A few months ago, an AI-run study landed at a scale no human team could sensibly attempt, and the research industry had a moment.

In this episode of Truth Revealed, Jon Suarez, head of behaviour and culture at Truth Consulting and Dr Mark Thorpe talk through why. Why the returns flatten around the 13th interview. Why the one voice in a focus group that says something slightly sideways is often where the prize is, and what gets lost when that voice becomes one in 250 instead of one in six. Why the team is called behaviour and culture rather than qualitative research.

And why Jon, for all of it, is genuinely optimistic about what AI does to the industry from here.

Listen now.

In this episode of Truth Revealed, our Head of Truth Futures Dr Bridget Dalton and Head of Quant Maria Antidormi make the case for a different way of thinking about futures research: one that starts with culture and ends with directional confidence.

They get into why casting the net wide produces fog rather than foresight, and why narrowing your focus is the move that actually works. Cultural semiotics and quantitative research, used together, can show where meaning is moving before it shows up in data.

From the hollowing out of premium value to the tension between everyday and luxury markets; this is a conversation about what it really means to size a future, and how to choose it wisely.

As part of the latest in our Truth Revealed series, Mark Thorpe spoke with Alex Hardy about insight, brands, AI and connecting with shoppers and consumer truths in a time of change. Alex has worked with some notable organisations; from the frozen food powerhouse that is Nomad Foods (where he led their global insights team), to luminaries such as Nestlé, Unilever and General Mills.

It was a great session, one that really got the Truth team thinking about the wonderful world of people, brands, insight and strategy. During the discussion, a range of topics were covered, not least of which was the challenges and opportunities of AI for commercial insight and strategy. Also covered were the changing brand, consumer and shopper landscapes and what this means for insight teams that have increasingly been tasked with doing more at pace.

Facing a rapidly changing ‘now’, and a future that none of us can predict, means focusing on the real and the tangible, while maintaining a keen view on the future scenarios that could come into play, is essential. As part of this pragmatic approach to insight is the strength to make hard choices: what to follow and what to ignore and what is likely to be important and what isn’t. It’s all too easy to be swept away on a sea of trends, seduced by their possibilities. Evaluation is key. As is experience – knowing when to walk away from a trend, idea, or manifestation.

Please do have a look/listen to the podcast with Alex Hardy. It has certainly encouraged our thinking, as well as reaffirming beliefs that are central to how we think and what we do. There’s a positive message in there that, despite all the challenges, the world of insights can still shine brightly. What’s not to like about that? #podcast #TruthRevealed