While market research always requires fast-paced reactions and accelerating product development, the last two years have displayed the demand more tangibly than ever before. As timelines shrink and pressure increases, ways to generate insights can be improved upon to fully grasp customer priorities without compromising quality.

At The Art of Agile Consumer Insights: Driving Market Research Innovation with Tech and Automation Kantar's virtual panel of experts discussed how leaders can make the customer as happy as the company itself.

Here are a few important takeaways from the conversation:

1. Choosing when to leave certain data behind

As a company grows, so does its need for market research. Ari Goldsmith of KeHe discussed how her expanding company made decisions about which kinds of data should be explored, and how to prioritize internal and external pressure.

“Those growing pains include technology and also our own intrinsic desire for decision making to happen that much faster,” she said. “We really look at does the data help you to make a decision, is it fast enough? Or are you delayed because of the data?”

2. Staying on top of customer expectations

“If there’s one thing changing faster than technology today, it’s customer expectation,” Manish Pandey of Fiserv explained. “It’s not about how much research we’re doing, it’s about how fast we are. If you’re not fast, all the research you’re doing will be obsolete.”

While the quality and personalization of research will always be important, to keep ahead in the long game of understanding a customer now, means speed more than ever.

3. Opportunities in predictive data and fast-changing outcomes

Ki Choi of Meta spoke about the fast rate of change being an opportunity for better research and more predictive data.

“I think that predicting consumer behaviors, trends, etc is of the utmost importance,” he said. “The rate of change has also accelerated. With that pressure there’s also a massive opportunity to help influence processes, outcomes, decisions, all from the bottom.”

4. Finding a story that meets both customer and consumer needs

To build a good team structure for efficient research, David Banks of Bell Flavors and Fragrances has a robust toolbox of both technology and great people on his team to make the best sort of forward momentum.

“I always look at my group as storytellers,” he said. “We are the ones who have multiple data sources so that we can pull together a story. It has to resonate not just with the customer that we’re talking to, but also with the consumer we’re trying to reach.”

5. Using technology to predict the future

“We don’t really look at different phases,” said Manish. “We look at technology. You have to use technology like machine learning or AI and be ahead in the game. We can’t predict the future, but we can see things like next best action.”

Instead of focusing on trying to anticipate every phase, it’s more important to put technology to work and figure out what the next action should be in the most timely manner possible.

Curious to learn more about our discussion with Kantar and our expert panelists? Access the full event content by filling out the form at the top of this page.