During the recent ESOMAR Insights Festival the inaugural winner of the Global Research Got Talent competition was announced. The joint initiative centres around young researchers using market research to support NGOs and Charities in their local community to address meaningful social issues. For this first edition, the global ESOMAR and the ESOMAR Foundation joined hands with the Australian Association of Market and Social Research Organisations; the Peruvian Association of Market Research Companies; the Online Market Intelligence in Russia; with SIMAR, the market research association of Czech Republic and the Market Research Society of India.
After extremely successful pilot competitions in India and Hong Kong, this year was the first time we have brought this initiative to the global stage, this absolutely could not have happened without the logistical coordination and organisation of the above mentioned local Associations and their partners. After rigorous local competitions a winner team was selected from each participating country.
The winners of the local competitions competed in the global stage of the initiative. In the finals we had projects competing from all corners of the world which covered a multitude of social issues. The research project themes included assisting migrants and refugees in Russia, participation of young people in the Czech society, diversity and inclusion of the LGBTI community in Peru, holistic development of underprivileged children in Indian society and combating loneliness for elderly Australians in the face of COVID-19.
It was a great opportunity to learn more about how NGOs and Charities carry out their daily work and how they achieve their goals; it is slightly more rare for the community to hear about how actionable insights resulting from research can benefit a very wide range of stakeholders and add value to our societies.
The entries were extremely valuable and the final stage of the competition was a close-run affair. The global winner of the Global Research Got Talent competition was selected MediaCom Knowledge Team Russia composed of Anna Medvedkova & Olga Kotelnikova and Anna Makarova, Elena Onischenko, Alexander Matushko and Ilgiz Haziev.
Warm Congratulations to the winners of the Local Competitions:
Alfredo Valencia, Ipsos, & Luis Ramos, Universidad Catolica de Peru, Peru,
Stephanie Perry, Ipsos, Australia
Martin Řípa, Tereza Rösslerová & Vít Pavliš, NMS Market Research, Czech Republic
Karan Sabnis, Kantar, India
The jury for this global stage of the competition was comprised of experts from the Associations Executive Committee: Philippe Guilbert (Syntec Conseil), John Tabone (Canadian Research Insights Council), Reg Baker (ESOMAR North America ambassador), Dominique Servant (Chair of the Associations Executive Committee), John Smurthwaite (ESOMAR APAC Ambassador), Patricio Pagani (SAIMO – Sociedad Argentina de Investigadores de Marketing u Opinión), Pravin Shekar (MRSI – Market Research Society of India), Chris Farquhar (MRSHK – Marketing Research Society Hong Kong).
Together with our partners we hope that through this competition we can offer a global voice to all those charities and NGOs that do a tremendous job on the ground. We want to celebrate & promote greater use of good market research, in making a difference.