Insight from the Insight250: The Importance of Human Insight and Attention

The Insight250 spotlights and celebrates 250 of the world’s premier leaders and innovators in market research, consumer insights, and data-driven marketing. The awards have created renewed excitement across the industry whilst strengthening the connectivity of the market research community. Winners of the 2024 Insight250 were announced this past September - you can see the full list of Winners at Insight250.com. 

With so many exceptional professionals named to the Insight250, it seems fitting to tap into their expertise and unique perspectives across various topics. This regular series does just that: inquiring about the expert perspectives of many of these individuals in a series of short topical features. 

This edition features Richard Colwell. Richard is the Chief Executive Officer of Red C Research & Marketing, which provides insight support to blue chip brands. He also serves as ESOMAR’s Country Representative for Ireland and as Executive Vice President of Worldwide Independent Network (WIN).

I sat down with Richard to discuss a spectrum of topics from the challenges of leading an independent research company to the important role of associations and the impact of advancing innovations. It’s a great view into the industry from his expert perspective. 

Crispin: Richard, congratulations on being an Insight250 Winner. You’re CEO of RED C Research & Marketing Ltd., as well as an ESOMAR representative for Ireland and President of WIN - what’s WIN and how do you think networks like WIN and ESOMAR help our profession?

RC: “WIN is a worldwide global network of independent market research companies, that work together to provide a global but local offer, as well as supporting each other through the challenges of growing an insights business. The accumulated expertise of the association is formidable, with many members being entrepreneurs and thought leaders in our industry.

“Being part of the association allows members to engage with other research companies and experts from all over the world. We have a continuous exchange of know-how, innovations, studies, and learnings, and the board works hard to drive collaboration and interaction among members.

“Right now dealing with a sea change in our industry brought by the rise of AI is much easier to navigate when you have the collective knowledge across the network. The strength of the many in the network, working together to share, learn and understand is invaluable. We also work hard to promote both members and the network through our PR company Keen as Mustard, allowing members to further build brand mental availability among their core target of research buyers globally.

“Finally, we complete worldwide studies together (WWS WIN World Survey) looking at global trends which members can promote throughout the year, driving name recognition and allowing you to put data for your country in the context of global views. At the same time networks such as WIN and ESOMAR, ensure that the industry is well-represented, and protects the high-quality credentials we have all built up.” 

Crispin: Is it hard to run an independent research company with the challenges and opportunities that AI might bring? Are the needs of independents different from those of multinational research groups?

RC: “I would say that it is much harder for an independent company vs. a multinational that can devote a lot more time and resources to developing new AI technologies, that they then roll out across the organization. Also, it easier for them to build bespoke solutions.

“However, we are helped by shared membership of organizations such as WIN and ESOMAR where we can learn from other members about what they have tried, and what worked and what didn’t work. We are also perhaps able to pivot more quickly when new technologies arrive, and that nimbleness is key to our longer-term success. Keeping abreast of the latest solutions is vital, and that has to be driven from the top down.

“But the secondary issue is the area of compliance, which has become very onerous for smaller agencies that are still dealing and working with multinationals. Overcoming compliance while still trying to push the boundaries and implement AI is a real balancing act.” 

Crispin: You are also an Executive Board Director at Business Post so understand the client landscape as well as the agency and association side. Is using insights to drive commercial decisions increasing or decreasing and why do you think that is happening?

RC: “I think using insights to drive commercial decisions is probably increasing on the whole. From my experience businesses generally do recognise that they need to understand human behaviour and keep a clear connection with real people, if they are to be successful.

“That fundamentally is why I feel the insight industry will remain in a relatively strong position despite advances in technology, that may suggest to some initially that our role is becoming obsolete. It’s important that we continue to promote, how that human connection is maintained, to provide real representative insights and not just noise.”

Crispin: What do you see as the key challenges facing insights professionals in 2025? 

RC: “I think the big challenge will be the demand and expectation from clients of faster and cheaper work, with the increase of AI in the mix. We need to continue to promote the value of the work we do as consultants to help drive business and re-affirm the importance of real human connections.”

Crispin: As the AI rush takes hold, should we be doing more to shout about the value of high-quality human insight?

RC: “See above! Without a doubt the industry challenge remains to elevate what we bring to business above the basic data, and instead place a real and true value on our consultancy skills to deliver business growth.”

Crispin: What role does understanding attention play and what is its role in brand building/media impact? 

RC: “Attention is the missing variable that truly drives effective advertising and media spend. If you can add attention into the mix in how you advertise and where you advertise, you will deliver significantly improved ROI for your spend. As such it’s the holy grail of business now to build attention into their planning process.” 

Crispin: Can you provide an example of a key insight that fundamentally changed a product decision or marketing strategy for one of your clients?

RC: “Based on the attention work conducted in tandem with Amplified Intelligence, we have a seen number of key clients completely change how and where they advertise. Because when you fully comprehend that people on average only give three seconds of attention to adverts on social media, you realise that you have to change the way you advertise there. As a result, we have seen clients completely move away from telling stories in social and driving storytelling only through the TV platform where attention is retained for longer ads. Instead, they have moved to brand big and brand early on social media, often with static ads, and heavily using distinctive brand assets to get some impact from the three second exposure. We have also seen them change their media weight to deliver more spend to higher attention media and devices, as we found that video on demand commands the greatest attention levels, particularly on mobile.”

HOT TOPIC: Sustainability and ESG

What more should the industry do to take on board the rising consumer focus on sustainability and ESG?

RC: "It's vital that we play our part in driving more sustainable practices in the industry, and support our clients to reach their goals. We can also help inform our clients on how we can better encourage consumers to make more sustainable choices, through the behavioral understanding of choices.”

Crispin: TOP TIP: What’s your top-tip for people in our profession?

RC: “Empathy. With your clients, with your staff, with your suppliers and with your partners. Understand what they are going through and help them to achieve their goals. Understand their pressure points and make it easier, and better for them to complete and deliver quality insights.

Crispin: Richard, thank you for providing a view into leading an independent research company and the critical, ever-expanding role insights are playing across industries. It’s fascinating to see how advancing innovations, like AI, are changing and challenging the world of market research, so the coming years should represent exciting times for all of us in the profession.