What is your job title? How do you use social listening in your work?
I am the managing director of Q, a research agency based in Germany and we are conducting a lot of Social Media based research projects.
What’s your background? How did you get into social listening?
I founded my own research company 15 years ago. This was the time Social Media Research and Social Listening was very new for market researchers. Since then, it is part of our research and consulting portfolio in many different ways. I have always been fascinated by ethnographic methods and social media was and is a digital space for ethnographic studies. That's why I love netnographic studies and projects.
What’s been the project you’ve been most proud to work on?
During the pandemic, we created and implemented a so-called Corona Insight Generator based on data and comments in social media for dm, one of the largest drugstore chains in Germany. With the help of weekly and later monthly analyses, we were able to provide dm with valuable information on how consumers in Germany are reacting to the pandemic and what implications this has for purchasing behaviour. We were also nominated for a Best Practice Award together with dm for this project. That was certainly one of the biggest highlights among many other highlights.
What’s the biggest misconception about your work?
Social Listening projects are just plug and play and totally easy (and cheap).
Any nightmare clients? Why? (No names)
As we attach great importance to consultation in the run-up to a project, there are hardly any problems with clients. A central point of the consultation is clarifying the order and managing expectations. If both are successful, there are no nightmares. We have done a lot of research into depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and self-harm and when you see and read how desperate people are because of their illness, it's really hard. It doesn't give me nightmares, but it's not always easy to switch off after such analyses.
Is there anything that you’re doing with social data that you don’t see others doing? Any missed opportunities?
I am curious to see how AI-supported image analyses, e.g. of Insta images or TikToks, will develop in the future. This could be an efficiency booster if the quality is right.
Who has made a lasting impression on you? Any SI heroes?
I don't currently have an SI hero, but an AI heroine. I gave my mum a picture for her birthday that was made with generative AI. The topic has stuck and last week she asked me to install ChatGPT for her, she wants to try out AI. My mum was a physiotherapist and has had very little to do with technology or software in her professional life. Now she is testing AI applications for fun. That's my AI heroine.
How do you think the social intelligence industry will evolve in the next few years?
Talking about AI in the last question, AI will for sure shape the future of the SI industry.
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