Evidence Talks

Welcome to Evidence Talks, the podcast that explores the latest trends in how we understand customer behaviour. In this episode we turn our attention to the UK market research industry itself which has undergone quite a shakeup in the last few years. Barely a week passes on research-live.com without a new deal being announced. Just look at the dozens of notable sales in 2019: including Kantar to Bain Capital; Join the Dots to InSites; and Com Res to Savanta. The list goes on... The market research industry is consolidating more rapidly than ever before. According to the Research Live Industry Report 2020, research agencies in the UK generate more than £5bn turnover every year. And over half of that comes from the top 10 agencies. In this podcast we want to find out what the impact of this consolidation is on the people in the companies that are being bought and merged. We’ll also hear what it’s like for buyers of research - are clients getting what they want from fewer, larger suppliers? Ultimately, who are the winners and who are the losers in this new climate of deal making?Host: Christian Walsh, Digital Director, Market Research Society (MRS) Guests:Rhea Fox – Head of Insight and Strategy at Aviva and member of MRS Delphi GroupAngela Morgans, Regional MD for Europe at MetrixlabJon Priest, former-ceo of Future Thinking and now Director of Capel Partners

Today we're talking about representation and inclusion. Insight professionals are here to discover the truth and are in a unique position to increase understanding and amplify all voices within society – and organisations need to listen to what these communities have to say if they are to retain customers and staff, and grow their business.We may feel that many battles have been won – everyone is talking about diversity; laws are in place and doors have been opened. But when we dig below the surface the picture is less positive.According to Stonewall, 62% of graduates go back into the closet when they enter the job market. Almost half of 18- to 24-year-olds identifying as something other than 100% heterosexual.And a recent YouGov study found that almost two in five Brits don’t think it’s appropriate for colleagues to be out in the workplace. To discuss all this, today's guests are:Chantel Le Carpentier, project manager at YouGov Michelle Fan, senior strategist in semiotics at FlamingoAlex Turk, associate director at ICM UnlimitedThe host is Jane Bainbridge, Head of Editorial for Impact magazine and Research-Live.com, both of which are published by the Market Research Society (MRS). The MRS Delphi Group is a collection of the most respected thinkers in the research, insight and data analytics sector.

Social media research is an important source of insight for most organisations today. But fake profiles, fake sentiment and fake data is a growing problem. This podcast gets to the heart of how data analysis and traditional research can work better together, or fail spectacularly. In 2018 Facebook suspended 1.3bn fake accounts. The Mueller report stated 126 million Americans were influenced by fake profiles and content created by a Russian agency to influence the outcome of the 2016 US election. In April 2019 research from Which? Magazine found that: ‘Amazon is losing the battle against fake reviews’.Our guests discuss the impact that fake information online is having on customer insight. Colin Strong, global head of behavioural science at Ipsos and member of MRS Delphi Group Cordelia Hay, research director at Britain Thinks Aji Ghose Head of Research & Data Science at SkyThe host is Christian Walsh, Digital Director at the Market Research Society (MRS). The MRS Delphi Group is a collection of the most respected thinkers in the research, insight and data analytics sector.