Congratulations to the 2017 NGMR Disruptive Innovation Award Winners!

With over 50 nominations across the three categories this year the judges had their work cut out for them and as usual there were some very close calls. The nominations went out via NGMR group of course as well as via TMRE and this year again, WIRe (Women in Research) ensuring a broad spectrum of market research innovators and methods were considered.

Here are this years’ winners

 

 Outstanding Disruptive Start-Up

Incognito Research (CEO Greg Weston accepting)

Surprisingly perhaps one of the closest call this year was the Outstanding Disruptive Start-Up category with several new companies with some novel approaches. This relatively new category recognizes an outstanding start-up (3 years or less in the industry) that is disrupting traditional market research methods.

The judges were impressed “with the very innovative way of getting data”.   Incognito Research are training rideshare drivers to be at the wheel of the car and of the conversation. Discovering actionable marketing insights by ethically composing, recording, and guiding semi-structured interviews with their passengers (who are millennials 76% of the time). The company has already conducted studies as far ranging as casually chatting with and capturing the opinions of tourists in Boston, to exploring how nurses shifts went at a hospital in Bejing, and discovering the experiences of millennials after a music festival in Madrid!

 

 Industry Change Agent of the Year

Insights Now CEO, David Lundahl

Who is blowing minds? Shaking things up? Doing things differently? This award goes to a truly exceptional change agent. Someone that not only talks the talk but walks the walk.

Judges’ comments: “definitely has an innovative way of looking at challenges and driving industry change”

David is taking on the challenge of food misinformation and consumer behavior surrounding it on behalf of an industry making impactful changes to the benefit of food and beverage companies. A few examples include 1. Proactively funding pilot studies and kicking off an industry conversation about food misinformation and the “free from” food movement.  2. Advocating for change at the FoodBev Forum conference “Trust and Transparency in the Food and Beverage Industry” 3. This summer David also wrote a published an important blog post entitled, “Is Fake News or Misinformation Hurting Your Food Business?” which received a lot of attention in this sector of the industry.

 

Most Innovative Research Method

Merck – Lisa Courtade

The Most Innovative Research Method category award has always gone to supplier firms in the past. However this year the award goes to a firm that has made a point to be at the forefront by making sure to incorporate various cutting edge techniques by not just encouraging risk taking and validation of new approaches, but making them part of their process.

Judges’ comments: “Interesting vision and inspiring method of using data in market research to change how a company leverages research”

In a resource constrained environment, Lisa continues to emphasize “execution with excellence” and was early adopter of new methodologies including neuroscience and biometrics, and has been the force behind “socializing” new methodologies throughout Merck.

Lisa’s department has been a leader in the use of Big Data and Real World Evidence and has been a key contributor to new guidance on the use of patient level data in marketing. Far moreso than most client side researchers she still finds time to share her vision and encourage suppliers and partners on social media and at various industry meetings and events.

Please join me in congratulating this years’ winners!

Big thank you also to the Judging Committee:

Mike Gadd, CEO Gadd Research
Kristin Luck, Luck Collective
Stan Knoops IFF
Jan Fager, Media Institute
Tom De Ruyke, Insites Consulting

And finally also a big thank you to all the NGMR Group members who nominated the many talented researchers and companies, The Market Research Event (TMRE) and WIRe (Women in Research) for their assistance in getting the word out about this year’s call for nominations, and to VoxPopMe which together with OdinText supported this years awards.

 

@TomHCAnderson

 

 

PS. Please check back soon as we share findings from the NGMR Survey which will be shared and discussed at the special Next Gen Market Research Session at the TMRE Wednesday at 11:45 Track#5. There’s still time to take the survey here http://bit.ly/TMRE17