For years, debates have focused on how data and insight can just get a seat at the executive table. That’s a position of influence and input, but not demonstrative of a culture that is truly customer-centric and thrives on making decisions informed by insight. Ten years of storytelling training has led us to create improved reports and debriefs. Ten years of building data platforms has led us to sophisticated data repositories and the supposed ‘democratisation’ of insights. But people are
Read MoreHere at Mustard Towers, we talk a lot about fame. Maybe we are blinded by stardust, but we think there are important lessons to learn from Hollywood about how we go about communicating effectively. And we apply those lessons – good and bad - when it comes to communicating insights. When we think about bad communication, surely nothing gets worse than the cringe-inducing 2017 Oscars disaster when LaLa Land was inadvertently announced as the Best Picture winner, instead of Moonlight.
Read MoreBack in December, we challenged you to find out your communication style with our Hollywood-themed quiz. Well, the results are in of the world’s first and only survey of insights professionals about communication. 260 of you completed our quiz and now we are opening the envelope to reveal what we learnt about the insights profession. First of all, although the quiz was a bit of fun the issue is no joke: 63% of you stated that communicating data and insights
Read MoreI recently had the opportunity to be a part of the Market Research Benevolent Association’s webinar discussing the topic of mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, hosted by Jennifer Perry from the MRBA. The panel featured experts from the market research industry, such as James Pickles from James Pickles Coaching, Amanda Hammond from Opinium, Paul Vittles from The Jordan Legacy and Ben Tuttle from Hope Guardians, who shared their insights and experiences on how to create a mentally healthy
Read MoreHow to make case studies work for you in insights An insights company without case studies is like Batman without Robin. Demonstrating your value through a case study is fundamental to thought leadership and growth. Plus, there’s the added advantage that most clients are burning with curiosity and FOMO; the number one thing that they want to know is what you are doing or have done for other companies like them. But producing case studies is often a big challenge
Read MoreWe at Mustard Towers were delighted that ESOMAR recently returned to action in the UK with its first in-person event in over three years. As a (somewhat) new recruit in the MRX and insights industry, I quickly realised that ESOMAR has an excellent reputation. In case you didn’t know, ESOMAR is the global community for people working in data, research and insight. I couldn't wait to get stuck in and see what ESOMAR's UK Summer Event had in store for
Read MoreThe return of in-person events, and where to find us in 2022 A people and knowledge-based industry like research and insight cannot thrive without physical, in-person events. The exchange of ideas, innovations, technology and conversation, never mind friendship, cannot be underestimated. Yes, we all adjusted as best we could to existing in a purely digital way, but now, live events are back, and we are looking forward to them more than ever. We're keen to let you know what events
Read MoreI don’t think any of us expected an international MRX event of the scale of the Insights Festival to be pulled off this year. But ESOMAR has proved that major conferences can still go ahead, albeit digital and totally different, and be a roaring success. As a newbie in the industry and having never attended the ESOMAR Congress in previous years, I had nothing to compare the Festival to, so I was pleased to feel a sense of community and
Read MoreFriend of Mustard and insights profession legend Tom Ewing was launching himself as a freelance writer and thinker within the industry. He approached us to develop a logo for his new business. It’s normal for clients to have little idea of what their logo should communicate, so we go through a process of working with them to define their company personality, values and ambitions, which then translates into an appropriate brand. At Mustard we refer to this process as ‘bringing
Read MoreAfter a successful London debut in 2019, Quirk’s headed back across the pond this month for their second UK event. It’s well known that ‘seconds’ are notoriously difficult – bands with triumphantly successful first albums often struggle with ‘bad second album syndrome’ and second time novelists with best-selling works of fiction struggle to put pen to paper for their second book. Was London 2020 going to be the Quirk’s UK team’s difficult second conference? In terms of pure numbers, the
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