2022 Yale Customer Insights Conference Recap
After two years of drought, the Yale Customer Insights Conference came back in full swing with even more exciting insights than ever. With yet another impressive roster of leaders and speakers like Verizon CMO, Diego Scotti, and Author and Professor, Zoe Chance, the ITG team left this year’s event with pages of notes and ideas from some of the greatest minds in marketing to date. Themes ranged from Consumer Centricity in a World of Data to Corporate Diversity and its Implications for Consumer Behavior, with not one part of the conference worth skipping.
Ideas To Go has been a proud sponsor of the YCCI event for 10 years now, and we’re already looking forward to next year! In case you were unable to attend this year’s conference, we’ve highlighted some of the key takeaways from our favorite inspiring discussions.
Kirti Singh: Chief Analytics & Insights Officer, Procter & Gamble
Data is an integral part of every business, but data is nothing if not human. This was the key talking point of Kirti’s presentation, Consumer Centricity in a World of Data, emphasizing the connection of data to human reality, the importance of ethnographic immersion, technology, and ‘growth mindset’.
Consumer centricity starts with insights, or a “mind opening why”, a cornerstone of P&G’s process. This ideology came from P&G’s Doc Smeltzer in 1924 who first cemented insights as being breakthroughs resulting from spending time with consumers to understand their needs and the roles in which P&G can fill. By understanding the needs and motivations of consumers, we build an integral empathy for them that results in intentional action for a give and take of value. Kirti explained that we best understand by putting ourselves in the spaces that matter, reaffirming the intricacies of face-to-face interaction and the importance of being an audience to the full picture especially following the lull of immersion during COVID-19.
In support of the need for empathy was a case Kirti illustrated of a misunderstanding between P&G and consumers on anti-dandruff shampoos. For Head and Shoulders in India, it was noted that from 2014 to 2017 there was a decrease in shares while media presence and distribution remained stable. Through observations and interviews with consumers, they found that many did not see anti-dandruff as a segment of shampoos and believed that any shampoo will target dandruff. This was not to say, however, that there was not a need for this product. Rather the opposite. Through hearing many testimonies of consumers recount embarrassing instances of missing events due to their dandruff, Head and Shoulders plastered anti-dandruff throughout their branding to better their communication with their consumers. This need was significant in all markets, resulting in the birth of this ad that ran through the 2017 Superbowl in the US:
As technology is ever evolving, we see its place in research more than ever, but it has become too easy to fall victim to an obsession of numbers. P&G’s philosophy to technology is that all data is human; hence it comes first in their methodology:
Human + Data + Technology
Each of the pieces are predominant, but they are fruitless without the acknowledgement of the human behavior behind them all and a ‘growth mindset’ to remain ever curious and absorbent in searching for paths to providing value.
Ben Harrell: Managing Director, US, Booking.com
Keeping with not getting too caught up in the data and numbers, Ben Harrell’s presentation, “Data-Driven Decision-Making” covered the critical role of busting our assumptions. In his words, “Great analysts are working to prove their hypotheses incorrect, and the best analysts are using their knowledge to ask questions that nobody’s thought of yet.” In actively digging into the areas in which our assumptions are flawed, we are more likely find the truth. When we are unwilling to be wrong or question ourselves, we keep those around us from being willing to challenge their observations - creating a stubborn space for thinking.
While data is an essential part of research, it is important to first ask the right questions because correlation does not equal causation. We need to keep ourselves curious as what we believe to make sense is not always the correct answer. Ben emphasizes that data works to support us to be more confident in our findings but should not rule our entire decision-making process.
The CEO-CMO Relationship: A Panel Discussion
Kofi Amoo-Gottfried: Chief Marketing Officer, DoorDash
Colleen DeCourcy: Chief Creative Officer, Snap Inc.
Diego Scotti: Chief Marketing Officer, Verizon
Moderator: Antonio Lucio Founder & Principal, 5S Diversity
While at first glance a discussion regarding CEO to CMO relationships, may seem rather inapplicable to many, the great minds of the panel discussion brought a rich and insightful message on the changing role of marketers, creativity, diversity, and creating opportunities.
As marketing has changed rapidly and recently, it is the job of marketers to be even better problem solvers and businessmen. A great relationship between a CMO to a CEO means to have an “unbreakable bond” and trust each other to tackle situations with new ideas coming from the same motivation. Colleen and the other panelists agreed, “Creativity CANNOT be separate from business. Creativity is Business.” It is much more than keeping a company relevant; a marketer now has the job of picking up pieces when a mistake is made, working to create innovative solutions, and bringing customer voices to the forefront.
Consumers are quick to see through fabrication and seek genuineness from brands. As Antonio said, “It is not enough to be a “preferred” brand, you must be a trusted brand and seek out opportunities to lift others.” To lift others, Kofi explained that Doordash’s mission is to address their consumers’ wishes as a fundamental goal and, in turn, create their platform with accessibility in mind.
Discussion then turned to the panelists’ view on leadership both internally and externally. As Diego explained, while confrontation is difficult, it is the job of a leader to communicate as by not telling people the truth you are being unkind to them. Colleen attested to this going onto say “shrinking yourself will make you less effective “. As a leader in marketing, it is your responsibility to inspire not only your consumers, but your own team as well to create an environment in which team members are willing to grow together. Instead of running projects through fear, it is crucial to run them with empathy.
As a very diverse panel group, each speaker recounted their path to rising to where they are and their firm belief in setting paths for others to birth further efficacies from their success. Diego Scotti of Verizon shared their adfellows program in which they take graduates through a 9-month fellowship to assist them in taking their first career steps with 98% finding successful careers following their rotation. Diego went on to explain how power can lead to amenities, but it is important to use those amenities for betterment. Kofi joined in by stating, “There are too little minorities in power, so it is our responsibility to open new doors.”
Jiwoong Shin: Professor, Yale School of Management
Currently, we’re well aware of the staff shortage many restaurants are facing, but what is the cause of this? Well, there are likely many factors playing into the bigger picture, but Professor Shin in his presentation, The Impact of the Gig Economy on Product Quality through the Labor Market, has a promising hypothesis surrounding Uber and Lyft to show that correlations and causations are not always direct.
In his study he found that when Uber and Lyft were re-introduced to the city of Austin, TX the restaurants in the surrounding area received a higher rate of negative reviews only complaining about the service. The option for workers to create their own flexible schedule was seen as more appealing than working at a restaurant leading to higher turnover rates for food industries. This in turn led to a drop in service quality evident through the increase in negative reviews. For workers to want to return to the restaurants, they’d need at least a $2.40 raise above what they were currently being paid.
This issue of gig economy is an example of just how macro trends can influence worker and consumer behavior to create pain points outside of product issues. It is paramount to think through problem statements and anticipate that good answers may lie within questions not yet asked.
Shelley Salomon: VP, Global Sales and Marketing, Amazon Devices
There are many new technological advances to look forward to on the horizon. In Shelly’s talk, Innovative Tech for the Online Consumer Journey, she introduced us to a few of the different innovations Amazon has been utilizing in their furniture buying process, and how they arrived at their conclusions of what to home in on. She stated that their model is to work backwards from customer reviews to grasp the needs of consumers, and then leverage the needs through long-term technological solutions.
The biggest breakthroughs came from their ethnographies in which they’d observe the ways in which consumers really used their products and the purposes in which the products served. By communicating with real consumers, customer pain-points revealed themselves. Consumers needed a way to better find what they were looking for through visual demonstration and discovery as they knew what they wanted, but not hat it was called, so Amazon created their Discovery tool:
This tool is a perfect example of meeting consumers where they are to create value by providing new solutions to pain-points to benefit all parties. This is just one piece of all the exciting technology that is still to come!
Zoe Chance: Senior Lecturer, Yale School of Management
Influence is Your Superpower! Zoe Chance’s captivating presentation inspired by her book was all about charisma and taking chances on yourself. The people we admire have attributes falling into the categories of connection, or confidence – sometimes both! We as people value reciprocated attention, and as Zoe says, “To get people’s attention, give them yours.” By being better listeners and giving people time to reply, we can better amplify quiet voices which make others like us more and build both our own and others’ confidence.
While giving attention is a key factor to charisma, asking and being vulnerable is just as important. We can often feel shrunken and afraid to reach out for help with the fear of burdening others, but Zoe showed that people like us 12% more than we think they do and are much more likely to say yes than we think they will. When we come face-to-face with others, we are 2-3 times more likely to receive a “yes” to our requests.
Not only should we be asking for help, but we should be persistently reaching out even when we face rejection. The most successful salespeople will make attempts to connect six to seven times. If all else fails, Zoe has reiterated the magic question, “What would it take?” This question alone will change the narrative from being a “yes” or “no” question to making the person of interest feel listened to. This pressures them to critically think about what they’d like to expect from us, giving us an attainable goal.
Avi Goldfarb: Professor, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Far and wide we’ve all heard of AI, but what is it really? In Professor Goldfarb’s presentation, The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence, taking from his two books: Power and Predictions, and Prediction Machines, he describes AI as predictive technology; using information we do have to find and predict the information we don’t have.
As of right now, AI doesn’t really seem to be ready yet, but it’ll be here soon. The McKinsey Report found that of the companies that’ve tried to utilize AI, only 11% have found financial success from their efforts. Professor Goldfarb called this “the between times” as right now we’re in the waiting period for AI to be truly transformative. He compared our situation to the invention of electricity stating that while the lightbulb was invented in 1879, it wasn’t until 50 years later that it was readily available to the public and used widely in factories and homes. So what can we do now?
Part of the issue with utilizing AI is that we’re trying to utilize it in ways to enhance our current models. Instead, Professor Goldfarb encourages that we think of AI as not changing what currently exists, but think more creatively on how it may restructure our entire world – because it will. While we wait for the point in which AI will be transformative, he instructs that we think outside the box of current ways to use AI, and then focus our mission on predicting the steps that will take us there.
Julia Minson: Associate Professor, Harvard Kennedy School
In recent years, we’ve experienced an abundance of divisional issues regarding many topics. COVID-19 vaccination is certainly an issue that elicits passion in many – so that is what Professor Minson concentrated her entire study and presentation, I Hear You: Using Conversational Receptiveness to Enhance Doctor-Patient Interactions, around. Her goal was to use a series of tests to see what types of language cues would better facilitate a healthy discussion between those who do and do not stand behind COVID vaccinations to assist doctors in motivating their patients towards a healthy direction.
Through her study, it was found that receptive language is the best digested form of language to be used during an intense conversations. This would include phrases such as: “I understand why you may feel that way”, “while I agree with your point about ___, I think it’d be better to…”, and “I can see how that would…” as the most important part of healthy discussion is making the other person feel heard. Adversely, the worst phrases to be used would include things like: “I cannot believe you would think that”, “that is impossible”, and any other statements that make the other individual feel as if their points are going unrecognized. In addition to this, the second worst accepted form of language was logistical language that solely included facts as these statements were perceived as condescending.
While we argue, we tend to see the other person as only having the goal of persuasion or manipulation, while we see ourselves as being expressive or helpful. This can make for difficult atmospheres in situations of confrontation, but using receptive language, we can not only facilitate better discussion, but may be able to open the person to new considerations. In comparing discussions with and without the use of receptive language, those who were talked to with receptive language were 11% more likely to consider the other side than those who did not experience receptive dialogue.
Uzma Khan: Associate Professor, Herbert Business School, University of Miami
Internally, companies with diversity in their leadership experience more creativity, better decision-making, and improved culture - and we see the same list of benefits externally. Professor Khan’s presentation, Corporate Diversity and its Implications for Consumer Behavior, showcases the rich list of benefits that diverse leadership groups have on consumer perception.
To test her hypothesis, countless tests were run in which consumers of varying demographics and affiliations would be shown a mock companies’ list of top executives with and without the inclusion of a diverse group. In all situations of diversity including gender, race, and age, consumers responded more positively when shown companies with greater variation.
All consumer groups perceived companies with more diversity in their leadership as making better decisions, offering a more inclusive range of products, and displaying more generosity and morality. Consumers were also given a fake prompt to state something negative the company had done to which every participant responded as being more likely to forgive the actions taken by the company with diverse executives. This study further emphasizes the endless benefits that come from having a diverse team.
Aner Sela: Associate Professor, Warrington College of Business, University of Florida
We take our phones everywhere; they truly are an extension of ourselves, and Professor Sela’s presentation, Smartphones are the Mirror of the Self, will only back our claim. Professor Sela wanted to see if there was any difference in how we made decisions on our phones versus other devices. What he found was that we are always more likely to make more personal or self-gratifying choices when using our personal smartphones.
To test this, he had participants order various chocolates through different devices with the chocolates ranging from generic milk chocolate to crazier options like strawberries & crème and birthday cake. People overwhelmingly made much more expressive decisions when using their personal smartphone in comparison to using someone else’s phone, personal laptops, tablets, and PCs.
It was seen that smartphones activate our self-focus and creativity to choose options that make us more distinct. It was hypothesized that this is due to the subconscious attachment we make with our phones as they follow us everywhere, protect us from awkward situations, and experience important moments like life-changing phone calls and photos. In terms of how marketers and brands can better use this, what we’re coming to find is that to speak to an induvial creatively, we need to reach out via the small screen.
As you can see, this year’s conference was packed with amazing speakers with equally valuable information. To read more about the event, visit the conference website here. To be among the first to hear about next year's conference and receive attendance discounts, hsign up for the Ideas To Go newsletters.