As we move closer and closer towards a “new normal,” every client that we work with has been asking the same question – what do we need to do differently and what’s the fastest way to get this done?
Not surprisingly, every company is looking for new ways to maximize agility, efficiency and effectiveness, with technology seen as critical to achieving all three. However, that is a very narrow view. In fact, the best answers in the world of insights come from the right mix of human and artificial intelligence.
As one of the most innovative companies in our space, we are big fans of technology, but we also believe that successful brands connect deeply with the human condition. In other words, the efficiency derived from using artificial intelligence compels the infusion of as much human empathy as possible. However, is this still right? Should we lean more towards one versus the other to deliver on our clients’ key imperatives?
Fortunately, a recent oncology engagement affirmed the value of artificial (AI) intelligence layered with human intelligence (HI). Our client faced an increasingly competitive environment: their brand and others were looking to unseat a long-standing entrenched treatment. A piece of white-paper sales collateral research – a straightforward qualitative project – gave good guidance on page ordering, headline clarity, and the annotations needed on graphs and tables. But, when brand leadership needed to understand deeper questions about their strategy to differentiate within the class, this report was silent. The clock was ticking, as the client needed materials for a major oncology conference in less than two weeks.
Thank goodness they retained video recordings and verbatim transcripts from that qualitative research. We immediately uploaded them into S+R AQuA™, our advanced qualitative analytics stack that has proprietary machine learning capabilities that work in concert with our AI text analytics partner platform from MIT, Luminoso.
Immediately, our talented human analysts saw the parallels between this brand and another we have supported for years. They saw oncologists struggling to defend their habitual prescribing behavior and identified the operative heuristics and emotional needs at play.
The analysis was structured to model a benefit ladder, anchored by the clinical data presented in the research stimuli. S+R AQuA™’s instant recognition of the textual concepts in this data allowed us to see which parts of the ladder were solid and which were shaky. Even more insightful, the cluster of related concepts suggested several benefit ladders were in play, with only one reaching a favorable outcome. We could also see which words/phrases to use and/avoid that drew oncologists towards our client’s brand, all leading to clear recommendations on how they should share their clinical data at the conference.
Another illustration in a different industry is a strategy project with a crazy deadline for a leading building products manufacturer. In front of us were 1,462 pages worth of reports we needed to sift through to develop a new, incremental learning agenda. Had we gone “all human” this would have taken weeks to sift through, connect the dots, synthesize, report, present and align, woefully delaying the project and putting the company behind the eight ball.
So, on a Monday we loaded these pages into Luminoso, which turned them into a singular data set. The algorithms found contextual links and themes in the blink of an eye, something a carbon-based lifeform would have taken forever (if ever) to identify. This laid the groundwork for our analysts to overlay their deep customer and category expertise to humanize, contextualize and bring the important ideas to the forefront. By Friday of that same week we had a plan of attack green-lit by our client and were on our way to changing their priorities, imperatives, and fortunes for the better.
This is a great reminder of how AI and human analysis work in concert to turn reams of historical data into synergistic recommendations; the former very textual and grounded in actual words of customers, the latter very contextual with eyes on the broader marketplace and competitive environment.
Time is an enemy for all brands, especially in today’s world, so there is no room for delay after delay because that puts clients, market researchers and the research industry at risk of obsolescence. So, work with someone who delivers the perfect mix of human and artificial intelligence. It is the best of agility, efficiency, and effectiveness!
Shapiro+Raj
S+R is a research and strategy firm that uses social and behavioral sciences to solve the toughest business and marketing challenges. Our next-gen methods dig deep to unlock market-ready insights. Then our brand planners turn these into strategic marketplace actions that create brand evolution and innovation; customer experiences and loyalty; and new platforms for growth.
