Live Quali Research in the Age of AI: A Nostalgic Waltz or a Jam Session for Marketing Gourmets?

"Marketing is not only much broader than selling. It is not a specialized activity at all. Marketing embraces the entire business. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of its final result, that is, from the customer's point of view” – Peter Drucker

This is one of my favorite definitions of the marketing discipline because it reveals its true, very large-scale and at the same time specific essence: firstly, as a function that permeates all business processes; and secondly - a function that is the main "voice" of the customer in the company. It is marketing that is responsible for the ability of a business to see itself through the eyes of its clients

Live classic qualitative research, as a method of the closest interaction and the deepest immersion into the world of the consumer, has always been the first and extremely important step towards a business understanding its target audience. Qual research projects were conducted regularly, projects lasted relatively long, and they involved an entire marketing team. This was the case before, in the "golden era" of marketing, when the need for qualitative research was an axiom, and live communication with customers was considered an integral part of success

Lately, marketers around the world have been fascinated by the convenience of remote work, the availability of big data, and the ability to delegate their work to algorithms. And as someone who has spent my entire life engaged in live qualitative research, I have a question: isn't marketing currently losing its essence, namely - the ability to be the voice of the real consumer, a human, that complex, often unpredictable, very emotional and therefore incredibly interesting creature?.. Aren't we simplifying the function of marketing to a formal data collection and its superficial analysis?

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We live in a world that is simply drowning in data. Marketers operate with a huge amount of information, believe that algorithms contain all the answers, and are pleased with the ability of LLMs to answer quickly, concisely and clearly

In the age of AI, classic live qualitative research is perceived by many as a too slow, expensive and limited method of obtaining and analyzing information

But let's think about whether live qualitative research is really a relic of the past, a “nostalgic waltz” of old-school professionals, or whether it remains a valuable tool in the arsenal of a modern experienced marketer?

AI, of course, can provide valuable data for business, but it is not able to find non-obvious insights, which can only be noticed by a professional researcher and only through close interaction with the target audience and clients in real life. This is where the key value of live qualitative research is revealed

Imagine a jazz band. Today its participants, musicians, can be located in different countries and play together online, but the real magic happens when they meet all together somewhere in a basement bar, hug, joke, and start improvising here and now, enjoying each other, and enjoying how each of their instruments sounds live, and how the sound of all the instruments, flavored with the acoustics of the room, creates a single, such a rich and naturally harmonious audio picture

Because a jazz band or orchestra is not just the sum of the instruments. And qualitative research is not just a calculator of words, and not something that you delegated to an agency and forgot about

Qualitative research is like a jazz jam session, when the researcher together with clients, passionate about their work, curious as children and competent as experts in their field, look at the business through the prism of its perception by the target audience, think and jointly look for what will help to raise the brand to a new level

Live qualitative research is:

Not just hearing and noting down words, but also revealing their deeper meaning, subtext, capturing subtle signals, understanding unspoken needs and motivations that do not lie on the surface

Not just counting the number of likes, but an attempt to put oneself in the customers' shoes, to understand and feel them with your soul, to share insights so that they become an impetus for effective action

Not a pre-agreed questionnaire, but a continuous improvisation on a specific topic and with a specific objective. Moreover, not only the moderator improvises, but also the client's team, which is present and works closely with a researcher throughout the entire fieldwork

Not a single answer, but a multifaceted interpretation of what is heard and seen, when we discuss different points of view of the researcher, the client's team, the creative agency over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine

Not the personal vision of the researcher or the client, but team-built conclusions that helps to minimize subjectivism and leads to a deeper understanding

Not seeing the world through a monitor screen, but live interaction between people, where the moderator, on the one hand, immerses herself in the world of the consumer, and on the other, in the world of the client's team, being a kind of a mediator between these two, most often, very different worlds

Not sitting at home and talking to people on the other side of the world, but immersing oneself directly in the lives of people where they live it

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Take, for example, Ukraine - a country with a rich and unique cultural heritage, a highly complex socio-political landscape and a terrible experience of living during the war

AI not only currently poorly understands the nuances of the Ukrainian language, it is in no way able to give foreigners who do not live in Ukraine, an understanding and feeling of how Ukrainians, on the one hand, overcome the challenges of the wartime present, and on the other - use the current situation as unique opportunities

Researching Ukrainians, especially in our time, requires a human researcher who understands the historical context, is knowledgeable about Ukrainian culture; feels the subtlest nuances and shades of the language; and is able to comprehend the multidimensionality of modern realities from within, living in Ukraine among Ukrainians. And it should also be a person who is able to sympathize, empathize, support and even sometimes hug…

Summing up:

In times when most businesses succumb to the temptation to delegate the understanding of complex human nature to algorithms, "live" qualitative research should be perceived not as something from the dinosaur era, but as a smart and effective investment

Live qualitative research is not a nostalgic waltz danced by veteran qualitative researchers. It is complex modern jazz, which is understood by far not everyone, but which gives immense pleasure to both the performers and the listeners who are in the know

Shall we jam together, as in the good old days? :)

P.S. The article's collage showcases photos from some countries where we "jammed" with clients during live qualitative research sessions