The InnovateMR Blog

Starting my journey in the market research industry 6 years ago, I have seen first-hand the shifts in the world of project management. I began my insights career in 2016 with Toluna as a management trainee, working to manage sample delivery to all surveys. I progressed to Sampling Executive, and from there, kept learning more sophisticated sampling practices, full-service work, In Home Usage Tests (IHUTs), and healthcare sampling in both physician and patient targeting. I have seen and worked on so many different types of survey methodologies including online sampling, telephonic in-depth interviews, Computer-Assisted Telephones Interviewing (CATIs), and Computer Aided Web Interviewing (CAWIs). When recruiting for challenging health care studies, for example, I also employed points of care methodologies, where instead of directly targeting the patients, we recruit healthcare providers to ask their patients questions within their own healthcare facilities. It is sometimes the best route for reaching participants with rare conditions. Methodologies are always continuing to advance.

“I’m from California!”

That’s my answer when someone asks where I’m from. More often than not, no one can actually guess my ethnicity and no other answer seemed to really fit.

I am mixed race, with a Scottish/Irish father, a second generation American, and a Filipina mother, a foreign-born American citizen. Sometimes it’s overwhelming; knowing there isn’t anywhere else in the world that I truly fit in other than my hometown of Los Angeles. My dark hair, eyes, and complexion doesn’t typically jive with Irish redheads, my white features sometimes makes Filipina seem out of the question, and my eccentric unironic use of the word “dude” screams west coast even just a few states over. My last name doesn’t even offer any hints; it was changed from “Strachan” to its phonetic “Strawn” when my distant relatives arrived at Ellis Island to work in American factories during the Industrial Revolution. And Molly? That name comes from Star Trek after Officer Miles O’Brien’s on-screen daughter, Molly O’Brien. Turns out, I am about as melting pot as you could get.

I still remember waking up on Saturday mornings, house smelling like eggs, coffee, and Chili Verde. I remember my dad wailing at the TV using every bad word in Spanish possible, in the hopes that his favorite soccer team, Chivas of Guadalajara, would listen up and win for once. It never made a difference in the outcome of the game, he would argue, but it made a difference in how I saw myself.

InnovateMR is continuing to expand its senior leadership to deliver high quality insights to clients and further demonstrate the company’s brand promise of Faster Answers™. Bryant Leech joins the team as VP, Agile Insights & Platform Solutions, working to evangelize the team’s Vision Suite™ product collection. 

Last weekend, my husband and I took our two little ones to a children’s museum. Inside, they had a “vintage technology” section that featured things like tape recorders, VCRs, and pay phones. After getting over the initial shock of feeling extremely old, I asked my three-year-old if she knew what the pay phone was. She looked at it for a beat and said, “It looks like a crazy microphone.” I guess, while she was technically kind of right, it reminded me just how fast things can change. Less than twenty years ago, pay phones were everywhere, with high school kids like me calling collect, to their home phone, just to say as fast as they could, “movie over, come get me.” And then, you just had to wait. Remember waiting? Waiting with nothing else to do, but just wait. Humans no longer have to “just wait.” We have our phones to help pass the time, with texting, games, music, the list goes on.

Traditional market research can be tricky. It can be messy, unorganized, require multiple tools, platforms, and teams. With access to a wealth of information and audiences, finding the right answers amongst the noise can be even trickier. Below is an overview of what a standard research process can look like from start to finish:

“What am I doing here?” “I am not qualified for this.” “Someone could do this better.” “I’ve just been…lucky.” Sound familiar? Welcome to the club. This meandering internal dialogue has a name: Imposter Syndrome. According to the American Psychological Association, Imposter Syndrome is the unsubstantiated belief that you are under-qualified for your position and individuals suffering from this mental model have a hard time accepting accomplishments, regardless of qualifications.  

According to KPMG’s Advancing the Future of Women in Business Summit Report, Imposter Syndrome is one of the least talked about, yet prevalent issues faced by professionals today, but one especially felt by working women. While there are many ways in which it can affect the psyche, it is most often identified as a disparaging internal dialogue, insisting that we are underqualified, unworthy, or unskilled; that our accomplishments are not only unwarranted, but nakedly seen as such by those around us (no matter how much their words or actions may suggest otherwise).  

As a B2B marketing professional, I know the lengths that businesses will sometimes go to make themselves look good. “Let’s be sure we control the narrative.” “We need good PR on this.” “I’d rather position us like this on the topic, we need to be seen as a thought leader.” I’m not saying that having these conversations are not important. Of course, I am an advocate for keeping track of all of these items to ensure business success, but it’s important to remember that it isn’t everything. You definitely cannot force a message if you’re changing a narrative, already have bad PR, or don’t have the knowledge to be a thought leader. There’s only so much “fake it ‘till you make it” you can get away with until someone calls you out.

InnovateMR continues its global expansion with the addition of Divesh Mahajan - Account Director, APAC and Kanishka Baisoya - Associate Director, Global Bidding, focused on furthering the Asia-Pacific presence. Both have a professional history of building and maintaining successful APAC teams, are well versed in working with APAC B2B audiences, and have extensive knowledge of the unique nuances associated with this region. They will both be instrumental in providing faster answers to clients all over the world.

There has been some recent buzz about a report entitled, “More Dirty Little Secrets of Online Panels.” This report, like previous ones released by the firm, Grey Matter Research, paints a rather depressing and alarming picture for the sample industry. The report suggested that up to 46% of the sample traffic furnished in today’s surveys should be deemed unacceptable; riddled with programmatic bots and other undesirable behaviors. While we don’t know which panel suppliers were used for this research, the report indicated that 5 of the 10 largest sample companies in our industry were used for the test. I would be remiss if I didn’t say that the title of this report caught my attention and troubled me greatly.

2020 has taught us more than our fair share of lessons that has led to rude awakenings, and one of the biggest is that there is a deep divide in the United States when it comes to racial and social equity. The tragic deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor have put these issues to the forefront of our minds, our conversations, and our actions. The proliferation of the Black Lives Matter movement exploded on social channels, and brands were confronted with the need for an immediate response. But were these the right actions? Is it truly what communities of color or other underrepresented groups wanted?

InnovateMR is continuing to expand its senior leadership team to deliver high quality insights to clients and further demonstrate the company’s brand promise of Faster Answers™. Sandeep Singh joins the team as Managing Director, APAC as well as Sylvia Ortiz-Moscato, VP of Operations, B2B & New Client Partnerships.