Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Award winner, Stephen Griffiths, director of consumer insights, Level2

Editor’s note: Stephen Griffiths is the winner of the 2022 Researcher of the Year (End-Client) Award which is a category in the Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards. This award goes to an end-client researcher who is a proven game changer in the industry. To find out more about the awards click here.

Stephen Griffiths is passionate about learning research best practices, teaching them to others and helping insights job seekers. With 10+ years of consumer insights experience at Nielsen, P&G and General Mills – where he launched two new cereal brands while working on Cheerios – Griffiths now works as a consumer insights director at Level2. Outside of work, he co-founded two market research volunteer organizations: Epic Insights, a monthly peer circle group for client-side researchers; and the Insights Career Network, the virtual job search community. We sat down with Griffiths for a short Q&A to learn more about his background and work. 

What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in MR?  

One of the biggest tips I give newer researchers is to always ask the question, "How will this research impact the business or organization?" 

Research is only as good as its ability to make a business impact. I remember one meeting where a marketing mix analyst presented a specific insight into how our billion-dollar brand should structure marketing communications. That one recommendation – specific, actionable and supported by rigorous modeling – was worth its weight in gold. Our insights team was delighted with this piece of advice and we ended up choosing that research partner for many years to come. 

Whenever possible, structure research to answer pressing business challenges and provide actionable recommendations. As a newer insights professional, if you are working on a project and unsure how the end user will be acting on the research, take a pause and find out. It will make all the difference. 

How do you see the marketing research industry changing in the next five years? 

In the next five years, I see the market research industry evolving in at least two ways. 

First, research will need to become more focused on context. For instance, instead of asking about purchase intent while sitting at home on a computer, ask about it on a mobile device while shopping that category in a store. Try to do research that is near where the behavior of interest is taking place. 

Second, market research needs to focus on the future, not the past. Most current research is about measuring the impact of past launches or past activities. Research that can instead guide organizations toward future decisions will be most in demand. Predictive modeling and scenario planning will be valuable. At the very least, take time to validate which research measures correlate to past successes in order to guide companies toward the future.   

What has been your favorite part of being a researcher?

For me, I've always been curious, enjoyed problem solving and been fascinated by real-world impact. Companies hire researchers to be truth-tellers, providing warnings and suggestions even when the opinion is unpopular. 

I remember presenting bad news to a CEO and marketing team. I told them to shut down a multi-million dollar new product launch due to a safety concern that was uncovered during product testing. Although my presentation implications were alarming, the CEO thanked me at the end of the presentation for standing my ground, followed the recommendation and canceled the product launch. 

As a researcher, I find it satisfying to be curious about a business problem, uncover key insights, then share those findings with organizations to make a difference.