February 2023 - Data, creativity and transformation

Welcome to the Perceptive Newsletter—a monthly collation of our top articles and team news!

Magic Numbers: Data and Creativity with Lauren Gell

Our Research Consultant? Lauren Gell ?sat down with the Little Black Books team to answer questions on how data can help fuel creativity, her work on the Spark SNTA project, why the marketing industry is hungrier for data and why collaboration is key.

LBB> What’s the number one question that clients are coming to you with when it comes to how they can better use data to enhance the creativity of their content and experiences?

Lauren> There is no one magical question, unfortunately. What I have noticed is more clients are willing to give us more creative license when it comes to harnessing data – all while keeping within the guidelines, of course.?

The whole marketing industry has become hungrier for data, from your typical brand health studies to segmentation and new product development. Clients often feel a sense of relief, especially when conducting NPD testing, that the product they are looking to launch will land well.

Read the rest of the article here.

Employee experience next in line to transform business

By Sammie Parkinson

Every ten years or so the business world undergoes a major evolution. While most of the changes so far are the result of new technology and customer needs and expectations changing as a result, we are on the cusp of a new transformation that is not driven by technology but by people.

Employees to be exact.

But let’s back up a moment to understand exactly how we got here.

In the 1990s personal computers started to become more commonplace. In 1996 only?21.7 per cent of New Zealand households had a computer, while only 1 in 5 Kiwis had heard of the Internet. By 2000,?47 per cent of Kiwis?had access to the Internet via work, home or school. In that short period, business processes transformed as they became computerised. In the 2000s, business evolved its infrastructure as the world wide web took off to the tones of a 54k dial-up; customer relationship management came into being as brands opened their online presence to reach new customers. In the 2010s, business shifted again, turning towards digital expansion—for example, Amazon transformed from an online book retailer to an online “everything” retailer. Now, in the 2020s it’s experience transformation, exemplified in the acceleration of digital storefronts and online shopping systems due to Covid-19 and the growing adoption of AI, automation, and virtual realities to enhance experiences.

Read the full article here.

Team news

Welcome Amber!

We're delighted to announce? Amber Howse has joined our Sapien team as a Research Assistant. Fresh out of university with a degree in marketing and business analytics, Amber has hit the ground running doing everything from scripting and coding to analysing data and fieldwork. A natural collaborator and creative thinker, she drives herself to succeed in whatever she sets her mind to, be it achieving top-of-class papers, setting up a business or getting a black belt in Karate.