Crispin Beale, CEO van Insight250, tekende in december de meningen op van branchegenoten uit de hele wereld over het jaar 2024. We zijn inmiddels aan het nieuwe jaar begonnen dus is de vraag op zijn plaats: ‘Wat worden de belangrijkste innovaties en ontwikkelingen in 2025?’ Crispin Beale zorgde weer voor een overzicht. We maakten een selectie.
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Kristin Luck, Founder, WIRe, Scalehouse, Growgetter, President ex-officio ESOMAR, USA
‘I think most betting folks would put their money on AI as the one ‘transformative’ advancement that will have the most impact in 2025. Whether that’s AI for automating processes, AI for real-time analytics, AI for predictive analytics, or AI-generated synthetic data, I think it’s unlikely that any other innovation or advancement is going to have more impact than AI.’
Justine Clements, Consumer Insights Manager, Samsung Electronics, Australia
‘Apart from more AI-driven insights and faster consumer feedback cycles and/or AI feedback cycles, we can all hope for better data integration across platforms. We can expect to see more automated processes and blockchain used to improve data security and transparency. Privacy regulations will challenge traditional practices so we’ll need more innovative privacy-conscious methodologies. And finally, we can expect more immersive experiences for consumer insights in digital environments.’
Sharmila Das, Chairwoman, Purple Audacity, India
‘While technology like AI and wearables will enhance efficiency and provide richer data, it is human insight that will give this data meaning. Local researchers, with their deep cultural understanding and empathy, are uniquely positioned to interpret emotions, values, and aspirations in ways machines cannot and they will start getting their due recognition.’
Sarah Ashley, EMEA Market Insights, Google, UK
‘I think we’ll move even further along the AI ‘hype’ to ‘how’ journey as more people get hands-on with the technology. I believe we’re just scratching the surface of the ways AI can beneficially augment our work. We’ll see further improvements around translation, sentiment analysis, identifying patterns in unstructured data – and more. I want to see AI enhance the research experience – imagine more conversational-style surveys that garner more thoughtful and honest answers, or real-time transcription and translation services that make participation more accessible and inclusive across the globe.’
Priscilla McKinney, CEO, LIttle Bird Marketing, USA
‘I expect we’ll see more integration between different research platforms. We need fewer siloed solutions and more seamless ways to combine multiple data sources while maintaining quality. The vendors who can deliver on both fronts will be the winners. Ultimately, technology providers need to understand that teams don’t want their workflows interrupted – they want solutions that fit naturally into their existing processes so they can stay focused on their core tasks.’
Melanie Courtright, CEO, Insights Association, USA
‘The explosion of data, paired with advances in platforms and AI tools, ushered in a new era for insights generation. Simultaneously, economic pressures and growing concerns around data quality prompted many research buyers to insource more of their operations.
At the same time, rapid sociopolitical changes heightened the demand for brands to gather insights at unprecedented speeds. As we look toward 2025, these trends are expected to continue reshaping the landscape, influencing where both financial resources and talent will be directed in the insights industry.’
Simon Atkinson, Chief Knowledge Officer, IPSOS, UK
‘Synthetic data is not a new concept, but Generative AI gives it the power to have a resurgence. If we use it well, it can help us test more things out more quickly, grounding ourselves in the realities of people’s behaviours. And AI may help us to personalise more things and at a greater scale. We’ll be able to tailor the research process to individual needs and circumstances more than ever before, helping us to close the gaps between what we know about individuals and what we really need to know.’
Lucy Davison, Founder, Keen as Mustard, UK
‘When I asked ChatGPT4 this question (of course I did), what it came up with was nothing new (which proves the echo chamber of generative AI I suppose) – indeed I feel I would have got the same answers five years ago:
– Generative AI Integration
– Real-time Data Collection
– Ethics and Privacy Tech
– Advanced Data Visualization
– Behavioral and Emotional Analytics
So, I’d like to go back to the lessons from 2024, in my predictions for 2025 – insights communication will at last be built into projects, teams will start communicating pro-actively, the voice of the customer will be heard. This is the final frontier for insights teams to move to stage four maturity and 2025 will be the year it happens.’
Isabelle Fabry – Associate, ACTFUTURE, ESOMAR – Co-Representant, France
‘In 2025, the insights industry will undergo profound transformation driven by major innovations. Generative AI will enable faster, more precise data analysis, offering advanced visualizations and refined behavioral predictions. At the same time, the integration of epigenetic technologies in market research will open new perspectives on environmental influences on consumer behavior. These technological advancements, combined with strengthened ethics and increased transparency, will redefine data collection and analysis methods, positioning the insights industry at the forefront of human understanding.’
Ray Poynter, President, ESOMAR, UK
‘I think we will start to see headcounts reduced on the agency side of the industry, partly due to the efficiency of AI and partly due to more clients using AI-enhanced DIY platforms. There will be winners, but I expect to see some notable losses in 2025.’
Claire Rainey, Head of Insights, Virgin Media O2, UK
‘Innovations I see are more joined-up thinking, more short-form content such as podcasts and vlogs. The growth in platforms that democratise data and insight means less time is spent on answering queries and enabling the role of insight managers to move closer to business strategic thinking. This brings with it different skills, so for me, it’s time to plan for this tomorrow now.’
Ryan Barry, President, Zappi, USA
‘Times have been tough. This means many businesses have fallen right back into short-termism, cutting their foresight, trend spotting, and long-term thinking in exchange for short-term gains. Many businesses lost the price war. They spend on the wrong bets and have goals they are accountable for. But the brands that are continuing to play the long game and invest in future capabilities and longer-term trends will be rewarded.’
Nick Baker, Chief Research Officer, Savanta, UK
‘Clearly so much is focused on AI, but looking beyond this it is increasingly realistic to deliver on the decade-old promises that came with all the noise around ‘big data’. In particular take a look at the rise of Snowflake as a single platform to access all your data, including data that’s unstructured, in open formats, and from third parties. Simplicity and interoperability at its core, including with emerging AI solutions make this one to get familiar with.’
Mark Ursell, CEO, QuMind, UK
‘New approaches to data collection and quality will continue to evolve and also I think AI could start to transform the way quantitative and qualitative data is collected. I think this will be more of a focus than creating synthetic data or data derived from algorithms rather than actual respondents, which is emerging but has its challenges. Although the role of insights has never been more important and instrumental to brands and industries, the industry stands at an evolution point that will likely accelerate the speed of innovation in the coming years. This will make generating and identifying insights both easier and more complex, but through it all, it should be quite exciting.’
Bron: insightsassociation.org