Dubbed the 4th industrial revolution, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here to stay. But the speed and intensity with which AI has invaded our lives in recent years has been a source of terror and excitement for people around the world. Uncertainty abounds as employers leap to explore the benefits of widespread automation, while employees anxiously stress about job security. So, the question remains: how do we take advantage of AI tools effectively, efficiently, and ethically? Below, we highlight the transformative ways AI has impacted market research and brand strategy, its dangers and shortcomings, and its role in the future of branding. 

5 Ways AI is Impacting Market Research 

AI is more than just the next step in market research – it is the dawn of a radical frontier. Its potential to increase productivity, amplify our ability to predict consumer behaviour, and enhance targeted marketing capabilities is immeasurable.  

 1.  Automation of Data Collection and Management 

With the support of AI, companies can automate data collection and management to streamline the research process. Gone are the days of manually gathering and cleaning endless oodles of data. Adaptable conversational chatbots like ChatGPT can help design and administer surveys tailored to targeted segments of the population. Parameters can be set to automatically catalogue the responses by demographic, psychographic, or behavioural qualifications, making it quick and cost effective to extract meaningful insights down the line.  

AI algorithms can also monitor data quality by cleaning up irrelevant, incomplete, or duplicated responses. Companies like Synthesized and Private AI are trained to remove Personally Identifiable Information (PII) from survey results, effectively preserving data integrity, usability, and ensuring the information complies with privacy regulations.  

 2. Optimisation of Data Analysis, Visualisation and Reporting 

Analysing consumer data from the internet has morphed from a mere Herculean task to an epic Sisyphean nightmare. An estimated 149 zettabytes of data were created in 2024. That’s 400 million terabytes of data generated every, single day! 

Luckily, generative AI software is well-equipped to extract key insights from mountains of information. Researchers no longer need to dredge through the digital slog of social media posts, product reviews, and public forums. Natural Language Processing AIs (NLPs) analyse qualitative data online to uncover important market trends and sentiments towards a brand. They can also find patterns in survey responses and focus group interviews to increase our understanding of target markets and consumer behaviour. 

 3.  The Rise of Predictive Analytics 

Accurate and efficient predictive modeling is the holy grail of corporate strategy. Imagine the ability to anticipate what consumers want, when they want it, and producing the exact amount needed to maximise profit, while minimising costs.  

Today, AI can analyse industry patterns and real-time information to create models that forecast market trends. Machine learning algorithms like Pecan use historical data on consumer behaviour, preference, and spending habits to stay ahead of demand. These predictive models can determine which customers are most likely to be swayed by targeted marketing, to be repeat customers, or to switch to a competing product. As a result, brands will know which sectors of the population they should focus on. 

 4.  The Wonders of Synthetic Data 

AI’s generate synthetic data by mimicking existing consumer profiles. The potential here is limitless, offering valuable opportunities to enhance market research and brand strategy. Researchers use the artificial data as a supplement to real data when they conduct market studies or form predictive models because it increases sample size and diversity, leading to stronger findings. It can also extrapolate results from hard-to-reach segments of the population to draw more robust conclusions.  

Practically speaking, firms can use this technology to test the performance of new brand campaigns on artificial markets without fear of leaking intellectual property. Finally, synthetic data is far more efficient than collecting and managing real data, requiring less time and fewer resources because market profiles can be generated automatically.  

Read more about synthetic data from this Qualtrics article 

 5.   Personalisation and Market Segmentation 

Market research will become highly targeted in the years to come. Traditionally, market segmentation relied on surface level demographic qualities like age, gender, income and location. Now, browsing histories, political views, social media posts, and past purchases can be used to create tailored marketing strategies and product recommendations fit to each person’s behaviour profile.  

Such a degree of personalisation allows brands to elevate the customer experience. For example, Netflix uses AI to recommend shows based on accumulated user’s tastes and preferences. Personalised market research optimises a firm’s resources and strengthens their customers’ engagement with, and loyalty to, the brand.  

For more insights on how AI is affecting market research, check out TGM Research’s article. 

How does AI Improve Brand Strategy and Decision Making? 

 A.  Make More Informed Decisions 

The effect of AI on brand strategy is akin to the impact radio and radar had on military tactics a hundred years prior. Accurate, real-time information is the most important ingredient in smart decision making. Corporate leaders can leverage AI’s automated data analysis and predictive analytics to reveal important correlations in real-time, transforming a trove of trivial information into deep insights on market trends. In doing so, companies can develop long-term, data-driven brand strategies that position themselves uniquely within their markets.  

Consider mergers and acquisitions. This report from the Harvard Business Review found the failure rate of mergers and acquisitions to be around 70-90%! AI’s powerful data analysis capabilities can boost success rates by efficiently identifying risks, synergies and acquisition targets that most align with each firm’s strategic goals. It streamlines the due diligence process, leading to smarter choices.  

 B.  Mitigate Risk 

In terms of risk mitigation, AI can identify vulnerabilities in a company’s operations or branding strategies with predictive analytics and automated data management.  

Real-time sentiment analysis informs branding decisions. By understanding the choices their customers are making, firms can take preventative action and pivot the company in the right direction. For example, social media posts and customer reviews can be compiled to determine whether a firm’s current campaigns are working or if they should consider investing in a rebrand to better align with their values.   

C. Optimise Operations 

Automated data collection, management, and analysis paired with the use of synthetic data can free up human capital traditionally used for overseeing research. Furthermore, AI can optimise operational tasks such as inventory management, logistics, and customer support to lower costs and increase efficiency. With these advantages, employees will have more opportunities to explore innovative brand strategies.  

D. Capitalise on New Business Models 

Complete understanding of real-time consumer preferences coupled with predictive models allows companies to develop proactive brand campaigns and product strategies. They can also use predictive analytics and synthetic data to anticipate market trends, informing the development of brand messaging that can tap into the cultural and industry zeitgeist.  

Read more about AI’s impact on brand strategy and decision making from Mckinsey. 

AI is a Tool, Not a Replacement (Don’t Worry, Humans are Still Required!) 

Shortcomings of AI 

Despite its advantages, AI has 3 major blind spots: data quality assurance, information bias, and ethics and legality.   

First, AI programmes are highly dependent on the data they are trained with. Poor information and inaccurate data inputs will result in flawed outputs, and ultimately, unreliable conclusions. 

 Second, AI algorithms, like any code, can inherit bias from their programmers or from the data sets they were trained from. Any such biases or limitations in contextualisation could lead to discriminatory outcomes against minority populations or an overvaluation of certain groups. Any potential for discriminatory practices could cause irreparable damage to a firm’s brand image.  

Finally, training AI programmes raises important legal and ethical considerations. Their heavy reliance on large swathes of data indiscriminately scrubbed from the internet has the potential to violate numerous data privacy, ownership, and security laws. Already, writers and artists are banding together to file lawsuits against AI companies to protect their work from unfair use.  

To combat these risks, companies must be vigilant in their practices. AI must be trained on diverse data sets and given comprehensive inputs with relevant contextual frameworks. And most importantly, the work must be overseen by a trained human. Firms must also be prepared to collect data in ways that respect the law and store the information responsibly. This means they must ask people for their consent and adhere to data privacy laws with the utmost sincerity.  

Learn more about the challenges with AI from Forbes.  

Humans are Irreplaceable 

The future of market research and brand strategy lies not in complete automation. At least, not yet. Blindly accepting an AI’s conclusions can be dangerous, leading to superficial insights at best, and harmful biases at worst. While AI excels at analysing  information to create predictive models and synthetic data, they still lack the deep contextual understanding, flexibility, and critical thinking abilities of a human mind. Indeed, AI cannot empathise with our stakeholders. And it cannot match our creativity for pioneering visionary solutions. 

Instead, the future of branding rests in the harmonious integration of artificial and human intelligence. Human analysts and engineers are still vital to the research and decision-making process. They must verify and validate results to ensure the data is accurate, complete, and unbiased. AI is nothing more than an incredible tool to augment human capabilities. But when used correctly, it can help extract truly meaningful conclusions from previously inaccessible information, paving the way for humans to develop innovative, well-informed brand strategies. Only by combining AI efficiency with human decision-making can we realise AI’s full potential. 

To return to our earlier analogy, radar and radio can tell us where our problems are, but they lack the complexity and empathy to formulate a plan and execute a solution.   

Photos taken from Unsplash, Freepik and Adobe Stock.

The post Issue 51: Q1 2025 appeared first on Tangible.

Read More: Amazon profits increased nearly 200% since start of Covid-19 pandemic

To paint the picture, we’re categorising SMEs as: Independent firms employing less than 500 employees. The nature of SME businesses mean they have been more negatively affected by shutdowns, social distancing, and related measures than larger companies. Think about the industries which employ under 500 staff: retail, construction and engineering, hospitality and tourism, manufacturing, food and beverage, and the list goes on. Not a great picture, right?

We need to be realistic about just how damaging Covid-19 has been for the SMEs as they have been hit on both the supply and demand side of the economy. On the supply side, reduced resources in both labour and raw materials have disrupted production. On the demand side, consumption and spending have decreased. The result is a drastic fall in revenues and the inability to maintain liquidity. With such downturn and low economic activity, unemployment starts to rise – further lowering demand and spending. To add to the pain, SMEs typically have lower cash reserves than larger enterprises. In the US, less than 50% of SMEs have enough cash on hand to cover 15 days of expenses, and the ‘healthy’ SMEs have under two months of cash reserve to cover expenses. It’s clear that access to capital quickly becomes an issue.

Enough of the bad news, so what can SMEs learn from the past year of uncertainty? What follows are five opportunity areas that could help SMEs become leaner, greener fighting machines.

Read More: COVID-19’s Impacts on SMEs and
Policy Recommendations in Response

Opportunity 1: Digital transformation

Before Covid-19, the mention of the words “digital disruption” or “digital transformation” would be met with blank looks or vague interest. Many SMEs were unclear of what ‘big data’, ‘data analytics’ or ‘cloud computing’ were. According to one study of 575 SMEs in Singapore, 70% cent of SMEs had not leveraged data analytics and of these, about half have no intention to. This situation has changed rapidly since, with many SMEs looking out for the opportunities that digital solutions bring. In Singapore, of the 63,000 SMEs who have adopted digital solutions from SMEs Go Digital, 40,000 signed up in 2020 (offered by Infocomm Media Development Authority).

In a nutshell, data can help SMEs:

1. Understand what makes customers tick. There are many Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools designed specifically for SMEs (nutshell). Social media is also an obvious source of valuable data, allowing SMEs to identify customer behaviour, key markets and get customer feedback much easier and cheaper than before.
2. Identify trends. Online services collate trends or answer specific questions for businesses, such as Trendera and Trend Hunter.
3. Check out the competition. Google Trends offer insights on a brand’s popularity and social media analytics can illustrate popularity.
4. Improving operations. Depending on your business, smart-sensors, GPS tracking and social media trends and predictions can give you the data to maximise production, increase sales and reduce unwanted stock. Let’s not forget all the cloud-based applications specifically designed for SMEs to manage a business’ finances (Xero), project processes, and communications (internal: slack and marketing: sendinblue)
5. Recruit and manage talent. Combining your existing data with online services should allow SMEs to find the best candidates (Indeed),
   identify the best recruitment channels and help to better employee engagement. (Qualtrics).

Read More: The new challenge facing SMEs is how to be deeply digital

Opportunity 2: Speed and innovation

Many SMEs suffer from slow processes and rigid hierarchies. The pandemic has encouraged rigid systems to be flexible, procedures skipped or accelerated, rules side-tracked and autonomous decision-making without formal approval. Remote work has empowered many employees, and counter to leaderships misconceptions, productivity often improves.

The Covid-19 response has proven that habits can shift and change much quicker than previously expected. Restaurants shift to delivery, schools shift to remote learning, work shifts to home. Remember how contentious ‘hot desking’ was? These shifts may not be permanent but hybrid solutions could be the future.

Opportunity 3: Better meetings

Apparently, employees spend 23 hours a week in meetings. Half of these are considered unproductive. We’re not saying that Zoom is the answer but no one seems to schedule meetings longer than an hour anymore and when the hour is up everyone’s gone. Post-crisis, can you imagine people going back to the inefficiencies of the old ways?

Opportunity 4: Re-evaluation

With so many routines being interrupted, SMEs have the opportunity to rethink, re-evaluate and make changes. This may be around its business model, personnel, marketing, product offer or environment. As with many aspects of life, we learn the most in difficult times, so SMEs should utilise this time for deep reflection.

Opportunity 5: A cleaner environment

The pandemic has dramatically reduced industrial activities. Factories, traffic and air travel have all slowed down. Covid-19 led to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas and other polluting emissions. Thinking of the other clichéd term, “build back better” seems appropriate as corporations and governments are making pledges to decarbonise and become carbon-neutral by specific dates. This represents a golden opportunity for entrepreneurs, start-ups, and SMEs to develop businesses for the ‘Green Decade’. Because 2020 is the decade that this has to happen.

Finally, let’s look at what policy makers have learnt. SMEs are a fundamental sector of the economy representing about 90% of businesses and, depending on your sources, between 50% – 70% of employment worldwide. Thus, SMEs are critical to public policy in most functioning economies and governments have been quick to respond with measures in place to help SMEs survive and thrive for the future. 

Here are the 10 focus points in policy-making for SMEs
as a result of Covid 19:

1. Ensure the rapid delivery of SME and entrepreneurship policy
   support by simplifying access to support and ensuring effective
   digital delivery systems
2. Prioritise viable companies and start-ups;
3. Focus on start-up policies to enhance the potential
   of innovative new ventures
4. Ensure that support measures are inclusive and reach vulnerable segments of the SME population
5. Rethink policy approaches with regard to self-employed entrepreneurs
6. Avoid SME solvency crisis by exploring non-debt support
7. Prepare responsible exit strategies for emergency liquidity
   support measures
8. Include a strong focus on the digitalisation of SMEs.
9. Ensure effective and inclusive multi-level governance mechanisms
10. Ensure SMEs and entrepreneurs, and the organisations that
    represent them, are consulted and included in the government
    decision-making processes

Covid-19 has affected everyone’s lives in vastly different ways but life goes on. We hope you can draw some optimism from this article and continue to support the little guys who are the lifeblood of every economy.

Read More: Small and medium enterprises (SMES) finance

Banner Image: Unsplash

The post Issue 36 : Q2 2021 appeared first on Tangible.

Today, more than 90% of CEOs state that sustainability is important to their company’s profits and success. In the report ‘The Next Phase of Business Sustainability’, Andrew Hoffman cites that “Companies have developed sustainability strategies, market sustainable products and services, create positions such as chief sustainability officer, and publish sustainability reports for consumers, investors, activists, and the public at large.”

Although no one person or company can take credit for the current state of sustainability, there are individuals who played an integral role in building the momentum. We will be shining the spotlight on some of these sustainability pioneers and 4 key insights that have changed their organisations, resulting in others following their lead. 

Insight 1: The cost of inaction is higher than the cost of action

In a 2017 interview, Paul Polman, the CEO of Unilever, said “The cost of not investing, is more expensive than the cost of investing in sustainable practices.”

Polman continues “Today, the cost of climate change on the world is over five trillion dollars. The cost of wars is 8-10% of our global GDP, which is equal to about eight trillion dollars. If we solve these problems, not only will we not lose seven trillion dollars every year, but we will also create 26 trillion-worth of new market opportunities.” Polman challenges anybody to find another market opportunity that offers a 15-times payout — it doesn’t exist on a scale this big.

The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) was launched in 2010 with its triple goals of 

1. Improving health and well-being
2. Reducing environmental impact 
3. Enhancing livelihoods

The Results of Investing in Sustainable Efforts

Since the launch of USLP, Unilever has grown from strength to strength. “Meeting evolving customer expectations for responsible behaviour, creates benefits for a company’s brand. Brands that have a stronger purpose are brands that are more profitable.” Polman asserted, “It is cheaper to attack the issues and invest in solving them than to deal with the costs”

Polman explains that beyond saving lives (which should be reason enough) if businesses invest in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) they will be more profitable, employees will be more engaged, and the employer brand will be stronger.

Businesses must dedicate resources – their people, profits, products, and processes towards the SDGs.

Read More: Yale Insights- Paul Polman: Should Companies Lead on Sustainability?

Insight 2: Big change has to begin from the top 

In sustainability circles, Walmart is perhaps best known for its environmental efforts. In 2005, the company announced 3 goals:

1. To be supplied with 100% renewable energy
2. To create zero waste
3. To sell products that sustain people and the environment

However, arriving at this stage did not come without challenges. Lee Scott, the former CEO of Walmart, faced disapproval from the inside and outside the company. Although many stakeholders approached Scott, telling him that he was wrong to be spending time and money on environmental efforts, Scott was steadfast in his vision.

“The great thing about a business is, it’s not a democracy. People can have a say but they don’t necessarily get a vote. The Board gets a vote.”

This courage and guts to create change from the top led Walmart to a 12.7% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, preventing 80% of waste from going into landfills, and over 180 renewable energy projects. CEOs have to take the lead for real change to happen.

Insight 3: Harness your uniqueness and tell the world about it

Michael Porter,  co-creator of “Creating Shared Value”, outlines sustainability from a competitive strategy perspective.

Any business can claim to be sustainable and it might be just another buzzword being thrown about. But what can your business do to make your sustainability efforts stand out from other companies?

Michael Porter, Harvard Business School Professor and co-creator of “Creating Shared Value” comments “becoming successful in sustainability relies on similar philosophies of competitiveness. What does your company do uniquely well and how can you capitalise off of it? If a company is going to be really effective on sustainability,” he explained, “it’s got to pick its spots. It’s got to figure out where it has the greatest leverage in the business.”

In addition, companies are often either too humble or too fearful to communicate their success. Porter said, “I would say there are still companies who seem embarrassed by talking about the fact that sustainability approaches produce profits. There still is this sense that if it’s profitable, that’s somehow bad. If it’s profitable, ‘that makes us seem greedy.’ I think we’ve got to get over that. I think if we can align societal interest and economic interest, then we will make dramatically more rapid progress.”

If your company’s sustainability policies have resulted in positive change, celebrate it.

Read: Creating Shared Value

Insight 4: Predict The Future

To ensure your business continues to be sustainable tomorrow and many years to come, you need to predict the future. Peter Senge, Founder of the Society of Organizational Learning, believes that the future of sustainability lies in the hands of the younger generations of businesses and people.

“We need the big companies to get things moving in the short term because they have the clout,” Senge said. “They have the market clout, they have the brand clout. But if you look over 10 to 30 years, the big story will be the companies that are relatively smaller today, but who will grow up with this DNA embedded in them. They’re growing it from the inside and these are exactly the companies who will matter over 10 to 30 years.”

Senge also spoke of the role of new technology in the future: “The Internet firms to me are the perfect example of an opportunity that people still haven’t quite seized. The new industries are where the real changes could be.”

Setting an example for tech companies

Sundar Pichai, Google CEO, said the company will be eliminating its entire carbon legacy, by 2030. In a blog post outlining the company’s sustainability plans, Pichai wrote: “We were the first major company to match our energy use with 100% renewable energy in 2017. We operate the cleanest global cloud in the industry, and we’re the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy. “

“In our third decade of climate action, we are going even further to help build a carbon-free future for everyone.” He estimated that the commitments Google announced on carbon neutrality and sustainable energy will directly generate more than 20,000 new jobs in clean energy and associated industries, in the US and around the world, by 2025.

“Our data centres are large power consumers, and if we can achieve 24/7 carbon-free energy for our entire fleet, economically, we can demonstrate that a carbon-free economy is possible.” comments Urs Hölzle, Google senior vice-president for technical infrastructure.

Watch: Google’s Third Decade Of Climate Action

To conclude, changing the way your business operates for the betterment of all stakeholders, including shareholders, is what sustainability is all about. Real change has to begin within the company, right from the top and it requires boldness, visionary thinking, passion and courage.

Read More: Pioneers of Sustainability

Banner Image: Unilever Headquarters, Jakarta

The post Issue 35 : Q1 2021 appeared first on Tangible.

We know it’s naive to think that Governments and big businesses don’t spread ‘biased’ information to shape the outcomes of everything from election results to mergers and acquisitions but ultimately, don‘t we all want to believe in institutions who want to leave the world in a better place? Yeah, I know it’s naive!

What follows are some facts about ‘Fake News’ from 2018 that might make for a very interesting 2019.

Unfortunately, fake news is shared more

An 11-year study by MIT reveals that ‘Fake News’ was 70% more likely to be retweeted than true stories. It also takes six times longer for true stories to reach 1,500 people than ‘Fake News’. True stories are usually shared by less than 1,000 people but fake news items could reach up to 100,000 shares.

Major institutions are trusted less today than 20yrs ago

For almost two decades trust has been declining across all major institutions according to the Edelman Trust Barometer. Trust in social media platforms has also been suffering recently, with 40% of respondents saying they have deleted at least one social media platform in the last year.

A whopping 60% of people don’t trust social media platforms to behave responsibly with their data.

Apparently, in the US less than a third of people trust social media (30%), whilst almost two-thirds trust traditional media (58%).

Social media sites need to take responsibility?

In June this year, Facebook announced it will update its fact-checking programme, including removing fake accounts and partnering with fact-checkers. This includes fact-checking photos and videos; which are the most difficult to identify as being fake. Imagine checking the 350 million images that are uploaded every day by Facebook’s two billion monthly users. One piece of good news is that Facebook’s user interactions (with known fake news sites) have declined by 50 per cent since the 2016 election (according to a study by Stanford and New York University).

Big brands need to be part of the solution?

Big brands want the user data that social media platforms provide but don’t want to be associated with fake news (not great for business). So if the big advertisers review their social media strategies then the platforms may find it more attractive to self-regulate. In February, Unilever CMO Keith Weed urged the digital media industry to clean up its act, saying that Unilever won’t invest in social media platforms that create division in society.

So what can be done?

Governments and big brands can shape the behaviour they want to see. If social media companies won’t regulate then governments need to. Big brands could simply cut spending! Then you’ll see change. If all else fails, it’s down to us… our advice is don’t feed the animals.

Read More:

• I fell for Facebook fake news. Here’s why millions of you did, too.
• Facebook steps up efforts to root out fake photos and videos

The post Issue 26: Q4 2018 appeared first on Tangible.

• Locates the places that people respond to ads.
• Presents your popular web pages & shows how people arrived there.
• Identifies keywords that are drawing people to your site.
• Checks the percentage of people who enter then ‘bounce’ (or leave) before viewing other pages.

But what are other things Google Analytics could be telling you?

1. Flow tracking

In an ideal world, people would go through your website in a prescribed manner and then buy from you. Flow tracking allows you to take a snapshot of how people are wandering about in your website.

2. Attribution modelling

Attribution modelling allows you to know when, where & how potential leads can be generated through social media, search results, email newsletters, or a link from someone’s blog.

3. E-commerce tracking

It may seem strange, but many companies aren’t using this real-time revenue measurement feature that allows you to track all purchases to date. It shows you the breakdown of online versus in-store revenue to better understand changes in your online selling success rate.

4. Assisted conversion

If you had a flood of traffic to your website, wouldn’t it be great if you could find out whether it came from a Mail Chimp campaign or a recent Instagram page? You guessed it – you can!

5. Advanced segmentation

You can segment your customers into different groups, to see if your customers are coming from search results (Google) or coming in directly. By tracking new hit versus return visitors, the feature allows you to strategically put funding into acquisition or retention of customers.

6. Analytics alert

Analytics alerts or ‘intelligent events’ allow you to better understand anomalies in behaviour, either automatically or by custom alerts. For instance, if you have a spike of activity in a particular geography or referring site, you can take a closer look to better understand the event.

Read more: Get started with Analytics

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