Rock n' Roll Research Podcast

Don Simons is CEO, Insights of the advertising, technology and data firm, Big Village, a highly innovative Top 50 insights firm that you may know as Engine prior to their rebranding. With Big Village, Don is helping lead the industry charge toward linking insights to activation to produce meaningful, commercial results.But did you know that, over 30 years ago, Don saw a relatively unknown band at the time, Pearl Jam, open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and he has been a super fan ever since?In this episode, Don shares his vision for where the insights industry is headed and how Big Village is meeting the challenge. He also shares his origin story in research, what companies can learn from Pearl Jam about the customer experience and which media he turns to in his precious spare time.

Jon Giegengack knows entertainment as well as anyone. Ten years ago, he founded Hub Entertainment Research delivering expert consulting and insight on the world of TV, movies, gaming, music, sports and events. By night, he is the frontman for an outstanding, New England-based country rock cover band called Whiskey Horse (whiskeyhorse.com). Jon shares his perspective on how to make sense of the complexities of entertainment’s digital transformation. He also discusses his decision to become an entrepreneur at 40, learning to play guitar from YouTube and why appreciation for the art of TV, movies and gaming is critical to effecting change through insights.

Katie Macdonald is an Enterprise Sales Director for Fuel Cycle, an innovative insights technology company that is part of the GRIT Top 50 Innovators and the Inc 5000. After starting her career in advertising, she found her way to GutCheck and was there through a period of tremendous growth. She has been in the research space ever since.Her story starts in small town Iowa where, as a kid, she helped support her family’s myriad small enterprises from selling handmade art on QVC to a home-based tea room and gift shop to a restaurant downtown. Katie shares her unique story, how it has informed her career in insights and her take on how democratization and generational shifts are impacting how research gets done.

David Yin is unquestionably driven by purpose. Today he leads the consumer business for Labcorp, a company focusing every day on making people healthier including playing a critical role in advancing COVID PCR testing.David didn’t begin or end in insights, but his commitment to making ‘focusing on the customer’ the cornerstone of his expertise has led him to some of the best roles in insights and laid a solid foundation for greater responsibility.As an intern at Merck, David worked on the HIV vaccine program. As a product developer with Clorox, he developed new and better products to make consumers’ lives better. His passion for consumers led him to research roles with Clorox and Avon where he honed his expertise, leading to unique opportunities creating new insights functions for Eventbrite, Fitbit and Ancestry. In this podcast, David shares his thoughts on the problem with the ‘customer journey,’ what constitutes an ‘insight,’ and why credible research relies upon getting back to the fundamentals and rigor of the discipline. He also dishes on which 3 records he would want to keep him company on a desert island.

Hannah Taphorn is a Sr. Scientist, Information Research and Analysis at the great consumer goods company, Procter & Gamble. Her assignments require her to find, evaluate and make sense of global data sources to deliver credible, evidence-based answers to the myriad questions that come her way.Hannah didn’t join P&G directly out of school. She took an unconventional path that perfectly prepared her for her role, spending seven years of increasing responsibility doing research and strategy in support of regional economic development with REDI Cincinnati. Dare I say she has played her own part in the recent renaissance of the city.We discuss Hannah’s journey, including all the family photo albums she’s graced (likely my own!) as a face painter at the Cincinnati Zoo, and the central role she played organizing the legendary Cincinnati Northside parade.

Neil James is an accomplished Director of Research at Solve Advertising and Branding in Minneapolis, a two-time winner of AdAge’s Small Agency of the Year. With clients as varied as Porsche, Rust-Oleum and Goodwill Easter Seals, it is no surprise their team is just as intriguing.Concurrent to taking a winding path that led to a career in market research, Neil has released 4+ albums and played countless shows in a shredding Twin Cities metal band called Cwn Annwn (look them up on Bandcamp!).Neil traces his career path from philosophy grad to commissioned sales to strategy and research. He shares his lessons learned along the way, thoughts on research democratization and, of course, his journey through music and metal.

Expertise requires more than just putting in the time, it requires being very intentional about what you choose to practice and learn. That’s true whether learning an instrument or an intellectual discipline.Leona Nadj is currently a Market Research Manager at Intel, inventor of the microprocessor and one of the world’s largest and most innovative tech companies. Leona has applied the same level of discipline  in her research career as she did in becoming a successful, professional violinist playing at Carnegie Hall, in top Broadway shows and more.Leona shares her journey from Croatia to New York City to Arizona, from music to microprocessors and research with some fun stories and hard-won lessons along the way. 

By day, Mireya Arteaga is Lead Customer Researcher in CX Research and Strategy at GoDaddy (where this podcast is one of over 20 million happy customers). As a researcher she is thoughtful, measured, insightful and “professionally nosy.”But as a self-described risk averse person, you might be surprised to learn Mireya’s story. From finishing her degree as a single parent at age 30, to becoming a trained amateur formula race car driver, to starting her own insights company (human-stories.com) to learning to play the drums, Mireya isn’t one to shy away from tackling new challenges.Mireya discusses her journey in research, her long-time appreciation for Ringo Starr and how societal shifts towards inclusivity are fundamentally changing the practice of research.

When Tron Smith joined Suzy in 2020, she was stepping not just into a new company but a new industry. The market research learning curve can be steep and the esoterica daunting.To meet the challenge, Tron found a mentor. She became involved in the Insights Association and joined the Board. She has embraced the insights industry and is helping to make it better. She has rapidly become a valued contributor to Suzy’s explosive growth as one of the most disruptive and buzzworthy companies in the industry.Tron discusses her journey and dishes on her passion project, an LLC delivering staging services to AirBnB hosts. She also shares her fresh and honest observations of the insights industry, her love for Judge Judy and the music she’d choose if stranded on a deserted island.

Larry Cheng was a mechanical engineer working to design a new baby stroller when he nearly tipped his own child out of a stroller at the airport. It changed his conception of the problem from one rooted in a series of calculations to one much more human-centered.Since that time, research has played a part in all of Larry’s roles from designer and project lead at IDEO, to experience design, strategy and innovation at Intuit and, currently, design research and insights within Intuit’s Small Business & Self-Employed Group.Larry discusses his journey and the role that creativity and curiosity have played throughout, including his days as lead vocalist of a really cool punk rock band in college called The Skullmen. He shares how “Design for Delight” drew him to Intuit and offers his take on the dynamics of doing user experience research in the world of digital products.