What does social intelligence mean to you?
Social Intelligence is something that 10 years ago started as a niche and arcane marketing research practice and over time turned into a staple in the marketing research toolkit. Social Intelligence helps marcom practitioners get better understanding of the consumers and their mindsets. Like most other tools in our trade, it has a number advantages and drawbacks. However, on its own and in combination with our data sources and marketing research techniques it holds great power to distil and validate findings and insights.
What motivates you in your work? What makes you want to keep working in social intelligence?
I’ve always been interested in what makes people tick. Microeconomics whetted my academic interest in economics and marketing and later on helped me pick my career path. As one of my mentors and some of my colleagues have noted on numerous occasions I am a research generalists and can get excited to do research on any topic, regardless of how mundane it might seem.
Also, Social Intelligence excites me because it is still evolving and is still an underdog in the grander marketing research field.
Lastly, being part of Publicis Groupe, my team has an unique chance to encounter and tackle a wide range of use cases for clients and brands from different industries. So there is a lot of variety in the work we do.
What do you think makes you successful in your work?
I think still being curious and motivated to do marketing research. To borrow from Nate Silver’s fox/hedgehog researchers’ mindset model – “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing”. I’d describe myself as a fox, trying to have my finger on the pulse of large number of often unrelated topics.
Of course, being surrounded by a great team of people with similar researcher mindsets but also solid background in marketing research, sociology and anthropology.
This and the opportunity to work on a variety of projects and clients over the years. I cannot underscore how important the building of a solid track record of successful projects for a large and diverse set of Publicis agencies and their clients has been for our unit and the overall perception of the Social Intelligence image within the Publicis Groupe.
What are the key skills that have contributed to your success?
These are not exactly skills, nor I claim to have mastered any of them but I believe they are key precursors for anybody who wants to pursue a career in marketing research. I know I already mentioned it but being curious about the world and how people behave is key. It is not exactly a skill, but more of a disposition. It is also time consuming as I find myself constantly plugged in the news cycle and sporting 20 open tabs with articles from The Economist, The Atlantic, ESPN or Wired. And this on top of any book I am trying to read at the moment, both fiction and nonfiction.
I cannot stress enough how important empathy is in our jobs. Being able to relate to another person and see the world through their eyes, imagine their emotional state etc.
What makes social data special compared to other data sources?
It is beautifully messy. It can come in very large volumes and in varying content formats (short vs long form, photos vs text, etc).
It also might not be available at all – we are at the mercy of the social media platform users to post and discus a particular brand or topic. And honestly, some products, brands and topics are not exciting enough to post about on social media or there are barriers like local social taboos.
Also, speaking of availability, the data is subject to the whims of the social media platforms and their willingness to share it with third party providers.
On a brighter note, the relative anonymity of the internet offers access to unabashed consumer opinions. Social media and search data are also relatively cheap and fast sources for qualitative marketing research.
What does being a social intelligence pioneer mean in the context of your work?
You always work with a chip on your shoulder, trying to prove your worth against the traditional marketing research methods and research agencies.
If you are an old time like me, who started as a bean counter doing press media monitoring and then moved to the greener pastures of social intelligence, you get to trudge, shape and observe firsthand how a whole marketing research discipline evolves and claims its rightful place in the marketing research toolkit. With this said, I still believe there is more work to be done in this area but we are in for a fun ride.
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