The notion of obtaining information from a group of people with some common characteristic is a foundational pillar of research – in market research, this can take the form of questions and surveys directed at an audience who behave in a particular way – such as purchasing a particular brand or being customers of a particular company. In the healthcare world, this takes on a slightly different slant – with one of the important audiences being patients who have experienced a particular disease or condition.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be exploring three key trends defining consumers’ pet care decisions, based on our recent qualitative research with pet owners. Erica Ruyle, Sr. Vice President of Qualitative Insights at Maru/Matchbox, will talk me through some of her findings. We’ll have a lively discussion around pet care, pet trends and pet related purchase decisions for cat owners, dog owners, and parents of every animal in-between.

Three thoughts about insights came out of a conversation I recently had with Michael Falvo, Director of Global Insight & Analytics for the pain portfolio at Teva, a pharmaceutical company. They are:

• A research finding is not an insight. Insights come from making connections between multiple sources of information.

• A forecast should be a strategic tool, not just a number.

• It pays to force yourself to look at information from multiple perspectives—even if it means standing on your desk.

As we continue to seek to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic affects consumers’ day-to-day realities, we conducted qualitative research with sports fans to dive deep into their feelings, actions, and attitudes. Our research focused on uncovering deep-seated emotions that sports fans are experiencing, and how those impact their viewing habits and other ways of engaging with sports.

Brands are being used in new and different contexts, in this time of pandemic. Habits are changing as people lose their typical workplace routines and build new ones, often at home. Because of shortages and lack of choice, the usual brand names may not be available and alternative brands are being tried. In this time of change, people’s brand memories and associations are being altered—which means your brand is transforming too.

Every year, 8 out of 10 new product launches fail to meet their objectives, despite rigorous testing. Too often, concept testing focuses too much on how consumers Think. Traditional concept tests fail to account for how people Feel and ignore completely the dominant role emotions play in how we Behave. If brands are only measuring and predicting success based only on what consumers Think, they’re missing half of the behavior equation and can’t possibly make commercially confident decisions.

Epidemiologists are in the spotlight these days. After toiling away in obscurity for many years, they are suddenly revealed as the public health heroes they are. Their analyses and recommendations are saving millions of lives. As insights professionals, there is much we can learn from their efforts and approaches.

We tend to think of insights as being complete and discrete. We often develop a new understanding of a business problem and think we are done. But the reality is that insights emerge gradually, and understanding grows in fits and spurts more than we might like. Insights build on each other like scaffolding. One piece of information links to another and, as understanding increases, we gain a more complete structure. And often the missing elements of that structure come together quickly, usually after a long period of partial understanding.

Last week, we shared an update from US-based parents managing school closures during the pandemic. Many find themselves balancing home-schooling with family care and careers. Interviews showed how these parents are struggling, managing, and relying on technology companies to deliver easy-to-navigate educational platforms.

Many things have changed because of the outbreak of COVID-19. Places once teeming with people are painfully empty. Normal routines of heading out to work, school, and shopping have been forcibly replaced with yet another day at home, in isolation, and with social distance. Playgrounds, once ringing with squeals of delight and laughter, are silent. But one thing has not been altered: people’s desire to make their voice heard.

Across the US and Canada, widespread school closures due to the novel coronavirus have introduced a new dynamic to parenting and childhood education. In the US, more than 124,000 public and private schools have been closed, affecting over 55 million students. For many, education represents our hope for the future. No school or school district is perfect, but the emotional connection to children’s education is based on the ideal of education as a foundation for intellectual, emotional, and physical growth.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the social distancing and the shelter-in-place orders, she spent 3 hours a day, 4 days a week at a rock-climbing gym. Rock climbing is her thing – keeping her happy, fit and anxiety-free. But these days…needs must, right? Luckily for her we live in a loft with brick walls, giving her many full and half crimps to utilize.