Digging for Insights

With almost two decades of experience in insights (Pepsico & Electrolux), Brett Townsend shares the pitfalls of market research and how we can improve as professionals and as an industry.
- How marketing research can be more relevant within companies
- The importance of company politics for market researchers
- Nuances of consumer targeting
- How artificial intelligence amplifies consumer insights
You can see the full notes at diggingforinsights.com

You don't need a huge research team to understand your customers and grow your business. In this episode, Stephen shares five analytics and insights tips that companies of all sizes can use to be smarter and more customer-centric. This is an edited version of an interview from the Student Built Start-ups podcast. The five tips covered include:
The Five Analytics & Insights Hacks
1. Customer Advisory Boards
2. The power of benchmarks with data analysis
3. White space maps for marketing positioning AND marketing spend
4. Marketing experimentation
5. The EDC Framework to create a learning plan that can grow your brand or business
Learn more at diggingforinsights.com

Should companies be advertising on emerging media platforms like Spotify, Hulu & Podcasts? To answer this question, Analytic Partners--a global advertising consultancy and tech company--published a new report on the effectiveness of advertising on newer media platforms like streaming audio (Spotify, iHeartRadio), Over-the-top (Netflix, Hulu), and Podcasts, and how these methods compare to traditional levers like Radio and TV.
Join us with for an interview with Senior Vice President Mike Menkes where we discuss the recent report, get more clarity and depth on several topics and gain practical advice for companies who seek to reach customers with advertising.

Episode Summary
Innovating within a large corporation poses many challenges. The Lean Startup, the classic book by Eric Ries, teaches how small teams can pivot and create new products quickly, but applying these principles in larger companies is not always clear. New to Big takes the next step by providing prescriptive advice for how large companies can innovate successfully by applying venture capital principles. Join us as we hear from Christina Wallace, coauthor of New To Big and VP of Growth at Bionic, as we talk about the mindsets needed for innovation, the importance of uncovering customer needs and the value of a zig-zag career.
About New to Big
Serial entrepreneurs David Kidder and Christina Wallace reveal their revolutionary playbook for igniting growth inside established companies. Most established companies face a key survival challenge, says David Kidder, CEO of Bionic, lifelong entrepreneur, and angel investor in more than thirty startups: operational efficiency and outdated bureaucracy are at war with new growth. Legacy companies are skilled at growing big businesses into even bigger ones. But they are less adept at discovering new opportunities and turning them into big businesses, the way entrepreneurs and early-stage investors must. In New to Big, Kidder and Wallace reveal their proprietary blueprint for installing a permanent growth capability inside any company--the Growth Operating System.
About Bionic
Bionic seeds and launches startups that discover and solve new customer problems for the world’s most competitive companies. Bionic installs a new, permanent capability within large enterprises that leverages the mindset and mechanics of entrepreneurship and venture capital to deliver an always-on pipeline of growth.
About the Digging for Insights Podcast
Whether you are a marketing research professional looking for career inspiration, or a business looking for ways to become customer focused, the Digging for Insights podcast is for you. How do you know what your customers really need? How can you use research to make critical business decisions? Join Stephen Griffiths, a Fortune 500 Corporate Researcher to find answers to these questions as you dig for the insights that will grow your business. Whether you work in marketing, consumer insights, customer experience, analytics or market research, this podcast provides case studies, how-to research methods and career advice that can accelerate your career.

About this Episode
In this second part of the marketing research grad school series, we speak with Kristin Branch, Director of the marketing research specialization for the University of Wisconsin-Madison's MBA. Formally known as the A.C. Nielsen center, the MBA specialization is the premier MBA program with a full emphasis in consumer insights.
In this episode, we'll hear from Kristin who shares her background and trends that she sees in the industry, given her role with hiring companies and as lead for the 30-person advisory board comprised of Insights leaders ranging from pharma, to consumer goods, to tech.
As an alumnus of the program, I share the key reasons why I chose--and am very happy with--my choice to attend the program for my MBA.
About the A.C. Nielsen Center (MR focused MBA)
The A.C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research trains students in the specialized ideas, issues and techniques of marketing research, consumer insights, and analytics. We support students studying marketing, consumer behavior, and analytics. In the country’s premier marketing research specialization, our MBA students develop:

• Business acumen to work in cross-functional teams
• Research, analytical, and methodological approaches to learn the who, what, when, where and even the why behind consumer behavior
• Marketing knowledge to translate the discovered insights into business recommendations to drive business growth

Established in 1990, the A.C. Nielsen Center is built on the legacy and funding of the Arthur C. Nielsen Jr. family, pioneers in the field of marketing research. Our mission includes the discovery and dissemination of new insights knowledge.

Biennially, the A.C. Nielsen Center hosts an industry conference, our Summit, and welcomes alumni, the external advisory board, and industry friends of the Center to campus for a full day of learning and networking.

Link to A.C. Nielsen Program Website:
https://wsb.wisc.edu/programs-degrees/mba/full-time/career-specializations/marketing-research
Link to Episode Show notes:
http://diggingforinsights.com/5