“Let’s not burn through technology again. Let’s not just rip a path through AI.” Eddie Accomando is one of my favorite researchers to talk shop with. With his academic background in anthropology, moderator certification from RIVA and deep knowledge of quantitative methodologies, Eddie can cover it all from theory to practice to the political dynami…

Fail we may, sail we must. Ian Pierpoint is Founder and CEO of the intrepid human insights agency, Further&Further Strategies. Ian’s unique perspective on understanding people and culture is an outgrowth of his journey, from the UK acid house scene, to corporate youth researcher, to documentary filmmaking, to CMO. We discuss Ian’s improbable route …

Jeff Reesing, is SVP of Corporate Sales and Customer Experience at Dynata, the world’s largest first party data platform and a company that powers so much of what we do in research and insights. He has built himself an impressive professional career, but music was his first love and it is easy to understand why. Back in high school, Jeff found hims…

Do surveys make good bedtime stories for kids? It worked for Kai Fuentes! Kai is a second-generation market researcher. While many of us were running around causing trouble as kids, Kai was helping her mom’s family business by stapling surveys and even intercepting respondents at the mall. Kai followed in her mother’s footsteps by founding Ebony Ma…

London Brinkman is one year out of school as a Qualitative Market Research Analyst and my colleague at MarketVision Research. While working a project together, I learned she is also the lead singer for a notable cover band in Cincinnati. But not only that, she is an award-winning body builder! London discusses her decision to shift her career focus…

Recorded live on the Purple Stage at the IIEX conference in Austin, TX on April 18! Nicholas Jayanty, Principal User Experience Researcher at IBM’s Red Hat, traces his path from making sketch comedy pilots on MTV to producing award-winning films to researching and designing digital user experiences. Nicholas contrasts the supply chains of the indep…

Wes Michael is the founder and CEO of Rare Patient Voice, a 10-year old firm who empowers patients and caregivers to share their voices with the companies working to better their lives with new products, devices, and treatments. [To date, RPV has paid out over $13M in incentives to patients and caregivers – wow!!] Wes started RPV after a successful…

Sue Collin is one of those rare people who has spent her entire career with one organization. Her first job was with a research company called Directions for Decisions which was later acquired by RTi Research where she has been ever since. But while the company has remained the same, Sue’s career has done anything but. After years of applying her q…

On Episode #34, Priscilla McKinney from Little Bird Marketing shared her story of growing up in a family singing troupe. In this episode, we invite her back to the Rock n’ Roll Research Podcast to discuss her book, “Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards a Cross-Pollinating Hive Mind & How Not to Get Left Behind.” Pris…

Mark Earls, The HERDmeister, shares his story of how he went from European tour guide to being labeled the market research industry’s “public enemy #1.” We have a wide-ranging conversation on how people really make decisions, the freedom to experiment in the insights world, predicting multiple futures, how brands grow, being clear in your terminolo…

Jeffrey Porter will graduate from the UT Arlington MSMR program in December of this year. In addition to his studies, he is keeping extremely busy with an internship in financial data analysis with Lockheed Martin. But there’s more to Jeffrey than insights. He has maintained a nice side hustle of buying and selling vintage video games, timing the m…

Kevin Lang is a recently minted Senior Sales Representative at the mighty research media company Greenbook, home of the GRIT Report, the IIEX conference series and “The Exchange” podcast with Lenny Murphy and Karen Lynch. While he got his start in the insights industry with Civicom, many people know Kevin from his involvement in the “MR Jam,” provi…

Dave McCaughan has long been a leading light on all things brand strategy, research and insights in Asia, having spent nearly 30 years in strategic planning and executive roles at McCann Worldwide all over the region. He has also long given his time back to the research industry through associations like ESOMAR and Greenbook among others. Dave shar…

Aryn O’Donnell is VP of Corporate Services at Fieldwork, known by many to be one of the most trustworthy and engaged qualitative research partners in the industry. But what many people don’t know about Aryn is that the first paycheck she ever drew was for a role she played in musical theater. Aryn and I discuss her theater days, the value of backro…

Steve Portigal of Portigal Consulting has been doing User Research since the days our software all came in a box. He has written a seminal book on the topic, “Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights,” recently released in a 2nd edition available through Rosenfeld Media. Steve shares his journey from the nascent years of user research…

It was in college where Travis Miller first made an impact with research by helping the city of Thousand Oaks, CA design a new mall expansion. With an introduction like that, it is no wonder Travis pursued a career in market research. Travis started his career with JD Power and today is VP, North America sales for PureSpectrum, a GRIT Top 50 insigh…

Brian Zimmerman is an expert at one of the toughest roles in the research industry: prospecting and business development for research suppliers. Companies in insights really struggle with this and Brian steps in and fills that gap. The music bug bit Brian early when his grandfather introduced him to guitar at age 3. Music has been a constant passio…

Joe Emery started on the bottom rung of a political consulting firm when he was hired as a runner right out of school. He learned from some of the greats like Mark McKinnon, host of Showtime’s ‘The Circus,’ and famed political commentator, Paul Begala, before founding his own firm in 2020, Emery Research, where he focuses on insights supporting com…

You probably know Eric Hall from his career as an insights and category management expert, currently with Boehringer Ingelheim, the world’s largest privately held pharmaceutical firm, and previously with companies like Allergan, Coors, Kellogg’s and Nestle. But do you know that Eric is an Instagram influencer with corporate sponsorships and a die-h…

For this special 100th Episode of the Rock n’ Roll Research Podcast, I go mano-a-mano with Leigh Kessler, VP of Mercury Analytics, former professional comedian and current country singer. Leigh and I each perform the classic, “Angel from Montgomery” by John Prine – who did it better? A quantitative gen pop audience of dial-testers renders their ver…

Kory Grushka is the Founder of Stories Bureau, a really cool B2B creative agency that, among other things, helps insights teams make their data come to life and influence decision-making through effective storytelling. You may be surprised to learn the profession that Kory came from and how it made him uniquely qualified to help researchers tell be…

I’m BACK! Your humble host’s brief pause provided plenty of time to dig into Pepper Miller’s brilliant book on Black insights, “Let Me Explain Black Again,” from Paramount Market Publishing. I gained so much from this book that I had to reach out and learn more. Pepper is a true pioneer when it comes to helping brands understand and connect with Bl…

Angelo Pierro founded his consultancy, Strategy by Insight, in 2021 after 20 years at Research Dynamics acquired by GfK acquired by Ipsos. He is now using his deep experience in big company leadership, marketing and business development to advise his clients in sales effectiveness and strategy. Angelo and I occasionally worked closely together whil…

Over the past 16 years, Annie McDannald has risen through the ranks at Civicom to her current role as Global VP of Marketing Research Services. Chances are you’ve used Civicom at some point for their myriad of useful technologies and services supporting the market research process. What you might not know is Annie has been a performer since a young…

Rob Volpe left a successful career in promotional marketing, got a certification from RIVA and found his calling as a qualitative researcher. In 2011, he founded a thriving insights consultancy, Ignite 360, on the principles of curiosity and empathy. Through his personal experiences, activism and engagement with people and customers, Rob learned ho…

Torsten Mueller-Klockmann is the Marketing Science Lead for the DACH region at Meta where he has been for the past 7 years. Before Meta, Torsten was an entrepreneur and pioneer in the user experience research tech space having founded SirValUse which was purchased and integrated into GfK. That’s not all, though. Torsten was a shredding guitar playe…

If you watched VH1's "Best Week Ever," The WB, Discovery or CNN in the aughts, you might know Leigh Kessler from his hilarious pop culture commentary. Or you might know Leigh as the VP of Client Solutions for Mercury Analytics, an insights agency developing and employing cutting-edge research technology. Leigh shares his improbable path from comedi…

Chris Connolly has one of those great stories of starting in research as a phone interviewer and steadily expanding his career over time. Today he is Vice President at the Logit Group, one of the very best research execution companies when it comes to cutting-edge, efficient and reliable operational support. He also has a great story of becoming a …

I recently saw Nancy Cox’s article in Quirk’s about Frankie Lipinski’s roller derby exploits and I just had to learn more! Frankie (she/they) is an Insights Analyst at Escalent, one of the best data analytics/insight advisory firms in the business. She is also a proud grad of the prestigious MSMR program at Michigan State. On top of that, she skate…

Guitarists know Marc Huzansky as the co-host of the YouTube show, Tone-Talk. With over 22K subscribers, a partner like David Friedman from Friedman Amplification and guests from bands like Pantera, Stone Temple Pilots, Jane’s Addiction, Ozzy Osbourne, Toto and many others, it has become quite successful in its own right. Researchers know Marc as a …

You probably know Eric Dolan as the Director, Consumer Business & Intelligence for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health helping drive global strategy for iconic brands like Listerine, Neutrogena and Band-Aid. He’s also ex-P&G and a proud grad of the University of Wisconsin’s revered MBA program which has trained many a senior leader in marketing, insi…

Anh Tran is a grad student in the University of Texas at Arlington MSMR program graduating in May. Hers is one of the fresh voices of sharp, creative researchers who will steward the next chapter of the insights industry. Anh has long cultivated her considerable skill as a photographer. Her penchant for careful observation, empathy and curiosity se…

Growing up near NYC in Maplewood, New Jersey, Joel Primer initially eschewed the academic route of his parents and brother and decided to rock n’ roll. He was playing in bands from middle school onward, and he even played with Nick Clemons and his father, Clarence Clemons, from Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. Seeking a more stable life in his ea…

Luke Kulik is Sr. Director of Sales at marketing and insights platform company, Prodege, who are particularly adept at fusing data sources in clever and powerful ways. Knowing that, it’s not hard to see how Luke found his way to the company. Luke plays many instruments like piano, guitar, saxophone and drums. But also the sitar, the bansuri and the…

We invite Emmanuel Probst from Ipsos back to the Rock n’ Roll Research Podcast to discuss his latest book, Assemblage: The Art and Science of Brand Transformation. Emmanuel and I go deep into a few concepts from the book and revisit his ‘desert island disc’ choices from Episode #55. This is the first episode of the Rock n’ Roll Research Podcast wit…

I first met Bohb Blair at an epic Motörhead show in Chicago in 2009. Fast forward and today Bohb is the CMO of the iconic Jones Soda and the Chief Brand Officer of its cannabis expansion, Mary Jones Cannabis. Bohb’s first career was in music. After quitting his job as tour manager for Urge Overkill’s Nash Kato, he landed an ad agency gig supporting…

Angela Quinn is a visible and recognizable face in the world of market research. She is a regular at Insights Association conferences and ubiquitous on LinkedIn. She has also been a vocal and passionate advocate for ensuring diverse voices are heard and understood both within the research industry and in the context of the studies we conduct. You m…

Jonathan Rudick, Director of Customer Insights for Financial Services at Walmart, grew up and was educated in South Africa. After a brief stint in London, he traveled to Los Angeles and never went back. He got his start as a focus group facilitator and eventually found his way to HSBC, Capital One and finally Walmart. Jonathan’s mother was trained …

If you feel more like a rockstar on tour than a researcher traveling for qualitative research, then you’re probably working with Daniel Berkal of The Palmerston Group. Daniel considered a career in music before pursuing advertising and eventually research. Qualitative research has been the perfect outlet for his creative mind, which persistently pu…

Rogerio Monteiro is Chief Client Officer for Worthix, a leader in using AI to measure what value truly means to customers. Rogerio is dynamic, sharp, energetic and uncommonly resilient. If you’re in need of a good mood and some inspiration, Rogerio is a great person to spend time with. He started his research career in Brazil with General Motors an…

Right on time for the holidays! Elizabeth Saulsbury of Cox Enterprises, has just released her debut album, “Peppermint.” It is a wonderful, jazzy collection of holiday standards and original compositions, accompanied entirely by colleagues from Cox. Elizabeth started her career at Cox as a research analyst and has navigated her way to her current r…

Adam Conley is the Regional Director of Insights for North America at Mars Wrigley who, let’s be honest, is home to all the best confectionary brands. A torn ACL as a college basketball player got him focused and led the way to a career in insights. In this short conversation, he has sharpened my own understanding of what insights are and how to ma…

David Corsaro is a Client Director at MetrixLab and he fooled me on this podcast. I don’t feel so bad, though, because he also took the trophy on “Fool Us” by stumping Penn & Teller. David has always had two careers, a magician and a market researcher. They are not one and the same, but he has distilled insightful lessons from each. In fact, he rec…

Before founding COMARKA Research in the US 16 years ago, Isabel Aneyba was a Category Manager and CMO in consumer goods and retail in Mexico. Her multi-country and multi-disciplinary background has laid the foundation for her unique expertise in cultural insights and strategy. At COMARKA, Isabel employs innovative participatory methods for understa…

How does a leader of one of the top master’s programs in market research prepare the next generation of insights professionals? The short answer is start with Mr. Miyagi, Ted Lasso and Sonny from “A Bronx Tale” and sprinkle in some Bruce Lee and Bruce Springsteen. What does that mean? You have to listen to find out! Scott Hanson is Director of the …

Andy Poe is the founder and CEO of TasteMakers Research Group, an insights firm creating innovative ways to test products with consumers. Music was a consistent theme early in Andy’s career. She started out selling advertising for a radio station where she discovered the power of research to deliver relevant audiences. Later, in the heady days of t…

Jeffrey Henning was a ‘teenage market researcher’ and later introduced several now-ubiquitous technologies to the industry including online surveys, enterprise feedback management and the #mrx hashtag. Today, he is the founder and Chief Research Officer at Researchscape International. But, in parallel, Jeffrey has also been a creator in the board g…

According to Business Wire, the global cannabis market is expected to reach $176 Bn by 2030. New entrants into big markets require expert insight to take advantage of the opportunity. Mike Luce co-founded High Yield Insights in 2018 to help companies make sense of this new market landscape. After a successful career in research with top firms like …

Donte Perry is currently Director of Client Development at Op4G (Opinions for Good), an insights company with a highly innovative model that uncovers unique, highly engaged research respondents for their clients while simultaneously benefiting the philanthropic community. Donte landed in research after stints in early childhood education and R&D in…

Don Simons is CEO, Insights of the advertising, technology and data firm, Big Village, a highly innovative Top 50 insights firm that you may know as Engine prior to their rebranding. With Big Village, Don is helping lead the industry charge toward linking insights to activation to produce meaningful, commercial results. But did you know that, over …