Ringvin

  30 March 2021 Carlo Rovelli's writings on Quantum Physics is amazing and made me ponder about the close connection that exists between the principles of Market Research and that of Quantum Physics. One of the interesting implications of Quantum Physics (QP) is that the properties of objects seem to change depending on whether they are being observed or not.  Quantum entanglement means that two objects seem to be able to affect each other even when they are too far apart for any information from one to reach the other : "a photon on venus could be changed by a photo taken in Venice".  This weird science finds practical use every day, forming the basis of our latest technologies : from computers to nuclear power. So how does this relate to our humble Market Research? There was a time (before large data bases automatically collected real-time behavioural data) where consumer behaviour data was the exclusive domain of the MR industry.  Behavioural data was largely coll...

  29 March 2021 While I believe in the positives of the ongoing AI revolution in our lives, I got some contrary (and highly relevant) view-points from a conversation between the Nobel laureates Kazuo Ishiguro and Venki Ramakrishnan on the impact of AI on our civilization.  A quick summary: *  Inbuilt Biases :  AI takes decisions based on large data sets which come with inbuilt existing biases (e.g gender, race).  Once acceptable biases e.g. about slavery if they are managed by humans can be changed over a period of time. But when these biases are inbuilt into an algorithm - and are opaque - it will be very intimidating to challenge and question, and will be very difficult to over-turn. AI will become a kind of Delphi oracle. The most worrying aspect : it is not clear how these existing biases can be removed. *  Deep Fakes  created through AI is going to be an increasing problem - and will make it difficult for humans to differentiate truth from fiction...

  18 March 2021 Several people messaged asking me why did I not start a Market Research agency - after all I had spent my entire career in MR? So why get into an area that seeks to consult entrepreneurs in more general areas of running their business? To answer the question : I have not abandoned MR; it is still a part of what I do - albeit only a small part.  And that is because I believe MR professionals have a lot more to offer to the success of a business than merely "providing  insights to aid better decision making". Most MR professionals I believe are really really smart - but we unfortunately tend to limit ourselves : "Here is the answer to your question. So now let me move on"  seems to be the motto. The reality is that apart from being smart "insighters" - some of us are - or were - also very good managers of Businesses.  We functioned almost like successful entrepreneurs - after all many of us successfully - and very profitably - managed MR busi...

16th March 2021 I bought the "RingVin" domain name about 5 years ago when the entrepreneurial bug hit me.  I then created a web-site which centred around essentially my then profession - Market Research.   However, for various reasons I got into employment again, and I basically hid the web-site from public view.  When the time came for renewal, I only renewed the domain name, not knowing that if I also did not renew the web hosting fees, the web-site will get deleted. Later I realised with horror that while I still owned the "RingVin" domain, it was completely empty - the original web-site I had constructed with great difficulty had been deleted and irretrievably lost for ever.  All the time and effort I had put in to think through and construct the original web-site had been wasted.  When recently the time came for me to get back to doing my own thing, I chaffed that my web-site was no longer operational.  All the tools for web-site construction had ...