THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
The latest industry insights and trends.
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![Chapter 3: Now, Next, Future… Navigating Your Business to a New Normal [Pre-recorded Webinar]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/624247eb60664a28bd22abb6/1655514940958-FLPDFHJFW7BXPCV3YT6X/navigatingtoanewnormal_webinar-recording.jpeg)
Chapter 3: Now, Next, Future… Navigating Your Business to a New Normal [Pre-recorded Webinar]
See and hear first-hand what consumers are thinking, feeling and doing in order to figure out what the future may hold for your brand or business.
![Chapter 2: How to Guide Your Consumer Through the Uncanny Valley [White Paper]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/624247eb60664a28bd22abb6/1655493803184-CXP6M1CIN8728BOOJ5VM/Ignite360-N2ANN-chapter2.jpeg)
Chapter 2: How to Guide Your Consumer Through the Uncanny Valley [White Paper]
Explore how your company can deliver products, services, and messages that acknowledge and could help alleviate consumer anxiety and discomfort. This free white paper examines the emotional impact of the pandemic and the divide that’s forming in our society between the employed and the recently unemployed.
![Chapter 1: Welcome to the Bottom of Maslow’s Hierarchy</a> [White Paper] Navigating to a New ‘Normal’](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/624247eb60664a28bd22abb6/1655514728035-U00GHURIYLCMKDTCVQB7/shoppingcart.jpeg)
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Bottom of Maslow’s Hierarchy [White Paper] Navigating to a New ‘Normal’
We’re proud to share (as a free download) our first white paper from Navigating to a New Normal - our planned year-long, multi-generational, cross-geographical, nationally-representative quantitative and qualitative research study. In this ground-breaking first installment, CEO Rob Volpe posits we are at an inflection point in society. Using Maslow’s Hierarchy as a framework, you can better understand how to navigate the new.

Getting Customers to Spend More
In his book, Dollars and Sense, behavioral economist Dan Ariely talks about the irrational ways we spend money. As marketers, it can be useful to use those same “irrational” mechanisms to get customers to spend more. How do your customers make the decision to spend? Expert researcher and strategist, Jay Zaltzman, explains what you need to know plus 3 critical takeaways to get the most out of your consumer spending research!

10 Reasons You and Your Organization Should be Doing Accessibility Research
According to the CDC, one in 4 U.S. adults – 61 million Americans – have a disability that impacts major life activities. Accessibility research is an important and growing space. Today we break down exactly why understanding accessibility matters for you and your business - and how to make it happen.

How Consumer Insourcing is Impacting You and Your Business (and 3 Steps to Deal with It)
A funny thing happened as life started to open up in summer 2021. People weren’t finding the value and benefit they used to out of their away-from-home experiences. It was more satisfying and rewarding to “insource” and do it themselves. What’s behind this phenomenon and what can your business do about it? Navigating to a New Normal respondents share their experiences.

The Most Exciting, and Terrifying, Time to Be in Consumer Insights
We asked 3 of the brightest client-side insights leaders we know to participate in a roundtable discussion about a range of issues facing the industry today.
Elizabeth Oates, Sr. Director, Consumer Insights at Ulta Beauty, Humayun Rashid, Director, Microsoft 365 Research & Insights, and Marlene Straszewski, former Senior Director, Consumer Insights at General Mills each shared insight and perspective on the evolving role of the consumer, what research methods will be in demand in the future as society opens up again, the power and importance of listening as well as what’s needed from insights agency partners today.

Our #1 system for creating successful stories
You are often swimming in data, reports, and information. You don’t have the time on your weekly priority list to think deeply, you only have time to think about what to get done NOW. But without that Big Idea and story, you won’t know what matters most, what is at stake, and what to do next. You need a system!

Are You Delivering Couch Potato Insights? Activation Workshops Can Help
Whether woven into a project from beginning to end or a stand-alone project, Insights Activations have become a popular tool we utilize to help our clients move their Insights Agendas forward in their organizations. Senior VP, Marie Becker explains how the key to successfully activating on insights (and getting them “off the couch”) hinges largely on our ability to get key stakeholders immersed in the project early on.

Design Forums: The Key to Post-Pandemic Success
Leading change can feel Sisyphean – it’s slow work, with a lot of undeveloped ideas, missing expertise, and lack of consensus. It requires you to have a clear understanding of your audience, the support of key teams, and a BIG creative idea around which to rally. Easy to say on paper, harder to accomplish in real life. Design forums make change a natural process by removing the hurdles.

Juicing Empathy for Better Business Results
How do you turn a squishy skill like empathy into a tool to drive decision making and business results? You juice it, of course!

Consumer Journeys in Flux: The Change You Cannot Wait to Discover Is Happening Right Now
We have entered a “Waiting” period. People waiting to get a vaccine, parents waiting for schools to re-open – and businesses waiting for consumers to embark upon their post-pandemic shopper journeys. But for business, now is not the time to wait. Now is the time to prepare the space for consumers. To inspire you to action – COO Lisa Osborne shares a story of a world-renowned coffee company that went all-in, armed with data and insights to disrupt the stale supermarket coffee aisle – and built a case for innovation.

When Your Ship Doesn’t Come In – 3 Considerations for Post-Pandemic Recovery
Our upside-down pandemic existence has dramatically shifted consumer shopping habits and behaviors – causing shipping nightmares and eroding the health of our finely tuned supply chain forecasts. Whether or not your product is facing a price increase due to shipping or other COGs challenges, your consumer is going to be dealing with price increases on multiple fronts. Here are 3 things your business needs to consider when navigating these new waters.

Chapter 7: 72% of Adults Seek Change Post-pandemic, is Your Business Ready?
An overwhelming number, 72%, of Navigating to a New Normal respondents want some degree of change in their life when the events of 2020 come to a close. In case you missed out on our Chapter 7, 3-part story – here are ALL the insights behind what people value and want to achieve when given a choice – and how your company can prepare for this new future.

Where Do We Go From Here? Re-uniting as Americans.
“What can you do after the election to bring unity and help make the other side successful?” The initial reactions of discomfort and uncertainty from the 16 Navigating to a New Normal participants betrayed a long-standing American Conundrum: we are more comfortable pointing out the problem than being part of the solution. Check out the 5 Key Actions that came out of a conversation around unity.
![Gratitude: Changing the Future [part 3 of 3]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/624247eb60664a28bd22abb6/1655662170815-XB5UVOYWEIGAUNX86A24/Ignite360-changingthefuture.jpeg)
Gratitude: Changing the Future [part 3 of 3]
An overwhelming number, 72%, of Navigating to a New Normal respondents want some degree of change in their life when the events of 2020 come to a close. People are more present in this moment of their lives than in the past. There is a thirst for long-term, sizable change both in society and the individual. In part 3 of our 3-part story, we share the insights behind what people value and want to achieve when given a choice – and how your company can prepare for this new future.
![Gratitude: Changes in Action [part 2 of 3]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/624247eb60664a28bd22abb6/1655578879874-NK7KGPB3815B62Y35NMQ/Ignite360-chapter7-PT2-gratitude.jpeg)
Gratitude: Changes in Action [part 2 of 3]
Navigating to a New Normal, common themes have emerged that will redefine the frameworks that insights, marketing, and strategy professionals rely on. Needs, jobs to be done, decision journeys, opportunity maps and dig sites will all need to be re-evaluated based on the future state we are rapidly moving toward.
![Gratitude: The Change People Really Want [part 1 of 3]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/624247eb60664a28bd22abb6/1655572359758-V6EC61Y5BUW7I8K3HE5D/Ignite360-chapter7-PT1-grattitude.jpeg)
Gratitude: The Change People Really Want [part 1 of 3]
Americans are hungry for change. Not the kind of change promised by politicians - spiritual change. In Chapter 7 of our ongoing longitudinal study, Navigating to a New Normal, we identified the new macro trend that could shape our lives for a generation - Gratitude - and the far-reaching implications for your business.

How marketing research and consumer insights can help companies become more empathetic
What’s the catapult for a good marketing strategy? Understanding consumers on a very human level.
CEO, Rob Volpe joined business coach Jon Dwoskin on his podcast, “THINK Business Live,” to discuss his role as an empathy activist and how marketing research and consumer insights can help companies become more empathetic and understanding of their consumers’ needs.

The Challenge is Real for Parents Trying to Work From Home
Moms need your help. Only 18% of people want to go back to “normal” when the pandemic is over, but one group was slightly more desirous than the rest – parents who are also working from home.

Returning to Focus Groups? How to Find the New Consumer.
Get a handle on how research participants will engage now and, in the months, ahead.

How I Survived My Summer Vacation: Family Edition
Find out how families have been spending their summer, and what this could bode for the future.

Our 10 Best Tips for Successful Online Ethnos
What happens when you can only conduct ethnographies online? Surprisingly good things, actually. Here are 10 discoveries we’ve made that will improve your online ethnographic experience and lead to actionable insights.

How to Ensure Your Brand Survives the Tsunami of Recession
What can be done to protect, preserve, and recession-proof brands for what is likely to come? The lessons of history can serve us in these moments to help inform the path ahead. We decided to take a look back and found 3 key things the most resilient companies always do.

How to Tell Personal Stories in a Privacy Protective World
We love using stories of the amazing respondents that we meet to illustrate points, to motivate our clients to action. But with new rules around data privacy, can we do this? Do we need to rely on vague composites that are so generic they don’t feel real? Can we ever use a quote, include a picture or show a piece of video again? Short answer: Yes. Here’s how.

New Research Reveals Gen Z’s Drift Away from Digital
Surprising new research reveals the next generation of parents will rely far less on tech.

The Right (and Wrong) Way to Fall in Love with Your Idea
You think you’ve got a great business idea, but how do you know for sure? What if you are blinded by your love it? It can happen. We’ve all been there with our giant emoji heart-eyes. Here are four things you can do to ensure your business ideas will be a success.

How to Tell a Story with Data
Researchers are obsessed with data. To us, all data is good data and we love to gather, consider, compare and share it. But when it comes to storytelling, how do we resist the urge to include and show all of our data, especially when it comes to quantitative storytelling?

The Art of the Screener – 3 Tips to Getting the Right People
A bit like Goldilocks, you need to get your screener just right. Too narrow, and you end up with no one. Too complex, and you miss even the best candidates. Senior Insights Associate, Tori Palmer-Kern has been building screeners for years. Here’s what she recommends.

No More ‘Thud!’ 4 Tips to Turn Your Insights into Action
The best insights are only as good as the actions they inspire. Conflicting agendas and too-packed calendars often leave teams unable to internalize and take action. These 4 tips will help you turn your next share out into an Application Workshop (or Activation Workshop depending on your company’s nomenclature).