GreenBook Future List Spotlight: Fraser Bruce

Getting to know GRIT Future List honoree, Fraser Bruce, and why we should “question everything.”

Where do you see the future of insights heading in the next 10 years?

The future of insights, to me, is a 360 degree view of whatever group you’re trying to have insights on. In my line of work, that’s the retail customer, and I want to know everything there is to know about them. Their attitudes from survey data, their purchase behaviour from transactional data, and perhaps most importantly, what aspects they are/aren’t willing to share. So there’s a fine line you have to toe – paint an exciting enough picture of the customer for your stakeholders without jeopardizing future projects/interactions with customers. Balancing privacy with depth of insights is a long-term game, and if customers (in my case) don’t feel like they’re winning, you’ve lost the game.

What advice do you have for folks hoping to start a career in insights?

First, the deeper you know statistics, the more interesting your analysis can get. To be clear, I don’t claim to be a stats wizard, but I’d like to be one and I’m working on it! Significance is always going to be big in market research, but certain math that seems more daunting like correlation calculations can make your reports go from run-of-the-mill to above and beyond expectations. Second, never accept the “old way” of doing things. At the very least, question everything because your experience in life/other areas of work may lead you to a better approach than the “old way”. There’s a lot of “old way” in market research, in my opinion.

If you could change one thing about insights, what would it be?

The blatant misuse of the term AI. AI is obviously the hot topic of the decade in technology and because it’s a bit confusing and a bit scary, people often take your word for it. The number of Market Research sales pitches I’ve sat in that use the term AI when there isn’t really any AI in the product is surprising. It doesn’t do an industry any good to tout the benefits of something that you’re not actually using.

What do you think the key characteristics or qualities of a leader are? How does this play into MRX?

I think allowing for autonomy is the number one quality in a leader. The inherent trust you put in your people allows them not only to trust you back but also believe in themselves to explore new ways of doing something. This hands-off approach allows researchers to take the time to get their hands dirty and really understand the work they are doing. I’m lucky to have had a couple of great leaders and this quality is ubiquitous among them.

artificial intelligence career GRIT Future List grit report interview retail insights