Entering a new era

Welcome back to The Cint Bulletin!??

We are so excited to be returning to your LinkedIn inbox with a monthly newsletter feeding the world’s curiosity, now from our new Cint CEO Patrick Comer.

Hi, nice to meet you!

If we don’t know each other, I’m Patrick.

I've been in the role of Cint CEO since the beginning of September, but this is not my first rodeo.?

For the past two-and-a-half years I have been Cint’s Chairman of the Board, a role I stepped into immediately after I sold Lucid - the company I founded - to Cint in December of 2021. So, in reality, I've been with the overall company since 2010 and I've been in the market research industry since 2003.

I have a long running history with this industry, with all the changes and evolutions and ups and downs we’ve been through in the past 20 plus years. I'm thrilled to be back - I guess is the right word - at the helm of Cint!

And, I’m thrilled to have this platform to chat with all of you: to share the progress we’re making in terms of technology and innovation, especially with our new Cint Exchange we are rolling out now.

But, more than talking about what we’re building here at Cint; I’m most excited to talk with you about the research technology (Restech) industry as a whole, and how it's evolving.?

I can't wait to bring friends of ours into this conversation to talk about the exciting projects they are working on and for them to share their insights and perspectives on where the industry is headed.

We’re all in this together: A new era for the Restech industry?

At an industry level, we are in the middle of what I'd call the third or fourth wave of technology innovation.

A long time ago we went from face-to-face interviewing to telephone; from telephone to internet; from internet panels to programmatic.?

Now we're at the beginning of the generative AI transformation of our industry. That's probably the number one thing on a forward looking basis that most companies are engaging with right now.?

And what sets this technical change apart from the previous ones I've been engaged with is that the entire industry is leaning in for what feels like the first time!

At the end of the day research is a science, not just an art. The Market Research industry historically has held back from embracing new technologies. We’ve said ‘we’re going to wait and see’. And while, to some extent, that is still going on; more than I would have expected, the Market Research industry is experimenting with innovative technologies, and really trying to find a path forward as generative AI starts to transform and change the way we go about building insights for our customers.

The exciting thing is not the answer to the questions of ‘what will AI be doing?’ or ‘how will it change or impact our industry?’.?

The most exciting part is the conversations that we're having at such an intrinsic level across the board in our space. As we go through this together, we will learn how AI will impact our industry - which parts it changes, which parts it doesn’t. We'll all make different bets and choices along the way, but we'll learn and grow through it as a whole.

Looking inwards: A new era for Cint

On an internal level, the most exciting tech innovation for us at Cint, of course, is the new Cint Exchange which we are finally able to share with all of you!

For the past 18 months or so Cint has been building this new Exchange.

(And we appreciate the patience that our customers and partners have had with us as we've gone through this transformation!)

Many of our customers are now starting to migrate to the new platform, finally getting the opportunity to explore how we've merged the best of the Lucid Marketplace experience and the best of the Cint Access experience into a unified platform.?

All of the primary features of the Lucid Marketplace, which was known as a dynamic reverse auction marketplace with a very strong API infrastructure, and then all of the incredible features of the Cint Access platform, especially around rate card pricing, panel management, and being a private marketplace, are all being incorporated in a unified platform so customers have options across features that they never had before.?

As you take these two different sets of features and capabilities that are offered by these two dynamic platforms and put them together, our customers can have more choices now in how they engage with the research process. It's really a unique, best in breed experience!

The launch of the Cint Exchange also marks a major milestone as the ultimate vision of the Cint-Lucid merger.

What’s in store for you: A new era for The Cint Bulletin

There are two journeys that I go back to time and time again.

One of those journeys is the entrepreneur's journey: What it takes to build a growth company and what are the lessons learned along the way.

I will be bringing in other entrepreneurs - from both within the insights space and outside - to share their growth stories, so that you can take some of our lessons and incorporate them in your career, in your company, in your own path.

The other journey is the evolution of insights itself.

What is the path forward? And not just from an AI perspective. What are the other big things that insights companies are working on?

For example, one of the key offerings within the Cint universe is our media measurement product which looks at the impact of advertising with brands. This is a growth area for many different companies, and we’re really learning how technology is changing the way we talk about impact measurement and how the impact of advertising is happening with our customers and their consumers. So, that’s a type of topic I’d love to bring in leaders in the space to chat about.

This newsletter is about how we can learn together: not only where we've been, but where we can go.

Thank you for welcoming me back!

Before I sign off, I just wanted to say how excited I am about being back in the game.?

I love this company. I love this industry. I love technology and innovation in this space.?

It's something that gets me going every morning.?

I'm so thankful for everyone at Cint and everyone in the industry who has welcomed me back with open arms. Thank you all!

I look forward to being a part of our journey forward together ??

Until next month,

- Patrick