The ARF Young Pros 2022 Meet-Up Program introduces Young Pros to industry leaders and fellow research professionals in an environment built for networking. At this event, Suzy Davidkhanian, Head of Retail & Ecommerce Practice & Principal Analyst, Insider Intelligence gave us a glimpse into her career, talked successes and challenges, and shared tips specifically for Young Pros.
On August 2, 2022, mentors and mentees attended a Mentorship Program Launch event with Neha Bhargava –Advertising Research Director at Meta, and Annabel Jack – Founder at Mentor for Growth, who shared best practices about how to make the most out of your mentorship experience. Then Jamie Thomas – Co-Founder of Cophi, explained the methodology behind the values survey and how and why pairs were matched.
In this Fireside Chat session, Young Pros Advisory Board member Megan O’Brien, Sr. Research Analyst, Omnicom Media Group, had an insightful discussion with Mary Sheehan, Head of Lightroom Product Marketing, Adobe. Mary shared her expert career knowledge with attendees about navigating their career journey and strategizing for 2023. Mary is an author and expert in career strategy, marketing, leadership, and workforce development. Mary shared how she specifically navigated her career and how other young professionals can use her insights of managing teams, deadlines, career development, and goal setting to navigate their careers. Mary has so much profound knowledge that she recently released a new book, “Product Launches” which is now an Amazon best seller.
On May 18th, 2023, ARF Young Pros met to discuss how generational differences can affect behavioural preferences and tendencies in the workplace. Multigenerational teams are the new normal with at least four generations in the workforce today. Age correlates less and less with expertise and authority and the need for effective collaboration across generations is therefore more valuable than ever.
The June 13th Women in Analytics virtual event consisted of two parts: 1) The rebroadcast of the “Courageous Career Moments: Overcome Fears and Bet on Yourself” recording originally held as an in-person breakfast at AUDIENCExSCIENCE. The panel included Aarti Bhaskaran, Global Lead, Ad Research & Insights, Snap Inc., LaToya Christian, Managing Partner, GroupM, Colleen Funkey, VP, Consumer Insights, The Estée Lauder Companies, Renata Policicio, SVP, Research, Direct to Consumer and Streaming, Warner Bros. Discovery and was moderated by Mary Ann Packo, Senior Partner, Hypothesis Group. 2) The second part of this event was a live panel discussion which included Aarti Bhaskaran, Global Lead, Ad Research & Insights, Snap Inc., LaToya Christian, Managing Partner, GroupM, Divya Kaur, VP, Marketing Science for Kinesso, Siani Kiyonaga, Product Strategy, Senior Manager for Toyota Financial Services and was moderated by Mary Ann Packo, Senior Partner, Hypothesis Group.
Member Only AccessFor this event, the Organizational Working Group within the Analytics Council conducted a follow-up survey to its May survey on the Great Resignation. Once again, the Working Group partnered with Dynata on this survey. For this round, questions were added on job satisfaction, return to office, company culture, and the role of corporate social responsibility. Steve Millman of Dynata, who chairs the Working Group, reported on the results at this event. Michael Butts, CEO of executive recruiting firm Burtch Works, also reported on surveys of its database of analytics and insights professionals. The presentations were followed by a discussion on workplace trends and issues in our industries with Millman, Butts, and three other executives on the front lines of recruitment and talent management in advertising and research:
The discussion was moderated by the ARF’s Chief Research Officer, Paul Donato. Millman’s presentation compared the respondents who said that they worked in advertising, advertising technology, media, or market research (“Our industries”) to those employed in other industries (“Industries”). The answer to the question posed in the title is undeniably “Yes” for both those in our industry and outside, according to just about every measure collected in the survey. However, substantially more employees in our industries reported being contacted for recruiting efforts than others. They also tended to be more responsive to such efforts. See below for more details on the survey results and subsequent conversation.
We’ve all heard about the growing use of artificial intelligence in advertising research and doom and gloom predictions that it will knock out jobs, but is this really the case? Agency leaders joined us for an ARF Town Hall to discuss the upsides and possible downsides of generative AI, as well as how they’re utilizing it in their businesses to boost efficiency. Attendees heard predictions on how AI will change the business model of advertising and what it could mean for media agencies.
The winner of the 2023 Erwin Ephron Demystification Award is Artie Bulgrin, veteran ESPN researcher, and a friend and mentee of Erwin Ephron himself. This lifetime achievement award is part of the overall ARF Great Mind Awards program, which celebrates those in media or advertising research who demonstrate outstanding business acumen. Duane Varan, the 2022 award winner, CEO, MediaScience, introduced Artie. Duane hailed his colleague’s unparalleled approach to collaboration, saying Artie was instrumental in the creation of Project Blueprint, the Disney Media & Advertising Lab, research on new ad formats and even mobile when it was new. Over the years, he has also mentored several research professionals, many who are operating in the industry today.
On May 18th, 2023, ARF Young Pros met to discuss how generational differences can affect behavioural preferences and tendencies in the workplace. Multigenerational teams are the new normal with at least four generations in the workforce today. Age correlates less and less with expertise and authority and the need for effective collaboration across generations is therefore more valuable than ever.
Member Only Access