Rock n' Roll Research Podcast

Dave McCaughan has long been a leading light on all things brand strategy, research and insights in Asia, having spent nearly 30 years in strategic planning and executive roles at McCann Worldwide all over the region. He has also long given his time back to the research industry through associations like ESOMAR and Greenbook among others. Dave shares his journey from children’s storyteller to adve...

Aryn O’Donnell is VP of Corporate Services at Fieldwork, known by many to be one of the most trustworthy and engaged qualitative research partners in the industry. But what many people don’t know about Aryn is that the first paycheck she ever drew was for a role she played in musical theater. Aryn and I discuss her theater days, the value of backroom focus group interactions and how AI frees peopl...

Steve Portigal of Portigal Consulting has been doing User Research since the days our software all came in a box. He has written a seminal book on the topic, “Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights,” recently released in a 2nd edition available through Rosenfeld Media. Steve shares his journey from the nascent years of user research through today and his take on where user research...

It was in college where Travis Miller first made an impact with research by helping the city of Thousand Oaks, CA design a new mall expansion. With an introduction like that, it is no wonder Travis pursued a career in market research. Travis started his career with JD Power and today is VP, North America sales for PureSpectrum, a GRIT Top 50 insights innovator and member of the Deloitte Fast 500 s...

Brian Zimmerman is an expert at one of the toughest roles in the research industry: prospecting and business development for research suppliers. Companies in insights really struggle with this and Brian steps in and fills that gap. The music bug bit Brian early when his grandfather introduced him to guitar at age 3. Music has been a constant passion throughout his life, and he keeps guitars throug...

Joe Emery started on the bottom rung of a political consulting firm when he was hired as a runner right out of school. He learned from some of the greats like Mark McKinnon, host of Showtime’s ‘The Circus,’ and famed political commentator, Paul Begala, before founding his own firm in 2020, Emery Research, where he focuses on insights supporting communication, branding and policy issues.   And whil...

You probably know Eric Hall from his career as an insights and category management expert, currently with Boehringer Ingelheim, the world’s largest privately held pharmaceutical firm, and previously with companies like Allergan, Coors, Kellogg’s and Nestle. But do you know that Eric is an Instagram influencer with corporate sponsorships and a die-hard community of nearly 200K followers? Probably n...

For this special 100th Episode of the Rock n’ Roll Research Podcast, I go mano-a-mano with Leigh Kessler, VP of Mercury Analytics, former professional comedian and current country singer.  Leigh and I each perform the classic, “Angel from Montgomery” by John Prine – who did it better? A quantitative gen pop audience of dial-testers renders their verdict! Leigh also applies Mercury Analytics’ cool...

Kory Grushka is the Founder of Stories Bureau, a really cool B2B creative agency that, among other things, helps insights teams make their data come to life and influence decision-making through effective storytelling. You may be surprised to learn the profession that Kory came from and how it made him uniquely qualified to help researchers tell better stories. It all made sense to me after this c...

I’m BACK! Your humble host’s brief pause provided plenty of time to dig into Pepper Miller’s brilliant book on Black insights, “Let Me Explain Black Again,” from Paramount Market Publishing. I gained so much from this book that I had to reach out and learn more. Pepper is a true pioneer when it comes to helping brands understand and connect with Black America. After starting her career in advertis...

Angelo Pierro founded his consultancy, Strategy by Insight, in 2021 after 20 years at Research Dynamics acquired by GfK acquired by Ipsos. He is now using his deep experience in big company leadership, marketing and business development to advise his clients in sales effectiveness and strategy.  Angelo and I occasionally worked closely together while he was running GfK Canada around 2011-2016. We...

Over the past 16 years, Annie McDannald has risen through the ranks at Civicom to her current role as Global VP of Marketing Research Services. Chances are you’ve used Civicom at some point for their myriad of useful technologies and services supporting the market research process. What you might not know is Annie has been a performer since a young age - from supporting the family’s carnival puppe...

Rob Volpe left a successful career in promotional marketing, got a certification from RIVA and found his calling as a qualitative researcher. In 2011, he founded a thriving insights consultancy, Ignite 360, on the principles of curiosity and empathy. Through his personal experiences, activism and engagement with people and customers, Rob learned how empathy can be a powerful force for good yet is,...

Torsten Mueller-Klockmann is the Marketing Science Lead for the DACH region at Meta where he has been for the past 7 years. Before Meta, Torsten was an entrepreneur and pioneer in the user experience research tech space having founded SirValUse which was purchased and integrated into GfK. That’s not all, though. Torsten was a shredding guitar player in a band called The Crunch who played their bra...

If you watched VH1's "Best Week Ever," The WB, Discovery or CNN in the aughts, you might know Leigh Kessler from his hilarious pop culture commentary. Or you might know Leigh as the VP of Client Solutions for Mercury Analytics, an insights agency developing and employing cutting-edge research technology. Leigh shares his improbable path from comedian to researcher, the necessity of...

Chris Connolly has one of those great stories of starting in research as a phone interviewer and steadily expanding his career over time. Today he is Vice President at the Logit Group, one of the very best research execution companies when it comes to cutting-edge, efficient and reliable operational support. He also has a great story of becoming a lifelong jobbing musician (a REALLY good one, too!...

I recently saw Nancy Cox’s article in Quirk’s about Frankie Lipinski’s roller derby exploits and I just had to learn more! Frankie (she/they) is an Insights Analyst at Escalent, one of the best data analytics/insight advisory firms in the business. She is also a proud grad of the prestigious MSMR program at Michigan State. On top of that, she skates for the Chicago-Style Roller Derby Team, a passi...

Guitarists know Marc Huzansky as the co-host of the YouTube show, Tone-Talk. With over 22K subscribers, a partner like David Friedman from Friedman Amplification and guests from bands like Pantera, Stone Temple Pilots, Jane’s Addiction, Ozzy Osbourne, Toto and many others, it has become quite successful in its own right. Researchers know Marc as a long-time expert in healthcare research as VP at C...

You probably know Eric Dolan as the Director, Consumer Business & Intelligence for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health helping drive global strategy for iconic brands like Listerine, Neutrogena and Band-Aid. He’s also ex-P&G and a proud grad of the University of Wisconsin’s revered MBA program which has trained many a senior leader in marketing, insights and analytics. You may not know t...

Anh Tran is a grad student in the University of Texas at Arlington MSMR program graduating in May. Hers is one of the fresh voices of sharp, creative researchers who will steward the next chapter of the insights industry.  Anh has long cultivated her considerable skill as a photographer. Her penchant for careful observation, empathy and curiosity serve her well in both her research and creative en...

Growing up near NYC in Maplewood, New Jersey, Joel Primer initially eschewed the academic route of his parents and brother and decided to rock n’ roll. He was playing in bands from middle school onward, and he even played with Nick Clemons and his father, Clarence Clemons, from Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. Seeking a more stable life in his early 30s, Joel found the world of market research....

Luke Kulik is Sr. Director of Sales at marketing and insights platform company, Prodege, who are particularly adept at fusing data sources in clever and powerful ways. Knowing that, it’s not hard to see how Luke found his way to the company. Luke plays many instruments like piano, guitar, saxophone and drums. But also the sitar, the bansuri and the bouzouki among others. His current musical passio...

We invite Emmanuel Probst from Ipsos back to the Rock n’ Roll Research Podcast to discuss his latest book, Assemblage: The Art and Science of Brand Transformation.  Emmanuel and I go deep into a few concepts from the book and revisit his ‘desert island disc’ choices from Episode #55. This is the first episode of the Rock n’ Roll Research Podcast with the “Open Mic” format. Enjoy! \m/ \m/

I first met Bohb Blair at an epic Motörhead show in Chicago in 2009. Fast forward and today Bohb is the CMO of the iconic Jones Soda and the Chief Brand Officer of its cannabis expansion, Mary Jones Cannabis.  Bohb’s first career was in music. After quitting his job as tour manager for Urge Overkill’s Nash Kato, he landed an ad agency gig supporting an on-premise branding program. He bounced up th...

Angela Quinn is a visible and recognizable face in the world of market research. She is a regular at Insights Association conferences and ubiquitous on LinkedIn. She has also been a vocal and passionate advocate for ensuring diverse voices are heard and understood both within the research industry and in the context of the studies we conduct. You may be surprised to know she is a relative newcomer...