Race to the bottom can be cured by having the right conversations
Day One Podcast: Insights Room 101
Episode 11: Jane Bloomfield
On The Day One podcast – Insights Room 101, hosted by Hannah Mann, our guests describe three of their worst insight industry pet peeves and aim to lock one of them away forever in Room 101, much like the popular British TV show. Our guest on this episode is Jane Bloomfield, CMO at Landor & Finch. Jane joins us on the Room 101 podcast to share what things in the industry she’d like to see banished in Room 101 forever. Jane’s main pet peeves are: a) interviewers who ask “What’s it like to be a female board member?” b) the like; the race to the bottom in research; and c) click-bait research and surveys. Jane provides meaningful criticism during our conversation, and we hope you enjoy it.
For her first insights irritation, Jane wants to get rid of questions like “What’s it like to be a female CMO?” or “What’s it like to be a female board member?” or “What’s it like to be a working mom?” She says she has no context for the question. She can’t compare it to a time when she was a male executive.
When I asked why does she think interviewers ask these questions, she said she thinks it’s laziness. She thinks they’re old-fashioned questions that are not current with the times. For other insights professionals who experience the same types of interviews, Jane suggests calling out the interviewer for asking such questions – gently – and trying to get to the heart of what they’re really asking.
Jane’s second target is a topic other guests have picked for Room 101: a race to the bottom in insights research. People want it cheaper and faster, but good market research costs money. She doesn’t mind working with procurement as long as there’s no compromise on spending money on people and on research. It’s impossible to replicate the value of people and time, and people should be paid for it.
She thinks that consumer insight teams are having the wrong conversations with clients. They tend to discuss technology when, really, they need to tell the client that they have decades of experience with this work, and this is what they need to do. Technology is great with AI and automation, but it’s the experience that should be convincing clients to invest the money in qualitative research.
Jane’s final banishment is click-bait research and surveys. She says it undermines the validity of great research, which can give people certainty. With headlines saying 50% of people think this, that only means that the other 50% don’t. She thinks that the media plays a role in calling out this kind of click-bait headline and informing the public of the background of these numbers.
Jane and I both agree to banish the race to the bottom in insights research to Room 101. We both enjoyed the conversation, and we hope you do, too.
About – Jane Bloomfield
Jane Bloomfield is the Chief Marketing Officer at Landor & Finch. Experienced marketing, business development, and insight executive with a proven track record of delivering profitable growth, Jane has experience working across FMCG, Financial Services, Charity, Retail, Travel, Entertainment, Tech and Alcohol sectors and is currently responsible for driving marketing, growth and commercial excellence at Landor & Fitch globally.
Relevant Links:
Jane’s LinkedIn
Landor & Fitch – Website
Day One – https://www.dayonestrategy.com
Hannah Mann – LinkedIn