Best of Impact 2016: Reviewed
06 October 2016

Julie Vincent MMRS, VIncent Consulting

The Best of Impact is one of my favourite events, at an amazing venue (The Lowry in Salford), and showcases some of the best papers from the MRS Annual Conference. It is always great to cram so much professional development and friendly networking into an afternoon!

This year's presentations were excellent. A short summary can't really do them justice, but here are some of the highlights.

Cordelia Hay from Britain Thinks provided insights into the use of an ethnographic and small data approach to understanding the outcome of the last election. There were really interesting findings about the filter bubble we all live in, and also applying that to the Brexit result. The research illustrated how important it was to understand the context of people’s day to day lives, and the impact of that on awareness of the detail around politics and decision making. The presentation included images uploaded by participants, including the shallowest bowl someone could find to reflect the state of politics. Download Cordelia's slides

Tom Ewing from BrainJuicer presented fascinating insight into the drivers of perceptions about the candidates in the US elections, which painted quite a worrying picture but concluded on a hopeful note. You can see his weekly updates on the race here. Download Tom's slides

An inspiring session on data visualisation by Tobias Sturt from Graphic illustrated how icons are processed more quickly than words, and how it is important to be Hitchcock rather than Micheal Bay in terms of style when telling a story and bringing data to life. Download Tobias's slides

The final session by Ailean Mills from BAMM was about using ethnography to inform creative development. This eloquent session included some fantastic soundbites, including that the methodology used the human theatre to avoid the “pushback of the consumer echo chamber.” Also that their client (Finish dishwasher tablets) were “playing chess” with their competitors, and that the challenge was to re-establish the human touch and define points of difference. Download Ailean's slides


I took many things from the sessions. Innovative ways of shaping and addressing the real question. The importance of the smaller and immediate context, rather than simply wider profiling characteristics. The challenges which are faced by big commercial brands in terms of communicating uniqueness.

It confirmed my view that market research is a creative profession, which is essential when presenting findings and insight in a way which leaves people wanting to hear more.

The next event we are looking forward to is on 9 November in Leeds. If you plan to go and would like to meet up for a coffee and maybe a cake beforehand, please let me know!