Bringing you innovative performance marketing and
real-time digital shopper insights.

SIVO strives to be on the forefront of new technology and innovations in the insights industry. That is how we discovered Pear Commerce, a brilliant technology company that is on-pace to be the largest provider of shoppable media by the end of 2022! 

In 2018, Pear Commerce was founded by two talented serial tech entrepreneurs, Eric Martell and Alex Wyler, bringing their tech expertise to the world of retail.   

What is Shoppable Media? 

Shoppable media in retail means connecting any media (e.g. free and paid social, digital display, content, influencer, email, owned webpages, etc) to retailers with add-to-cart (ATC) functionality that is just “a click away”.

What are the benefits to Consumers?

Pear provides an industry-leading technology making shoppers online path to purchase frictionless which has been a leading reservation for consumers to shop online. Whether through a digital ad or your brand’s website, Pear uniquely gives consumers a “where to buy” choice, based on real time stock inventory checks and connects them to over 2,000 retail chains across the U.S. That is a clear point of difference.

What are the benefits to Marketing Teams?

A unique way-in to performance marketing. This revolution of advanced technology provides more data and less work for brand teams with real results. At the foundation, Pear provides full funnel click-to-conversion data which improves digital marketing performance while campaigns are in-market. They help marketers with: 

• Real-Time dashboard access for in-flight media optimizations 
• Retargeting & lookalike audiences built and pushed to ad networks; made from each step of the conversion funnel (page loads, add-to-cart, purchase) 
• Solving for distribution issues: Covid shifts, inventory/supply chain, availability, etc. by optimizing for retailer out-of-stocks across retailer locations 

What are the benefits to Insights Teams?

At this point you might be thinking, “That’s great, but isn’t SIVO an insights company?”  The answer is, “Yes!”  SIVO is all about understanding people and in this case, Pear’s technology helps SIVO and our clients better understand consumer preferences and consumers’ digital shopping behavior through real-time, in-market experimentation, such as: 

• Digital ad effectiveness via A/B testing of multiple campaign variables  
• Early new product post-launch feedback 
• Product attribute preferences, such as, flavors, pack sizes, package forms  
• Retailer and regional product sales strengths and gaps 
• Digital shopper path to purchase mapping, from ad engagement to add-to-cart, to sale 

As an example, Pear was able to help a CPG client create a data-driven approach to managing their digital marketing campaigns while also helping them to understand and optimize the plan based on shopper and retailer behavior.

The results were fantastic!  Pear created custom audiences for the brand using the client’s own 1^st party conversion data and saw 5x add-to-cart (ATC) rates compared to 3^rd party audiences and 20x ATC rates compared to the client’s website visitor audience. During the process, Pear scanned over 2,000 retailer’s digital shelves for real-time inventory to help shoppers purchase at their retailer of choice while also helping them avoid hitting out-of-stocks. The client also received valuable digital path to purchase insights and A/B testing results on different creative options to help optimize their digital campaign along the way. 

Through our partnership with Pear Commerce, SIVO can now help you achieve strong digital marketing results and new insights via performance marketing and real-time digital experimentation. To learn more about Pear Commerce and SIVO Market Intelligence solutions, please contact our SIVO team at Contact@SIVOInsights.com.   

Every business has customers, but how well they know their customers is another question. In a recent Harvard Business Review blog, Peter Merholz explains that many large companies lose that vital interaction with their customers as their business begins to grow.

“Business cannot exist without customers, so it’s sadly ironic that many, if not most, businesses, actually understand so little about them,” says Merholz. “In order to become customer experience-driven, you need to go beyond who your customers are, and understand what they do.”

While it may feel tempting to place your customers into simple, definable categories, Merholz urges companies to dig deeper and understand their customers as real people living in a messy, complicated world.  What does that mean for your company? It means going beyond the high-level data and seeking to understand and appreciate your customer’s behavior and true motivation.

Trending

Do customers want to ‘hire’ your product?

Through SIVO On Demand Talent or with SIVO custom qualitative research, our clients uncover the underlying motivations behind their customer’s unique behavior. With SIVO On Demand Talent, we have storytellers who mine existing research to bring our clients’ customers to life. And, we ensure the next phase of research fills a customer knowledge gap, extending our clients’ research budgets. With SIVO custom research, our clients tap into valuable customer insights through approaches like In-Store Intercepts, Shop-Alongs, and Ethnographic research,  to gain clear, in-depth analysis of their customer in the context of their daily lives.

How well do you know your customer? Maybe it’s time to take a deeper look…

Contact us at Contact@SIVOInsights.com for more information and next steps.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing industries, and marketing research is no exception. In the field of innovation, AI isn’t just a tool—it’s a transformative force. As market researchers strive to speed up timelines, generate breakthrough insights, and stay ahead of consumer trends, AI offers new opportunities. At SIVO, we believe in exploring AI’s strategic potential, balancing excitement with careful consideration of its limitations and practical applications.  

AI’s Advantages in the Innovation Process: Speed, Cost, and Quality

AI offers unparalleled efficiency across all phases of innovation. For example, traditional brainstorming sessions might yield a few dozen ideas over several hours, but AI-driven generation tools can produce hundreds of concepts in minutes. Models like ChatGPT can produce ideas 200 times faster than humans, feeding researchers more possibilities and compressing the innovation cycle, enabling faster decision-making.

AI also delivers significant cost savings. Research shows that organizations using AI for innovation can reduce costs by as much as 85% through the automation of “front-end” work streams such as data analysis, ideation, and concept validation. By minimizing the manual labor required, AI allows companies to reallocate resources toward high-value strategic efforts without sacrificing quality.

And it’s not just about speed and cost - AI excels in generating high-quality ideas. Studies suggest that AI-powered ideation rivals, and sometimes surpasses, human creativity. AI isn’t just capable of producing novel ideas but is also highly effective in generating nuanced originality. Furthermore, the emerging field of synthetic testing allows AI to simulate human consumer sentiment, attitudes, and behaviors, enabling iterative, real-time refinement during the ideation phase.

Key Applications for Innovation Insights Work Streams

AI offers powerful tools for businesses throughout the innovation funnel, from discovery to launch. At SIVO, we’re particularly intrigued by AI’s role in the “front end” of innovation and the growing potential of synthetic validation. Key areas include:

• Trend-Watching and Market Analysis: AI tools can scan vast datasets to detect emerging trends, helping businesses capitalize on opportunities early. This capacity allows AI to uncover patterns and insights that humans might miss, all at unprecedented speeds. With AI, businesses can shift from limited market understanding to robust assessments in a matter of hours, rather than weeks.
  
• Idea Generation: AI pushes the boundaries of human creativity, generating diverse, contextually conscious ideas based on vast amounts of structured and unstructured data. Its objective nature helps overcome creative blocks and organizational inertia, allowing for breakthrough concepts that transcend traditional human limitations.
  
• Simulated Consumer Testing: AI’s ability to simulate consumer responses via synthetic personas is transforming how researchers test products and services. Synthetic testing models mimic real-world consumer feedback at scale, significantly reducing the reliance on traditional, resource-intensive field testing. It’s important to recognize that synthetic data isn’t “fake”—it’s a machine-assisted way to process existing public and proprietary data to quickly generate valuable insights.

AI is reshaping innovation research. Thoughtful adoption of these tools is essential for businesses that want to remain competitive in today’s rapidly evolving marketplace.

Challenges and Watchouts:
The Importance of Oversight in AI-Supported Innovation

While AI offers immense potential, it also presents important challenges:

• Bias in AI Models: AI tools are only as good as the data they’re trained on. If the data contains biases or is incomplete, the resulting insights can be skewed. Ethical considerations and human oversight are essential to ensure that AI-generated insights are accurate, reliable, and free from bias.
  
• AI Hallucinations: Sometimes, AI can produce ideas that seem plausible but lack real-world applicability. These “hallucinations” can mislead the conclusions if not properly filtered. Human intervention is key to distinguishing between useful creativity and impractical output.
  
• Synthetic Data Limitations: AI-generated synthetic data may not always capture the complexity of human behavior. It can replicate biases from original datasets and miss outlier insights, leading to incomplete conclusions. Blending synthetic data with traditional qualitative and quantitative research methods provides more reliable results.

In a field where accuracy and context are critical, these limitations must be accounted for. AI should not replace human creativity and research expertise but should instead serve as a collaborative partner that enhances researchers’ ability to innovate more efficiently and comprehensively.

Strategic Integration of AI for Innovation: A Balanced Approach

To successfully integrate AI into your innovation process, it’s important to narrow your focus. Identify the areas where AI can deliver the most value—whether in trend analysis, ideation, or simulated consumer testing. From there, begin experimenting with AI in those areas to build trust and familiarity.

For those hesitant to fully embrace AI, running parallel testing alongside human-led research can be a great starting point. This approach allows teams to compare AI-generated insights with traditional methods, building confidence in AI’s capabilities while reducing risk. Alternatively, AI can be applied to lower-profile projects first, allowing teams to rehearse its application and refine their approach as they gain experience.

The key is to strike a balance—lean into focused, mindful use of AI to reap its benefits and stay competitive without feeling the need to chase every new use case. AI should be applied where it truly adds value and enhances the innovation process.

SIVO: Your Partner in AI-Enhanced Innovation

At SIVO, we’re actively experimenting with AI tools and exploring AI’s potential to transform how market research supports your new product innovation needs. We see AI as a powerful tool to accelerate processes and enhance creativity, and advocate for a stepwise, cautious approach. We’re eager to guide clients through proof-of-concept tests, blending AI’s scientific power with the art of human-driven insight application, which remains at the core of our work.

If you’re ready to experiment with AI and enhance your innovation process, contact us at Contact@SIVOInsights.com or visit SIVOInsights.com today to schedule a discovery call.  

Let’s navigate the future together! 

Be consumer first. Don’t be consumer only. Powerful words by leading Insights executive, Khary Campbell, VP of Consumer Research & Insights at Comcast.

https://youtu.be/xJSQO7VSw5Q

During a recent SIVO Insights Forum, Khary shared the importance of considering the implications of all functions. After all, every function is working in orchestra of the business.

Click here for a lively on-demand conversation “Bridging The Gap: Translating Insights Into Meaningful Business Results" to hear from Khary and other Insights experts including Eliana Whanon (General Mills, VP of Consumer & Market Insights) and Elizabeth Oates (Book Author, and former Ulta Beauty VP of Consumer Insights.) 

Learn from Insights leaders as they discuss: 

• The critical role Insights plays in shaping strategic business decisions
• Strategies and tactics to ensure Insights are acted upon 
• How to navigate leadership that is reluctant to follow Insights’ guidance 
• How to build trust and credibility with senior leaders
• The evolution of Insights roles in the future 
• How to make a bigger impact within your organization 

Thank you to Natasha Weith, VP of Research at SIVO Inc. for hosting The SIVO Insights Forum!