Agility, AI, and Empathy: Reflections on the most recent MRMW Conference

Talk Shoppe’s Heather McKinney was at the MRMW conference in Atlanta last month, the annual market research conference that brings together forward-thinking clients, innovative agencies, and technology disruptors to discuss the latest trends and innovations. Tal Oren, our Head of Growth & Learning at Talk Shoppe, sat down with Group Director Heather McKinney, who represented Talk Shoppe at the conference, to find out more about her experience, what she learned, and what’s next for market research. Read the Q&A below!

Tal: what were the central themes presented in this year's sessions?

Heather: Agility, AI, and Empathy (I really tried to make them all A’s!) 🙂It was no surprise to hear about the power (and potential challenges) of AI brought up in so many presentations, given that it’s been such a hot topic of conversation this year in general, but I was encouraged to hear so much talk of the need to still practice and master the “basics”, such as basic human empathy, both with our research respondents and with our clients, partners, and stakeholders.

T: In a single phrase, how would you encapsulate the conference's focus?

H: Interestingly, I found some dichotomy in the general focus. There was plenty of talk of being “agile” in the traditional sense - staying flexible and fluid, and lots of talk about how to be more nimble, more quick to generate insights, more cost-effective with shrinking budgets. But on the flip side, I loved the talk about slowing down - in the sense that not all trends deserve our attention, we don’t always need to be chasing the latest, shiniest, fastest thing (both on the client side and supplier side) and we need to keep humans at the center of it all - research should be about uncovering human truths and gaining genuine understanding.

T: Did any particular aspect of the conference surprise you?

H: The wide variety of speakers and topics was a nice surprise! There were a number of companies represented that I had never seen on the conference stage, such as Delta and Waze. 

T: Were there any novel concepts that you learned at the event?

H: I was delighted by two things: 1) the number of researchers and brand managers who got on stage and spoke openly of their missteps and “fast fails” - there is so much we can all learn from these experiences and I was grateful for their openness, and 2) the number of innovative approaches discussed! For example, Lizzy Riggs Martinez from Delta Airlines talked about how they paired biometrics with mobile ethnographic research to uncover moments of customer stress, and how they also sought to understand these stress points from the employee’s perspective as well to ensure actionable insight. Jared Carr from QualSights talked about new methods to capture behavioral data passively by having the product report frequency of usage instead of the user - now there is no hiding how often we’re all REALLY brushing our teeth! These were fresh ideas that I’ll remember for a long time. 

T: How did it feel to connect with people in-person at the conference?

H: It was pretty nostalgic, personally! I was able to connect with former colleagues from years past and also meet new people BEFORE being introduced via email or Zoom, which feels novel in 2023! It was great hearing fellow researchers small talk during the breaks, comparing notes and war stories - one of the great things about attending a conference that can really only happen in-person. I’m grateful Talk Shoppe sent me to MRMW - my first time attending this conference, and hopefully not my last!