On Thursday 8th October, the annual MRS &more conference took place in a virtual setting for the first time. After a brief introduction from Jennifer Roberton, the first presentation began, launching what would be a hugely interesting and enlightening few hours, particularly for new researchers!
Mark Nichols, our newest Research Executive at Tapestry, had the pleasure of attending which was a great introduction into what the industry involves and entails. Here’s his top highlights of the day:
- Leanne and Susanna from Mediacom spoke about women’s football, and how advertisers are largely unaware of the fanbase and the perceptions of the sport that exist. By examining interviews of viewers along with the general demographics of the fanbase, it became clear that advertisers could be reaping far greater rewards from women’s football if they rethought the kinds of brands and products being advertised in and around the sport.
- The lockdown earlier this year gave all of us more time to focus on other forms of creative expression outside of work, and a panel discussion with speakers from Razor Research, Verve, RDSI and Google revealed how these acquired hobbies can provide us with skills which benefit work in a positive way. This discussion was both enlightening and inspiring, and the panel format worked well in getting across these points.
- The inclusion of minority groups in adverts can be positive for the advert’s reception, but avoiding tokenism is key. Nick Saxby from Walnut Unlimited gave an enlightening talk on how Neuroscience can help measure a viewer’s emotional response to an advert, specifically with regard to adverts including minority groups, and this talk therefore served to remind everyone that there are many different ways of acquiring information.
- Finally, our very own Lily Spencer and Jack Curry made their conference speaking debut and presented our Pandemic Profiles work. This was not only very interesting, but also highly relevant to any brands aiming to research anything in these unprecedented times.
Thanks to MRS and &more for hosting this virtual conference, a first for everyone involved but a thought-provoking and well-organised event!