This year has brought new approaches to market research for many global brands, and the shift was felt across all industries – but keeping up with the latest trends is no easy task. To help brands get ready for 2022, we handpicked 5 tips from the top experts from Microsoft, Google, Swiggy, Coca-Cola, and Colgate-Palmolive that tackle the innovation process, sustainability, and approaches to collecting consumers’ data in the next year. Let’s dive in!

The blog before you is just a sneak-peak into EyeSee’s annual publication filled with 40+ industry insights, top experts’ perspectives and handy advice for the year ahead – and beyond. Stay tuned!

Tip #1 When in doubt, go behavioral

When lockdowns and restrictions hindered in-store shopping – collecting consumer data became a challenge on its own. To surpass it, tech powerhouse Google sought new ways to obtain reliable consumer learnings – by adopting a behavioral and remote approach to research. Research Lead Southern Europe at Google, Tiphaine Goisbeault, reflected on how user behavior has evolved and is now more complex than ever – and to stay on top of it, the need for innovation became a crucial component at Google. With this in mind, finding space for innovation at every step – while respecting user privacy and vendors’ safety – means opening new areas of thought, challenging well-known marketing frameworks, or testing new methodologies to improve operational marketing.

Tip #2 Embrace the small company mindset

When approaching innovation and product development, Tanja Petrović, The Coca-Cola Company’s Insights Strategy Director, believes there are a few key things small companies are acing – that big brands can learn from. First of all – the agile approach. As Tanja put it, it is something that the big systems could not say was one of their key advantages in the past, but are now heavily learning to apply many agile principles in the way they operate. Secondly, the uncertainty – especially during the pandemic but also beyond, is something small companies are successfully managing on a day-to-day basis.

Having a super-efficient yet authentic vision and mission with a purpose is another way small innovators are changing the game. Larger companies tend to gravitate towards wide portfolios to cover different business needs, making it challenging to stay focused on the vision and mission. Then there is high engagement internally among the employees and externally, especially with the consumers. Tanja believes smaller brands can especially be proud of the consistent interaction with their consumer – and then basing their business model on that interaction. And finally – alternative channels. Big companies usually tend to go to the mainstream channels to distribute products, while smaller companies are going the other way around and plugging into the alternative channels to build the brand and the product there.

Tip #3 Start with what’s comfortable, but build on it

Speaking of innovation – Senior Manager Market Research at Microsoft, Krista Bradley touched upon how many companies lack the courage to take that first step. A lot of times, the challenge in doing innovative research lies in the fact that stakeholders lean towards the rinse and repeat approach to avoid risks. Here’s how Krista always finds the room for innovation – while thinking a couple of steps ahead of what the stakeholder’s needs:

Tip #4 Tap into the sustainable arena

As the demand for more sustainable alternatives keeps increasing – so are the opportunities for brands to develop these sought-after products. According to Cherie Leonard (Foresight and Sustainability Insights, NA Division at Colgate-Palmolive), the first step to making sustainable products truly competitive is to understand the job that needs to be done – the product has to fit the consumer’s experience, or they won’t use it even if it’s the most sustainable option.

Tip #5 Combine different types of data for a full picture

So, how to approach research in 2022? As technology keeps changing the way of collecting data, many diverse research fields are working together to gather actionable insights. Omnath Killekar, Product and Consumer Insights at Swiggy, reflects on the relationship between insights gained from consumer research and those obtained from passive data. As he explained, these are two types of data: primary research data and the data we have from internal systems (from the funnel conversion, etc.). While both types are vital for researchers, the real magic happens when you understand how to marry the two data sets – to obtain a 360° view of consumer behavior. 

Interested in more insightful perspectives to help steer your 2022? Make sure you check out some advice from our senior top experts!