How can we change deeply engrained patterns of action? This session showcases a compelling web of strategies to demonstrate how organisations can help read and influence complex human behaviour. Discover how this deeper understanding has helped organisations drive positive and bold social advance.

Chair: Caroline Florence, founder and director, Insight Narrator
Julie Vincent, Insight Director, TSR Insight – Part of The Student Room Group and Chris Newson, chairman and CEO, The Student Room Group
Katherine McIsaac, strategy & insight lead and Claire Prentice, head of safer and greener marketing, Scottish Government
Crawford Hollingworth, founder, The Behavioural Architects & Lara McCullagh, group marketing and communications director, The Big Issue

In 1950, Alan Turing asked “Can machines think?” He proposed the Imitation Game as the test: whether an artificial intelligence could fool us into thinking it was human. But AI and machine learning technologies have exceeded this brief, as they create insights, make decisions and control processes in ways that citizens and experts alike struggle to understand. A panel of experts debate the critical issues and offer a roadmap for anyone looking to harness the power and avoid the pitfalls of AI.

Chair: Tim Phillips, journalist and editor
Panel:
Tabitha Goldstaub, co-founder, CognitionX and chair of the UK Government’s AI Council
Stan Sthanunathan, executive VP, CMI, Unilever and co-author of ‘AI for Marketing and Product Innovation’
Kate Adams, director of operations and special projects, NESTA
Francesco D’Orazio, co-founder and CEO, Pulsar

Is marketing industry debate about gender stereotypes converting into meaningful action? How does a typical brand manager, media manager or advertising creative go about making gender progress? A forthcoming AdReaction: Gender Edition report from Kantar shows a shocking level of industry complacency around gender targeting issues. How can brands tap into the value of progressive gender targeting for campaign success?

Chair: Jane Ostler, global head of media, insights division, Kantar
Panel:
Amelia Torode, founder, The Fawnbrake Collective
Ian Edwards, planning director, Facebook
Lynne Parker, founder and chief executive, Funny Women
Grainne Wafer, global brand director for Baileys and Roe & Co, Diageo

If an insight is to change anything, it first has to be heard and understood. How can we influence and ignite the creative strategies, tools and techniques that brands use to connect stakeholders with consumers and so gain competitive advantage? How can words, imagery, technology and first-hand immersion combine to fuel persuasive communication and understanding? Come along and discover how successful agency/client co-creation has captivated creatives, marketers and an entire workforce with compelling insight stories that have powered real change.

Chair: Daniel Wain, founder, Daniel Wain Consulting
Tom Ellis, CEO, Brand Genetics & Elyn Lyell, senior consumer insights manager,
Anheuser-Busch InBev
Douglas Dunn, co-founder, One Minute to Midnight & Martin Vovk, head of insight, Sony Music
Gemma Mitchell, managing director, The Mix and Rachel Westwood, senior research manager, The Walt Disney Company

Brands are built on trust, but in a post-truth world they’re faced with a
serious challenge: so much of modern life is defined by mistrust. In this session,
senior industry figures will discuss why trust, privacy and transparency are
such vital issues; and the actions that organisations need to take to rebuild their reputation capital.

Chair: Katie McQuater, deputy editor, Impact Magazine
Keynote: Sean Pillot de Chenecey, insight/strategy consultant and author of ‘The Post-Truth Business’.
Panel:
Emily Hare, editor and head of research, The Honey Partnership
Mark Shayler, founding partner, The Do Lectures
Katrina Stirton Dodd, head of trends, Contagious

This workshop brings together client and agency insight professionals to explore and address our own biases.
Bias is easy to spot in the behaviour of consumers and citizens. However, if we can’t identify our own biases as marketers and researchers, we can only produce a somewhat skewed and unbalanced view of the world. We need to understand our own behaviour if we’re to accurately read the behaviour of others.
The workshop will help delegates address these behavioural biases using a combination of ideas developed in the session and expert input from a mindfulness practitioner.

Chair: Alex Johnston, director, Jigsaw Research
Participants:
Luke Perry, deputy head of qualitative research, Jigsaw Research
Susan Martle, mindfulness & NLP coach

Unlocking new growth opportunities is the elusive quest of any brand. But how do you enter into the unknown? This session showcases three brands who have used insight as their guide to tap into new audiences and navigate emerging categories. We explore the key to these brands’ success stories. Going beyond the ordinary to find new ways to truly understand consumers wants and needs and using these as a springboard for innovation.

Chair: Catherine Crump, CEO, Decidedly
Mary Logan, president, Research and Incite & Sung Kang, formerly CMO, VIVO Cannabis
Andy Davidson, chief strategy officer, Flamingo & Gregory Morris, senior brand research manager, Formula One
Claire Boorman, director, Boxclever & Charlotte Williams, senior brand manager, Pan Macmillan

We get a lot wrong about the world, because we think we’re more normal than we actually are, and we’re naturally drawn to extreme, vivid examples. Real insight requires us to actively break out of these misleading mindsets. What should insight’s role be in illuminating and disseminating truths? An expert panel casts light on possible solutions.

Chair: Sinead Jefferies, Watermelon Research
Keynote: Bobby Duffy, professor of public policy and director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London – and author of The Perils of Perception
Panel:
Jan Gooding, chair, PAMCo and chair, Stonewall
David Halpern, chief executive, The Behavioural Insights Team
Andrew Tenzer, director of group insight, Reach Plc

A refreshing, surprising workshop for everyone who works on brands. There is an upsurge of magic in Britain. Consumers are reading tarot, casting spells and doing 21st-century witchcraft. Learn why this is happening, how some very successful brands embody magical thinking and, in a first for the MRS conference, perform a magical ritual, guided by our special guest, a practicing magician.

Chair: Dr. Rachel Lawes, principal, Lawes Consulting
Participants:
Jessica Herridge, consumer research and insight expert
Julian Vayne, independent researcher and occultist

This workshop includes loud noises (but no flashing lights).