So far this year, the UK conference landscape (and beyond) has been dominated by AI predictions, declarations and use cases. It was therefore unsurprising that the much-loved ‘MRS North’ conference, rebranded as ‘MRS Best of Events and Awards, Manchester’ for 2024, also opened with this theme. Yet, despite the first two sessions of the day providing unique and interesting takes on generative AI in market research, the conversation quickly turned to something more human: closeness.

What’s interesting to see is these two topics co-existing, when one potentially fuels the other. It is because of the proliferation of AI-fuelled and AI-driven insights that closeness becomes even more important. If we lean too far into the AI-first world, we risk eroding empathy with real people. As Richard Nixon said: “People are persuaded by reason but moved by emotion; [the leader] must both persuade and move them.” If we miss out on consumer emotion and context, we might be left with ‘plastic’ or synthetic insights. And whilst we believe there is a future where both human and artificial intelligence work harmoniously, it’s great to hear and see the value of each in isolation.

Closeness in brand and agency relationships

Given that a brand’s performance is largely determined by the millions of decisions made by employees every single day, it’s critical that these decisions are taken with a rich, clear and aligned understanding of the humans behind them, if the organisation is to achieve success. It’s therefore great to hear brand researchers leading the way with this narrative, where they not only acknowledge but embrace the need to bust the executive bubble and get closer to their audiences. But closeness isn’t just between brands and consumers. Agencies, too, must get closer to their stakeholders, as Sarah De Caux of Co-op explained.

Human-centred decision-making

Waking us from a post-lunch lull, Sarah’s interactive session on human-centred decision making flipped the closeness script back onto agency researchers. We often tell our clients ‘you are not your consumer’ but it was our turn to admit ‘we are not our client’. In much the same way as we are taught to understand consumers by getting closer to them, here we were encouraged to understand stakeholders with equal clarity. Assuming that stakeholders are interested in the same debrief format, excited by the same data points, or even willing to actively participate in a research project might leave agencies unstuck. The reality is that not all stakeholders are comfortable taking part in role play focus groups, not all of them have the time for a 90-minute workshop and not all of them are inclined to read the appendix of your 50-slide PowerPoint. Understanding decision makers across the organisation is key in closing the gap. We need to balance the message we want to give with the way clients want to receive it. Fun and memorable can quickly become cringe-worthy and uncomfortable. So, find a way to get closer, understand your stakeholders as people and land the message well.

Speaking Gen Z: politics, slang and engagement

From stakeholders to slang, we were transported to the world of Gen Z thanks to Emily Driscoll of LadBible. A generation that gets a lot of criticism across the media, but which represents a political opportunity for those parties willing to engage on Gen Z’s terms and in their language. With 1 in 4 Gen Z able to vote in the #gennylec (general election) for the first time in 2024, this is an audience (of over 3 million first-time voters) eager to engage with politics. Research released by LadBible in the weeks before the general election revealed that only 53% of 18-24- and 25–34-year-olds voted in 2019. But with Labour banking 106,000 TikTok followers compared to the Conservatives’ 32,000 it’s fair to say they won in the TikTok arena as well as at the ballot box. Having conducted extensive research on Gen Z’s voting preferences, LadBible felt a sense of “profound responsibility” to show the importance of voting. The publisher’s You’re On Mute campaign was launched to inspire young people across the nation to vote. Getting closer to this cohort through research ensured that the campaign offered education in a manner that was both impactful and engaging.

Google’s vision: belonging through media

Going deeper still, the penultimate session of the day came from Sarah Ashley of Google. Having undertaken an ambitious research programme to understand how people’s identity informs what they love to watch, Sarah shared what it means for the UK media industry. Regardless of our identity, marketing and media have the power to make us feel like we belong. Whether that’s a responsibility or an opportunity, it’s on all of us to tell inclusive, diverse and representative stories across the media. The only way to achieve this is to get closer to the audiences we’re trying to engage and include them at every step of the process, from production, planning and strategy, to front of camera talent. Sarah captured the sentiments of many brand researchers in her closing thought: “Meeting respondents where they are boosts inclusion.”

It’s great to see the best papers from awards and conferences highlighting the ongoing need for closeness in research. To the naysayers out there, closeness is not just good qual. That’s the starting point, the base level, the hygiene factor, if you will. Real closeness comes from moving beyond the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ to being where consumers are. And the same goes for stakeholders, too.