Rock n' Roll Research Podcast

Jim Lake is President of Michael Walters Advertising where he has been for over 30 years. MWA boasts an impressive client list including Hunter Douglas, Paul Mitchell and the Chicago Cubs. But Jim also a fellow drummer who discovered his penchant for songwriting in his 50s and in 2023 was named a Songwriter to Watch by the Nashville Songwriters Association. We discuss his career, the heartwarming inspiration for his first song and the enduring importance of making emotional connections with advertising. You can find Jim’s music here: lakecountrysongs.com.

Second time’s a charm. After starting out in banking, Dr. Rachel Baghelai pivoted and has thrived in her career as Industrial/Organizational psychologist and business consultant focused on employee research. She is currently VP of Assessment and Analytics and The Kaleidoscope Group, a leading DEI consultancy based in Chicago. We discuss Rachel’s career journey and her perspective on research, her passion for riding horses and dressage, and our shared love of punk rock.

Rob and his business partner / wife, Toni, are giving new meaning to the term ‘house band.’ After starting his insights career with classic firms like Market Strategies Int’l and Elrick & Lavidge, Rob has been running his own firm, Klein & Partners, for over 20 years focused exclusively on supporting healthcare clients. Rob and Toni are partners in the business and may soon become bandmates with Rob on guitar and Toni holding it down on the drums. We discuss Rob’s research journey and the lessons he’s learned from the greats. And, of course, we talk some rock n’ roll along the way.

Victoria Sakal is currently the Head of Growth for the on-demand research platform company called Wonder (askwonder.com), who is applying AI and a whole lot of innovation to secondary research. Really cool stuff! But, if you would have told a young Victoria she would make a career in research, she most certainly would not have believed you. Much of her spare time as a kid was spent helping out in and around her mother’s bakery and becoming a highly competitive track athlete. Victoria and I chat about her upbringing, how she initially made the leap to research with Kantar and the dynamics of owning/managing a vacation rental property on the side. She also shares the music she would want to keep her company if stranded on a desert island.

“Let’s not burn through technology again. Let’s not just rip a path through AI.” Eddie Accomando is one of my favorite researchers to talk shop with. With his academic background in anthropology, moderator certification from RIVA and deep knowledge of quantitative methodologies, Eddie can cover it all from theory to practice to the political dynamics of making insights land. His career spans roles at Verizon, Texas Instruments and Qualtrics among others. But he’s equally as well-versed when it comes to writing and performing original music. We discuss Eddie’s thoughts on market research including the potential hazards of AI mismanagement. Eddie also shares his journey through music including his album, his radio show on KNON NOW in Dallas and the gig we played together earlier this month.

Fail we may, sail we must. Ian Pierpoint is Founder and CEO of the intrepid human insights agency, Further&Further Strategies. Ian’s unique perspective on understanding people and culture is an outgrowth of his journey, from the UK acid house scene, to corporate youth researcher, to documentary filmmaking, to CMO. We discuss Ian’s improbable route to research, the lessons he’s learned along the way and his apprehensions about the potential future of insights.

Jeff Reesing, is SVP of Corporate Sales and Customer Experience at Dynata, the world’s largest first party data platform and a company that powers so much of what we do in research and insights. He has built himself an impressive professional career, but music was his first love and it is easy to understand why. Back in high school, Jeff found himself in marching band, hanging out and playing in bands with none other than Dave Navarro and Stephen Perkins, two founding members of the legendary band, Jane’s Addiction. Jeff shares his journey from his early days in music to how he transitioned to build a career in business. We also discuss the current structure of the insights industry and how it might evolve before Jeff surprises me with what he’d like to be listening to if stranded on a desert island.

Do surveys make good bedtime stories for kids? It worked for Kai Fuentes! Kai is a second-generation market researcher. While many of us were running around causing trouble as kids, Kai was helping her mom’s family business by stapling surveys and even intercepting respondents at the mall. Kai followed in her mother’s footsteps by founding Ebony Marketing Systems over 20 years ago, and today she is one of our industry’s foremost experts in conducting multicultural research. But she hasn’t stopped there. Kai has recently taken on the challenge of stand-up comedy. She shares her journey through insights, why stand-up is like qualitative research and the music she’d choose if stranded on a desert island.

Recorded live on the Purple Stage at the IIEX conference in Austin, TX on April 18! Nicholas Jayanty, Principal User Experience Researcher at IBM’s Red Hat, traces his path from making sketch comedy pilots on MTV to producing award-winning films to researching and designing digital user experiences. Nicholas contrasts the supply chains of the independent film industry and software design, discusses how UX can reduce its dependency on software engineering, the roadmap to a world without work and his love of the Austin music scene.

London Brinkman is one year out of school as a Qualitative Market Research Analyst and my colleague at MarketVision Research. While working a project together, I learned she is also the lead singer for a notable cover band in Cincinnati. But not only that, she is an award-winning body builder! London discusses her decision to shift her career focus from musical theater to market research during the pandemic; the role of discipline in helping her excel in each of her passions; and the enduring importance of face-to-face research. I also kick off my new routine with Magic Mind, a mental performance shot that I’ve really been digging. Podcast listeners can use the code ROCKNROLL20 at https://www.magicmind.com/rocknroll to get 48% off an initial subscription or 20% off a one-time purchase. Highly recommend for staying focused, motivated and productive! \m/

Wes Michael is the founder and CEO of Rare Patient Voice, a 10-year old firm who empowers patients and caregivers to share their voices with the companies working to better their lives with new products, devices, and treatments. [To date, RPV has paid out over $13M in incentives to patients and caregivers – wow!!] Wes started RPV after a successful research and brand management career at General Mills and McCormick and later with Kantar Health. He shares his novel approach to starting RPV and the mutual benefits of RPV to both patients and companies. He also discusses his quirky approach to marketing which has him singing customized lyrics set to familiar tunes like The Beverly Hillbillies theme and 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton.

Sue Collin is one of those rare people who has spent her entire career with one organization. Her first job was with a research company called Directions for Decisions which was later acquired by RTi Research where she has been ever since. But while the company has remained the same, Sue’s career has done anything but. After years of applying her quantitative expertise, she expanded disciplines and is currently RTi’s SVP of Qualitative Research. Sue shares her career journey along with her lifelong passion as an artist which went from doing life drawing in Soho to mixed media art in her home studio. Along the way, we discuss why AI is like a microwave, the importance of integration / collaboration and the music that moves her.

On Episode #34, Priscilla McKinney from Little Bird Marketing shared her story of growing up in a family singing troupe. In this episode, we invite her back to the Rock n’ Roll Research Podcast to discuss her book, “Collaboration is the New Competition: Why the Future of Work Rewards a Cross-Pollinating Hive Mind & How Not to Get Left Behind.” Priscilla and I dig deep into this highly useful guide on what collaboration *really* is, why it is so powerful and how to make it intentionally work for you - including several concrete examples from the market research industry. Of course, we finish with a little rock n’ roll, too. You can find the book on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle formats where it currently enjoys a 4.9/5.0 rating. Enjoy!

Mark Earls, The HERDmeister, shares his story of how he went from European tour guide to being labeled the market research industry’s “public enemy #1.” We have a wide-ranging conversation on how people really make decisions, the freedom to experiment in the insights world, predicting multiple futures, how brands grow, being clear in your terminology, making presentations into performances, how to do your own early research and the illusion of tradition. Mark also shares the story of his ska/punk band – over 30 years and still going strong – and the three records he’d want to keep him company on a desert island.

Jeffrey Porter will graduate from the UT Arlington MSMR program in December of this year. In addition to his studies, he is keeping extremely busy with an internship in financial data analysis with Lockheed Martin. But there’s more to Jeffrey than insights. He has maintained a nice side hustle of buying and selling vintage video games, timing the market perfectly by selling high during the pandemic. He’s also a shredding guitarist, crushing Jimi Hendrix and Red Hot Chili Peppers licks in his spare time. We discuss Jeffrey’s passion for insights and the discipline required to grow in all his pursuits. We also delve into a possible sci-fi future for data and consumer insights.

Kevin Lang is a recently minted Senior Sales Representative at the mighty research media company Greenbook, home of the GRIT Report, the IIEX conference series and “The Exchange” podcast with Lenny Murphy and Karen Lynch. While he got his start in the insights industry with Civicom, many people know Kevin from his involvement in the “MR Jam,” providing the backbeat for a who’s who of research industry musicians at Quirk’s conferences in New York and Chicago over the past few years. Kevin shares his experiences in research and his journey through music, from beating on pots to pans to playing in band to the MR Jam. Along the way, he shares his take on AI in market research, the drummer who most inspired him and we swap stories about Green Day, Dave Matthews and the Rolling Stones.

Dave McCaughan has long been a leading light on all things brand strategy, research and insights in Asia, having spent nearly 30 years in strategic planning and executive roles at McCann Worldwide all over the region. He has also long given his time back to the research industry through associations like ESOMAR and Greenbook among others. Dave shares his journey from children’s storyteller to advertising and from librarian to strategic planning leader in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand. With characteristic wit, Dave describes the groundbreaking work he led along the way and contrasts key findings with insights, the US with Asia, The Beatles with Taylor Swift, and generations with life stages. And would you believe that AC/DC played at Dave’s high school back in the day?

Aryn O’Donnell is VP of Corporate Services at Fieldwork, known by many to be one of the most trustworthy and engaged qualitative research partners in the industry. But what many people don’t know about Aryn is that the first paycheck she ever drew was for a role she played in musical theater. Aryn and I discuss her theater days, the value of backroom focus group interactions and how AI frees people up do what they do best. We also discuss her recent appreciation for the world of metal music \m/

Steve Portigal of Portigal Consulting has been doing User Research since the days our software all came in a box. He has written a seminal book on the topic, “Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights,” recently released in a 2nd edition available through Rosenfeld Media. Steve shares his journey from the nascent years of user research through today and his take on where user research is headed. We discuss his book and how studying creative writing has informed his approach. Steve also tells the story of building a community of Rolling Stones enthusiasts – pre-World Wide Web! - that is still alive and kicking (just like Keith Richards). [Visit rosenfeldmedia.com to find Steve’s book and use the code ‘rocknroll’ for a 20% discount \m/]

It was in college where Travis Miller first made an impact with research by helping the city of Thousand Oaks, CA design a new mall expansion. With an introduction like that, it is no wonder Travis pursued a career in market research. Travis started his career with JD Power and today is VP, North America sales for PureSpectrum, a GRIT Top 50 insights innovator and member of the Deloitte Fast 500 since 2020. But Travis also has a fascinating story of growing up amidst his father’s metal band which led him to pick up a pair of drumsticks at a young age. We talk drums, metal and harnessing technology to make insights easier, faster and more dependable. Tune in to hear why market research is like an elephant and to hear a first on the Rock n’ Roll Research Podcast that was music to my ears.