Ponderings from the Perch

Strap on your headsets and fasten your seatbelts – we’re taking you on a ride through the skies of market research! Welcome to the MRX Mavericks miniseries, where we’ll show you how to soar above the competition like the true Top Guns of the market research industry.

Steve Schlesinger, Executive Chairman of SAGO and Kim Harrison, Founder and CEO of Focus Forward, also serve as executive board members for the Marketing Research Education Foundation. Today, they join our CEO and Momma Bird, Priscilla McKinney, who has served on this same board, to share the message and mission of this amazing organization.

Their mission is to unify, inspire and activate the marketing research community to focus its collective resources on educating children and youth worldwide. Find out more online at http://www.mrgivesback.org. Become a sponsor (https://www.mrgivesback.org/sponsors ), or participate in a fun and engaging campaign during the year. From the Race Around the World to the Backpack Challenge, there are many ways to get involved, do good and have fun while you’re doing it!

Get involved with the Backpack Challenge: https://www.backpackchallenge.org/

MREF: https://www.mrgivesback.org/

Race Around the World for Education: https://www.mrgivesback.org/race

SPONSORS

Get ready for a fantastic Insights Marketing Day! This event brings together expert speakers who are authorities in digital marketing and thought leadership, offering powerful and engaging presentations. Attendees will gain essential tips, actionable advice, and tools to improve their company’s marketing. With networking opportunities, a marketing practitioners panel, delicious meals, gelato, and exciting prizes, this event promises to be both informative and enjoyable. Don’t miss out on Insights Marketing Day in Chicago on September 28th. Visit littlebirdmarketing.com/insights-marketing-day for more information.

Don’t let the learning stop here. Little Bird Marketing’s 12-week social selling course is a practical hands-on experience designed specifically to help you network effectively and at scale, build rapport with targeted audiences, expand your influence, and become the go-to authority in your area of expertise. So this is not a quick “tips and tricks” for LinkedIn’s success flash in the pan. It’s a commitment to changing the way you show up online and experience career-shifting breakthroughs. This is expert instruction in small cohorts with personalized one-on-one coaching. If you’re interested, learn more at https://littlebirdmarketing.com/social-influence-course/

Strap on your headsets and fasten your seatbelts – we’re taking you on a ride through the skies of market research! Welcome to the MRX Mavericks miniseries, where we’ll show you how to soar above the competition like the true Top Guns of the market research industry.

Priscilla McKinney, call sign Momma Bird, introduces us to esteemed guest and MRX veteran Dan Quirks of Quirks Media. Dan’s mission at Quirks is to expand the company’s digital offerings and global presence.

The day-to-day of Dan’s responsibilities revolves around staying abreast of industry trends and delivering valuable information to their audience. At Quirks, they differentiate themselves by primarily catering to end clients and providing free content to support researchers’ growth and knowledge.

One significant challenge faced by Quirks is bridging the gap between suppliers’ desired content and the information sought by end clients. To address this, they employ a team of skilled editors who ensure that the content meets the needs of both parties.

As a seasoned professional in the MRX world, Dan has experienced the historical transformation of the industry. From a data collection-centric approach, the industry has evolved into a more consultative relationship between suppliers and end clients, where the focus is now on actionable data and insightful storytelling. As Dan says, “For every Coke, there’s a Pepsi. For every iPhone, there’s a Samsung.” There are competitors in every industry, and market research isn’t exempt. But the key to standing out is BRANDING. In this episode, he provides this helpful mindset as their team comes alongside others to help them stand out from the crowd. 

To learn more about the market research industry’s dynamic developments and join the “MRX Mavericks” journey, be sure to tune in!

Listen in closely for information about the 2023 Quirks Awards.

SPONSORS

Don’t let the learning stop here. Little Bird Marketing’s 12-week social selling course is a practical hands-on experience designed specifically to help you network effectively and at scale, build rapport with targeted audiences, expand your influence, and become the go-to authority in your area of expertise. So this is not a quick “tips and tricks” for LinkedIn’s success flash in the pan. It’s a commitment to changing the way you show up online and experience career-shifting breakthroughs. This is expert instruction in small cohorts with personalized one-on-one coaching. If you’re interested, learn more at https://littlebirdmarketing.com/social-influence-course/

Strap on your headsets and fasten your seatbelts – we’re taking you on a ride through the skies of market research! Welcome to the MRX Mavericks miniseries, where we’ll show you how to soar above the competition like the true Top Guns of the market research industry.

Priscilla McKinney, call sign Momma Bird, is joined by Kristin Luck, Founder of ScaleHouse and consultant known for non-traditional growth strategies. You’ll hear the backstory of how and why Kristin founded  Women in Research and the impact this has made on the industry. Since 2007 this community has focused on empowering the women inside of insights has made a difference helping many to build successful careers and increase representation in leadership roles.

Various programs run by WIRe are working to include women in all spaces, such as mentorship programs, scholarship funds for women in emerging or conflict markets, and the WIRExec forum. They have made serious strides getting more female voices on stages at conferences around the world. All of these programs remain free and open to anyone. Yes, amazing men are a part of the WIRe family! 

The only paid positions include the WIRexec board. This was started as a retreat where senior-level women to connect, network, and share experiences. They have achieved success enough to pay to gather and collaborate as to how to amplify the great work and continue to ensure all other programs at WIRe are free and remain so.

Ready to be inspired and uplifted in the market research industry? Listen to these industry leader besties share their love for Women in Research.

SPONSORS

Priscilla McKinney, CEO at Little Bird Marketing, is excited to announce the release of her book, “Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind.” The book’s chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today’s complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

Strap on your headsets and fasten your seatbelts – we’re taking you on a ride through the skies of market research! Welcome to the MRX Mavericks miniseries, where we’ll show you how to soar above the competition like the true Top Guns of the market research industry.

Priscilla McKinney, call sign Momma Bird, welcomes Karen Lynch, Head of Content at Greenbook, to the cockpit. Together, they pull back the curtain to examine industry events both as organizers and as attendees! 

Karen’s passion is to bring the best content to the Greenbook stage, to make sure the audience gets the ultimate experience. To do that, she has adopted the mantra “Always be Curating.” She says though Greenbook events appeal to a wide variety of industries (tech, MRX, entrepreneurs, etc.) the connecting thread between all attendees is a growth mindset. Her curation spans a multitude of sources to ensure the content honors the breadth of attendees.

They discuss Karen’s methodology for organizing content to span the variety of Greenbook events, both location-specific and topically themed. Karen also shares with Priscilla her three-part outline to maximize events for attendees. By dividing the event into three parts, she offers tips to build clarity and purpose. 

Karen also highlights the importance of making genuine connections – a decisive shift away from the non-stop selling mentality centered around building relationships with others: “It’s really quite special what you do when you just say, ‘I just want to get to know people.’”

SPONSORS

Priscilla McKinney, CEO at Little Bird Marketing, is thrilled to announce the release of her book, “Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards A Cross Pollinating Hive Mind and How Not to Get Left Behind.” The book’s chapters are designed to be time-efficient, ensuring busy professionals can easily integrate these transformative ideas into their workflow. From discussing the state of affairs in business to providing fundamental strategies and seven practical anchors for staying on course, this book offers a fresh perspective and a competitive advantage in today’s complex business landscape. Visit priscillamckinney.com for more information.

Strap on your headsets and fasten your seatbelts – we’re taking you on a ride through the skies of market research! Welcome to the MRX Mavericks miniseries, where we’ll show you how to soar above the competition like the true Top Guns of the market research industry.

Priscilla McKinney, call sign Momma Bird, and Lauren Isaacson took flight in their conversation about the Qualitative Research Consultants Association.

The QRCA is the hot spot for qualitative researchers and UX professionals. They offer the ultimate package: support, training, and networking opportunities. The association focuses on promoting high standards and best practices in qualitative research, including techniques like UX research.

Enter Lauren Isaacson, the self-diagnosed chronic volunteer from Curio Research. This superhero has donned various capes within QRCA, including chapter chair and board member. Lauren’s dedication to volunteering is next-level, and she’s been spreading her infectious enthusiasm throughout the association.

With 77% of members based in the US and others from all corners of the globe (hello, Canada and beyond), it’s like a qualitative research world tour. They don’t discriminate when it comes to professionals either—consultants, vendors, recruiters, and those fancy folks from in-house corporate positions are all invited to the party. QRCA knows that diversity makes for the best kind of fiesta!

If you’re looking for a wingman or wing woman at QRCA events, Lauren is ready to connect and be your newfound friend. So buckle up, and get ready to soar to new qualitative research heights!

SPONSORS

Looking for an extension of your market research team? EMI Research Solutions delivers quality and unbiased market research data tailored to the needs of your business. With EMI, you get an agile-focused team of researchers with over 22 years of experience. Plus, their podcast Intellicast takes a look at the market research industry from a new perspective. Find out more at emi-rs.com

“Slam the brakes, lay off employees.” Corporate America is out of the frying pan and into… the dumpster fire! Wait, what’s going on?!

Today on Ponderings from the Perch, host Priscilla McKenny and Sasha McCune, Director at Conifer Research, are untangling the knots of post-pandemic paralysis and indecision in Corporate America.

Sasha is a strategic insights and design research leader, innovator, vision-setter, avid traveler, espresso junkie and tropical plant lover. As Director at Conifer Research, she specializes in ethnographic research, innovation programs, behavioral research and digital ethnography.

From Sasha’s experience, she has gathered insight into the leading cause of post-pandemic paralysis in the corporate world.

It’s vision. Or rather, the lack of vision. Companies are dropping the ball left and right by not providing their team VISION for where they are going. People need goals. Those who aim at nothing hit it with remarkable accuracy. Stuck in fear of financial setbacks and laying off hundreds, employers have left employees with a lack of belief and trust in their company.

Prominent leaders aspire to reintroduce a sense of culture within the workplace, yet they often lack a comprehensive understanding of what their culture is.

How can leaders reintroduce a thriving workplace culture, instilling belief and courage into employees? It all starts with listening. Listening to employees and this episode, of course! Tune in to find out how to move past the paralysis plaguing the corporate world.

Get ready for a fantastic Insights Marketing Day! With networking opportunities, a marketing practitioners panel, delicious meals, gelato, and exciting prizes, this event promises to be both informative and enjoyable. Don’t miss out on Insights Marketing Day in Chicago on September 28th. Visit littlebirdmarketing.com/insights-marketing-day for more information.

But wait! Don’t let the learning stop here. Little Bird Marketing’s 12-week social selling course is a practical hands-on experience designed specifically to help you network effectively and at scale, build rapport with targeted audiences, expand your influence, and become the go-to authority in your area of expertise. This is expert instruction in small cohorts with personalized one-on-one coaching. If you’re interested, learn more at https://littlebirdmarketing.com/social-influence-course/ 

Need even more information on instilling workplace COURAGE and building up your team? We got you: Fostering Meaningful Team Connections with Ryan Jenkins

Coffee and writers go together like plot twists and cliffhangers – they fuel the creative chaos and keep the words flowing!

But here’s a twist: When you grab your Starbucks, you’re not just getting a caffeine fix, you’re purchasing a story! And even if you prefer to shop locally, guess what? You’re still buying into a narrative.

In this episode, Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney is joined by Kristian Alomá, founder and CEO of Threadline, to discuss psychological research and the cross between a narrative economy and the building blocks of a brand.

Don’t consider yourself an Instagram influencer when you post that photo snagging that Starbucks cup? Kristian discusses the popularity of Starbucks and how its logo is the most photographed on Instagram, demonstrating that people are not merely buying their coffee for the caffeine. They are incorporating Starbucks into their self-perception and the narratives they have constructed about themselves. On the other hand, individuals may choose not to purchase Starbucks because it doesn’t align with their desired narrative, opting instead for a local, artisanal coffee shop.

Kristian provides clarity between story and narrative. The story is the thing that is told or expressed. The narrative is the idea behind it all.

The idea that “love always wins” is a narrative concept. However, different stories like Shrek, The Notebook, and You’ve Got Mail each depict this idea in distinct ways. Kristian explains that comprehending individual stories is required in order to grasp the larger narrative. When brands make this effort, they can connect with their audiences on a deeper level.

Tune in to this episode as Priscilla and Kristian delve deeper into the captivating world of narratives, storytelling, and brand experiences that go far beyond a simple cup of coffee.

As promised, prepare to embark on an exhilarating journey through the narrative economy as Kristian Alomá unveils the secrets of brand building in his captivating must-read: Start With the Story Brand Building in a Narrative Economy

Get ready for a fantastic Insights Marketing Day! This event brings together expert speakers who are authorities in digital marketing and thought leadership, offering powerful and engaging presentations. Attendees will gain essential tips, actionable advice, and tools to improve their company’s marketing. With networking opportunities, a marketing practitioners panel, delicious meals, gelato, and exciting prizes, this event promises to be both informative and enjoyable. Don’t miss out on Insights Marketing Day in Chicago on September 28th. Visit littlebirdmarketing.com/insights-marketing-day for more information.

Calling all snackers! We love a good snack here at the Nest! But have you heard of social snacking? Your mom called and was worried your snacking might ruin your meal, but she should be worried that social snacking can lead to disconnection. 

Today, our CEO and Momma Bird, Priscilla McKinney, talks with Ryan Jenkins to discuss breaking the connection barriers in the workplace. As Wall Street Journal best-selling leadership author of Connectable, Ryan has surveyed over 2,000 workers worldwide to discover the answers for quality connection and belonging and why sometimes technology that could enable connection actually thwarts it.

Now don’t take this the wrong way. Sending a quick text to a friend is good. But as Ryan points out, it takes intentionality to visit that friend. As humans, we follow the path of least resistance, so we choose convenience over connection if we’re not intentional. We’re wired for connection, and social snacking may keep our loneliness at a manageable level and keep us from reaching out for something more sustaining.

Ready to give your team a sense of belonging and connection? Take a seat, grab a snack (but no social snacking) and listen in closely for the story of how Joseph Strauss, the structural engineer behind the Golden Gate Bridge, fostered a sense of connection with a net.

Don’t let the learning stop here. Little Bird Marketing’s 12-week social selling course is a practical hands-on experience designed specifically to help you network effectively and at scale, build rapport with targeted audiences, expand your influence, and become the go-to authority in your area of expertise. So this is not a quick “tips and tricks” for LinkedIn’s success flash in the pan. It’s a commitment to changing the way you show up online and experience career-shifting breakthroughs. This is expert instruction in small cohorts with personalized one-on-one coaching. If you’re interested, learn more at https://littlebirdmarketing.com/social-influence-course/ 

The A student’s worst nightmare… The teacher says, “Grab a partner, it’s group project time!”

Perhaps you think it a ruthless generalization to say the task of a group project often forces one student with the ability, drive, and support from home to do all the work. But this was Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney’s exact experience when her son came home from school one fateful day.

News flash! The 5th grader group project setup doesn’t end with 5th grade. Turns out, it extends to the corporate world. When talking about collaborations in the corporate sphere, Priscilla was met with resistance. What business leaders THOUGHT was a collaboration was really just a Kumbaya moment.

Sure, we could sing All Together Now if you’re more of a Beatles fan, but that doesn’t get the work done! Getting people next to each other doing similar things DOES NOT equate to collaboration. It’s not a win-lose situation. True collaboration means bigger wins for everyone. THAT’S what pushed Priscilla to write a book. Yep, Cultural Anthropologist, aspiring lunch eater, champagne aficionado, and social selling expert has now added AUTHOR to her titles. 

Want to know the framework for setting true collaboration in motion? Listen to today’s full episode for the three big factors of collaboration that lead to success!

The Market Research Podcast Award is back! And it’s time to nominate your favorite kick-ass market research podcast for a chance to win the coveted title of MR Podcast of the Year. 

Nominations are open now through June 30th, and voting will open from July 1st to August 12th. 

Nominate your absolute favorite podcast in the insights industry at littlebirdmarketing.com/mr-podcast-award! 

The winner will be announced at Insights Marketing Day on September 28th. Will your favorite insights podcast make the cut?

LAYERS! Onions have layers. Languages have layers. You get it, they both have layers. 

We’re not afraid of communicating through Shrek quotes, but we know with communication it’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it that unlocks the door to connection and understanding!

In this episode, Little Bird Marketing CEO Priscilla McKinney is joined by fellow Spaniard Carlos Hevia, director of business development at Multilingual Connections. Today’s discussion unveils the artwork of language and the science behind opening the door to international insights.

Accurate translation plays a vital role in the market research world. Without asking questions in the proper dialect, reliable data cannot be obtained. As Carlos highlights, “If you are not speaking their language, you might not find your insights the way you want to.” With language variations present, it takes the ability to see both sides of the language coin to elicit open and honest responses.

All journeys begin with a single step. Your translation and transcription journey is no different. A roadmap for success from Multilingual Connections will guide you through the steps you can take before giving your project to a trusted language service provider. Download A roadmap for success!

Don’t let the learning stop here. Little Bird Marketing’s 12-week social selling course is a practical hands-on experience designed specifically to help you network effectively and at scale, build rapport with targeted audiences, expand your influence, and become the go-to authority in your area of expertise. So this is not a quick “tips and tricks” for LinkedIn’s success flash in the pan. It’s a commitment to changing the way you show up online and experience career-shifting breakthroughs. This is expert instruction in small cohorts with personalized one-on-one coaching. If you’re interested, learn more at https://littlebirdmarketing.com/social-influence-course/