Kadence Singapore has recently completed refurbishments to the office, with new spaces for relaxation and optimal collaboration, to celebrate our 15th anniversary in Singapore. To further commemorate the occasion, Kadence Singapore brought together our clients and strategic partners to join us in an office warming party last month. We took the opportunity to showcase the new office space, some strategic partners we work with, as well as the innovation-led methodologies and studies we do here in Kadence.
To mark our 15th year in Singapore, we showcased 15 innovative research tools and techniques used in Kadence during the Open House, including virtual reality, neuromarketing, eye-tracking, Emotional Connection Matrix, etc. We also invited some of our partners, Dynata, Sight-X, and Outside Voice, who shared how research can be enhanced by some of their latest tools. These 15 innovations are grouped into 6 different zones in the office, which allowed our clients to learn about these initiatives, while exploring the new areas around the office.
The half-day event has sparked many interesting ideas and conversations on the future of market research, and how innovation and traditional research methods can work hand in hand to enhance insights.
In addition to great food and drinks, Phil Steggals, MD of Kadence Singapore, also gave a speech thanking everyone for coming, clients and partners for supporting us through the years, and the Kadence team for delivering insights worth sharing to our clients. After the event, $15 per guest who joined us at the event, was also donated to SPCA on their behalf.
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Looking forward to 2020, we are optimistic to establish closer relationships with our clients, and utilize more innovations, coupled with traditional research, to deliver insights addressing their needs.
We are delighted to announce that Kadence has been Highly Commended for the Global Agency of the Year award at the 2019 Market Research Society Awards.
The Market Research Society Awards are the most prestigious awards within the UK research industry. They recognise the key achievements of individuals and organisations within the market research sector. Kadence was also a finalist in the Young Researcher of the Year category in recognition of the accomplishments of Kadence employee, Carolina Starkhammar.
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Kadence has been recognised by awarding bodies in all three regions that it operates in this year. In May, Kadence was named Market Research Agency of the Year at Marketing Magazine’s Agency of the Year Awards in Singapore. In September, it was Highly Commended for the Best Training and Development award at the Market Research Society’s Operations Awards in London. Finally, in November, Kadence was named Market Research Supplier of the Year (revenue under $10 million) at the Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards in New York and Kadence employee Carolina Starkhammar was named Outstanding Young Researcher.
Commenting on the award successes, Miki Igarashi, Group CEO of Cross Marketing Group, Kadence International’s parent company said “We are delighted to see Kadence’s successes being recognised at a global level. It’s testament to our commitment to delivering work that raises the impact of research and empowers decision-making.”
Opponents of cannabis legalization often cite concerns about cannabis’s effect on public health, warning that increased accessibility will likely result in an increase in the abuse of cannabis and other substances. However, for a country in the midst of an opioid crisis, with an estimated 47,600 opioid-related deaths in 2017, research is needed to understand the relationship between cannabis and pharmaceutical use, as cannabis is often cited as an alternative to opioids for pain management. Research conducted by Kadence International, a global boutique market research agency, indicates a nation-wide increase, in the past year, in adult use of cannabis to treat pain and other medical issues, often as a substitute for pharmaceuticals or alcohol.
In a national survey with over 2,000 adults, Kadence found that one in five (20%) adults report they have used cannabis in the last 12 months. Of those cannabis consumers, eight in ten (81%) use cannabis for at least one medical reason, an increase from 72% in 2018. Compared to 2018, significantly more adult cannabis users reported using cannabis to help treat anxiety (48% to 58%), sleep issues (39% to 53%) and pain or inflammation (40% to 49%). Many say they use cannabis for more than one of these therapeutic reasons.
While the vast majority of adult cannabis consumers believe that consumption of cannabis is safer than alcohol (92%), people who say they use cannabis for at least one therapeutic reason are more likely to state that their alcohol consumption has decreased as a result of their cannabis use (51% pain users, 48% anxiety users, 49% sleep users vs. 42% average). They are drinking less because they perceive cannabis to be less harmful, healthier and state that cannabis helps them feel better than alcohol. When asked whether they would prefer to consume cannabis or alcohol while doing different popular activities, the vast majority of these users would prefer cannabis over alcohol in nearly all situations. How else do these therapeutic users differ from the average cannabis consumer?
More than 1 in 4 (27%) adult cannabis consumers report that they use cannabis as a substitute for at least one prescription or over-the-counter medication. They are most commonly replacing pain medications with cannabis (21%), followed by sleep aids (17%) and anxiety medications (17%). Many choose cannabis over traditional pharmaceuticals because they feel it effectively relieves a combination of their symptoms. A notable 14% of adult cannabis consumers are using cannabis as a substitute for prescription pain killers/opioids, largely due to perceptions that cannabis is a “much safer”, “more natural” way to treat pain with “fewer side effects”. Interestingly, although there is no difference between opioid replacers and other cannabis consumers, with three in four living in states where cannabis is at least medically legal, opioid replacers may be obtaining their cannabis from the black market more than the average US cannabis consumer, as 61% said they usually buy from somewhere other than a dispensary, compared to 52% of total cannabis consumers.
Kadence’s data indicates there may be an opportunity for medical professionals and dispensaries to help combat the opioid crisis by targeting these black market cannabis purchasers, particularly in light of the recent vaping illnesses, thought to be coming more from black market products than regulated products available in dispensaries.
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Across all of these findings, there are no significant differences between cannabis consumers in medically or recreationally legal and non-legal states. Furthermore, the research found that not only cannabis consumers but the majority of adults nationwide believe that we are just beginning to discover the power of the cannabis plant for medicinal purposes (69%) and state that cannabis should be taken off the schedule 1 drug list so that its medical benefits can be explored more freely (69%).
The key point is this: regardless of whether or not they live in legal states, the data shows that adult consumers are already turning to cannabis for symptom relief, often choosing cannabis over pharmaceutical treatments or alcohol. With increased accessibility, product sales could be more effectively converted from the black market into legal channels where they can be regulated appropriately and taxed handsomely. This also makes more thorough research possible for pharmaceutical companies, medical professionals and public health researchers, and expands product innovation opportunities for brands and manufacturers across a wide range of categories. After due diligence, ultimately, the potential health and well-being benefits of cannabis can be made available, through appropriate channels, to more adult consumers in need.
We are thrilled to have been recognised as Market Research Supplier of the Year (<$10m) at the Quirk’s Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards in the US. Kadence was also awarded the Outstanding Young Researcher (supplier) trophy, in recognition of the achievements of our very own Carolina Starkhammar.
The Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards recognise the individuals and companies adding value and impact in the industry and are powered by Quirk’s, the leading market research publication in the US.
“We are thrilled to be named Market Research Supplier of the Year at the Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards in the US, one of the key markets for Kadence globally” said Miki Igarashi, Group CEO of Cross Marketing Group, Kadence International’s parent company. “It’s our mission to raise the impact of research – and this award is testament to the fact that this is being recognised within the industry.”
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The award win in the US means that Kadence has now been recognised as market research supplier of the year by awarding bodies in two of the three regions it operates in. In May, Kadence was named Market Research Agency of the Year at Marketing Magazine’s Agency of the Year Awards in Singapore. We are also a finalist for Global Agency of the Year at the Market Research Society Awards, the leading industry awards in the UK. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on 2nd December so we’ll be keeping our fingers tightly crossed!
As in-house design and video functions become more common in the market research industry and we consume more visual content than ever before, visual communication and storytelling are becoming increasingly important skills for insight teams to adopt. Integrating design and video teams into insight teams is key to ensuring design and video functions are not siloed, instead facilitating active collaboration across these disciplines that results in impactful, actionable and shareable insights. But how do you do this? We share 4 tips based on our experience of bringing the two functions together here at Kadence.
1. Invest in practical design and video training
At Kadence we empower our teams by providing tools and training that go beyond PowerPoint. We run regular video production, storytelling and visual communication training sessions across our insight and data teams. This allows teams to not only gain practical experience across design and video production, but also have a full understanding of best practice and processes involved in producing deliverables across these disciplines.
2. Think about theoretical training as well
We believe that understanding the theory of design, is just as important as practical training. As part of our global training programme, Kadence University, we’ve just launched a design module that provides teams across the Kadence group with extensive training materials, training sessions and interactive self-learn tools that cover design theory, visual communication and design thinking. We regularly run these sessions with everyone, from graduate to director level, encouraging team members at all levels to develop their skills in these areas so that they can apply the theory and frameworks when they think about design.
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3. Develop accessible tools and design resources
We’ve developed a host of design resources such as curated icon and stock image libraries, standardised process documents for film production and post-production, as well as flexible brand assets and design elements. Easily accessible resources, along with regular knowledge sharing, training sessions and visual tools, provide insight and data teams with the resource and knowledge to create compelling, visual deliverables for our clients. These tools aid in raising awareness of design and video processes, encourage visual thinking and promote seamless teamwork across disciplines.
4. Foster integration and collaboration
There are many benefits of fully integrated design and video teams, but involving creatives early on in a project ensures they have a full understanding of studies and can collaborate with our insight and data teams to capture, communicate, visualise and embed findings across organisations most effectively. Integrated creative teams, along with the global network of Design Champions across the Kadence group, advocate design, storytelling and video amongst our global teams. This means that it’s not only our design and video specialists that can think about the role of design in our work. All employees, regardless of role, have the skills to understand how design can be used to raise the impact of our research in our client’s organisations.
It’s because of this that we’re able to collaborate with clients so effectively to ensure that outputs are functional, engaging and optimised for internal channels and platforms, ensuring our deliverables are shareable across the most relevant digital and physical touchpoints, and that the research ultimately lives on within our client’s organisations. Just take our client’s words for it.
“Kadence has taken my work and insights to a whole new level, helping to translate words on paper into an inspiring story and vision! This has not only given me more credibility as an Insights leader at Mars but has helped me amplify and scale my work globally in just a few short months. Often something we overlook; strong visualization and engaging content is critical for delivering with impact. Both presentations they helped me design, as well as the beautiful infographic, were instrumental in driving a more engaging story across the business.”
We have all fallen into the trap at some point in our lives. It could be at an important client meeting, an internal discussion, or even a family gathering. We speak for a while, throwing in some fancy or elaborate words or dropping in some acronyms or jargon so that we can confirm to our audience that we are speaking with authority. Then, the dreaded question. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand, what does that mean?”
Within any professional service, there is a tendency to think that the ‘methods & language’ that we use, and our internal jargon is of vital importance. I fear that market researchers might be some of the worst culprits. In my years, I have seen so much emphasis put on the ‘look how smart we are’ that people lose sight of what we should be discussing (thankfully this is not the case at Kadence).
As a father of a 2-year-old daughter, I have started to have to communicate in a completely different way, often in response to the phrase, “No, I don’t want to”. Slowly breaking down what I am saying and using simple language has become the norm. I have recently read a book that really brought this to life for me. Yanis Varoufakis, former finance minister of Greece and renowned Economist has written a book called ‘Talking to my daughter, a brief history of capitalism’ that takes this example further. In his book Varoufakis using simple language and analogies to explain to his teenage daughter the history (and implications) of the global economy. It is a very accessible, enjoyable read, and makes complex geopolitical arguments easily accessible.
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What we come to recognize, is that it takes a greater confidence to be able to speak without the use of jargon. If you can get your point across in the most basic terms, in an engaging and clear way – your audience will recognize you for what you are. A storyteller. If you hide behind jargon, then you will quickly be found out as someone that cannot get their story across.
At Kadence, we work with many nationalities. We are a multicultural office in Singapore, and we work on multi-market studies for many multi-national companies. As such, we have to recognize the best way to get our points across. Whenever I speak to an audience, I try to keep the following tips in mind.
4 top tips for communicating information clearly and simply
Understand your audience. Who are you speaking to? Are they researchers or are they clients with a limited understanding of research terms?
Relatable Examples. Perhaps the most powerful tip of all: equating a complicated situation to a more simple process or example (ideally one that is universal and not dependent on cultural nuance)
Pay attention to how you are received. Are people nodding along, or staring blankly? Asking questions as you go is a great way to gain understanding about what is being taken in
Practice with people outside the industry. The fail-safe. Check with a friend or loved one to see whether they can understand what you are trying to say!
As you put the Halloween decorations away for another year, are you one of the many people thinking twice about that age old tradition of carving a pumpkin?
#pumpkinrescue is trending on social media as organisations and consumers alike raise awareness of unnecessary food waste that the Halloween tradition creates. According to Hubbub, in the U.K., 18,000 tonnes of pumpkin go to landfill every year (that is the equivalent of 360 million portions of pumpkin pie) and many people have had enough, using the hashtag to encourage consumers to eat the remains of their pumpkin instead.
Concerns around food waste are no fad. Our latest research, The Concerned Consumer, found that food waste is a key issue globally, with 63% of consumers telling us they do their bit to address food waste. This is particularly important for consumers in the UK and the US, where the figure rises to 71%.
Keen to explore this topic in more detail, we’ve been digging into the conversations around food waste on Twitter, using a comparative analytics tool called Relative Insight.
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So aside from discussions around #pumpkinrescue, how is food waste being discussed online?
Freezing food is a key topic of conversation. It is seen as a sustainable way to keep food fresh for longer, minimising food waste overall. And while thinking about pumpkins (which is a fruit by the way – yes, we googled it), we found that consumers are generally confused about whether they can or can’t freeze certain vegetables and fruit.
Another popular topic around food waste is finding a purpose for food scraps. Consumers are calling for more recipe suggestions incorporating vegetable scraps, or ways of composting it. Take a pumpkin as an example; the flesh can be used in pies and bread, the guts can be used for broth and mulled wine, the skin is edible in small varieties, and the seeds can be roasted.
The role of leadership is not what you think. The likelihood is, the more you think of yourself as an expert in leadership – the less likely you are to be a ‘great leader’. If, when you try and picture a great leader you see Steve Jobs, Jack Ma, Nelson Mandela or Elon Musk. You are probably even further away. Let me explain.
The Rugby World cup is currently on in Japan. A feast of games that has already thrown up an unlikely result such as Japan beating Ireland. The Premier League is also in full swing and it brings an interesting contrast to what a ‘Captain’ looks like for each. I have been lucky enough to captain both a rugby team and a football team (in my younger, fitter days). And the difference is huge. In rugby, you must choose a strategy. When given a penalty, you pick from 1 of 4 potential restarts. It is the captain’s choice and the right decisions at the right time can hugely influence the result. For football, as a recent article talking about the potential for Maguire to be a future captain of Manchester United said, you just have to shout loudly.
So is Elon Musk or Steve Jobs more of a rugby or football captain? Probably neither. They are perhaps more of a Tiger Woods (let’s keep the sporting analogies going!). Tiger Woods has a caddy who helps him immensely. But he has to have his own strategy, play his own way. And he has to execute every shot. That is Elon Musk. He knows more about his products than anybody else. Steve Jobs knew exactly what he wanted to do with his products.
So a leader has to be an expert, know the strategy or shout loudly? According to a new book from HBR – a leader is simply someone who has a follower. This is perhaps a better reference for the workplace – rather than sporting analogies. I am sure there are many people that we have all worked with over the years that have been put into a position of ‘leadership’ that makes you question … why? The problem, in a larger organisation, is that people are mandated to follow. They HAVE to do what their boss says. They don’t follow willingly. They are forced. But that person is still a leader, because they have a ‘follower’.
There are so many books, publications, articles and how tos about leadership, that it is almost impossible to navigate the viewpoints with a clear understanding of what makes a great leader (and I do realise the irony of writing this within a blog about the role of leadership).
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How do you identify a leader?
Within an organisational context, how do you find the ‘next great leader’? If the ‘bosses’ are not great and their ‘followers’ only do as the boss decides – how do you identify the next best? For me, that is the opportunity for the organisation. If the company culture and initiatives can be geared up to provide everyone with an equal opportunity – then does the cream naturally rise to the top?
In the past, Kadence has worked with ICLIF – a not for profit that specializes in leadership development. Part of a piece of work that we did was a 28 market study on leadership. It was part of the context for a book written about open source leadership. Within this book it was argued that because of a 24/7 world of connectivity, true leadership can not be done in the same way as before. That at the end of the day ‘leadership is more than an art than a science’ . As such, books on ‘how to lead’ simply don’t work.
One of the key areas of the book raised the question about how to find leaders within your organisation. The suggest was ‘Throw out challenges to the entire employee base and see who comes forward to showcase their talent and energy. Those who raise their hands year after year to solve company problems or exploit revenue opportunities are your natural leaders for tomorrow.’
This is great leadership. Having an organisation that allows those with passion and desire to showcase it off. It is not about forcing Harry Maguire to shout, it is about giving a voice to those that want to. So instead of thinking about individuals that are great leaders, perhaps we should be thinking about cultures that allow innovation to thrive? That the role of leadership is not to lead, but to set up a system that allows people to work on their best ideas.
With legalization of recreational marijuana becoming more commonplace alongside a continual rise in the availability of cannabis-based products, it is a turbulent but exciting time for CBD. But do people really understand what CBD is and what it does? Why do people use CBD products … and how are people using it compared to cannabis?
According to our recent study on the topic, CBD usage is rapidly growing in popularity. 4 times as many adults are using CBD products in 2019, compared to 2018, growing from 5% to 18%.
Unsurprisingly, there is considerable overlap between CBD and cannabis usage, with half of CBD users also using cannabis. That said, CBD growth is also coming from those who don’t use cannabis.
Many CBD consumers use these products regularly to address a range of ailments. Roughly half of CBD consumers use CBD at least once a week, while very few only use the product a couple times a month. Most (60%) use it for pain relief or inflammation; the next most common reasons are anxiety (45%) and sleep (33%).
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Despite its increasing usage, there is still a large gap in product understanding. Only 24% of US adults believe they are moderately or extremely familiar with CBD, and, more surprising, only half of CBD users (57%) believe they are.
There are also many misconceptions regarding CBD products. 25% of US adults believe that pure CBD can “get you high”, which is not true. CBD users tend to be more knowledgeable about these products but many are still misinformed. For example, 13% of CBD users believe that it can get you high.
“CBD is a fantastic option for many, but it’s a very complex landscape for consumers to navigate. One sees CBD advertised with specific medical claims through dispensaries in medical cannabis states. Then one sees hemp derived CBD available at the local natural foods store as a dietary supplement — but without medical claims and available in isolate form, full spectrum form, or hybrids of the two” comments CBD Industry Executive, Ashley Grace. “It’s a lot for consumers to decipher and it all doesn’t work the same. The dispensary CBD might get you high, the isolate CBD may not work at all or might stop working quickly, and many ‘full spectrum’ CBDs are really just oils spiked with isolated CBD. Then you have US grown or imported. While it’s difficult for consumers to find the right products to meet their needs, the good news is there are some amazing products available that are literally changing people’s lives,” said Grace.
It is important to note that the average CBD user looks just like anyone else. There are no major differences in gender, employment, income, marital status or geography when compared to average American adult. Although, younger adults (age 21-44) are more likely to have tried CBD. Interestingly, they are also more confident that they are familiar with CBD but more likely to be misinformed about it.
We’ve been working with Kadence on a couple of strategic projects, which influenced our product roadmap roll-out within the region. Their work has been exceptional in providing me the insights that I need.
Senior Marketing Executive Arla Foods
Kadence’s reports give us the insight, conclusion and recommended execution needed to give us a different perspective, which provided us with an opportunity to relook at our go to market strategy in a different direction which we are now reaping the benefits from.
Sales & Marketing Bridgestone
Kadence helped us not only conduct a thorough and insightful piece of research, its interpretation of the data provided many useful and unexpected good-news stories that we were able to use in our communications and interactions with government bodies.
General Manager PR -Internal Communications & Government Affairs Mitsubishi
Kadence team is more like a partner to us. We have run a number of projects together and … the pro-activeness, out of the box thinking and delivering in spite of tight deadlines are some of the key reasons we always reach out to them.
Vital Strategies
Kadence were an excellent partner on this project; they took time to really understand our business challenges, and developed a research approach that would tackle the exam question from all directions. The impact of the work is still being felt now, several years later.
Customer Intelligence Director Wall Street Journal
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