Quirk's London Recap: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities in 2023

In a captivating panel discussion at Quirk's London, industry experts shed light on the pressing challenges, exciting opportunities, and emerging trends facing insights professionals in 2023.

Discover 8 key themes that emerged from their conversation at Quirk’s London. 

Panel Participants

Laura Lockley

Chief Customer Officer at Stravito

Rob Hardy

Head of Insight at Cambridge University Press and Assessment

Michelle Hixson

Global Insights Consultant at Shell

Ross Dempsey

Editor of the Burberry Hub

1) Increasing demand for up-to-date & impactful insights 

One of the common challenges mentioned was the increasing appetite for insights among stakeholders, which requires insights professionals to deliver relevant and timely information. Another challenge raised was the existence of silos, where insights are scattered across various platforms, making it difficult to share and search for insights. Additionally, stakeholders are often time-poor, which emphasizes the need for effective communication and storytelling to engage them.

2) Adopting an engagement + communication mindset

The increasing need to adopt an engagement and communication mindset was mentioned, rather than assuming that making data available automatically leads to its utilization. It’s essential to standardize storytelling and format insights in a way that supports decision-making processes.

3) Achieving enterprise-wide access to insights

To address the challenge of insight accessibility, the establishment of an insight engagement function was highlighted. This function focuses on centralizing insights, making them searchable and shareable through a hub or platform. By empowering users to upload data and implementing a self-service model, insights can be scaled across regions and territories, ensuring enterprise-wide access.

4) Building human relationships

Before building platforms, it is crucial to establish networks and relationships with key individuals involved in producing and consuming insights within the organization. This human interaction and collaboration help ensure a pipeline of actionable and timely insights.

5) Emerging technologies = exciting opportunities 

Virtual reality and other emerging technologies offer opportunities for consumer market research. Leveraging virtual reality, companies can design and test stores, allowing stakeholders and consumers to visualize and interact with different store formats. The emergence of the metaverse presents further possibilities for research and immersive experiences.

6) Measuring the success of insights functions 

While traditional measures like revenue and profits are relevant, it is also crucial to assess the confidence stakeholders have in their decision-making processes. Developing a confidence score and tracking it over time can provide you with a quantitative measure of your team’s impact and influence.

7) Staying updated on global trends 

By analyzing trends across markets, common themes and emerging patterns can be identified, challenging existing business thinking and stretching mindsets. Being aware of external trends helps in driving innovation and adapting to evolving consumer preferences.

8) Connecting with other insights leaders

The panel also showed the power of connecting with other insights leaders to share experiences, swap best practices, and gain new perspectives. Industry events offer an excellent chance to expand your network of insights professionals and get inspiration from insights professionals in different verticals and markets. One of the next events to look forward to is IIEX North America – the Stravito team will be there, and we’d love to connect.

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