As we see the data around vaccinations and guidance from public health experts, it seems like the light at the end of the tunnel, the new normal, is within our reach. There are several prognostications about what this new normal will bring. The one that everyone agrees on, especially in the research and insights industry, is that we need to clearly do more with less. We need to deliver better answers, bigger ideas, transformative outcomes, and compelling ROI; and we need to do it faster and cheaper.
Not surprisingly, every company, especially in this space, is looking for new ways to be agile, efficient, and effective. Most firms see technology applications as the primary way to deliver these benefits. However, this is a very narrow view. In fact, unearthing the most powerful insights requires a duopoly – the perfect blend of human empathy and artificial intelligence.
Simply put, you need HE + AI.
As one of the most innovative companies in our space (GRIT ranked us #2 in qualitative excellence and 14th most innovative insights company in the world) we are superpower users of some of the best apps and platforms available out there. But this use of tech is balanced with a clear understanding that insights come from a deep grasp of the human condition, one that no app can deliver. This balanced approach is what allows us to help our clients win. Here are a couple of examples:
The first one is for a client with a leading oncology brand. This brand is attempting to find a strong beachhead against the category leader in a hugely competitive environment. Their research answered many questions but was a bit light and silent on new strategic issues that emerged, such as differentiation pathways within their class. To deepen their understanding, they analyzed their tracking, forecasting, and sales data and obtained some good insights into “what” was happening in the marketplace. They, however struggled to understand the “why”!
They had done a lot of qualitative research, but their reports did not answer specific questions that emerged from the quant analyses. This is when they reached out to us.
As a first step, we reviewed all the reports to synthesize existing learnings. Reports are never very useful as they provide direction without any context. This is why we asked and got the raw data, the video footage of all their IDIs, plus the discussion guides and stimuli. We ran these videos (guided by the discussion guides) through our process, tagging each interview into connected and structured transcripts, that were uploaded into S+R AQuA™, Shapiro+Raj’s proprietary advanced qualitative analytics app that is powered by deep machine learning and AI text analytics capability.
S+R AQuA™ allowed our credentialed social scientists to identify themes and concepts from their research. Our teams were not surprised at what they learned. A lot of brands that depend just on clinical trial data struggle. Because about two-thirds of all oncologists tend to have a wait-and-see approach with new regimens, they revert to defending their habitual prescribing behavior.
To dig deeper and eliminate biases, our team structured the analyses to model a benefit ladder, anchored by the clinical data presented in the research stimuli. S+R AQuA’s AI capability recognized the textual concepts in this data and allowed them to see parts of the ladder that were solid and ones that were not. Additionally, the cluster of related concepts suggested that there were new benefit ladders at play, with only one delivering a favorable outcome. This allowed us to focus on the details. What we found was there were clear communications cues, words and phrases that enhanced or weakened the proposition. This learning agenda was done in less than two-weeks and gave the brand a strategic pathway to differentiation. One that is delivering double-digit results!
Here is another example in the consumer marketspace. Our client, a Building Products company asked us to help them answer a strategic question from their Board – “what role do our top-5 selling products play in driving brand recognition and value?" They needed this answered in less than a week. To facilitate this timeline, they provided all their data and reports, all 1,462 pages worth. As you can imagine, not an easy task in our legacy world, just getting through this much content would have taken us weeks.
We uploaded all their documents into S+R AQuA, converting a large number of discrete documents into one singular data set. The app found contextual links and themes from the data that became the starting point for our brand strategists. Their category expertise helped frame answers to this question with a very high degree of confidence resulting in a satisfied Board and a happy client. To brag for a second… we started this project on Monday and delivered final recommendations on Friday… of the same week. Crazy but true!
In today’s environment, time is the enemy. Brands need agility. Brands need speed. Brands need efficiency. But most importantly, brands need the perfect blend of Human Empathy + Artificial Intelligence, to deliver Transformative Outcomes. Simply put, the complete formula is: HE + AI = TO
If you are not leveraging this blend, you are leaving huge opportunity on the table. If you want to understand how you can leverage this formula, please reach out to us at communications@shapiroraj.com.
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.
