Transforming Insight Podcast

Episode 71: Nurturing partner relationships

Episode Summary

Welcome to episode 71, the second of season 10, and we’re continuing our focus on the 4th P of the Insight Leader’s Playbook – P for partnerships. James is joined by two fabulous guests: • Ruth Hinton, Insight leader at Vue Cinemas and also Chair of AURA, the UK-based volunteer-led organisation, that was originally the Association of Users of Research Agencies • James Endersby, CEO of international Insight agency, Opinium, founder of Significant Insights, and current president of the Market Research Society (MRS)

Episode Notes

In our conversation, we look at the busy workload of both client-side Insight teams and market research agencies, and the empathy that the best of each demonstrate for the other. This includes the well-being of all concerned in the research process, and steps we can all take to help each other.

Central to the discussion is AURA's Working Well Together charter, which has been designed to foster healthier, thriving collaborations. Ruth talks about the 6 principles enshrined within the charter, and James E. gives his perspective on the principles that agencies think most important and those that he would like us to prioritise.

Do agencies receive all the information that they would like when making proposals for new projects? Do Insight teams themselves always know the full commercial and strategic context surrounding the business issues? How can we take time to share feedback at key moments in the research process?

We couldn’t finish our conversation, looking ahead. Will generative AI prompt changes in the mix between agency work and in-house research? And how can we all place the emphasis on building great relationships that James and Ruth both see as so critical?

Please listen to find out more!

Topics Discussed

Strengthening client-agency partnerships in Insight teams (02:46)
Importance of agency collaboration in projects (11:50)
Maximising stakeholder involvement for Insight (17:01)
Future of client-agency partnerships and AI (24:51)
The development of corporate and agency Insight teams (28:02)

Highlights

“The topic of wellbeing and mental health more broadly in the UK sector: research that was done by the MRS a few years ago showed that there are high levels of poor mental health and examples of stress and a lot of that comes from the interface between clients and agencies.” (04:12)
“Over time, as that relationship grows and you get to know their business better, that just becomes even easier and easier and easier, and you know so much more anyway. But it really is essential to give as much information as possible.” (15.34)
“In AURA’s webinar about procurement, we had an expert who specialises in marketing services who absolutely acknowledges that research is not widgets and you can't put out a request for proposals and assess it in the same way in which you could assess buying something physical for your business or buying a commodity for your business.” (22.35)
“We do all need to be mindful of training needs for our people on both sides. Training needs, perhaps on the client-side, of communication and championing insights inside the organisation, so that those conversations are very easy to get the briefs that we've been talking about, because all the stakeholders are fully aware of what's needed and what's required and how important it is.” (28.02)

This is episode 71 of the Transforming Insight podcast.

If you have the ambition to transform your Insight team and the role it plays in your organisation, please tune in to future episodes. Not only will we explore the secrets of successful corporate Insight teams and their leaders, as outlined in James Wycherley’s books, Transforming Insight and The Insight Leader’s Playbook, we will also talk to senior corporate Insight leaders, delve into books that have inspired us, and discuss new best practice research carried out with the IMA’s corporate members.

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About James Wycherley, the author of Transforming Insight

James Wycherley was Director of Customer Insight and Analytics at Barclays Bank from 2005 to 2015 when he became Chief Executive of the Insight Management Academy (IMA).

He published his first book, Transforming Insight, in 2020, and his second, The Insight Leader’s Playbook, in 2025, and he hosts the Insight forums and the Transforming Insight podcast.

An entertaining keynote speaker, he has presented over 50 times at Quirk’s events, a global record, and has provided thought leadership in the UK, USA, Europe, Canada, Australia, India and the Middle East.

The Insight Management Academy is the world’s leading authority on transforming corporate Insight teams, and its vision is to inspire and support every Insight leader to transform the impact of Insight in their organisation.

Resources:

If you would like more information on any of the ideas discussed in this episode of the Transforming Insight podcast, please visit www.insight-management.org

Disclaimer

The Transforming Insight podcast is published by the Insight Management Academy and produced by Zorbiant.