Rock n' Roll Research Podcast

Brian Baecker doesn’t need 6 strings to shred, he can do it with 4. As a go-to innovation expert, Brian leads the Innovation and Market Strategy service line for Ipsos North America on the West Coast. His combination of intuition and disciplined thinking has fueled his 13-year rise at Ipsos from entry-level to Senior Vice President.As a cellist-turned-bass player, Brian has been composing, performing and recording music with family, friends, colleagues and even people he’s plucked off the sidewalk since he was a wee lad. He made the most of the pandemic by collaborating with other musicians to write and release a new album called, "Social Mixstancing.”Brian discusses his parallel journeys in insights and music and the increasing importance of collaboration in research. He also offers some intriguing choices for the music he’d want if stranded on a desert island.

A basement poker game in Corona, Queens led to Josh Kamowitz’s first career as a professional poker player. What’s surprising is how well that experience translated to a career in insights with BrainJuicer (now System1) and in media with Roku.Josh’s story was one of the foundational inspirations for this podcast. In this episode, he shares how he approached the game and managed through the stress, and what he learned about the importance of research in both poker and in business.

Diane Hessan is a successful entrepreneur, board member, researcher and best-selling author of two books, including the June 2021 release, “Our Common Ground: Insights from Four Years of Listening to American Voters.”She is the founder and Chairman of C Space, formerly Communispace, which was the first company to build online communities for market research and was ultimately sold to Omnicom.Many people are familiar with Diane’s career. Far fewer know her passion for music, and that she founded an a capella singing group, The Sound Bytes, which has done large-scale custom performances at corporate conferences.Diane discusses her origin story with C Space, her upcoming book and why she’s “always found there’s so much room for music in business.”

Measuring shopper behavior by day and diving into hairpin turns by night, Sam Albert balances a life of research and racing motorcycles with precision and dedication.Sam is the Chief Digital Office of Behaviorally, formerly PRS INVIVO, where he has grown his career from the entry-level to the c-suite.Behaviorally are pioneering experts at defining and diagnosing the behaviors that drive shopper growth. Adding a product to the shopping cart is only the tip of the iceberg. So many factors influence which product is chosen, the key is to isolate and act upon what matters.Sam applies the same discipline to racing. Success on the track depends on what you can learn and apply while off the track - data, knowledge, insight and, finally, implementing the right changes. Smart, incremental improvements can be the difference between first and second place.

Isaac Rogers is the Chief Innovation Officer at Schlesinger Group, a global leader in data collection and research services and one of the industry's most respected firms.Isaac originally came from outside the research industry. Inspired by Jim Bryson’s vision to disrupt the industry through new technology, Isaac joined 20/20 Research as a newly minted MBA with limited exposure to research. He worked his way to CEO in under 8 years and served in that capacity for 5 more when 20/20 was acquired by Schlesinger.As comfortable as he has become in this industry as a sought after innovator and thought leader, he is just as comfortable at home tending to his bee colonies. Yes, Isaac is an avid beekeeper.In this episode, Isaac shares insights on his career, the importance of speaking the language of business and what can be learned by studying the unheralded life of bees.

Who better to lead a conversational journey through the rich history of market research than Steve Cohen, co-founder of In4mation Insights? From Buck Weaver’s automobile surveys at General Motors in the 1930’s to Paul E. Green at Wharton to the modern day, Steve covers it all with distinctive insight and wit.But Steve also opens the closet, so to speak, and shares his attachment to his shoe collection, including his favorite pair of Chelsea boots, too long sitting idle through the pandemic!Steve has had a Hall of Fame career in market research with many firsts: first commercial MRer to do CBCA, first menu-based conjoint model, first paper for latent class CBCA and he introduced MaxDiff to the market.He has been awarded several of the most prestigious awards in the field for innovation, lifetime achievement and courage, yet he remains on the vanguard delivering world-class, aspirational analytics to solve his clients’ business challenges.

Priscilla McKinney is the CEO and “Momma Bird” of Little Bird Marketing, helping clients soar by creating and executing highly effective marketing plans. She is also a tireless advocate for research industry collaboration and produces an outstanding podcast, Ponderings from the Perch.If you know Priscilla, you know she is relentlessly positive, energetic and curious. But what you didn’t know is that her curiosity was seeded early while traveling throughout Spain in a childhood singing troupe with her four sisters (in matching dresses, no less!).Priscilla shares her story and offers sage advice to research firms looking to tell their own stories.

You probably know Joel Rubinson as one of the great independent thinkers in marketing and market research. His ideas on digital data and attribution, in particular, helped shape my own thinking long before we met.But do you know the Joel Rubinson who:Sings and plays harmonica and guitar in bands on the side?Threw a mean fastball as a pitcher for NYU?Ran his own sabermetric analyses long before Bill James and Moneyball?With characteristic wit, Joel shares those experiences along with his take on the power of good marketing strategy+targeting and how he spent the pandemic hitting the books. Stick around to the end for his joke about economists!While Joel has already contributed so much to the profession, the data say his best work is ahead of him. 

Susan Griffin knows the intersection of marketing and research better than anyone. She was previously CMO at System1 (formerly BrainJuicer) and today puts her hard-won experience to work for her clients as Principal at Griffin + Skeggs Collaborative.Susan shares her journey including why research firms should “think like a baker,” why she took a late-career internship and details of her side gig helping talented theater creatives with the business side of their craft. She also speaks with pride about her daughter, Emily Skeggs, who was part of the “Fun Home” cast on Broadway that won the Tony Award the year before “Hamilton.”Equal parts informative and entertaining, make sure you tune in to the end where she gets me to turn in my metal salute for jazz hands!

Ivan Rocabado’s insights career started in Santiago, Chile with Nielsen. Five more cities later, he’s the SVP, North America for RepTrak, a world leader in corporate reputation management.Ivan discusses the gutsy risks he took on himself and his convictions that led to launching a modern Nielsen HomeScan panel in Chile. His resourcefulness, determination and belief in innovation have served him well in his career, but they were cultivated as a young DJ with an armful of records in his native Santiago.I have learned much from Ivan about telling data-supported stories that lead to winning business outcomes. He shares his fascinating journey and insights along the way on this podcast.