MRSI’s 32nd Annual Market Research Seminar embraces Innovation and Emerging Technology

The Market Research Society of India (MRSI) held its 32nd Annual Market Research Seminar, themed ‘Rise and Shine’ on September 23rd and 24th, 2024, at Taj Lands End in Mumbai. Raunaq Singh, Senior Research Executive at NIQ, and Chandramouli Sundaram, Senior Research Manager at Kantar led as the emcees for both days. A total of 99 original research papers were received from leading brands and agencies across four broad themes: Rise to Reroute, Rise to Scale, Rise to New Vistas, and Rise to Lead. The committee shortlisted 23 of these papers, which were presented to the industry. The event drew over 700 attendees in person across two days, with additional virtual participants joining the proceedings.

Kantar was awarded as the Best Research Paper 2024 for their paper titled, ‘Masculinity Metazoa’. The paper presented a fundamental reset, urging the uninstallation of media myopia and mannequin apps, revealing the deeper truths of masculinity. Knowledge Excel Private Limited and The Lightbulb.ai together were recognised as Runners-up of Seminar. Knowledge Excel Private Limited was awarded for their paper titled, ‘Innovative Approaches by Mixing Traditional and Modern Methods for Optimal Data Collection’, a comparative study of Consumer Behaviour in the Indian Market. This research delineates a journey of relentless refinement and enhancement charting a course toward a more profound comprehension of market complexities. On the other hand, The Lightbulb.ai was awarded for their paper titled, ‘AI Powered Insights for Qualitative Research - The Next Frontier’. The paper showcases how AI is transforming the qualitative research game, from emotion mapping via facial coding to nuanced insights from conversation analytics. 

The seminar kickstarted with MRSI's President, Nitin Kamat, Chief Growth & Partnerships Officer at TAM Media Research addressing industry leaders and also witnessed keynotes, panels, fireside chat, and energizer sessions. Niraj Ruparel, Creative Tech Lead at WPP & GroupM, India, shed light on empowering 1 billion Indians through creative tech interventions. The audience also gained valuable insights from Manish Makhijani, Independent Consultant at Positron Advisors, on the importance of rising consumer centricity.

A fireside chat on ‘How are we as clients building a Rise and Shine culture and mindset in our teams and in our agencies?’ with Amitabh Pande, Chief Consumer Strategy Planning and Digital Officer of Diageo India; Amitabh Mishra, Head- Insights and Analytics of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories; and Shafali Arora, CMI Director, Personal Care South Asia & Global Skin Cleansing of Hindustan Unilever Limited gave attendees insight into the cultural evolution of the sector.

An another insightful discussion led by Shuvadip Banerjee, Chief Digital Marketing Officer of ITC along with panellists including  Karthik Nagarajan, CEO of Hogarth India; Siddhant Mazumdar, Country head, India at Mediabrands Content Studio; Saugato Bhowmik, Group Director, CPG-Auto-D2C of Meta India; Chandan Mukherji, Director & Executive Vice President, Strategy, Marketing & Communication of Nestlé India; and Nithya, Beauty Incubator Head of Hindustan Unilever also shed light on how technology is playing an increasingly lead role in building brands.

The seminar also featured a presentation on ‘‘A Peek into the Future of Audience Measurement’ by Shashi Sinha, CEO of India at IPG Mediabrands and Dolly Jha, BARC India’s Chief Product Officer. 

Siddhartha Nangia, Co-Founder of Smytten & Smytten Pulse, and Manish Makhijani, Independent Consultant at Positron Advisors, provided insights on ‘How Non-Research Companies Are Redefining the Research Industry". 

Day 2 of the Seminar also hosted a panel discussion titled 'Meta's Perspective on Attention, Creative & Measurement in the world of AI'. The panel witnessed experts from Meta including Ruchi Kohli, Head of Mid-Market Business, India, Vikram Bansal (Dr), Marketing Science Director Global Scaling, Saugato Bhowmik, Group Director, CPG-Auto-D2C along with Diageo India’s Chief Consumer Strategy Planning and Digital Officer, Amitabh Pande. The session offered valuable insights on how Meta provides an end-to-end platform for marketing and sales, from discovery to demand fulfillment of the Meta ecosystem.

Supporting the success of MRSI's 32nd Annual Market Research Seminar were Smytten Pulse as the Lead Partner; along with Advent Insight Solutions, Cint, ITC, Nestle, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Toluna Metrixlab  as Session Partners; NIQ and Rakuten Insight as Champion Partners; Takumi International, Plum Insights, DataXing (India Polls), and Godrej Consumer Products as Advocate Partners; Purple Audacity and Plum Insights as Masterclass Partners. Ipsos, Smytten Pulse, GMO Research & AI, DataXing (India Polls), Dynata, Global Survey, Dooblo, Unomer, Kantar and Rakuten Insight also joined as Exhibitors; Dooblo, Ipsos, RSB, Dabur, Global Survey, Global Matrix Survey, GMO Research & AI, Unomer, Kantar, and Dynata as Friends of Research. Media houses - Adgully, Adtech Today, and Manifest supported the event as Media Partners. 

The 32nd Annual Market Research Seminar committee was chaired by Amitabh Pande, Chief Consumer Strategy Planning and Digital Officer at Diageo India and Ashwini Sirsikar, Group Service Line Leader Ipsos UU (qualitative) and Synthesio at Ipsos India.  Other committee members included Shashwat Satpathy, Vice President Insights, GMR Qualitative at Brandscapes Worldwide; Shafali Arora, CMI Director, Personal Care South Asia & Global Skin Cleansing at Hindustan Unilever Limited; Suhale Kapoor, Senior Vice President at Infogain; Shailesh Varudkar, Chief Operating Officer at VTION; Udit Mittal, Deputy General Manager at TATA Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited; Soumya Mukhopadhyay, Innovation Lead, APAC at Kantar; Prashant Kolleri, MD - Consumer & Marketing Insights (India) at NielsenIQ India Pvt Ltd. K. Ramakrishnan, Managing Director - South Asia, Worldpanel Division at Kantar served as an advisor to the committee.