H1 2024 OUTLOOK INSIGHTS & INNOVATION
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INSIGHTS & INNOVATION OUTLOOK
What has your CEO said about AI? What has your CEO done about AI? What is the messaging from other C-Suite leaders? How far behind is your organization’s mindset? • If you’re weeping right now, It seems that your job this year is to find whatever ways you can to simply demonstrate the necessity of collective intelligence so that the organization’s mindset can actually evolve. • If you’re simply queasy, you might have C-Suite buy-in but not a clear plan of action. It seems your job this year is to identify and execute edge use cases to provide some context for a plan to be conceived • If you’re feeling bad for the two above, your organization has not only spoken about AI, but instituted a plan. And you are working on that plan from your seat, in your role. It seems your job this year is to lean in to your use cases and begin to scale where it can most benefit current organizational goals • If you stopped reading because this is too basic of a conversation for you, you’re an outlier. Congratulations. It seems your job this year is to keep making the rest of us look basic This is the year folks. We’ve said it before. Shoot, they were saying it in the 70’s. But software on top of appropriate compute had to arrive. And in late 2022 OpenAI’s ChatGPT democratized artificial intelligence. In many ways, many of us are still at that moment. But 2024 is when we go from the democratization of a tool to operationalization of that tool. Let’s roll.
THE JOURNEY FROM AI OUTSIDER TO AI OUTLIER Happy 2024. As we plod further through our new reality of Forever Disruption, this is the year that global corporate enterprise allows Artificial Intelligence to tap into central nervous systems on the journey to Collective Intelligence. As with Boomers, Gen Z, Millennials and now, Gen Z, the ways we work evolve when new intelligence enters the paradigm. How is your organization welcoming this new generation of Artificial Intelligence? With a sizable chunk of the Global Forbes 2000 still not allowing LLMs into their walls- often for solid privacy and/or regulatory compliance reasons- there is a sizable chunk of you who are nowhere close to the operationalization of AI. That said, a sizable chunk of the information economy is experimenting and might be benefiting from use cases of AI running at the edges. Others have actual use cases more towards the core of the organization. And some- outliers at this point, are winning through AI coursing through veins of most aspects of their offering. Those are the players on the quest from Outsider to Outlier in 2024. The outsiders are those at the beginning. The outliers are the precious few who are doing what we all imagine can be done…and beyond. So here at the outset of 2024, which one of the players above are you? The law of averages dictates that you’re likely not an outlier. And that means you’ve got a lot to do this year.
Seth Adler IMI Intelligence & Innovation
16 Max Wartel , Director of Consumer Insights, Fandom Staying Focused Matt Kramer, Digital Editor, All Things Insights A LOOK INSIDE INSIGHTS & INNOVATION OUTLOOK H1 2024 04
05 Adam Alter , Author, Professor of Marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business
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Doug Healy , Senior Director, Consumer Insights - Gatorade, PepsiCo Christopher Frank , Author, Co-Faculty Director at Columbia University
06 David McRaney , Author, Journalist
09 Justin Coates , Head of Global Market Research & Consumer Insights, Eastman Chemical Company 10 Kerry Sette , VP, Head of Consumer Insights & Research, Voya Financial 07 Dr. Heather Berlin , Cognitive 08 Jordan Cusner , Head of Guest 13 Ericka Podesta McCoy , Chief Marketing Officer, Resonate 12 Josh Goldfinch , Director Customer Insights, Verizon 11 Oksana Sobol , Senior Director, Insights Lead, The Clorox Co. Neuroscientist, Host of PBS Nova’s “Your Brain” Insights, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen
Thomas Walker , Vice President, Global Consumer Insights at eBay
Milan Ivosevic , VP R&D and Innovations, CooperSurgical
Gail Martino , Senior Manager, Unilever
Michele Sandoval , Director of Innovation, E&J Gallo Winery
Elizabeth Oates , Vice President, Consumer Insights, Ulta Beauty
Sheryl Connelly , Global Consumer Trends Expert & Former Chief Futurist at Ford Motor Company
14 Jim Whaley , CEO, Ovation
15 Karen Kraft , Associate Director, Consumer Insights & Analytics, Johnsonville
EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE INSIGHTS & INNOVATION OUTLOOK
Participants mention geopolitical events, economic instability, and the impact of global wars. There is a recognition of the need to navigate challenges such as inflation, supply chain issues, and changing consumer behaviors. The presidential election year is also looming as a catalyst of change. Understanding consumer needs and building trust emerge as critical themes. Participants highlight the role of insights professionals in helping companies navigate uncertainties, make informed decisions, and determine where growth opportunities lie. Trust is identified as a key factor, especially in times of vulnerability, and foundational research on brands is considered essential for regaining a voice and connecting with consumers. But throughout, while identifying challenges and uncertainties, there is an undercurrent of optimism. Some express positivity about overcoming the impacts of the pandemic, returning to a more normal cadence, and seeing upticks in optimism from clients. The resilient nature of insights and innovation is emphasized, as is their ability to adapt to turbulent conditions, suggesting a proactive, focused and forward-looking approach. We’d like to take a moment to thank all of our contributors to the Insights & Innovation Outlook. Thank you for participating and sharing your valuable insights and viewpoints on 2024, and beyond.
STAYING FOCUSED When compiling this Insights & Innovation Outlook, several themes came to the forefront, regardless of profession, executive title or company. When looking ahead at 2024, while there still might be uncertainties, the future is coming into more focus, and our contributors are ready to roll up their sleeves and tackle the work that needs to be done. Our contributors are assessing key themes, such as the transformative role of AI, the importance of innovation and adaptability, the influence of global dynamics, the centrality of consumer insights and trust, and an overall sense of cautious optimism and resilience in the face of uncertainties. There is a prevalent focus on the evolving role of AI and technology. Participants discuss the transformative impact of AI on various industries, highlighting its supporting role in content creation, insights generation, and decision-making. There is an acknowledgment of the need to strategically incorporate and scale technology, with an emphasis on evaluating AI capabilities and navigating the distinctions between augmented and artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, there is also an acknowledgement of innovation and adaptability in the face of new challenges. Participants express the need to experiment, scale what works, and reconstruct new ways of working. The emphasis is on using technology to drive innovation, streamline processes, and bring breakthrough ideas to market. Resilience and comfort with ambiguity are identified as essential skills for navigating the changing landscape.
Matt Kramer Digital Editor All Things Insights & All Things Innovation
The global and societal context plays a significant role in shaping outlooks.
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ADAM ALTER AUTHOR, PROFESSOR OF MARKETING, New York University’s Stern School of Business
“AI is going to be in a completely different place. If you look at social media and every big technology over the last 20 years, that first year is just one big question mark and doesn’t look much like what comes after it. We’re just hitting the point where we’re starting to work it out. What does this look like in different industries? It’s going to influence our lives.”
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DAVID MCRANEY AUTHOR, Journalist
“We’re returning to blogging in a new format. Platforms like TikTok are bringing content creation into a new space in a way that it was struggling to do beforehand. There’s an interesting meritocracy of ideas that is saying, hey, can you do something worthwhile? AI is going to obviously be a big part of that as a facilitator.”
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DR. HEATHER BERLIN COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENTIST, Host of PBS Nova’s “Your Brain”
“MDMA, which is like ecstasy, will be FDA approved for PTSD. Psilocybin will most likely be approved to treat depression. The world may accept some of these as being more mainstream. We’re a caveman brain in a modern world—we need tools, technology, or different medicines that can help us interact with each other in ways that are less harmful, for both each other and for the environment.”
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JORDAN CUSNER HEAD OF GUEST INSIGHTS, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen
“We’ve been talking about augmented intelligence versus artificial intelligence, and how do we use those machine learning or AI tools to enhance the work that we do. There’s clearly a role for humans to play. But where is that opportunity for how AI can really help enhance, streamline and simplify the work.”
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JUSTIN COATES HEAD OF GLOBAL MARKET RESEARCH & CONSUMER INSIGHTS, Eastman Chemical Company
“Doing more with less will be real. Sustainability is still a durable trend. How do you get consumers to purchase sustainable products? How do you get price parity? How do you continue to message? That’s why you need insights professionals to help our companies navigate these uncertain times.”
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KERRY SETTE VP, HEAD OF CONSUMER INSIGHTS & RESEARCH, Voya Financial
“Whether you’re looking at the economic reports or at the pulse of consumers, everyone thinks it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Inflation is having a long-term impact. Companies need to make some decisions like consumers about wants versus needs. Insights is a fantastic way to help determine where that growth is going to come from.”
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OKSANA SOBOL SENIOR DIRECTOR, INSIGHTS LEAD, The Clorox Co.
“The next year will be when we actually put technology to work in a bigger way. We will be moving through this experimentation phase and we will start scaling the things that work. We will start building insights stacks and scale systems and integrating the technology in a more informed way. Both the consumer forces and us reconstructing new ways of working will lead to
more innovation, bigger innovation, more breakthrough innovation ideas coming to market.”
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JOSH GOLDFINCH DIRECTOR CUSTOMER INSIGHTS, Verizon
“We’re looking at vendors who say they have AI capabilities. Which of these vendors are we going to pilot next year? Which of these do we need to sell in as a capability that we need to fund and understand? We’re really in that evaluative stage.”
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ERICKA PODESTA M c COY CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, Resonate
“It is going to be turbulent. You have this disruptive technology now that everybody’s trying to figure out, and that’s only going to continue to permeate everything. There is a presidential election, which tends to put a lot of uncertainty into the markets. The consumer knows that, and they’re already starting to pull back on spending. But we’re going to face it with optimism.”
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JIM WHALEY CEO, OvationMR
“We’ve seen an uptick in optimism from our clients. We see that the pipelines are opening, and that people are starting to free up their budgets. We see opportunities with technology providers who are partnering with us for more R&D initiatives, especially in the agile qualitative area and in some AI partnerships.”
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KAREN KRAFT ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, CONSUMER INSIGHTS & ANALYTICS, Johnsonville
“We have some foundational research on our brands coming up. A lot of my next year is going to be about the brand and getting our voice back, with a new campaign and all the research associated with it. For us, 2024 is about foundation. Things are going to turn the corner, so it’ll start feeling better for a lot of people.”
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MAX WARTEL DIRECTOR OF CONSUMER INSIGHTS, Fandom
“AI tools are going to be a huge part of the UGC space. What we choose to call AI is highly variable. We have a chance to stake a flag. That’s something that both we and other organizations need to do this year. How does that define how we want to approach it in terms of the types of tools we create? You would expect very different things from an assistant versus an AI or a bot.”
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DOUG HEALY SENIOR DIRECTOR, CONSUMER INSIGHTS - GATORADE, PepsiCo
“We must push for what we believe in. In the end, it’s the people that build this strategy or come up with the big actionable idea. This is what’s going to grow the business. How do we change our equity? How do we turn ourselves from being a data function to a strategy function, from a methodology function to an impact action business growth function?”
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CHRISTOPHER FRANK AUTHOR, CO-FACULTY DIRECTOR, Columbia University
“AI is powerful, but right now it is a tool. What I hope is that people pause and think about AI in a very strategic way and their role in it. One of the most important skills that they could do today is around building skills.”
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THOMAS WALKER VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL CONSUMER INSIGHTS, eBay
“Buckle up and get ready for the ride—from the macroeconomic environment, from all the uncertainty, from companies trying to figure out how to drive long-term growth. There is a changing landscape with AI. I call it ‘Supervuca’—a volatile, uncertain, changing, and ambiguous environment. It’s going to be fun, dynamic and scrappy.”
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MILAN IVOSEVIC VP R&D AND INNOVATIONS, CooperSurgical
“From the opportunities point of view, there are a lot of positive expectations. But I think a lot of uncertainties are coming with geopolitical events that are happening now in different parts of the world, which impact all of us. There are supply chain issues with access to different countries. The right word is uncertainty, and we’ll need to adjust.”
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GAIL MARTINO SENIOR MANAGER, Unilever
“I’m very positive about 2024. The pandemic is in the rearview mirror. We’re starting to go back to a more normal work cadence. It’s so much improved since before.”
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MICHELE SANDOVAL DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION, E&J Gallo Winery
“It’s going to be a bit of a roller coaster, given that it’s an election year, given that we have a couple of global wars happening. We’re still in an inflationary cycle. I feel like the skills that you need as an innovator are well suited for the ride. You need to be comfortable with ambiguity. That makes us very resilient, with the ability to adapt and find new opportunities.”
ELIZABETH OATES VICE PRESIDENT, CONSUMER INSIGHTS, Ulta Beauty
“What do consumers need? Looking into the future is like if we’re all driving a car, to use an analogy. We have ways to look out at what’s around us. One of those is the rearview mirror. That tells us where we’ve been and how we’ve gotten here. But the other lens that we have is the windshield. And that’s going to help us understand where we’re going, what’s ahead, and how we navigate.”
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SHERYL CONNELLY GLOBAL CONSUMER TRENDS EXPERT & FORMER CHIEF FUTURIST, Ford Motor Company
“The outlook for 2024 is not strong. Consumers have been living with anxiety, concern and disruption. Look at the geopolitical events, the economic instability, and a very difficult presidential campaign here in the U.S. Now that we can see that, we can see past that. We can do things to make our organization resilient. When people feel that sort of vulnerability, what they really want is trust.”
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SPECIAL THANKS TO: Headquartered in Reston, VA, Resonate is a pioneer in A.I.-driven data and intelligence, delivering deep, dynamic data, for analysis and activation, directly through its easy-to-use SaaS platform or through highly rated Managed Media Services. The Resonate proprietary, privacy-safe data set includes more than 14,000 rich, relevant, real-time data points that describe more than 230 million U.S. individuals. Hundreds of companies use Resonate to drive better marketing strategy and execution fueled by a more comprehensive understanding of their audience that extends beyond traditional demographics, psychographics and behavioral data to uncover why people choose, buy or support certain brands, products or causes.
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