus from the PMN

Thanks to Anna Alu, ESOMAR, for her help in producing this podcast, and to Diane Bowers, CASRO President, and Jo Bowman, freelance media and marketing journalist, for their dulcet tones in the intro and outro. Photos courtesy of Patrice Bondurand

Series:Events Series:ESOMAR Series:WIN07

 GUEST  Stephen Phillips, founder and Managing Partner, Spring Research

 TOPICS  Research via mobiles; the social media/networking revolution; audio comments from Ruth McNeil (Response Consulting) and Darren Noyce (SKOPOS); making multimedia presentations the norm; effective business development; overcoming recruitment challenges

 NOTABLE MENTIONS  AMI Group, Amnesty International, Bebo, Buzzmetrics, ESOMAR Congress, Jeremy Bullmore, Moët Hennessy, MRS Conference, MySpace, Paris Hilton, Synovate, ToLuna, Tuned In, Unilever, WOMMA, Xbox, YouTube

Music 2006 Pl@stic Soul and The Clintons from the PMN

Series:Weekly