Insight250 Judge Perspectives: Innovation Part 2

The judges for the fourth annual Insight250 were announced last week. The international panel includes over 50 market research and insights experts. The panel has expanded from 30 in 2023 to provide deeper perspectives from more market research and insight leaders for the selection process and to continue to expand the global reach of the awards.

The judges hail from 25 nations across six continents and represent academia, enterprises, agencies, and associations worldwide. Approximately 80 per cent of the 2024 Judges previously received the Insight250 award, and about two-thirds served as Judges in 2023. The panel will be chaired again by Mark Langsfeld, CEO of mTab, and Kristin Luck, Ex-Officio President of ESOMAR.

Given these judges' diverse experiences and insight, I spoke with several of them to get their thoughts and perspectives on two different topics around Insight250. This is part two of this feature which includes ideas from several judges on the impact and traits they seek when selecting an Insight250 Winner.

As a reminder, nominations remain open until March 31 and can be submitted at Insight250.com/nominate.

The questions the Judges responded to were:

1. What do you think makes someone an innovator or leader in the insights space?

2. What's your top tip for becoming more innovative and leading in our profession?

Kudzai Guvi

Senior Research & Insights Lead, Standard Bank Group, South Africa

1. What do you think makes someone an innovator or leader in the insights space?

“Imagine organisations nimbly adapting to consumer demands, thanks to data-driven insights. This is the reality today, and it demands forward-thinking insights from professionals. True innovators look beyond industry norms, embracing a wider perspective to unlock new possibilities. Just like the tech revolution that transformed our field, fresh thinking is key to staying ahead.”

1. What's your top tip for becoming more innovative and leading in our profession?

“Let's continue infusing innovation into our profession! Experimentation that prioritizes learning fuels progress. We must break free from rigid frameworks and embrace co-creation with consumers and partners. By embracing new solutions, we can stay ahead of the curve, enabling the crafting of exceptional customer experiences.”

Madhavi Kale

Global Head, Consumer and Client Insights, Energy and Resources at Sodexo, Singapore

1. What do you think makes someone an innovator or leader in the insights space?

“An insights leader should be able to make a strong connection between insights and action, meaning how this helps your organisation or business. An insights innovation could have a broader spectrum—i.e., it could be anything that significantly improves the process, methods, tools, governance, reporting, and communication. But equally, the insight itself could be innovative for the field.”

1. What's your top tip for becoming more innovative and leading in our profession?

“As an insights leader, it is important to first understand the business question correctly and then think creatively to find the answers. Also, due attention and perseverance are very important to bring something meaningful to all stakeholders.”

Eleni Nicholas

Chief Client Officer, Head of Global Clients, IPSOS, UK

1. What do you think makes someone an innovator or leader in the insights space?

“A leader in the insights space is someone who recognises that the most valuable insight is not, in fact, about the insight itself but about the people who use it, its reach, and the business change it inspires. Our industry gets too caught up in the perfection of the insight when, in fact, an imperfect insight, properly socialised, shared, and used, is much more impactful.”

1. What's your top tip for becoming more innovative and leading in our profession?

“Build connections with the users of the insights across the organisation—those relationships will define your success or failure.”

Ritanbara Mundrey

Global Head of Innovation & Insights, Dairy, Nestle, India

1. What do you think makes someone an innovator or leader in the insights space?

“Like for any leadership position both functional and interpersonal expertise is a prerequisite. Insights leaders must lead with vision, fearless representation of data-driven knowledge, and landing it within the pragmatic realities of what the business needs, and when it needs it. In this mission, the openness to try the new, to be conscious of where the old ways and methods still work, and to creatively blend in order to raise the bar for incisive inputs to decision making can make all the difference.”

1. What's your top tip for becoming more innovative and leading in our profession?

“Keep an open mind, experiment, and cross-fertilise ideas and methods from diverse areas.”

Kristin Luck

Chair of Judges; Founder WIRe, Scalehouse, Growgetter and Ex-officio President, ESOMAR

1. What do you think makes someone an innovator or leader in the insights space?

   “Innovation requires a holistic approach to people, products, and processes. It’s identifying opportunities to elevate the efficiency of each of these while bringing greater harmony between them. Those who can do this on a consistent basis are the ones driving real innovation in this sector.”

2. What's your top tip for becoming more innovative and leading in our profession?

“Being open-minded to new methods and new approaches is so critical to innovation. Those who both critically investigate AND embrace advancing technologies and emerging methods are most often the ones driving innovation for our industry. It doesn’t require a specific degree or position but rather a specific mindset.”

Nick Baker

Chief Research Officer, Savanta, UK

1. What do you think makes someone an innovator or leader in the insights space?

“Innovations need space and focus on being developed and bloom; they can also come from anyone in the organisations we work for. They aren't about 'hierarchical seniority' or 'senior people'. Creating an ideas culture within our teams and organisations is the critical responsibility of leaders, as is nurturing ideas sharing, collaboration, and a mindset of continuous improvement without fear of failure. So much innovation is actually the product of failure that it shouldn't be feared, just quickly recognised, lessons learned, and moving on to find what new and innovative approaches work.”

1.  What's your top tip for becoming more innovative and leading in our profession?

“Always make sure you are looking through both ends of the telescope. They show different things from different perspectives, and we can see opportunities to innovate. As so much innovation is about applying existing ideas in a new context, spotting the opportunities for innovation is often the crucial component of becoming more innovative.”

Andrea Rademeyer

Executive Chair/ Founder, Ask Afrika, South Africa

1. What do you think makes someone an innovator or leader in the insights space?

“It is untypical for African culture to shout about personal achievements or even share developments important to the industry. One sees this in the very small number of submissions to global conferences. I am thus looking for individuals who are willing to share important developments or considerations for the sake of the industry. African artists and engineers have made themselves global reputations; researchers should emulate that. I am thus looking for African voices to be raised by themselves in the insights space.”

1. What's your top tip for becoming more innovative and leading in our profession?

“Look up and towards the global industry - it is in joining the conversation that innovations occur. Test your views and insights with global colleagues- a good mind-jostle is vital.”

Ande Gilmartin (née Milinyte)

Opinium, UK

1. What do you think makes someone an innovator or leader in the insights space?

“I think a true innovator and leader brings a sense of awareness, empathy, and good communication to their everyday work. Awareness gives us a clear sense of your vision but also extends to the broader team, organisation and industry. Empathy is crucial for leaders who want to build a team that will propel them and their vision forward, helping them bring in diverse voices and allow ideas to grow. Finally, effective communication ties it all together, with an effective leader bringing people together by communicating the shared vision, defining clear goals, and inspiring and empowering people to work towards them while ensuring their input is valued and recognised. What is more, someone who innovates not just for innovation’s sake but for the purpose of enacting change and making society better will always stand out in the crowd for me.”

1. What's your top tip for becoming more innovative and leading in our profession?

“When it comes to becoming more innovative and leading in market research, I think it’s all about a sense of curiosity. A good starting point is asking good questions, challenging or questioning existing practices, and re-examining some of your own beliefs. “Why are we doing things this way?” and “Is there a different way to look at this?” are questions that have put many on the path to innovation. Curiosity also goes hand in hand with flexibility: listening to outside voices, taking input from others, and allowing ideas to evolve. Finally, it’s about understanding if an idea is just that – an idea – or if there’s a practical application to it that could actually bring true benefits. Often, we get hung up on what’s ideal, rather than what’s doable – but just because we start with what’s doable, doesn’t mean we can’t build up to the ideal.”

Joaquim Bretcha

Director General, ESOMAR

1. What do you think makes someone an innovator or leader in the insights space?

“The ability to see things from various perspectives is vital to innovation. If you can understand your employees, partners, and customers' challenges with a product or process, you can effectively drive innovation. This is often a rare skill, but many leaders embrace this approach to build efficiency and continual advancement for their organisations.”

1. What's your top tip for becoming more innovative and leading in our profession?

“The ability to identify challenges from different perspectives requires empathy. It focuses on caring about the issues others are having while also understanding how these challenges impact the productivity of others. Empathy is such a strong trait to have in many realms of life, but it can drive very effective innovation for an organisation.”

Caroline Frankum

Global Chief Executive Officer, Profiles Division, Kantar, UK

1. What do you think makes someone an innovator or leader in the insights space?

“Innovation is the calling card of the future and what distinguishes between a leader and a follower. This takes a growth mindset that sees failures and challenges as opportunities to learn, grow, and drive meaningful change for the better – even when the odds are stacked against you. This, in turn, takes courage, curiosity, patience, resilience, and tenacity.”

1.  What's your top tip for becoming more innovative and leading in our profession?

“Growth never comes from comfort zones—they do not coexist. It’s only after you’ve stepped out of your comfort zone that you begin to change, learn, grow, and transform because whatever makes you uncomfortable is your biggest opportunity for growth. So, don’t let your fears hold you back and make your decisions for you—take that leap of faith to step so far outside your comfort zone that you forget how to get back.”

Stellah Nyagah

Founder & CEO, Smart Reja, Kenya

I believe curiosity is the spark that ignites innovation. By relentlessly asking "why" and embracing unconventional methods, you become an insights ninja. Our increasingly digital world offers a treasure trove waiting to be unearthed: how people interact with technology, the power of AI approaches, the insights gleaned from social listening – no avenue should be off-limits. You are an insights innovator if you are embracing curiosity and are willing to experiment.

Justine Clements

Consumer Insights Manager - MX Samsung Electronics,  Australia

1. What do you think makes someone an innovator or leader in the insights space?

“Being a leader in the insights space requires a strategic vision, analytical mind, empathetic understanding of consumers and colleagues, good communication, and the ability to continually learn, collaborate, and act with integrity.”

1. What's your top tip for becoming more innovative and leading in our profession?

“I would encourage creativity, embracing what’s new, experimenting and looking beyond market research to be inspired by diverse opinions and approaches.”

Seyi Adeoye

CEO, PIERRINE Consulting, Nigeria

1. What do you think makes someone an innovator or leader in the insights space?

   It's not one thing, but a combination of a number of attributes, ranging from solid technical know-how, strong people and business leadership, and a drive to see the industry make progress as a whole. Additionally, innovators or leaders in the insights space are currently making a noticeable impact in their countries or regions. They are also people who inspire us all, to be more and do more in the industry.

2. What's your top-tip on becoming more innovative and leading in our profession?"

Interesting one: Stay curious and maintain a growth-mindset that encircles your professional journey and the industry at large.

Crispin Beale

CEO, Insight250

Thank you again to all those who volunteer as judges to help run the Insight250 and to those above for sharing their views. Now, it’s up to all of us to nominate those individuals around the world who we see as the leaders and innovators in our profession.

You can nominate in multiple languages at insight250.com/nominate.

Good Luck, everyone.