How do you see generative AI impacting where / how you use market research agencies?

I see generative AI helping marketers understand what options they have for research so that they can ask agencies better questions around what methodologies to use. Generative AI can also help you with desk research as it can point you in the direction of the studies and analyst reports that cater to your nuanced needs. I personally wouldn't use generative AI to replace research agencies because the chance of a hallucination isn't worth it to me when my goal out of research is to remove potential doubt in my strategy and give clear direction.

Generative AI is reshaping how both in-house market research teams and agencies conduct their work, offering opportunities for enhanced efficiency and deeper insights. However, the ways in which they utilize generative AI may differ. 

In-house market research teams may benefit from automated data analysis and personalized customer insights.  

• Traditionally, market research involves gathering insights from various sources such as social media, research interviews, customer service logs, and community forums. With generative AI, the laborious task of manually reviewing and analyzing this data can be automated, allowing for more efficient and effective analysis.

• Generative AI enables organizations to gather and analyze data at scale, leading to greater opportunities for personalization and segmentation. 
  

Market research agencies are already benefiting from leveraging AI in their own fields of expertise, such as survey design & analysis and predictive analytics.

• Popular firms, like SurveyMonkey and Qualtrics, are already utilizing AI to optimize survey designs, such as question formulation, survey flow and respondent targeting. AI algorithms can then analyze survey responses in real-time to identify trends, patterns, and correlations for more accurate data interpretation. This is a huge value add for clients of these firms. 

• Market research firms Nielsen and Ipsos, commonly used in the consumer goods and retail industries, integrate predictive analytics models powered by AI to forecast market trends, consumer behavior and product demand. This would have been a life saver during my time at Safeway, and Del Monte to remove the significant time spent in analyzing the business in spreadsheets for forecasting data based on Nielsen.