Name: Developing Insights
Uploaded: 2022-09-23T13:04:03.574Z
Duration: 900.18

Developing insights.vtt

English

{{00:00:27}}
Hi, I'm Jordan Thorne
we're here at TMRE 2021.

{{00:00:31}}
Today, I'm joined by Anna
Estlund, she's the director

{{00:00:33}}
of insights at Pernod-Ricard.

{{00:00:35}}
Thank you so much for joining us today.

{{00:00:36}}
Thanks for having me, Jordan.

{{00:00:37}}
You're welcome.

{{00:00:38}}
So tell me a little bit about your
role and a little bit about you.

{{00:00:42}}
Well, I'm director of
insights at Pernod Ricard.

{{00:00:44}}
We are a global spirits and
wine company with brands like

{{00:00:48}}
Jameson, Absolut, Malibu,
Glenlivet, and Kalua so, and many

{{00:00:52}}
more, fun industry to work in.

{{00:00:53}}
I lead a team of 10 in insights, and so
it's across brand, innovation, shopper.

{{00:00:58}}
What I would say is fundamentally
you know, our voice of the

{{00:01:02}}
consumer, voice of the shopper,
drive consumer centricity, but most

{{00:01:07}}
importantly, we are action champions.

{{00:01:09}}
And so taking those insights to
action for the business, ultimately

{{00:01:12}}
drive portfolio growth is really
the business that we're in.

{{00:01:15}}
So I know you talked a little
bit yesterday about, you know,

{{00:01:20}}
unifying insights and analytics.

{{00:01:22}}
So can you tell me some of the
pros and cons to trying to do that?

{{00:01:25}}
Honestly, I only see pros of unifying.

{{00:01:28}}
I think structurally there can
be challenges in big companies

{{00:01:31}}
since analytics resides across so
many places in an organization,

{{00:01:35}}
especially as data streams and
sources constantly are growing.

{{00:01:39}}
But the best insights work that I've
either done personally or seen in my

{{00:01:43}}
career has synced the two together.

{{00:01:46}}
And so I think as insights leaders,
and as insight professionals, we have

{{00:01:50}}
to really help to build those bridges,
even if they don't exist structurally

{{00:01:56}}
and start with the foundation of what
are the business drivers understanding

{{00:01:59}}
what's going on in the marketplace.

{{00:02:01}}
So then we can build the cherry
on top of why is that happening?

{{00:02:05}}
And the so what of what do we do
next as a result, based on everything

{{00:02:08}}
we're seeing across multiple sources.

{{00:02:10}}
Cause that's ultimately
the art of what we do.

{{00:02:13}}
And I think as more and
more data grows, that only

{{00:02:16}}
becomes more important.

{{00:02:17}}
And honestly, it's just more value
as a community in what we bring.

{{00:02:21}}
What companies have you seen
successfully unifying, insights,

{{00:02:25}}
analytics and big data?

{{00:02:27}}
Yeah.

{{00:02:28}}
So now I've had the pleasure of
working across CPG from General

{{00:02:33}}
Mills and Nestle and now Pernod.

{{00:02:34}}
I think at brand or business unit
level people tend to do it well.

{{00:02:41}}
So you kind of can link the two
what's going on with the business

{{00:02:44}}
and what's going on with a deeper
human emotion and feelings.

{{00:02:46}}
And what do we do with it?

{{00:02:48}}
What I've seen differentially
at Pernod that I'm super excited

{{00:02:51}}
about is now it's that same
mentality, but at a much higher

{{00:02:55}}
corporate strategy portfolio level.

{{00:02:58}}
So I think that pushing up to corporate
and portfolio level strategy is

{{00:03:04}}
really the the north star for us as an
insights community, do you feel like

{{00:03:08}}
because of the pandemic and just the
changes in the last year, has that made

{{00:03:13}}
it sort of be more of something that
the higher up leaders want to adopt?

{{00:03:19}}
Spot on.

{{00:03:20}}
I think nobody has a crystal
ball, but we are probably closest.

{{00:03:26}}
So I think I changed
companies during the pandemic.

{{00:03:31}}
And so at both companies, the
executive pull for what we

{{00:03:35}}
do and the demand across the
organization has grown so much.

{{00:03:39}}
It's actually become a bit of a
prioritization game for us, which

{{00:03:42}}
is a good place to be in because
fundamentally, I think people are

{{00:03:46}}
seeing the value of our work because
they want to know what's going

{{00:03:48}}
on with the consumers unstated.

{{00:03:51}}
What's going to happen
after COVID, how are people

{{00:03:53}}
feeling, what are their fears?

{{00:03:54}}
You know, all of that I think
has really come to light in

{{00:03:57}}
a differential way for us.

{{00:03:59}}
The art of what we do is valued
even more, which is really where

{{00:04:03}}
the secret sauce of what we do,
you know, where the magic happens.

{{00:04:07}}
How do you think that AI will sort
of at all play a role in the success

{{00:04:10}}
of marrying these two areas together?

{{00:04:13}}
I think it's going to play a huge role.

{{00:04:16}}
So we use AI already in
many different things.

{{00:04:20}}
So whether it's social listening or
earlier kind of screening where we

{{00:04:24}}
used to use team judging of things.

{{00:04:27}}
Now we're using more consumer
informed intuition upfront, whether

{{00:04:31}}
it's innovation idea screening or
pack screen near comms screening or

{{00:04:36}}
frankly even quantifying people's
top of mind perceptions instead of

{{00:04:42}}
us giving them things to respond,
to hearing from them and then

{{00:04:45}}
figuring out very fast data ways.

{{00:04:48}}
To make sense of that
and to semi quantify it.

{{00:04:52}}
What I think is really interesting
is it's getting us a way somewhat

{{00:04:57}}
from report land, which is a good
thing, because if we can make

{{00:05:01}}
faster decisions based on that
AI and that business intelligence

{{00:05:06}}
side, it's the same thing, right?

{{00:05:07}}
Like combing through vast
sales and media data.

{{00:05:11}}
To then say, okay, then we can take
all that, a smarter starting point and

{{00:05:16}}
actually spend the think and strategy
time and application time, which is

{{00:05:21}}
really what's the most important part.

{{00:05:23}}
So I think it's going to play a huge
role in bringing us closer together,

{{00:05:26}}
but we're on the front end, you know, I
think as a whole industry of insights.

{{00:05:31}}
How can high quality data mixed with
cost-effective insights management

{{00:05:36}}
minimize the time to market?

{{00:05:39}}
What I would say on that one is I
think a lot of times we have as a

{{00:05:46}}
whole insight it's community, we
have a tendency to run research

{{00:05:51}}
when we already probably have the
answer somewhere in the vault.

{{00:05:55}}
So we have so many years of
studies and data that it just

{{00:06:01}}
takes time to go through.

{{00:06:03}}
So we have a tendency, even if we
know the answer to go run new research

{{00:06:07}}
and just kind of turn it out fast.

{{00:06:09}}
And so I think if we can find better
ways to mind what we have, organized

{{00:06:14}}
structure, mine what we have, think of
that survey data as big data in a way.

{{00:06:19}}
I think that is going
to be a huge unlock.

{{00:06:22}}
There are various platforms
that I've seen that work

{{00:06:24}}
okay to a certain extent.

{{00:06:27}}
We are spending time, like really
trying to build up our own library

{{00:06:31}}
and norms and all of that to better
make sense of what we already have to

{{00:06:36}}
then move faster so the new work you
do is more about it's deeper, right?

{{00:06:40}}
It's deeper or it's faster, but
when people work with external

{{00:06:45}}
consultancies, what's the
first phase of what they do?

{{00:06:48}}
They do that first step of
stakeholder interviews and

{{00:06:50}}
send me all the decks you have.

{{00:06:51}}
And here's the synthesis
of what we know.

{{00:06:53}}
I don't think we always give ourselves
that luxury of time to go through that.

{{00:06:58}}
And I think that once we do that
and find ways to do it faster,

{{00:07:02}}
that's going to help a lot.

{{00:07:03}}
What's maybe one of the biggest changes
that you've seen in the market research

{{00:07:07}}
community because of the pandemic?

{{00:07:08}}
So obviously we talked a little
bit about, you know, just some

{{00:07:11}}
of the changes higher up, but
is there anything else you are

{{00:07:15}}
thinking about that has really
been significant and, change wise.

{{00:07:18}}
Yep.

{{00:07:19}}
The demand, I think
for sure is increased.

{{00:07:21}}
I think honestly, prioritization
has become more of a

{{00:07:24}}
challenge as a result of that.

{{00:07:26}}
So it is really trying to drive
focus on where are we going

{{00:07:29}}
to have the biggest impact?

{{00:07:31}}
As you know, work-life
boundaries are blurring.

{{00:07:33}}
My team's still working
from home primarily.

{{00:07:36}}
And so it's like, we don't have
the disconnect time at the end of

{{00:07:40}}
the day that we're all used to.

{{00:07:41}}
So I think I'm really
intentionally trying to help the

{{00:07:44}}
team say, what are the highest
value added things we can do?

{{00:07:49}}
And where are some of those things
that you can either democratize

{{00:07:53}}
or help teach people how to fish?

{{00:07:56}}
Or frankly just, you know,
say we're not going to do that

{{00:08:00}}
because it's not actually gonna
drive the business forward.

{{00:08:02}}
Like, what are the three
things I can do this week to

{{00:08:04}}
drive the business forward?

{{00:08:06}}
Is the lens that I try to
take and coach the team.

{{00:08:08}}
And then on the other end of the
spectrum, I would say recruiting

{{00:08:12}}
has become more of a challenge.

{{00:08:17}}
Because I think it's linked
to the demand and the value of

{{00:08:20}}
people seeing what we bring to an
organization in insights or analytics

{{00:08:25}}
or strategy, all of the above.

{{00:08:26}}
So, as people increasingly are
more flexible on hiring remotely,

{{00:08:32}}
you know, I think that the talent
pool just becomes so much more

{{00:08:36}}
vast, which can be a good thing,
that opens it up for us as well.

{{00:08:39}}
But it's just, it's a different way
of working with your HR departments

{{00:08:42}}
or trying to find, you know,
the right people and right fit.

{{00:08:44}}
You know, the shifts of this last
year have really impacted the inside

{{00:08:48}}
professionals as we're discussing
in a lot of different areas.

{{00:08:50}}
Not only sort of what we look to for
a company, but our skill development,

{{00:08:55}}
worker retention, equity creation,
and culture and value alignment.

{{00:08:58}}
So what has been done to address these
issues, particularly in your company?

{{00:09:03}}
Yeah.

{{00:09:04}}
Fundamentally people crave
purpose, whether it's us as

{{00:09:08}}
employees or consumers or whatever.

{{00:09:11}}
So I think beyond finding people's
purpose and helping them to understand

{{00:09:17}}
just like what we exist to do as a
company, which we're a company of

{{00:09:20}}
conviviality and like really helping
to make those magic moments with

{{00:09:23}}
people coming together beyond that,
I would say a big piece of it for

{{00:09:29}}
us has been, trying to think about
really development opportunities

{{00:09:34}}
in a different way, because you
don't get like maybe the drive by

{{00:09:42}}
opportunities for either projects or
initiatives or, hey, I'm going to this

{{00:09:45}}
meeting, do you want to come join in?

{{00:09:47}}
And so that exists for both on the
like formal training opportunities

{{00:09:52}}
that we're doing, which virtually
again, like actually unlocks a lot

{{00:09:54}}
of opportunities, but also like being
really intentional about you know,

{{00:09:59}}
slam teams, swarm teams, whatever
those cross-functional initiatives

{{00:10:02}}
that can help people get exposure
outside of their day-to-day role.

{{00:10:05}}
Ultimately to help them keep
growing as an insights and analytics

{{00:10:08}}
professional is something I'm
really conscious of as well.

{{00:10:11}}
How has your team been embracing
and emphasizing diversity inclusion

{{00:10:15}}
as it relates to market research?

{{00:10:17}}
I am such an advocate of this.

{{00:10:19}}
So I'm Mexican, I've lived
in another country where I

{{00:10:23}}
don't speak the language.

{{00:10:24}}
I personally know how important it
is, both as a leader of employees,

{{00:10:30}}
but also of course, in just the
core of what we do is representing,

{{00:10:33}}
you know, consumers today.

{{00:10:35}}
And so I think of them
distinctly, right?

{{00:10:38}}
So whether it's more on the
recruiting side or offering people

{{00:10:41}}
opportunities  from an employee
standpoint and helping to champion

{{00:10:45}}
their voice too to leadership.

{{00:10:47}}
But also of course, on the consumer
side, like really being thoughtful,

{{00:10:50}}
I think what's been really great,
is that the awareness of diverse

{{00:10:56}}
voices has increased and I've seen it
across both companies I've been in.

{{00:11:01}}
I think now it's like, okay, we tend
to do a good job in the insights

{{00:11:05}}
community of like, thinking about
how to speak to those consumers

{{00:11:10}}
potentially, but maybe not always, how
do you actually design products and

{{00:11:14}}
services that best meet their needs,
which I think is more of an unlock.

{{00:11:18}}
We work with like, it's really
important, I think, to bring

{{00:11:22}}
in cultural experts that know
these communities deeply.

{{00:11:25}}
Even if we have people in these
communities within our own

{{00:11:27}}
building, empathy is critical
in every piece of what we do.

{{00:11:33}}
But I think honestly more with
diverse communities, it's the most

{{00:11:38}}
important place to have empathy and
to try to have your leaders in teams,

{{00:11:43}}
you know, walk a mile in different
communities, shoes, understand the

{{00:11:47}}
joys, the struggles, you know, the
cultural surround is super critical.

{{00:11:53}}
What do you think, you know, sort
of looking now at what's kind of

{{00:11:56}}
gone on in the last two years,
where we're at now,  what do you

{{00:11:59}}
think might be the biggest trend
in 2022 that market research should

{{00:12:04}}
sort of really be looking out for?

{{00:12:05}}
I think the biggest opportunity
for us is insights and strategy and

{{00:12:10}}
really thinking of the strategy and
action piece of it, particularly.

{{00:12:13}}
So I intentionally renamed my team
insights and strategy when I came

{{00:12:17}}
into Pernod because as we have more
technology that enables us to do,

{{00:12:24}}
you know, AI, comb through the big
data, take out some of the day-to-day

{{00:12:28}}
just grind of like the analysis we do
getting to more of the action side,

{{00:12:33}}
I think is going to be so important.

{{00:12:34}}
And really, I think being an
activist and not a purist is

{{00:12:39}}
very important in insights.

{{00:12:41}}
What does that mean?

{{00:12:42}}
Yeah.

{{00:12:42}}
So I think as both insights and
business intelligence people,

{{00:12:47}}
we tend to stick to like a data
source as we tell our story, right?

{{00:12:51}}
We report out a research study, the
business intelligence team reports out

{{00:12:55}}
Nielsen data or IRI data, whatever the,
you know, the data source is, and while

{{00:13:01}}
in the back of our heads or at certain,
you know, annual planning times, we

{{00:13:05}}
might bring everything together, we
need to stop being so myopic in this

{{00:13:10}}
study, this data set, and you know,
of course you can share research, but

{{00:13:14}}
then either start or end the story
with here's the three to five slides

{{00:13:19}}
of what else I know to help drive
a decision related to this topic,

{{00:13:24}}
related to this business question.

{{00:13:25}}
And again, it's kind of like what we
were talking about earlier of like mine

{{00:13:28}}
what you have, squeeze the juice on
what you have, because we have so much

{{00:13:32}}
informed intuition and that's where the
strategy piece comes in, whether it is

{{00:13:36}}
brand strategy or again, like back to
that higher level portfolio strategy.

{{00:13:41}}
I think that's that to me is the next
frontier and where I'm so excited

{{00:13:45}}
about where our industry's going.

{{00:13:47}}
Final question.

{{00:13:48}}
What advice would you give your younger
self looking back at sort of your

{{00:13:53}}
career that you might have sort of,
you would have loved to have known

{{00:13:58}}
coming into the market research?

{{00:13:59}}
Yeah, many things.

{{00:14:02}}
If I had to pick one, so I
started my career in marketing

{{00:14:06}}
and sports marketing.

{{00:14:09}}
Loved it, but as I made the transition
to insights, I think I really focused

{{00:14:13}}
a lot on becoming a research expert.

{{00:14:17}}
So like, how do you, at the time it was
like really leading deep qual research.

{{00:14:21}}
So how do I just be a really
good moderator and facilitator?

{{00:14:25}}
And then it was more of like,
okay, how do I know how to run

{{00:14:27}}
these, you know, different quant
tests as I did different roles.

{{00:14:30}}
And I had a general sense of the
business generals at the time of like,

{{00:14:35}}
okay, what are our big business units?

{{00:14:36}}
What are big brands?

{{00:14:37}}
And like that high level understanding.

{{00:14:40}}
What I wish I would have done
earlier is not only tried to be a

{{00:14:43}}
research expert, but really deeply
understand the business drivers.

{{00:14:48}}
Well, Anna, thank you so
much for joining us today.

{{00:14:50}}
It's been an absolute
pleasure speaking with you.

{{00:14:52}}
Thank you, Jordan.

{{00:14:52}}
I appreciate it.

Hi, I'm Jordan Thorne
we're here at TMRE 2021.

Today, I'm joined by Anna
Estlund, she's the director

So tell me a little bit about your
role and a little bit about you.

Well, I'm director of
insights at Pernod Ricard.

We are a global spirits and
wine company with brands like

Jameson, Absolut, Malibu,
Glenlivet, and Kalua so, and many

I lead a team of 10 in insights, and so
it's across brand, innovation, shopper.

What I would say is fundamentally
you know, our voice of the

consumer, voice of the shopper,
drive consumer centricity, but most

And so taking those insights to
action for the business, ultimately

drive portfolio growth is really
the business that we're in.

So I know you talked a little
bit yesterday about, you know,

So can you tell me some of the
pros and cons to trying to do that?

I think structurally there can
be challenges in big companies

since analytics resides across so
many places in an organization,

especially as data streams and
sources constantly are growing.

But the best insights work that I've
either done personally or seen in my

And so I think as insights leaders,
and as insight professionals, we have

to really help to build those bridges,
even if they don't exist structurally

and start with the foundation of what
are the business drivers understanding

So then we can build the cherry
on top of why is that happening?

And the so what of what do we do
next as a result, based on everything

Cause that's ultimately
the art of what we do.

And I think as more and
more data grows, that only

And honestly, it's just more value
as a community in what we bring.

What companies have you seen
successfully unifying, insights,

So now I've had the pleasure of
working across CPG from General

I think at brand or business unit
level people tend to do it well.

So you kind of can link the two
what's going on with the business

and what's going on with a deeper
human emotion and feelings.

What I've seen differentially
at Pernod that I'm super excited

about is now it's that same
mentality, but at a much higher

So I think that pushing up to corporate
and portfolio level strategy is

really the the north star for us as an
insights community, do you feel like

because of the pandemic and just the
changes in the last year, has that made

it sort of be more of something that
the higher up leaders want to adopt?

I think nobody has a crystal
ball, but we are probably closest.

So I think I changed
companies during the pandemic.

And so at both companies, the
executive pull for what we

do and the demand across the
organization has grown so much.

It's actually become a bit of a
prioritization game for us, which

is a good place to be in because
fundamentally, I think people are

seeing the value of our work because
they want to know what's going

What's going to happen
after COVID, how are people

You know, all of that I think
has really come to light in

The art of what we do is valued
even more, which is really where

the secret sauce of what we do,
you know, where the magic happens.

How do you think that AI will sort
of at all play a role in the success

So we use AI already in
many different things.

So whether it's social listening or
earlier kind of screening where we

Now we're using more consumer
informed intuition upfront, whether

it's innovation idea screening or
pack screen near comms screening or

frankly even quantifying people's
top of mind perceptions instead of

us giving them things to respond,
to hearing from them and then

To make sense of that
and to semi quantify it.

What I think is really interesting
is it's getting us a way somewhat

from report land, which is a good
thing, because if we can make

faster decisions based on that
AI and that business intelligence

Like combing through vast
sales and media data.

To then say, okay, then we can take
all that, a smarter starting point and

actually spend the think and strategy
time and application time, which is

So I think it's going to play a huge
role in bringing us closer together,

but we're on the front end, you know, I
think as a whole industry of insights.

How can high quality data mixed with
cost-effective insights management

What I would say on that one is I
think a lot of times we have as a

whole insight it's community, we
have a tendency to run research

when we already probably have the
answer somewhere in the vault.

So we have so many years of
studies and data that it just

So we have a tendency, even if we
know the answer to go run new research

And so I think if we can find better
ways to mind what we have, organized

Expert Insight

Many of the world's most intriguing and successful companies have benefited from the advice of insight experts who have dedicated their lives to advising clients on brand, marketing, and communication strategies.
As an insight leader Anna Estlund, Director of Insights at Pernod-Ricard, takes us on a tour of topics ranging from new advancements in insights to diversity and inclusion practises in market research.

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thumbnail_Anna Estlund.jfif

xsmall_Anna Estlund.jfif

Anna Estlund.jfif

Anna Estlund

 Director of Insights 

Estlund explains her experience and role in the industry as well as Pernod-Ricard's operations. 

Introduction

In the industry, the best insight work comes from combining analytics and insights.
Estlund emphasises that when it comes to combining analytics and insights, she only sees advantages.
Market research and insights are valued more in the post-pandemic period. Recently corporate-level strategies are created a new style of working in the industry.
According to Estlund, although AI is beneficial in various areas and tasks, the market research business generally is still in the early stages.

Unifying insights and analytics

Being aware of what you currently have in your systems is a more effective and time-saving technique to analyse data more deeply.

Combination of high-quality data and cost-effective insights

With the outbreak of the pandemic, many things took a turn. Estlund addresses the shifts in working styles, recruiting, prioritisation, and, most importantly, demand.

Changes in market research during the post-pandemic period

Another hot topic is how the pandemic will impact talent management. Estlund stressed the importance of developing opportunities in new directions and improving recognition practices.
For Estlund, there are two aspects to diversity and inclusion: one is about the personnel, and the other is about knowing the client base. 

Diversity and inclusion in market research

The future of market research will be a combination of insights and strategy roles. Instead of concentrating solely on the data source, market researchers should broaden their horizons to be able to develop strategies based on the data they have. 

Trend outlook for 2022

One of Estlund's important professional advice is to focus not only on being a market research expert but also on deeply understanding the business drivers by connecting different functions in the company. 