One way to become competitive in insights: Ten milestones that defined our behavioral formula

A decade and many milestones ago, a practical yet innovative idea was cooked up by EyeSee founders – make it easier and more predictive for brands to understand how their consumers think and shop. What began with the goal of removing bias in market research data led to the development of proprietary methodology, tools and an entire suite of solutions that provide actionable insights across any consumer touchpoint. Market research has been around for over 120 years, but the real tectonic shift happened just in the last couple of decades - and all the new tech will only continue to transfigure both the industry and EyeSee!

Here are the 10 formative milestones that have defined our path to impactful behavioral insights – so far:

#1 Out with the old, in with quant behavioral

What initially sparked the ambition to seek outside the boundaries of research was knowing that +80% of research uses conscious measurements only - limiting the scope and depth of insights needed to make sound business decisions. This made it clear - to truly understand consumers and what drives their decision-making process, the magnifying glass must be on their behavior.

So, our first behavioral method, Eye Tracking, was developed - to pinpoint what respondents are (not) seeing and what reels in their attention when looking at a product or an ad. With it came ideas about decoding consumer emotions and the tech for Facial Coding was brought to life. Quickly after, Virtual Shopping and Reaction Time Measurement were introduced to complete our mix-method approach for reliable consumer learnings. And for all of these methods to be on their best behavior (pun fully intended), all that is needed is the respondents' own laptops and mobile devices.

#2 Going global and growing further

And expanding our tools, tech and knowledge further powered our global expansion - with many new talents joining us all around the globe and growing our team from 4 to 144! To guarantee clients across all time zones and regions have accessible behavioral insights, footholds in New York, Singapore, Mexico City, Antwerp, Belgrade, London and Paris were established.

The truth is, each new region bears new challenges and demands – from the digital-first, mobile-savvy markets in the Asia-Pacific and rising social commerce initiatives to the undeniable global need for omnichannel optimization. So, every EyeSee hub was built with a laser focus on the locations where we identified a critical mass of novel and specific research questions, testing needs, and brand requirements.

#3 Thinking out of the box and in context

The number one question in the MR industry is: how does one ensure mighty yet accessible consumer knowledge? The answer – in-context research. While behavioral methodologies uncover the nook and crannies of behavior crucial for understanding consumers, you must make sure that what you are measuring is authentic and natural.

Guided by this vision, we thought of the tech that would be able to virtually recreate any setting or environment that consumers are familiar with and test – anything from stores, supermarkets, and restaurants to e-commerce shops, websites and fully interactive social media feeds! This could not have been possible without our ever-growing Research & Development team working tirelessly to perfect the complexities behind this tech and innovate internal tools that support client inquiries and research needs.

#4 Remote measures as a new standard

When the whole world was forced to stay indoors and find alternatives in many aspects of life and work – we moved into our home offices. The approach behind our research was always online and remote and the turbulent times only underlined the need for alternative methods to the ways everyday things were done – including research.

These pressures of uncertainty and the unfeasibility of the traditional way consumer research was conducted accelerated the adoption of innovation and pushed many brands to uncover the exciting world of online behavioral research. Now, two years later, as the demand continues to increase, more and more brands are embracing this new way of gathering vital know-how. Online behavioral research has quickly become the go-to for staying on top of trends, demands and needs of consumers – all while creating opportunities for fresh forms of cooperation with clients and allowing a more hands-on and collaborative approach to research.

#5 Exploring the unexplored and non-traditional

One of our project milestones was inspired by another milestone that happened in history in the last few years – the record-high participation of women in the Olympics. We joined forces with a social media platform to take a much-needed dive into the way gender roles in sports are portrayed in social media advertising - and, in turn, the impact it has on the brand and its consumers.

The learnings were unexpected yet compelling – ads featuring female athletes outperformed campaigns with male protagonists on almost all KPIs. Generally, across the tested ads, a definite driver of purchasing behavior was the non-traditional portrayal of gender roles – such as, women's stamina and engagement in sports that are typically considered masculine and men shown as paternal, caring, and emotional.

#6 Seizing sustainable shopper behavior

A growing number of consumers are adamant about making the planet a cleaner place – so, what's stopping them? We wanted to understand all the plentiful opportunities at which brands can support their consumers in their endeavors to buy, live and act greener.

The behavioral data was hopeful, showing that over 86% of shoppers are ripe to embrace the change and opt for more eco-friendly products. However, brands must help them in this by utilizing effective communication through the proper product claims, impactful social media content, and tapping into the yet uncharted categories that shoppers want to buy.

#7 Feeling the consumer's pulse – at all times

Consumer behavior is always evolving – and at (un) certain times, it can change in completely unexpected ways. It has always been imperative for brands to keep a close eye on their behavior, but inflation has put consumers under immense pressure causing seismic activities in their sentiments. So, how are the rising prices affecting buying behavior – what can companies do in response? We took a tech-driven approach leveraging virtual shopping to find out.

By testing in virtual supermarket replicas, we uncovered that one of the factors that impact consumer decision-making is the frequency at which a category is bought – for instance, in the low-frequency category, shoppers now tend to opt for a smaller package within the same brand. But there are some wild card categories to be aware of, like Bacon and Beer, that remain untouchable under inflationary pressures – don't underestimate the power of self-indulgence!

#8 The power of knowledge lies in sharing it

Researching the latest trends, identifying windows of opportunity, and helping clients develop only the best for their consumers is only one side of the market research coin. As much as gathering insights and learnings is critical, being able to share this knowledge is just as, and if not more, important.

So, over the last decade, we published 130+ blogs and 40+ webinars, 4 (and counting) annual publications and had 70+ speaking opportunities at global events in an effort to make actionable behavioral insights truly accessible to everybody everywhere – and will continue to do so!

#9 It takes a team effort to push research boundaries

Our innovations, tools, and tech would be nothing without the tenacious support and strong partnerships we forged with our clients along the way. Having their unique perspective, requirements and questions continue to spark our drive to create and develop solutions that are changing the research game. 

Clients like Google, Microsoft, Colgate-Palmolive, Energizer have also played a crucial role in our commitment to sharing knowledge, joining us on stage and in webinars to advocate for behavioral research, and amplify the reach of smart consumer insights.

#10 The award-winning behavioral framework

The decade-old mission to help brands better understand their customers and provide them with a competitive edge was initially kickstarted in 2014 when EyeSee won Bizidee's Belgian startup competition and got first place at the Global Mobile Innovator contest in NYC. And this was only the beginning of an array of recognitions to come! In 2019, we teamed up with Microsoft and won the award for the Global Market Research Project in the Quirk's Marketing Research and Insight Excellence awards. A year later, our long-lasting partnership with Twitter resulted in an exciting project, '(Non)traditional gender roles in sports ads', that was recognized as the Advertising Research Project of the year.

That same year, we were honored with Deloitte's Most sustainable growth award celebrating the most consistent growth across the last several years and with Quirk's Market Research Supplier recognition! Speaking of the Quirk's awards, we were also finalists in 2 categories in 2022 – MR supplier of the year and Global Marketing Research Project with Colgate-Palmolive! And just last year, we were shortlisted in the LVMH Innovation Awards showcasing companies with a unique vision of the future of customer experience and had our very own Insights Director, Diego Adolfo Chávez Terrazas, become Quirk's Fearless Leader! In addition, EyeSee continues to be among the Deloitte Technology fast 50 for the 6^th consecutive year and we are thrilled to see what the next 10 years will bring - here's to growing further and beyond!