TMRE 2018 In Its Own Words

TMRE is overwhelming. Seven tracks, over a hundred speakers, all crammed into two and a half days. It’s as if, to understand the always on, multi-channel, fragmented consumer landscape, you have to imitate it.

With this year’s conference winding down, our TMRE team got together to share the best quotes, advertising insights, audience insights and ideas from the event.

THE NEED FOR SPEED

“Lots of companies can deliver faster and cheaper, but better is lacking from what I see.  Not a lot of validation that decisions are positively impacting topline growth and profits.” – Brent Snider, System1

“We were often too fast-paced for market research, which was setting ourselves up for failure. Every other department was committed to a decision and we hadn’t actually tested it.” – AJ Mathew, CNN

“I’d rather be 50% confident than go in blind. Surely you can sacrifice a few hours to gain some confidence?” – Phil Ahad, Toluna

“If we don’t move fast to give marketers the facts they’ll conclude that whatever they’re doing is working!” – Laurie Manos, Converse

“Cut out the middleman, give data back to the consumer.” – Michael Lancor, P&G

FAIL AGAIN. FAIL BETTER.

“If ‘failure is not an option’ then neither is success.” – Beth Comstock, Keynote Speaker

“Failing fast isn’t really about failure. It’s about getting out of your comfort zone, getting to the leading edge.” – AJ Mathew, CNN

“If last year’s buzzword was agile, this year’s was iterate – the always-on insight mentality. Or growth mindset, something else a lot of people mentioned – the idea you can always learn more and do better.” – Tom Ewing, System1

“The best presentation I saw was Diageo on being Leadership Navigators. Being a leader is like being a navigator in the age of exploration – your leadership has to adjust to fit each new situation you find yourself in.” – Jocelyn Simon, System1.

“If you’re not expecting failure you’re not learning. We can’t always expect a positive outcome.” – Michael Lancor, P&G

WHY INSIGHTS MATTER

“My research has no value. Unless it convinces someone to do something differently.” – Yoni Karpfen, Airbnb

“If business doesn’t get out into the real world it won’t survive” – Beth Comstock, keynote speaker.

“Integration of Insights and Analytics teams.  Finding a way to more easily couple the two together to help make stronger business decisions that will meaningfully move the business.  They used to be separate and more often than not they are now joined at the hip.” – Brent Snider, System1

“Research and stories do the same thing – bring order to chaos” – Yoni Karpfen, Airbnb

METHODOLOGY IN OUR MADNESS

“The new talk is about AI and Machine Learning but I never really saw it being applied in a manner that was impactful. It felt a lot like neuro back when everyone was talking about it and didn’t know what to do with it.” – Jeff McDonald, System1

“In the last 100 years we’ve developed layer upon layer of research tools. Where are we today? Not too far from where we started – surveys, focus groups, 1-to-1 interviews.” – Zoe Dowling, Focus Vision.

“We ask emotional survey questions, with 100-point interactive scales” – overheard on stage…

UNDER PRESSURE

“Who’s driving the bus? If you’re just responding to data requests, you’re not driving the bus. The insights team can drive the bus by creating frameworks and dimensions which challenge the business.” – Yoni Karpfen, Airbnb

“Power is shifting away from big brands. As niche brands grow, retailers give them priority. Physical availability dwindles. A single product strategy doesn’t work any more.” – Denise Saldana, Colgate-Palmolive.

“We have to find the balance of long- and short-term.” – Nisha Yadav, MetLife

“Low-performers and high performers only have one thing in common – they think they’re doing just fine.” – Yoni Karpfen, Airbnb