Throughout my career in market research, we have used PowerPoint decks to present findings and communicate information to marketing teams, R&D, and organizations overall.

A tourism industry client of ours recently placed a research project on hold because they want the timing of their research to align with the loosening of travel restrictions. They simply weren’t sure consumers could envision travel right now. It was a good decision to wait.

Another client went forward with a research project that was planned well before COVID-19 – they assessed, correctly, that the pandemic would not prevent them from understanding what they were trying to learn.

Hormel has made a huge shift in the way they handle research. This global company has more than 20,000 employees and 50+ brands, such as Spam, Skippy, Black Label Bacon, Applegate, and many more. As you might imagine, they rely heavily on consumer insights. I recently co-presented with Heather Vossler, Hormel Director of Insights and Innovation, to learn about their approach to research, how it has shifted in the past few years, and how they are adapting during COVID-19.

More than 70 days. That’s how long people in the U.S. have been on lockdown since COVID-19 hit. Now, as businesses begin to reopen and a bit of normalcy is on the horizon, we are shining our qualitative research spotlight on consumer hopes and expectations as social distancing measures begin to loosen. How can your brand help consumers through this transition and add value during this time of change?

Now more than ever, it’s critical for companies to make high-quality decisions quickly. Using a mix of qualitative and quantitative research to inform those decisions is arguably the best way to go, whether you do it in-house, partially in-house, or choose to fully outsource it. Men’s care brand Harry’s has optimized their team and technology to get impactful results.

We are now several months into our new reality of sheltering in place and social distancing during the COVID-19 crisis. How are consumer shopping and purchasing behavior evolving, and more importantly what behaviors are likely to "stick"? As an online qualitative technology solution, we used our platform to conduct rapid, in-context qualitative research to help brands build a deeper understanding of how they can strategically adjust products and messaging to meet changing consumer needs.