Client Conference 2025

09.15

Registration

09.30

Welcome from the Chair

James Sallows, Head of Marketing Effectiveness, LEGO Group

09.35

Client Sight survey: a catalyst for change

The Client Sight 2025 survey reveals the top priorities for client-side researchers. To open this year’s conference, the MRS, AURA and the IMA will discuss the key outcomes and, more importantly, address – what next?

Jane Frost CBE, CEO, MRS

James Wycherley, Chief Executive, Insight Management Academy

Louise Sharpe, Senior Insight Manager, BT Group & Director, AURA

09.55

Customer closeness: embedding consumer voices in Sky’s everyday culture

At Sky, insight activation has evolved into a multi-channel engine that embeds the consumer voice into everyday culture and democratises access to insight. In this session, you’ll explore the high-impact, immersive events that create lasting impressions well beyond the moment, and the regular insight ‘drumbeats’ that ensure always-on access to consumer voices, helping insight travel further and last longer. Discover how this holistic approach is transforming how teams at Sky think and act.

Max Durston, Research Manager, Sky

10.20

Building buzz: how to get an entire business excited about insight before it lands

Taking inspiration from marketing colleagues, the No7 Beauty Company Consumer Insight team devised its own ambitious communication plan to build anticipation and momentum prior to the delivery of Project Butterfly - its most extensive and successful insight project to date.

This session will reveal the infinite potential of harnessing internal communications to maximise insight impact and explore strategies and tools to engage client teams.

Alison Melford, Head of Global Consumer Insight, No7 Beauty Company

Suzy Pegler, Global Consumer Insight Manager - No7, No7 Beauty Company

Rosie Hudson, Global Consumer Insight Manager - Soap & Glory and Sleek, No7 Beauty Company

10.45

Unlocking the value of what you already know – winner of the Aura ROI 2025 award

This is a story of influence, ingenuity, and foresight without the price tag.

In an era of information overload, Samworth Brothers, took a bold approach to deliver a visionary project rooted not in new spend, but in strategic curation of existing data.

“The Future Consumer 2035” distils five years of insight into a compelling, future-focused narrative. The result? A multi-format toolkit that has reshaped how the business engages with the insight team.

Hear how “The Future Consumer 2035,” which was created for just £5,000, was built, the impact it delivered, and how other businesses can do the same.

Katherine Hardwick, Group Insight Director, Samworth Brothers

11.10

Morning refreshments

11.40

PANEL

Quick, cheap, high quality - can you have it all?

Is there a scenario where you really can have it all; high quality insight projects delivered at speed and for a low cost, or are trade-offs inevitable? When is “good enough” truly good enough, and when should we push for more?

This session will tackle the realities facing client-side researchers under growing internal pressure to deliver faster and cheaper without sacrificing quality, great storytelling, or impactful outcomes.

Chair

Nick Rich, Partner, Growth Constructors

Panellists

Ciaran Acford, Senior Insights Manager, Ooni

Matthew Miller, Strategic Insight Lead, Mondelez International

Bethan Blakely, CX & Research Manager, Simplisafe

12.10

ROUND TABLE

Turn your agency partnerships into your super power

In this interactive session, AURA and the Working Well Together campaign team will help you pinpoint which aspects of your agency partnerships to prioritise to build influence and drive impact.

Using the analogy of producing and releasing a Hollywood superhero film, you’ll explore the research project lifecycle - from getting it green lit to keeping the franchise alive, and discover which of the six Working Well Together principles matter most at each stage.

Discover how to enable your agency partners to deliver their best work and amplify your success. Co-create a practical playbook to be shared post-event for lasting support.

Led by:

Ruth Hinton, Group Head of Customer Experience & Insight, Vue International & Chair, AURA

members of the Working Well Together campaign team

12.50

Lunch

13.50

ROUND TABLE

From aha to action: supercharge your insights

This co-creative sprint session focuses on practical insight activation, equipping delegates with tools to boost impact and make insights travel further for longer. Using a real-life user case, audience scenarios and a proven planning toolkit, participants will work collaboratively to transform an insightful debrief into an actionable activation plan.

Explore how to:

·       paint a picture that sparks curiosity and motivation

·       create a sense of urgency and a willingness to act

·       leverage advocates to socialise at scale

·       anchor insights to high-leverage moments in organisational decision making

Caroline Florence, Director, Insight Narrator

14.20

IN CONVERSATION

One bold question, 15 years of impact: a conversation on evolving brand health at Jaguar Land Rover

Join Iulia Calin (Jaguar Land Rover) and Damien Field (MM-Eye) as they reflect on a 15-year journey transforming a provocative question into a global brand health programme spanning 50 markets and hundreds of thousands of consumer voices.

Discover how a trusted client–agency partnership navigated leadership changes, rebrands, crises, and tech shifts. Hear how they blended agile methods with consistent strategy, innovated with AI before it was trendy, and balanced local nuance with global ambition.

An audience led session addressing anything and everything from stakeholder engagement and insight storytelling to how to stay relevant over the long haul.

Damien Field, Managing Director, MM Eye

Iulia Calin, Global Brand Comms and Product Satisfaction Insight Manager, Jaguar Land Rover

14.45

Rehumanising the pitch: a blueprint for better agency-client beginnings

In 2024, William Grant & Sons’ pack testing tender sparked a refreshingly human, strategic approach to agency selection. This case study, takes you behind the scenes, from first impressions in the pitch room to post-project reviews after three successful studies.

Hear how face-to-face pitching, aligned onboarding, co-created best practice documents, and early review cycles can transform a tender from a transactional process into the start of a long-term, mutually beneficial partnership. Attendees will gain practical strategies to make their own tender processes more efficient, empathetic, and impactful, whether on the client or agency side.

Patrick Young, Managing Director, PRS IN VIVO

Stephanie Mewse, Global Insights Programme Lead, William Grant & Sons

15.10

Afternoon refreshments

15.35

PANEL

From buzzword to reality: making customer obsession happen

What does customer obsession really look like across different organisations with varying levels of insight maturity? Hear real stories of the challenges and successes of weaving the customer voice into the very fabric of strategy, culture, and decision-making.

Chair

Anthony Tasgal, Trainer, Author, Strategist

Panellists

Abby Ledger Lomas, Head of Customer Strategy, RSPCA

Dr Shane Hanson, Head of Insight & Innovation, Panasonic Europe

Elle Atton, Marketing Insights Director UK & EU, PepsiCo

16.05

Bigger Than Biscuits: time to get loud and proud

It's time for client-side researchers to emerge from the shadows and put the spotlight on the value they create.

Bigger than Biscuits is a new campaign that makes the case for research investment and encourages client-side researchers to increase their influence and impact by adopting more commercial mindsets.

In this session, its founders, serial client-side researchers Suzanne Lugthart and Danny Russell will share case studies of research ROI successes. They’ll outline practical steps to help in house teams connect research investment with business outcomes and ensure research is acknowledged for its contribution to business outcomes. And they’ll discuss the importance of earning influence beyond the marketing department, particularly amongst CEOs and CFOs

Suzanne Lugthart, Founder, Fathom Research

Danny Russell, Founder, DRC

16.25

PANEL: When data is trusted, insights lead: strengthening data quality to build stakeholder confidence

How trusted are consumer insights compared to other sources of data used in organisational decision making? This panel explores how improving data quality and demonstrating data rigor, strengthens confidence, enhances decision-making, and ensures stakeholders act on consumer research with certainty.

Chair

Debrah Harding, Managing Director, MRS

Panellists

Shifra Cook, Founder & CEO, Ayda

Florian Kögl, Founder & CEO, ReDem

Jack Egan, Senior Manager, Global Brand Effectiveness, LEGO Group

16.55

End of conference

Networking Drinks

Delegates are invited to continue discussions at the networking drinks reception