Sima Vasa - Podcast Details

Shows

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionRestech with Patrick Comer and Sima VasaOn this episode of Data Gurus, Sima Vasa and Patrick Comer, Co-Founders of restecher, delve into the intricacies of the Restech industry. They discuss how it’s reshaping market research, integrating new technologies and influencing business strategies. Their conversation highlights the impact of the Restech landscape on traditional research methods and the emerging role of AI in decision-making processes, offering a unique perspective on the intersection of technology and market insights. Key Takeaways: (01:24) Highlighting the growing importance of Restech in market research. (02:14) Recent developments in mergers, acquisitions and funding in the Restech arena. (03:05) Restech has played a significant role in re...2024-03-1322 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionEthical Quandaries in AI Models with Dr. Loubna Bouarfa at OKRA.aiOn this episode, host Sima Vasa is joined by Dr. Loubna Bouarfa, CEO and Founder of OKRA.ai and Member of the Board of Advisors of the Oxford Internet Institute, who shares her unique perspective on the ethical questions around the increasing capabilities of AI technology. Sima and Dr. Bouarfa discuss the following: - How different business models can leverage new technologies to either improve or harm society. - Why transparency in AI development and implementation is essential to maintaining consumer protections. - How aligning the incentives of regulatory bodies and technology developers can create natural safeguards against harmful business...2023-09-1926 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionBuilding Predictive AI with Thomas Zoëga Ramsøy at NeuronsOn this episode, host Sima Vasa is joined by Thomas Zoëga Ramsøy, Founder and CEO of Neurons, to hear how he and his team are using large data sets to build AI models that can predict human behavior. In their conversation, Thomas and Sima discuss: - How a public methodology can build consumer trust in the data acquisition industry. - The intersection of data science and neuroscience in building predictive AI models. - The differences between a predictive AI model and a generative AI model. - Divergences between data sets collected in a lab setting and data sets ga...2023-09-0623 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionPurpose-Driven Data with Rob Pace at HundredXOn this episode, host Sima Vasa talks to Rob Pace, Founder and CEO of HundredX, about using data in a mission-driven organization to drive positive outcomes for both the business and the community. Rob and Sima discuss the following: - A business has to be profitable to provide the resources needed to pursue goals aligned with its mission. - Outcomes-based systems are often more effective than product-based systems of organization. - Prioritizing short-term success will inevitably affect the ability to find long-term success. - Aligning the needs of the community with the incentives of the business provides common interests that...2023-08-2221 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionLeveraging AI as a Research Tool with Chris Barry at The Evolved GroupOn this episode, host Sima Vasa is joined by Chris Barry, CEO of HumanListening™ at The Evolved Group, who discusses the role of AI tools, specifically large language learning models, in data research. Chris and Sima discussed the following in relation to AI and data acquisition: - The ability of AI to elicit better responses from consumers than human surveyors. - Why feedback of extremes is easier to come by than more measured feedback. - How conversational AI can be used to explore the drivers behind customer responses. - Adaptive AI personas that can be rolled out to better engage wi...2023-08-1032 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionExploring Online Industry Trends with Sima Vasa at Infinity Squared Ventures, John Bremer at Phantom 4 Solutions and Bob Fawson at NumeratorThis episode features a conversation between Sima Vasa, CEO and Founder of Infinity Squared Ventures, and John Bremer, President of Phantom 4 Solutions, at a virtual event hosted by Numerator and moderated by Bob Fawson. John and Sima provide insights into the evolution of data collection and analytics in a rapidly-changing consumer landscape. They discuss: - How the real applications of new technologies often outpace their intended use cases, overextending these tech assets. - Human expertise can’t effectively be replaced by digital tools. - Shifting consumer preferences and behaviors continuously alter which data collection methods are most effective, and which on...2023-07-2519 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionDynata Reinventing & Reinvesting | Ep. 194Today, Sima joins Gary Laben, the former CEO of Dynata, and Jason Sobel, Head of U.S. Advisory, Evercore Partners, for a panel discussion hosted by Dynata on reinventing and reinvesting. Sima’s background Sima is a research practitioner. She worked on the supplier side early in her career and had some experience on the client side at IBM, understanding how people use information. Then she worked at the NPD Group before becoming an entrepreneur. She currently does advisory services and investment banking through Oberon Securities and has a podcast. Jason’s background For the last 25 years, Jason has been doing...2023-02-2836 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionPlace Your Bets | Ep. 193Today, Sima joins Mike Delaney, the Managing Partner of Court Square Capital Partners, and Gary Laben, the Former CEO of Dynata, on a panel discussion to discuss various issues related to the insights and marketing industry. What is the biggest obstacle and gaps you see for the insights and marketing industry moving forward? Sima thinks that the biggest challenges are getting used to all the change and managing all the available data. One of the biggest changes Gary has seen is how talent has been disrupted over the last few years. That has created an entirely different environment for acquisition...2023-02-0736 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionProduct Management: Communication,Bravery, and Leadership | Ep.192Aleksandra Bass joins Sima on the podcast today. She is the Vice-president of Product Management at Momentive (makers of Survey Monkey). Aleks has had an exciting career! In today's episode, she talks to Sima about her career journey, what she does at Momentive and various aspects of product management. How Aleks got to where she is in her career It took a bit of luck, some passion, and a lot of hard work for Aleks to get to where she is today in her career. She was passionate about how people think and make decisions, so she studied psychology. When...2023-01-2421 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionAssemblage: The Art and Science of Brand Transformation | Ep. 190Dr. Emmanuel Probst joins Sima on the podcast today. He is the bestselling author of Brand Hacks and the newly-published book, Assemblage. In addition to writing books, he is also the Global Lead of Brand Thought-Leadership at Ipsos. In this episode, he talks to Sima about his latest book and the changing narrative he has seen in brand purpose over the last several years. Books The second edition of Brand Hacks came out in September 2021. Assemblage: The Art and Science of Brand Transformation will be officially released on the 24th of January, 2023. Dr. Probst is considering writing another book in 2024. ...2023-01-1019 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionThe Pivots with Nihal Advani | Ep. 185Welcome to another interesting and informative episode of Data Gurus! Sima is delighted to have Nihal Advani, the Founder, and CEO of QualSights, joining her today! Nihal has been on an exciting journey since starting his first business. In today’s episode, he shares his story, gets into how he founded and pivoted his business, and talks about what they are doing at QualSights. Nihal’s story Nihal grew up in India and played tennis for the country. At eighteen, he came to the US to study and play college tennis. In his junior year of college, he was fortunate enou...2022-11-0121 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionDigital Qualitative | Ep. 184Sima is happy to have Jim Longo joining her today! Jim is the Chief Strategy Officer and Co-founder of Discuss. Jim has had an amazing career in the research sector! He talks to Sima about his journey, how he got to where he is in his career, and the benefits of digital qualitative research. He also gets into the features they built at Discuss to improve efficiency and direct analysis. Jim’s background Jim got involved in qualitative research early on in his career. He joined Harris Interactive in 1999 when the internet was already going strong. They brought Jim in to...2022-10-2524 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionData Pipelines with Raj Bains | Ep. 183Welcome to another engaging and informative episode of Data Gurus! Sima is delighted to have Raj Bains, the CEO and Founder at Prophecy, joining her for today’s show! Raj started Prophecy five years ago and decided to build one big product to get data ready for analytics. He talks to Sima about his business and product and where he fits within the industry. Raj’s background Raj started his professional career in the early 2000s. He started with graphics, worked as a developer, got into power tools, and worked at Microsoft. After that, he joined a team at NVIDIA to b...2022-10-1130 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionSampleCon Happy Hour (Part 2) with Sima Vasa , Ryan Barry, Steve Schlesinger, Katie Gross, Armen Adjemian | Ep. 181Welcome to another interesting and informative episode of Data Gurus! Sima is excited to bring you the second part of the live discussion between herself and four other industry leaders that took place earlier this year at SampleCon. This episode might give those who did not make it to SampleCon this year an idea of what the conference was like, and hopefully bring a fresh perspective to those who were there. You will hear Sima lead an informal and unscripted discussion with Ryan Barry, Steve Schlesinger, Katie Gross, and Armen Adjemian. They share their opinions on various topics and discuss...2022-09-2016 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionSampleCon Happy Hour (Part 1) with Sima Vasa , Ryan Barry, Steve Schlesinger, Katie Gross, Armen Adjemian| Ep. 180Welcome to another interesting and informative episode of Data Gurus! Sima is excited to bring you part of a live discussion between herself and four other industry leaders that took place earlier this year, at SampleCon. For those who did not get to SampleCon this year, this episode will give you an idea of what it was like. You will hear Sima lead an informal and unscripted discussion with Ryan Barry, Steve Schlesinger, Katie Gross, and Armen Adjemian. They share their strong opinions on various topics, including leadership, talent management, company culture, respondent experience, and more. Ryan Barry is the...2022-09-1327 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionICYMI- WiRe, Investing In Research | Ep. 177Welcome to the Data Gurus podcast! Sima has curated several illuminating and informative past Data Gurus episodes for you to enjoy in the last weeks of August. She will be back again in September with fresh content, new guests, and a few surprises! Today’s episode is a replay of episode 147, in which Sima shared Part 1 of Investing in Research, a panel discussion about agencies from the WiRe (Women in Research) Conference that took place last year. The discussion is hosted by Nikki Lavoie, and experts Sima Vasa, Sherry Fox, and Elaine Riddel join her to talk about a prominent my...2022-08-1651 min

The Sima ShowLucia and Mimi commandeer The Sima ShowEpisode includes woeful misrepresentation of Sima’s parenting bordering on slander 2021-11-2108 min

The Sima ShowSima rants about Brene Brown’s film opinionsAlso—LATIN letters, not Arabic! Arabic is the numerals. Jeez, Sima.2021-09-2110 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionInvesting in Research | Ep. 147Welcome to another exciting and informative episode of the Data Gurus podcast! Today, Sima shares Part 1 of Investing in Research, a panel discussion about agencies from the recent WIRe (Women in Research) Conference. In this discussion hosted by Nikki Lavoie, experts Sima Vasa, Sherry Fox, and Elaine Riddel talk about one of the prominent myths currently circulating in the insights industry. According to that myth, only tech and SaaS-based companies receive investment funding. The panel of experts will explain why that myth is untrue and clarify how service-based companies can begin to access investment funding if they wish to do...2021-09-2151 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionEncore Episode: Multiculturalism: Understanding the Future Majority | Ep. 145Today, Sima is excited to bring you an encore episode in which she has a conversation with Mario Carrasco. Enjoy the show! Multi-cultural research, strategy, and understanding is what Sima and Mario Carrasco, Co-Founder and Principal of ThinkNow Research, chat about on today’s podcast. Mario worked in the early days of digital marketing, building online communities for MSN Latino, and didn’t know what a research panel was until researching it for a job interview for a closer-to-home job. He got his start in market research building what became the first national representative panels at Garcia Research. As research numb...2021-09-0723 min

The Sima ShowSima tries a third time to record an episodeFeatured mentions include Sima’s parents, Sima’s ex, and the Dalai Lama 2021-06-3009 min

The Sima ShowWelcome to The Sima ShowSima introduces herself to the void, discusses the origins of The Sima Show, and goes on several tangents.2021-06-2209 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionConsiderations for Selling Your Company | Ep. 136Welcome to another exciting episode of the Data Gurus podcast! Today’s episode is a little different. Sima will be focusing on people, or founders, who are considering selling their company. In today’s episode, Sima hosts John Sipala, one of her colleagues at Oberon Securities. John is a Managing Director at Oberon Securities and has more than 25 years of experience in investment banking. The market right now Private equity firms want to be in the market and are looking for companies, so there is a lot of dry powder in the market right now. Many tech companies are performing very...2021-06-0829 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionPart Two: Leadership and Perspectives | Ep. 132Welcome to today’s podcast! In today’s special episode, Sima continues her conversation with Gary Laben, the CEO of Dynata in the second part of the exciting two-part interview. In this episode, Gary and Sima continue with their discussion about the things that influence the size of opportunity within the industry and discuss whether doing things faster will denigrate the research process. They also talk about standardizing the data-collection process, acquisitions, integration, and culture. The size of the opportunity for the entire Industry Up until now, many people have defined the size of the market research industry at around 80 bill...2021-04-2728 min

Snow Talk with SIMATalking Snow - Dale KeepDale Keep, owner of Ice & Snow Technologies, in Walla Walla, WA, is a long-time industry leader and SIMA supporter. He’s an industry expert in operations engineering, training, deicer science, and liquids benefits and implementation. SIMA caught up with Dale to talk about the industry, how its matured, what makes it challenging, and a whole lot more.2021-02-2444 min

Barrierefreies Bauen für alleBarrierefreies Bauen für alle - Episode 5, Warum gibt es diesen Podcast?Wer ist Barbara Sima-Ruml und warum macht sie einen Podcast über barrierefreies Bauen? Diese kurz gehaltene Folge über die Beweggründe des Podcasts „Barrierefreies Bauen für alle“ enthält die schonungslose Wahrheit über Dein Leben OHNE Behinderung und mein Leben MIT Behinderung. Ich war wie Du. Ich war jung und fühlte mich unsterblich. Als das Auto mit 120 km/h ungebremst ins Gemüse geschleudert wurde, war plötzlich alles anders. Die Fahrerin starb. Ich überlebte schwer verletzt am Beifahrersitz und nichts war mehr, wie früher. Und jetzt kommst endlich Du ins Spiel als junge, gesun...2020-11-1609 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionKey Takeaways of the Impact of Covid-19 on Middle Market Firms with Nicole Schmidt and Chuck Mitchell | Ep. 110Nicole Schmidt and Chuck Mitchell are joining Sima today as panelists for a webinar on the impact of Covid 19 on middle-market firms. People have been impacted by Covid 19 all over the world. The purpose of this webinar is to provide context, perspective, and some key takeaways for executives to consider as they plan for the future beyond 2020. About Sima Sima Vasa is a Senior Advisor at Oberon Securities. She has over ten years of entrepreneurial experience, operator experience, running a business unit of 45 million dollars for one of the largest market research firms, and also as an executive at IBM. C...2020-11-0540 min

聊療瑜珈 Sima Yoga Talk#16 從瘋狂的音樂節開始，成為無國界瑜珈老師 / Sima 的瑜珈療癒之路十年前，我從來沒想過要成為瑜珈老師！現在瑜珈卻是我生命中不可或缺的一部份。節目播出三個月至今，我只有在第一集簡單描述過我的瑜珈生命故事。這一集的節目是關於主持人Sima，也就是我，怎麼會在不小心闖入音樂節的瑜珈工作坊，又變成無國界線上教課的瑜珈療癒師？文字版：https://simayogatalk.com/sima/ . Instagram螢幕截圖標註 @simayogatalk，分享收聽的心得給我臉書會有更多瑜珈好文和我的瑜珈課程: http://facebook.com/SimaYogaTalk 加入社團線上學瑜珈： https://www.facebook.com/groups/yogaclassonline/ Powered by Firstory Hosting 2020-09-1319 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionAgile Research with Ben Smithee | Ep. 101Ben Smithee is the CEO of The Smithee Group, a digital marketing agency based in New York City. On this episode, he sits with Sima Vasa to talk about what they do, how they do it, and how millennial research has affected the marketing sphere. “I think there’s a new shift… marketing in the moment and not for the moment.” - Ben Smithee Ben Smithee - The Smithee Group’s Pedigree His full-service digital marketing agency focuses a lot on small-medium businesses but still serve large enterprise companies with intelligence and insights work. They work with luxury brands—the jewelry indu...2020-06-2318 min

聊療瑜珈 Sima Yoga Talk#1 節目簡介和自我介紹 / 危機中也可以找到轉機, 疫情中的瑜珈療癒【聊療瑜珈 Sima Yoga Talk 】是2020年誕生在新冠疫情中的新生命。在節目中，我們會討論你平常在墊上練習，老師不一定有時間跟你傳達的瑜珈知識；邀請在瑜珈界深耕的人物訪問；帶領冥想。讓邊聽節目的你，邊被療癒。本集節目會介紹主持人Sima，怎麼度過新冠疫情瑜珈教室被迫關門的危機，以及如何成為瑜珈老師的故事｜Yoga Is For Everyone 。文字版：https://simayogatalk.com/e1/ . . Sima｜私人線上瑜珈課詳情：https://simayogatalk.com/1-1/ 加入「3天線上瑜珈呼吸」挑戰：https://simayogatalk.ck.page/breath-challenge . . 在IG螢幕截圖標註 @simayogatalk，分享你收聽的心得給我臉書會有更多瑜珈好文和我的瑜珈課程: http://facebook.com/SimaYogaTalk 加入社團線上學瑜珈:https://www.facebook.com/groups/yogaclassonline/ . . 請我喝杯咖啡，支持繼續創作： https://pay.firstory.me/user/simayogatalk paypal.me/simayoga Powered by Firstory Hosting 2020-05-3021 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionCareer Planning and Expression Through Song: Sima Wanted to Mix Things Up! |Ep. 98We’re very happy to have Adam Jolley joining us today. Very soon, Adam will be starting with Survey Monkey, which will be a huge and exciting change for him. Adam’s career path up to now has been an interesting one. He started in sales, for a small EMI market research company that had only six employees. After ten years in sales with EMI, he went into leadership and became the president of the company. That was a great achievement for Adam and it allowed him to learn a lot about all the other parts of the work that the...2020-05-2633 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionInsights Industry Call to Action with Melanie Courtright | Ep. 94Sima sits down with Melanie Courtright, CEO of Insights Association, to discuss the rapidly changing scene and the diligent work that Melanie’s team is doing in providing additional resources and perspectives on how to deal with the fallout of the Corona Virus and its impact to the industry. Melanie began serving as CEO of the Insights Association on January 1, 2020. Previously Melanie served as Executive Vice President, Research Science & Data Strategy at Dynata. A respected, passionate voice on market research trends, standards and quality, Melanie has participated in many industry organizations, events and initiatives. She serves on the executive board of...2020-04-2114 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionCreating a More Efficient and Effective Market Research Process with Andrew Moffatt | Ep. 93Andrew Moffatt, Chief Strategy Officer and Partner of OpinionRoute joins Sima today in discussing technology products that help address some of the market research problems that are prevalent today. The market leader in Insights Process Management, OpinionRoute is focused on helping clients succeed in the rapidly evolving market research industry. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, their “made for research” services and technology solutions power authentic insights and create efficiency in the research process. OpinionRoute is dedicated to protecting the integrity and effectiveness of market research. Creating Scalable Technology Products About a year ago, Andrew and Terence McCarron, Founder and CEO of Opin...2020-04-1529 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionNavigating Rapidly-Evolving Changes in the Marketplace with Patrick Comer | Ep. 92On today’s episode, Sima chats with Patrick Comer, CEO of Lucid, LLC, to discuss how COVID-19 has forced everybody to stay at home and how consumer behaviors are changing in the face of this pandemic, as a result. Listen in to hear more about this swiftly-changing scenario! Lucid, LLC, unites buyers and sellers of survey samples in over 90 countries – bridging the divide between global questions and human answers. Every day, millions of questions are answered via Lucid’s programmatic marketplace – enabling anyone, in any industry, to get real answers. Lucid’s clients can ask questions of targeted audiences and measure th...2020-04-0728 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionEmail is Here to Stay with Steve Wagner | Ep. 91Sima is joined today by Steve Wagner, a Senior Marketing Manager, to chat about email hygiene and enhancing data lists. Steve Wagner leads the strategic marketing function for Webbula. He has over 15 years of experience in demand generation, digital marketing, and account-based marketing programs. He's previously led these efforts across several organizations, including Sales Performance International, ShowClix, and Ariba. Isn't Email Dead? Webbula assists with email list hygiene by driving the best marketing performance possible in such categories as deliverability and open rates and helps to enrich the organization’s data by finding missing parts of their information. Year after year...2020-03-3115 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionCorona Virus: COVID-19 with Sima Vasa | Ep. 90Sima brings you a special episode regarding the current Corona Virus outbreak and addresses questions she’s been receiving on a wide range of topics. She hopes you will find this information helpful! Additionally, Sima would like to extend her sincerest gratitude to all of the healthcare workers and their families out there who are putting their lives on the line for all of us to help our friends and loved ones get better. What Is The Likely Impact Of The Corona Virus For The Market Research Industry? Qualitative research will certainly be impacted. Enterprise clients are dealing with the sa...2020-03-2504 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionData Quality, Part 1 of 4 with Matt Staudt, CEO of Venture Development Center | Ep. 84In this special series on data quality, you’ll hear different perspectives from other industries regarding market research and the analytics industry. Sima chats with Charlie Allieri, CEO of Imperium, and the sponsor of this series on data quality, and Matt Staudt, CEO of Venture Development Center. Bringing Traditional and Alternative Assets to the Marketplace Venture Development Center, started in 1996, is an organization that works in the big data market space, primarily with traditional data and alternative data. They have assembled 190 relationships with organizations that have the traditional and alternative assets and Venture DC looks to bring these assets to the...2020-01-2229 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionM&A Trends, Data, Analytics & Insights | Ep. 83Sima joins some of her peers on a panel discussion as it relates to M&A trends, what’s going on in the industry, and some insights for founders, as they consider their alternatives for the future. In light of the recent acquisitions for staggering amounts of money, such as SAP acquiring Qualtrics for $8B, Tableau being acquired by Salesforce for $17B, and Bain Capital acquiring 60% of Kantar, today’s show will focus on key drivers of investment and M&A activity in market research. Listen in to this mashup, as they help to de-mystify the big questions and considerations that...2020-01-1440 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionSampleCon 2020 | Ep. 82Sima has a special treat in store for today’s show. As Chair of SampleCon, she and the other Board Members have been knee-deep in planning for the 2020 conference to ensure its continued success. She will be chatting with some of the board for a peek as to what’s coming and the importance it holds for each member. For Sima, she loves that there’s no other conference that focuses specifically on online data collection and sampling and she finds that refreshing. Additionally, the conference is a way to influence, shape and collaborate with other leaders to share best practi...2019-12-1724 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionUnpacking Social Intelligence with Menaka Gopinath | Ep. 81Sima and Menaka Gopinath, Lead of Social Intelligence and Communities at Ipsos, sit down to discuss the use of social media in social intelligence to help answer business questions. Opposite Ends of the Spectrum As the market has matured with social intelligence, there’s a lot of amazing things happening in the social intelligence realm for insights, but it’s not being leveraged as broadly it could be. On the flip side, the people who are using social listening tools across the board in marketing and digital functions probably could be getting a lot more insight out of it. The data...2019-12-1028 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionExecutives & Founders: Finding Your Core Story with Steve August | Ep. 80If you’re a Founder or CEO of a company that is looking to scale their business, this episode provides some great insight and advice. Steve August joins Sima on today’s show, which serves as a great refresher course on things that we might already know. Listen in for timely reminders on how to really consider the next steps for your business! Steve is the Founder and CEO of Steve August Coaching. Scaling Businesses in the Market Research Space For more than 15 years, Steve has been in the market research space and takes what he’s learned to help busines...2019-11-2628 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionThinking Out Loud: How Our Words Matter with Sima Vasa | Ep. 79Sima brings something a little different on today’s podcast, and that is her perspective on how we think about and accept new approaches and methodologies in the industry. Believe it or not, words DO matter, as you will soon discover! Something Shiny We’ve all lived through the introduction of new and exciting technology. Our first thoughts are typically along the lines of: “What is that? How do you do that? What are its implications as it relates to something new in the industry?” The success or failure of market acceptance of new technology or methodology is determined by us, both...2019-11-1209 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionThe Power of Data to Prevent Fraud with Charlie Allieri | Ep. 077Charlie Allieri, CEO of Imperium, joins Sima on today’s show to discuss data quality in the market research space. Imperium offers a full suite of solutions, but their goal is to help customers with data quality issues that they’re dealing with. Data quality in the market research space usually aligns with people and machines who are intentionally providing bad data (also known as fraud). A Device Solution RelevantID® is a solution that focuses on the device, ensuring that the device isn’t coming back multiple times trying to take a survey. This involves digital fingerprinting and de-duping and represent...2019-10-2926 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionCrowdweaving and Innovation with Kevin Lonnie | Ep. 75Kevin Lonnie, CEO of KL Communications, joins Sima in today’s podcast to talk about innovation. Kevin entered Rutgers College of Engineering then decided he didn’t want to be an engineer and switched to Business and Psychology. From there, he took a course in Market Research and realized he’d stumbled on to a profession that involved both disciplines of Business and Psychology. He’s been in Market Research since leaving college and started KL Communications in 1996. Online communities and panels have been their bread and butter for the last 20 years but they are more recently focusing on customer centricit...2019-10-1526 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionEmotional DNA with Mike Bloxham | Ep. 74Mike Bloxham joins Sima in a discussion involving consumer data, consumer behavior, viewer perceptions of video content at an emotional level, and how this is used. Mike is the Senior Vice-President of The Global Media and Entertainment Division at Magid. He is involved in the development of different services and products that get taken out to the market place, and liaison and delivery around different types of projects, such as qualitative, quantitative, development issues, or understanding performance of particular products in the market place The State of Media Purchasing There’s a large-scale move towards making use of data. We’ve ga...2019-10-0824 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionQualitative Research and Creating Connection with Nikki Lavoie | Ep. 71CEO and Founder of MindSpark Research International, Nikki Lavoie, joins Sima Vasa today. They discuss the two niches that Nikki has found work really well together for her Paris-based company: 1) international qualitative research and 2) UX research. MindSpark: Born Out of Necessity From a young age, Nikki Lavoie knew she wanted to travel around the world. With a background in market research, both qualitative and quantitative, she accepted a job in Paris but eventually outgrew it, and was ready to move on to something else. Not quite ready to return to working in the States, her options for breaking into the l...2019-09-1722 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionDetecting Signals in Data w/ Malcolm De Leo | Ep. 070In this episode, Sima Vasa converses with Chief Evangelist for Quantifind, Malcolm De Leo. He shares with us how Quantifind detects signals to help predict outcomes, how he embraces innovation in his career and how he enforced the philosophy of “Corporate accountable, locally responsible.” Chief Evangelist Malcolm serves as a Chief Evangelist for 20 years now, 5 years of it has been spent with Quantifind. He proudly shares that his main focus is to help the company drive sales through understanding and developing use cases and defining how they can scale and grow these for repeat sales. “I've spent probably my entire time in S...2019-09-1121 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionThe Future w/ Merrill Dubrow (Part 2) | Ep. 69Today’s episode is our second for our two-part series with guest Merrill Dubrow, the President, and CEO of M/A/R/C Research. He shares with us what gets him excited, especially after serving the industry for 25 years. Merrill Dubrow, a thought leader, also gave some relevant advice for industry professionals that is definitely worth listening to. Getting and Staying Excited For someone who has been in the business for 25 years, financial gain is not entirely something to be excited about. He candidly shared with our host, Sima Vasa, the main thing that excites him is moving things forward, in t...2019-08-2820 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionThe Importance of Relevance w/ Merrill Dubrow (Part 1) | Ep. 68Today’s guest is Merrill Dubrow, the President, and CEO of M/A/R/C Research. He shares with us some important industry perspectives on automation and the consultative role of insights companies. This is an episode for industry professionals who wish to stay relevant in this field of work. Six Decades of Excellence Merrill Dubrow has been leading his company towards its 6th decade. He has a passion for building strong relationships and a mission to drive innovation. Through the years, he has witnessed the evolution of the insights industry. Particularly, he mentions in this episode how the automation of...2019-08-2124 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionScaling Up Talent w/ Nicole Patel | Ep. 67Today’s guest, Chief People Officer Nicole Patel joins Sima Vasa to discuss the recruitment process and employee retention at LUCID. Further, she shares the processes they employ within the organization and the culture they promote that is centered on openness and transparency. Nicole and LUCID Lucid was founded in 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana and currently has offices in New Orleans, Gurgaon, London, New York, and Sydney. Nicole has provided much support to the growing company, as she helped grow Lucid's staff by 500%. Before joining LUCID, Nicole spent 15 years in human resources across multiple industries. After working in corporate financial bene...2019-08-1421 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionUnleashing the Power of Analytics w/ Jason Krantz | Ep. 66Today’s guest entrepreneur Jason Krantz of Strategy Titan joins Sima Vasa to discuss a wealth of information about data analytics and insights in the B2B space. He shares his personal experience in having a balance between technical and business skills. Further, he discusses how these skills helped him navigate the elusive HVAC industry. The Immense Power of Analytics With over 10 years of business analytics, data science, and strategic leadership experience, Jason Krantz recognized the power of analytics early on his career. He also has extensive executive experience in sales and marketing strategy design, financial reporting, market research, price man...2019-07-3123 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionPonderings about Marketing w/ Priscilla McKinney | Ep. 64In today’s episode, Sima Vasa sits with Priscilla McKinney, CEO of LiTTLE Bird Marketing. Together, they talk about her company and their edge in content marketing, some tips on personal branding and her struggles and triumph as an entrepreneur. LiTTLE Bird Marketing Priscilla McKinney has a background in Cultural Anthropology. She finds herself an easy fit in the world of Market Research (MR) because she comes from a social science perspective and she understands the nature of the work, which is relatable to ethnography⁠—a systematic study of people and cultures. She then spearheaded her own company named LiTTLE Bird Ma...2019-07-1029 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionTania Yuki – Understanding Digital Influence | Ep. 061In today’s episode, Sima Vasa sits with Tania Yuki, CEO of Shareablee. Together, they talk about what inspired her to create Shareablee and how it helped advertisers, influencers, publishers and brand owners determine share-worthy content. Lawyer Turned Social Media Analyst Tania Yuki tried her luck as an Internet attorney before finding her way to social media analytics. At the moment, she is considered an expert on social media marketing, digital audience measurement, and web analytics, among others. "It started into something like 'Im so intrigued as to why people would take this brand video and share it out to ev...2019-06-1925 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionEileen Campbell – Curiosity + Passion + Hard Work = Success | Ep. 060Co-founder and executive chair for Reid Campbell Group Eileen Campbell joins Sima Vasa today. Together, they talk about Eileen’s history and her undying curiosity, passion and hard work that ultimately birthed her tremendous career in the industry. “I think if you're intellectually curious, it's a completely gratifying way to make a living.” - Eileen Campbell Eileen Campbell - Starting Out Early Eileen started in the industry really young when she was still the proverbial starving student in university. She worked full-time in a company called NFO (then they dubbed the National Family Opinion) through her final year of university. There...2019-06-1220 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionNicole Schmidt – Capital, Entrepreneurship, and Perseverance | Ep. 059Sima sits down with the co-founder and managing partner of Oberon Securities, Nicole Schmidt. On this episode, they talk about Oberon, investments and the role perseverance plays in earning entrepreneurial success. “It's really 90% perseverance and 5% talent and 5% luck because I think in a way, you make your own opportunities by sticking it out.” - Nicole Schmidt Nicole Schmidt - Backing Up Entrepreneurial Endeavors Armed with her knowledge of what it takes to get a business off the ground, Nicole has always been supportive of entrepreneurial pursuits. This is only fitting. After all, people trust those who work in the investment bank...2019-06-0528 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionAnne Brown – Gazelle Global Celebrates 25 Years! | Ep. 058Today, the CEO and founder of Gazelle Global Anne Brown sits with Sima Vasa. Together, they talk about the company’s beautiful 25 years from its conception to present celebration. Anne Brown - Taking Stock of 25 Years Anne says that this moment is incredibly opportune to take stock and look back where they started. When Gazelle Global was but a fledgling, it was nothing to send a job out to 60 sites—even with the limited power of copiers. After all, her job let her experience a lot of new things. “I have an extreme love of working internationally and what I liked...2019-05-2920 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionJD Deitch – Automation, APIs and More | Ep. 057Today, P2Sample’s Chief Revenue Officer JD Deitch joins Sima Vasa. They have a fascinating conversation about JD’s transition to revenue functions from research and analytics, what has changed within the sample industry over the last ten years, and so much more. “So much of what we do is digital and the effort to try to attract people's attention and get them to do something—whether that is to buy a product or to do a survey—all that happens online and happens at a massive scale.” - JD Deitch JD Deitch - Learning How Insight Businesses Operate Truth be tol...2019-05-2225 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionFiona Blades – Experiential Marketing | Ep. 056On today’s episode, the Founder and Chief Experience Officer of MESH Experience Fiona Blades sits with Sima Vasa. She shares how she leveraged mobile advertising long before it became mainstream and how experiential marketing is even more relevant today. Fiona Blades - Company Founded on Encounters Fiona founded MESH for the same reason everyone else starts a company. She was working as Planning Director at Claydon Heeley, handling famous brands like Mercedes Benz. Back then, she knew that it was not just TV advertising but also the plethora of everyday experiences—ranging from a dealership or a neighbor’s purcha...2019-05-1523 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionTed McConnell – Measuring Audience Quality for Advertisers | Ep. 055On today’s episode, Sima Vasa sits with Ted McConnell, SVP of Lucid. Together, they talk about his background, how advertising has changed and what marketers need to do to improve targeting. Finding His Way to Marketing Ted spent about the first half of his career in technology communications where he built networks and operating systems. He transitioned into technology development and, when the Internet came along, marketing. From there, he worked as a consultant for lots of data projects with various media companies. And now, he is a man with an unbelievable passion for data and data quality, steeped in...2019-05-0830 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionRichard Thornton and Greg Dunbar – Cint’s Evolution with the MR Industry | Ep. 054The world’s insight exchange and management platform is evolving with the market research industry. On this first episode of our second season, Richard Thornton and Greg Dunbar join Sima Vasa in a conversation about the changes astride at Cint. A 20-Year-Old Vision Cint is a technology company headquartered in Stockholm. Built 20 years ago to fit into the European market research industry, it has since achieved a global presence. Their platform helps deliver solutions to clients and partners in order to transform how they gather online survey data through insights. Richard, COO and Deputy CEO at Cint, says that their fo...2019-05-0130 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionJamin Brazil – Super Powers, Podcasting and Much More! | Ep. 053On this episode, fellow market research industry podcaster Jamin Brazil joins Sima Vasa. He shares the story behind his company, Happy Market Research, and his eponymous podcast. Jamin Brazil - Birth of a Mantra Jamin has had the life mantra that sometimes, you just have to laugh. He intentionally injected smiles and laughter into his life during difficult times. This belief stemmed from a study of clinically-depressed individuals. Half were treated with medication and the other half, with a 30-minute forced smiling exercise. The latter induced an improved mindset in the individuals who went through it, and this inspired Jamin. “The...2019-02-2037 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionPaul Neto – The Value of Blockchain in Market Research | Ep. 052On today’s episode, co-founder and CMO of Measure Protocol Paul Neto joins Sima Vasa. Together, they talk about the value blockchain plays in today’s market research landscape, and how Measure is promoting fair compensation and usage of consumer data. Paul Neto - Measure on Blockchain in MR There has been a lot of discussions about what blockchain means for the market research industry, and Paul and his team has seen its value. Measure is a blockchain-based protocol or platform that facilitates the marketplace that is full of so-called person-based data. In this marketplace, individuals have full control of their...2019-02-0526 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionAdam Jolley – State of Sample, SampleCon and Much More! | Ep. 051Newly appointed President of EMI Research Solutions Adam Jolley joins Sima Vasa in this episode. He shares his future plans for the company, how the sample industry has changed, and how EMI is going to adapt to these key changes. Adam Jolley - Future of EMI Adam has been with EMI for more than a decade. His take over has been a long time coming, an itch of what’s next. He’s all in, and he wants more not only for his career but for the entire EMI. With this new chapter of his life comes a lot of plan...2019-01-3022 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionRobert Wensley – Taking Control of Your Personal Data | Ep. 050On this episode, CEO and Founder of Kork Robert Wensley joins Sima Vasa. They talk about the company’s conception, its mission, and how Robert is changing the data brokerage landscape with his dedicated team. Robert Wensley - Kork’s Mission Kork is one of the world’s first consumer sourced data brokerage companies. Presently, data brokers are making about 200B in a year off of data. But here’s the catch: They do it without our consent. A lot of data brokers know more about us than our best friend or families. We also don’t have any control over the t...2019-01-2316 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionToni Clayton Hine – B2B Marketing Insights from Former Xerox CMO | Ep. 049For 2019’s first episode, Toni Clayton Hine, B2B marketer and former CMO of Xerox Corporation joins Sima Vasa. They discuss what it was like to market one of the most iconic brands in the world at a time when digital technologies were emerging and how data played a big role in defining their marketing agenda. Toni Clayton Hine - Xerox's Marketing Agenda Toni worked at Xerox for five years during a time when a lot of transformation was going on. The company was the prominent brand associated with print and copy, and Toni came into a division tasked to bu...2019-01-1618 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionLawrence Chan – Location Intelligence | Ep. 047On the sixth episode of this Attribution Acceleration round-up series, Lawrence Chan joins Sima Vasa. He talks about location intelligence and how persistent and accurate location data play important roles in market research and attribution. “When you have those types of signals basically dictating whether or not somebody went somewhere, without that persistent context of where someone came from or where they spent time, it becomes really, really good for folks to do meaningful attribution.” - Lawrence Chan Lawrence Chan - Cuebiq and Location Intelligence Lawrence Chan is the SVP of Innovation and Strategic Partnerships at Cuebiq. They are a loca...2019-01-1024 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionJane Clarke – One Year Later: What has Changed in Attribution? | Ep. 048For the final episode of this Attribution Accelerator round-up series, Jane Clarke sits with Sima Vasa. They talk about the forum and the deeper focus on the topic of attribution. They also discuss the growth of granular measurement of data across media platforms. Jane Clarke - On CIMM and the Attribution Accelerator Jane is the CEO and Managing Director of the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM). She is responsible for developing CIMM’s strategy and vision and overseeing operations. She says that the Attribution Accelerator is one of the only places where people can get a deep-dive focus on th...2018-12-2216 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionJeff Greenfield – The Value of Multi-Touch Attribution | Ep. 046Jeff Greenfield sits with Sima Vasa today for the sixth installment of this Attribution Accelerator round-up series. He shares how marketing mix models differ from multi-touch attribution, as well as how the latter helps marketers play in the modern space. Jeff Greenfield - C3 Metrics and Attribution Jeff is the COO and Co-Founder of C3 metrics. He says that attribution in the way C3 plays it is a convergence of all things coming together. Prior to multi-touch attribution, marketers were stuck with broad, top-down marketing mix models. A progressive company gets a new model done every year and this model...2018-12-2016 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionChristian Bartens – Expanding our Ecosystem with Equifax/Datalicious | Ep. 045Christian Bartens of Equifax and Datalicious touches base with Sima Vasa for this fourth episode of the Attribution Accelerator 2018 series. He talks about what Equifax and Datalicious offer to their customers. Together with Sima, he also shares a little more about the topic he tackled for the forum. Christian Bartens - Data-Driven Marketing (DDM) Christian’s company, Datalicious, has been acquired by Equifax of which he is now the Marketing Measurement Leader. “Equifax has a lot of very interesting data assets that have been in the data game for a very long time.” - Christian Bartens They don’t have many peo...2018-12-1912 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionMaggie Merklin – Connecting TV and Digital Platforms to Drive Success | Ep. 044For the third episode of the Attribution Accelerator 2018 round-up series, Maggie Merklin joins Sima Vasa. She shares a bit about her talk and her company’s key to great relationships with their clients. She also discusses how TV and digital platforms drive success. Maggie Merklin - Analytics Partners and Choice Hotels Maggie is the Executive Vice President at Analytic Partners. They have been working with Choice Hotels for over eight years now. Her talk revolves around how attribution is being adopted, particularly by this client. Over the years, they have seen significant increases in Choice Hotels’ return on investment. They coll...2018-12-1411 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionAbha Dawesar – Linking the Entire Customer Journey from Acquisition to Long-term Retention | Ep. 043Abha Dawesar, Marketing Strategy Director at HSBC joins Sima Vasa for this second episode of the Attribution Accelerator 2018 roundup series. She shares what she spoke about at the forum. She also talks about assigning business growth to marketing investment. “A lot of the consumer behaviors might be linked to the things that got them to the gate in the first place.” - Abha Dawesar Abha Dawesar - In-Depth Tracking of Insights Most of the industry ends up getting third-party analytics that often show highly-aggregated data. Abha gets involved in campaign designing and analytics at the beginning in order to come up w...2018-12-1316 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionThomas Bauer – An Investor’s Mindset to Marketing | Ep. 042For the first episode of Attribution Accelerator 2018 series, Thomas Bauer, Partner at McKinsey & Company joins Sima Vasa. He rounds up some of his realizations from the forum and how marketing has become a true pillar of growth for the industry. “It's never really the analytics that do the job but without the analytics, it's a tough business for a senior marketing executive.” - Thomas Bauer Thomas Bauer - On Attribution Accelerator 2018 Thomas has always seen the Attribution Accelerator as extremely engaging. He likes to see the community coming together and talking about attribution. There has been a lot of movement rece...2018-12-1215 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionKaryn Schoenbart – The Future: Data, Insights, Leadership and Much More | Ep. 041Karyn Schoenbart, CEO of NPD Group, joins Sima Vasa today. They talk about the data, insights, leadership and how each of these are shaping up in the near future of NPD and the market research industry. “The best results in the future aren't going to be from consumer surveys or POS retail scanners or receipts. It will be a combination of all of those.” - Karyn Schoenbart Karyn Schoenbart - NPD’s Readiness to Face Changes The NPD Group is one of the top 10 market research companies in the world. With the fast-changing industry, Karyn worries about the company’s relevanc...2018-12-0519 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionNik Samoylov – Automating Conjoint and Other Research Methods | Ep. 040On today’s episode, Nik Samoylov, founder of Conjoint.ly joins Sima Vasa. Together they talk about how Nik fell into market research and how automation has affected the industry and its methods. “If anything, core research skills like drafting questionnaires will definitely stay in demand.” - Nik Samoylov Nik Samoylov - Choosing Market Research With the marketing and statistics courses he took in college, Nik wanted to pursue a career in market research. For three years after graduation, Nik was involved in consulting. When he decided to focus on market research, he didn’t go looking for a job. Instead...2018-11-2818 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionNatasha Stevens – Client Driven Data Innovation | Ep. 039Natasha Stevens is the Executive President of Strategy at GFK North America. On today’s episode, she sits with Sima Vasa to talk about how market research is blossoming as an industry. She also shares how client data drive innovation in present-day endeavors. “It's really striking a balance between staying very committed to what the overall mission is but also having that flexibility and to realize that you're going to have to make changes along the way based on what you're hearing in the market.” - Natasha Stevens Natasha Stevens - An Exciting Time for Marketing Research There's a lot of cha...2018-11-2128 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionBarry Jennings – The Evolution of Market Research at Microsoft | Ep. 038Barry Jennings handles the central market research team at Microsoft. On today’s episode, he speaks with Sima Vasa about how research is involved in and has evolved at his workplace. “Realistically, the job of delivering impactful insights, that part doesn't change. But we have significant challenges, like the speed of business... data proliferation.” - Barry Jennings Barry Jennings - Market Research Director at Microsoft At Microsoft, Barry and his team focus on endeavors related to the cloud, servers, as well as technical audiences like IT pros, developers and data scientists. His work keeps him busy on the daily, but it’s th...2018-11-1419 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionPatrick Comer – Perspectives on Data Collection | Ep. 037On today’s episode, Patrick Comer joins Sima Vasa. Patrick is the Founder and CEO of Lucid, a software company focused on delivering human answers on a massive scale. Today he shares his thoughts on competition and purpose, and the importance of understanding perspective on data collection. Patrick Comer - The Competitive Landscape for Lucid Everybody always talks about the landscape offered by different companies, along with the competition. But Patrick has always maintained that it doesn’t matter who the competition is or who isn’t. In the end, every peer will compete against them or partner with them in som...2018-11-0728 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionBen Harden – Data Governance, Agile Frameworks | Ep. 036Ben Harden, partner and leader for Data and Analytics at CapTech Consulting sits with Sima Vasa today. They talk about the importance of data in bridging the gap between businesses and technology. They also discuss data governance and how agile frameworks are managed. Ben Harden - Full Service at CapTech CapTech Consulting is a national firm in the United States with nine offices across the country. In his area, Ben runs the data and analytics practice. Apart from this, the firm also offers their clients services on software engineering, management consulting for agile and object-oriented management, and customer experience. Essentially...2018-10-3018 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionBetty Adamou – Research Through Gaming | Ep. 035On today’s episode, Betty Adamou sits with Sima Vasa to talk about games as tools for market research. She is the CEO and Founder of Research Through Gaming Ltd and the author of Games and Gamification in Market Research. Betty Adamou - Market Research and Video Games Betty’s passion for Research Through Gaming came about when she started working in the market research industry. She was taken aback by the disparity between the massiveness of the sphere and the poor quality of communication, that is, surveys. By day, she finds herself working in her market research job, looking afte...2018-10-2423 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionIsaac Muñoz – Southwest Airlines Culture of Integrating Insights and Research | Ep. 034For today’s episode, Senior Business Consultant at Southwest Airlines Isaac Muñoz sits with Sima Vasa. They talk about marrying research and insights and why research is not just an optional element but should be deeply integrated into the marketing process. Isaac Muñoz - Insights at Southwest Airlines Isaac is part of the Customer Insights of the Marketing Team at Southwest Airlines. His job involves doing primary research and then coming back to the company as a consultant. He and his team have been in this role for ten years. This innovative move evolved their function from not just...2018-10-1717 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionKris Hull & Chris Murphy – The New World of Brand Guidance | Ep. 033On today’s episode, Kris Hull and Chris Murphy of Kantar North America joins Sima Vasa. Together, they talk about marketing metric audit protocols, finding the balance between short-term and long-term tracking, and so much more. Kris Hull and Chris Murphy - MASB Accreditation In a recent press release, the market research agency announced its accreditation for the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB). Chris Murphy, Chief Client Officer, says that they perform the marketing metric audit protocols for third party audits. This accreditation certifies the offers they provide their clients’ methodology as the right metric to look to financial performance. Chris un...2018-10-1014 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionTed Waz – Blockchain and Data Collection | Ep. 032On today's episode, President of The Opinion Economy Ted Waz sits with Sima Vasa to talk about the rising distributed ledger and blockchain technology. They also touch on how it will affect the way we collect consumer data and the market research sphere as a whole. Ted Waz - On The Opinion Economy The Opinion Economy is a distributed ledger, blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) company. They focus on unifying conversations between consumers and those who would like to purchase these data. Consumers are the people who display behaviors and express opinions. The latter group can comprise of marketing companies, aggregations, or brands. ...2018-10-0316 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionBen Smithee – Marketing in the Moment | Ep. 031Ben Smithee is the CEO of The Smithee Group, a digital marketing agency based in New York City. On this episode, he sits with Sima Vasa to talk about what they do, how they do it, and how millennial research has affected the marketing sphere. “I think there’s a new shift… marketing in the moment and not for the moment.” - Ben Smithee Ben Smithee - The Smithee Group’s Pedigree His full-service digital marketing agency focuses a lot on small-medium businesses but still serve large enterprise companies with intelligence and insights work. They work with luxury brands—the jewelry indu...2018-09-2617 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionAnese Cavanaugh – Creating Contagious Culture | Ep. 030On this episode, Anese Cavanaugh, CEO of Active Choices, Inc., joins Sima Vasa to talk culture and leadership. Devoted to helping people show up, Anese is an author and is the leading voice on intention, energy and presence. Today she brings to us the story behind her famous IEP Method. “I believe that we each create the culture that we are a part of.” - Anese Cavanaugh Anese Cavanaugh - Contagious Culture After doing work with business leaders and organizations for 15-16 years, Anese wrote the book Contagious Culture. She discovered two myths that every business leader and organization believe in. ...2018-09-1917 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionSteve Koenig – The Future of Consumer Technology and Automation | Ep. 029Steve Koenig is the Vice President of Research at the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), a US trade association for all consumer tech. Today he joins Sima Vasa to talk about the future of society with the continued rise of consumer tech, automation and AI. “I think it’s safe to say, in 2018, that technology is a mainstay of our society, whether its for work, business, or personal use. That dynamic is only going to just intensify.” - Steve Koenig Steve Koenig - Working at CTA Today, consumer tech is everything from an iPhone to a Mercedes Benz. CTA’s membership constitu...2018-09-1220 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionTuomas Syrjänen – AI, Democratizing Information | Ep. 028Tuomas Syrjänen is Chief AI Officer and Co-Founder of Futurice. Today, he sits with Sima Vasa to talk about emerging data-driven business models. He also discusses the impact of data and AI on culture and practical blockers to data and AI adoption. "We are in the middle of this kind of digital innovation culture shift where we are talking more about agile organizations." - Tuomas Syrjänen Tuomas Syrjänen - A Primer on Futurice Futurice is a 500-employee digital consultation company. They help big corporations determine their direction and undergo digital transformations. Some of their big league clients incl...2018-09-0513 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionRyan Barry – Automating the MR Process | Ep. 027Ryan Barry is the Chief Revenue Officer at Zappi. In today's episode, he sits with Sima Vasa to talk about Zappi's unique approach to innovation, how a culture of instant gratification is shaking up market research, and the exponential growth of the insights industry. “My worldview of research is it's an industry that should be growing exponentially.” - Ryan Barry Ryan Barry: A History of Zappi Zappi started four years ago when their founders realized the problem with research. People had to program surveys or wait a long time in order to gain access to potential insight. Zappi came up with...2018-08-2921 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionJoel Rubinson, Persuadables – Target Advertising Dollars Where it Counts I Ep. 026Joel Rubinson, founder of Rubinson Partners, Inc., joins former colleague Sima Vasa today. They talk about how digital analytics can be intercepted with the theory of recency to create great strategies. Joel also discusses targeted advertising, and why surveys are important to improve marketing. “There’s a need for survey because you can’t learn everything you want from digital exhaust.” - Joel Rubinson Joel Rubinson - The Persuadables In order to address the struggle of figuring out fragmentation in advertising, Joel published a white paper titled The Persuadables. Viant and Nielsen Catalian Solutions (NCS) collaborated with Joel in this groundbr...2018-08-2220 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionAllie Bohm – Navigating Privacy | Ep. 025Allie Bohm is the Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge, a non-profit advocacy organization based in Washington DC. Today, she and Sima Vasa discuss the existing privacy and consumer policies in the United States. Allie Bohm - Policy Work Expert Prior to Public Knowledge, Allie dedicated most of her time at law school. She also spent 7 years at CLU doing policy work. Now, she is working to help promote the freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. Privacy Policies in the USA In the absence of a privacy law, there are a few...2018-08-1526 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionUlli Appelbaum – First The Trousers Then The Shoes | Ep. 024Ulli Appelbaum is the founder of First the Trousers Then The Shoes, Inc. The consulting firm has been grounded by execution rather than deliverables, resonating with Ulli’s beliefs on strategies and the creative process. Today, he sits with Sima Vasa to talk about the power of extracting insights from data. Ulli Appelbaum - Advertising Ever Since Ulli’s US advertising career started 16 years ago. He has immense fascination and passion for the concept of positioning. Additionally, the knowledge of how people can influence perceptions others form fueled his drive to become successful in the field. His many experiences in adve...2018-08-0821 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionRolfe Swinton – Blockchain Unchained | Ep 023Rolfe Swinton is known as the blockchain expert. He joins Sima Vasa in this episode to talk about the potential and applications of this fundamental technology that can change the workings of the market industry. Rolfe Swinton - Promoting Blockchain Insights Rolfe has recently joined GfK where he's taken on a new role as Director of Data Assets. GfK is currently on a mission to reinvent its business and to refocus for the future of the insights industry. He is also the co-founder of IIeX's Accelerator, a new program that is helping bring new capital resources to help very early...2018-08-0144 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionTia Maurer – Data and New Product Innovation | Ep 022Tia Maurer is a Group Scientist at the Procter & Gamble Company. She sits with Sima Vasa to discuss data integrity, statistical significance, surveys and automation, and the shift to behavioral-based research methods. "Your analysis and insights is only as good as your quality of data and rarely is your data file 100% error free." - Tia Maurer Tia Maurer - Seasoned Product Researcher For more than 20 years, Tia has worked closely with Beauty Care products researchers. She specializes in consumer research and product development. She has designed, developed and piloted many emerging consumer research methodologies to fuel innovation and guide product...2018-07-2522 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionMelissa Sauter and Duncan Lawrence – Better Together the MSI and Morpace Merger | Ep. 21Melissa Sauter and Duncan Lawrence join Sima Vasa to share a bit of history of Market Strategies International (MSI) and Morpace. The two leading market research companies are combining after the acquisition by a private equity firm, STG. In today's episode, they share the separate histories of their companies and the factors leading to the merger. "We're better together. The merger was meant to be." - Duncan Lawrence Duncan Lawrence - History of Morpace Morpace was founded about 40 years ago in 1975, with a focus on automotive. Some decade and so down the road, they realized the need to broaden their f...2018-07-1845 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionJoe Catling – Relishing Data | Ep. 020Joe Catling is the Head of Analytics at Relish Research. Today he sits down with Sima Vasa to discuss marrying client or 'big' data to market research data, the challenges of doing so, and the future of advanced statistical or machine learning techniques. “What I think we're going to see is a democratization of a lot of machine learning, big data tools, which can make them more accessible for people.“ - Joe Catling on future perspectives Joe Catling - From Mathematics to Analytics Joe studied mathematics in university and eventually managed to transition into a standard research track. This enabled him...2018-07-1120 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionBrian Califano – Focusing on the Basics | Ep. 019Brian Califano is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of AcceleratngCFO. Today he joins Sima Vasa in an episode dedicated to current trends of finance and the role of data in how we budget our financial results and plan for business future. Brian Califano - CFO: A Significant Service AcceleratingCFO offers Chief Financial Officer (CFO) services for small to medium size businesses, specializing in entertainment, media, and technology industries. They assess the needs of their clients and help them come up with effective marketing strategies to bolster their businesses. The mid-market region comprises 90% of American companies. While CFO's value is apparent...2018-07-0418 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionRoddy Knowles – The Evolution of Data Collection | Ep. 018In today's episode, Sima Vasa talks with Roddy Knowles. Roddy is the Director of Product and Innovation Research at Research Now SSI. His leadership runs the machinery that leverages technology to effectively support products. Technology underpins processes by which innovation comes to fruition. This is what Roddy and his team are working to achieve. Technology Behind the Process Today, tech advancements are coupled with ways to make more efficient various research processes. This is seen from data collection to generation of reports. There’s a constant goal to make work at the back end of everything easier and quicker. As Rodd...2018-06-2619 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionSimon Chadwick – Coffee with Simon | Ep. 017Simon Chadwick is the Founder and Managing Partner of Cambiar Consulting. He and Sima Vasa discuss the shifts in the research industry and the Gen Z potential in the workplace. How different are they from the Millennials? Tune in. "If we look in the news we are constantly reminded that this is a generation that thinks rather differently ... it's much more about authenticity, much more about show me the evidence." - Simon Chadwick on gen Z’s impact on the industry Market Reseach Industry - Simon Chadwick Simon is popularly known as the rockstar of the market research industry. According to...2018-06-2015 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionHermann Kudlich – Learning Through Creativity and Fun! | Ep. 016Hermann Kudlich is a Denmark-based business development partner at LEGO Brand Group. Today, he touches base with Sima Vasa. They talk about how coming up with innovative ways to marry physical and digital experiences can be fun, albeit challenging. Physical Experience in the Digital Age For over nine years, Hermann has worked with product innovation and lean startup methods at LEGO, leading major digital initiatives and product launches. But the times have changed. In this age of advanced technology, he continues his mission to create products that will entice the traditional and tech-savvy audience. His working experience at LEGO has...2018-06-1216 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionMark Kapczynski – Yodlee Retail Insights | Ep. 006Today, Sima Vasa talks with Mark Kapczynski. Mark leads the retail and restaurant shopping insights at Yodlee. They provide connectivity between fintech companies - financial technology apps - and the data within financial institutions. Becuase of this connection, Yodlee gets to see consumer financial transactions and that translates into shopping behavior. Data Collection From this data, Yodlee can determine how many times do people go to McDonald's, how many times do they buy online or do they have a Pandora subscription. The transactions have date stamps but not timestamps. Potentially, Yodlee can get information online and offline depending on how the custo...2018-03-2800 min

Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data CollectionData Gurus Podcast with Sima Vasa Introduction | Ep. 000The world around us is changing faster than ever before. From automation, artificial intelligence, big data, geolocation to every aspect of how we work and live. This includes DATA. Welcome to the Data Gurus Podcast with Sima Vasa...our mission is to bring you a real-life perspective on what’s happening in the industry and how successful companies and individuals in this niche navigate through the sea of change. “Encouraging you to Be Bold, Be Brave and Be Fearless - Let’s navigate the Data Ecosystem together.” - Purpose of the Data Gurus Podcast with Sima Vasa About The Data Gurus Podc...2018-02-2104 min