Gary Topiol

Our new partnership with Affinity Solutions combines real purchase data with Cint’s global audience network. Leveraging our third-party ingestion engine and Respondent Identity spine, we’re enriching measurement and insights with precision and scale ... helping clients move from understanding attitudes to quantifying real-world outcomes.

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Six-figure research budgets. Thousands of customer voices. Yet… the insights fall flat, decisions ignore the data, and strategies fail. Why? Because research literacy - the ability to truly understand and use research - is missing. In The Insight Advantage Chapter 9, I reveal how this silent barrier drains ROI and stalls innovation. Most organizations don’t just need more research — they need to get research-savvy. I share a practical Research Literacy Maturity Model and proven tools to help teams go from “Research Resistant” to “Research Transformative” — unlocking research’s full power. Ask yourself: - Is your team seeing beyond the numbers? - Are insights truly driving your strategy? If not, it’s time to build research literacy — the real competitive edge. Discover how inside Chapter 9 of my book, The Insight Advantage, available now on Flipkart & Amazon. Amazon: https://lnkd.in/gDski9mf Flipkart: https://lnkd.in/gyvSYxxM #ResearchLiteracy #Insights #MarketResearch #BusinessGrowth #TheInsightAdvantage

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Why is it brands still don't truly orientate themselves around their customers? In my recent article for Insight Platforms, I explore the reasons, the challenges and future solutions 👇 A key problem is that there is over four times the level of interest in understanding how consumers make decisions than there is in understanding how businesses make them. Unless we can truly understand how businesses harness customer data in their decision-making, it is likely that most organisations will make sub-optimal decisions, create inefficiency and not succeed in orientating themselves to be truly focussed on their customers. Creating democratised data through more tech is not necessarily helpful: The problem was never the lack of data. Organisations need to reduce task orientation, increase multi-lateral exchange, and improve collaboration, all with the aim of improving sense-making so that customers are brought to mind more effectively at the points when decisions are made. Thank you Mike Stevens, Norbert Sari for publishing this latest thought piece. And Emily James for her constant editorial guidance! Thank you also to Helen Bruce and Stefanos Mouzas of Lancaster University Management School for hosting my guest lecture on this subject FlexMR #customersalience Danny Russell Chris Martin Michael Connor Muneera Belim Maria Twigge Charlotte Duff Danielle Wilkinson Edward Hill Charlotte V. Anna Eggleton Lucy Davison

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Nothing is dominating the UK market search trends, easily securing the title of fastest-growing smartphone brand over both 3M (+14%) and 12M (+33%) periods. Honor’s momentum has eased, with growth slowing sharply in the last 3M. We awaiting impact of recent product launches. Apple sees a short-term lift driven by iPhone 17 interest but early indications are that demand is falling back. All other brands are in decline as demand softens across the category.

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I’m at FlexMR’s Customer Salience Summit. Paul Hudson kicks off by calling out the challenge for our organisations and brands. The success and impact of insight is generated in how it is activated. And that requires customer salience: that decisions in organisations are made in the context of how it will impact and benefit customers. That decisions are made not because of politics, organisation structures, culture etc, but because they are in the interests of the customer. And this doesn’t happen enough (at all!). To deliver impact and to put the customer at the centre of decision-making requires a shift; it requires that product, experience, the value-driven proposition, all be more customer-centric. And this is the challenge. Only 14% of senior execs think their brand is customer-centric. And only 48% of business decisions are influenced or made based on data and analysis. And the build on this is that customer understanding is only the start. We do not lack customer understanding. We focus too much on understanding and not enough on how decisions are made in organisations. And how this customer understanding can influence decision making. We need to connect the gap between customer understanding and decision-making. And btw, decision making is not linear. We need to be better at exploring and explaining organisations’ process and culture of making decisions. This is tough! But also exciting and the opportunity… to rewire decision making and put customers as the heart of everything we do. To make decision-making inspired and responsive to customers.

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Working well together: Working in insights is tough enough so the last thing we need to do is make it harder for each other. But when Opinium last conducted our workplace wellbeing audit of the UK market research, insights, data and analytics sector, we found that 83% of people working in the sector had experienced poor mental health, including stress, in the previous year. Strikingly, 34% of these said that demands from clients were part of the cause of all that stress. The brilliant people at AURA Insight saw this and decided to do something to help. They said, “Our approach was to talk about the way we work - the agency-client model - with a wide range of AURA members and agencies large and small to see where we could help. We heard that, in the vast majority of cases, projects operate with a high level of mutual respect. But there are pinch points which can cause stress, lack of appreciation and unnecessary workload. Defining behaviours that could tackle some of these formed the basis of our Working Well Together Charter.” If you haven’t come across the WWT charter, where have you been? It’s such a great scheme that the team have been invited to speak about it at conferences and events, and word has, rightly, been spreading. But on the off chance that you aren’t aware of this outstanding initiative, I’ve listed the main principles below and I encourage you to look up the report and sign up. You don’t have to be an AURA member and you don’t even have to be on the client side, as agencies can sign up to show their support too. The six principles of the Working Well Together Charter are: 1. We'll respect your time (send out clear briefs, indicate budget and be reasonable about turnaround time) 2. We’ll commit to open and honest conversations at all times (share our expectations, agree priorities and be open to hearing where our requirements may be unrealistic) 3. We’ll leave you to do your best work by managing our side of things well (aim for single point of contact, manage stakeholders and help you get paid on time) 4. We’ll treat you as an extended part of our team (give you stakeholder access, co-create where appropriate and NEVER just call you ‘our supplier) 5. We’ll respect your right to disconnect (we’ll talk about how we work and hours we keep and won’t ask for tight turnaround if we don’t need it) 6. We’ll commit to proper feedback (we’ll respond to all proposals, share feedback if unsuccessful, and wash up and share feedback after projects) As someone who runs an agency, this makes me very happy. Go ahead and sign up. We’re all in this together. Let’s do everything we can to support each other. The charter is here: https://lnkd.in/gmBBDhxK The report is here: https://lnkd.in/g3yWCRsZ AURA home page is here: https://www.aura.org.uk/ And more wellbeing information is here: https://lnkd.in/e_2MMKK

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Nine months of falling retail volumes. What does that tell us? According to the latest CBI data, UK retail sales volumes fell sharply again in June; the ninth consecutive monthly drop. https://shorturl.at/bKGP3 There’s a clear pattern forming. As inflation continues to bite and the cost of essentials like food and rent climb, shoppers are buying less. Not necessarily trading down; just buying less, full stop. Fewer units. Smaller baskets. More restraint. That puts pressure on brands to justify every purchase. Because when fewer products go in the basket, you need to earn your place. And all of this is happening while private label gains ground, often seen as the smarter, better-value choice. Standing out has never been tougher or more essential. That’s where pack design and brand experience step in: • Do you look worth paying for? • Does your pack tell a simple, clear, compelling message to shoppers? • Does your pack design address category needs and shopper expectations? While it might be tempting to cut spend, now is exactly the time to invest; to strengthen your equity, sharpen your story, and meet shoppers where they are.

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The automotive industry faces a power shift so fast that yesterday's leaders could be tomorrow's cautionary tales. While traditional automakers delay, disruptors like BYD (+44%) and Tesla (+20% to $86B) claim territory that won't be reclaimed. Your leadership playbook includes: ✓ Innovation strategies when EV rollout lags ✓ Turn downturns into competitive advantages ✓ Build unbreakable digital loyalty ✓ Spot emerging threats first Time is the scarcest resource. Get the insights that turn industry disruption into your competitive advantage. Access the full report here:

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Is the CRO role outdated in the experience era? According to the latest global CMO study IDC conducted- the CMO is now inheriting the broad responsibility for markets and customers. Learn more in our full report, 2025 IDC Global B2B Tech CMO Priorities https://lnkd.in/gBqb5rPn

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The 2025 State of CX Report is here. Based on insights from 4,000 consumers across the U.S. and UK, the report uncovers a widening trust gap between what brands promise and what customers actually experience. Key findings: - Rising concerns around AI, data privacy, and personalization - The risk of eroding loyalty if expectations are unmet - A blueprint for building trust through transparency, human connection, and purposeful innovation This is not just another CX report. It’s a roadmap for leaders who want to close the gap, strengthen relationships, and win loyalty that lasts. Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/gXRndxAc #CX #CustomerExperience #CustomerLoyalty #StateOfCX #DataPrivacy #Innovation #Personalization

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Here is the final article in the current Askia - automating insight AI blog series. In this 4th article, Jamey Corriveau explains how surveys can be made smarter and/or shorter with mid-survey analysis of open-ended text, to code and skip questions that we already know the answer to. There is a really nice example that you can play with and, as usual, all the technical know-how to get you off and running on your own projects. https://lnkd.in/eikRSZMz #mrx #esomar #newmr #insights #askiausers

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