31st Annual Market Research Seminar: Ushering the future with innovation

The 31st Annual Market Research Seminar, organized by the Market Research Society of India (MRSI) and themed 'Taming the Choppy Waters,' spotlighted the very best of India’s Market Research (MR) and Insights sector. The event saw the submission of 99 groundbreaking research papers across four areas: Maiden Voyage, Adventure, Steering and Sailors, from leading brands and agencies countrywide. After careful consideration, 19 papers were shortlisted and showcased to the industry audience at The Leela, Mumbai on October 9 and 10. The industry-led event attracted up to 570 attendees over the two days, with additional virtual participants engaging in the proceedings.

BIAS and Leapfrog Strategy have been jointly honoured with the Best Research Paper award for 2023, for their stellar contribution, "Designing for Digital Inclusion - A Multi-disciplinary Model for transforming Digital Payments Apps". The awarded paper illustrates an innovative methodological approach towards enhancing the user experience in app development. A thorough usability testing and semiotic analysis undertaken as a part of the study illuminated significant design restrictions in current applications. Utilizing these valuable insights, the researchers developed and evaluated a working prototype, ApnaPe, which showcased notable improvements in usability, particularly during the onboarding and money transfer processes, when compared to alternative digital payment apps.

Kantar attained Runner up recognition for their compelling paper, "Inside the mind of ChatGPT". The study provided an in-depth linguistic analysis conducted over six months, where ChatGPT, an AI language model, was the subject. Their work opens a new frontier for understanding the operation of artificial intelligence in language processing and comprehension. Concurrently, Ipsos and Nestle also shared the spotlight with their paper titled "Potential value of Immersive virtual reality and Metaverse in consumer research". The paper elucidated the prospect of conducting consumer research within immersive environments utilizing virtual reality.

The 2-days seminar also witnessed keynotes, panels and energiser sessions. S. Subramanyeswar, Group CEO & Chief Strategy Officer – APAC + Global Chair – Strategy at MullenLoweGroup,  and Begonia Fafian, Global Human Insights and Marketing Performance, VP at The Coca Cola Company graced the seminar and the guest, sharing their valuable insights. Judith Passingham, Chair ESOMAR Professional Standards Cte and Chair of Disciplinary Sub Committee addressed the industry while stressing on the importance of ‘The Code of Conduct’ and the future of it.

Sharing lessons learned from the world of brands was a panel on Day 1 that included Anila Vinayak, General Manager CMI - Beauty and Personal Care, South Asia at HUL, Chandan Mukherji, Director, and Executive Vice President of Strategy, Marketing and Communication at Nestle India and K Ramakrishnan, Managing Director – South Asia, Worldpanel Division at Kantar.

Discussing the rise of Gen Z, on innovation and driving consumption was an panel comprising of Aditya Kaul, Group Account Director, at Kantar, Anjana Pillai, Partner and India Board Member of Quantum Consumer Solutions, Anjana Sirsikar, Group Service Line Lead, Ipsos UU and SIA, Mukul Gautam, VP & Chief of Capacity Building, at Purple Audacity and Sunder Muthuraman, CEO of SL Ventures.  Vinay Singh, Co-founder & Partner at Fireside Ventures and  Shuvadip Banerjee, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer of ITC discussed Start-up state-of-mind learnings.

Shreyas Naidu, Associate Director at Licious, Sonam Gautam, Executive Creative Director at The Good Glamm Group, Rohan Talati, Portfolio Partner and Founding Team Member at Spring Marketing Capital and Anju Joseph, Partner, India Business Head at Quantum Consumer Services dived into a conversation on  ‘Maiden Voyages’ and discovering new opportunities for existing consumers and established behaviours.

The seminar concluded with a sonic branding presentation by Rajeev Raja, Founder and Soundsmith at BrandMusiq on "The Future of Sound".