by How Reddit captures the value of invisible influence and asynchronous data
Interview with Rob Gaige, Global Head of Insights at Reddit – Qual360 NA Summit Speaker
Rob has spent over 20 years in the marketing, innovation and start-up space running and advising brands in media, financialservices, tech, gaming, packaged goods, spirits, fashion, auto, and skincare.
Global Head of Insights,
Rob is currently the Director of Global Insights for Reddit, where he derives insight from the conversations and communities flourishing on the platform. Prior to this, Rob was a Managing Partner at sparks & honey, where he oversaw their cultural consulting practice and built their AI SaaS platform (Q™) to quantify and predict cultural change. A veteran, Rob credits his time in the Navy for shaping his calm demeanour and love of the ocean, traits he’s hoping to pass on to his two young daughters.
QUAL360 NA: Without giving too much away – what is the core message of your talk and what would you like delegates to remember?
Rob: Consumer expectations around search have changed dramatically over the past few years. Frustration over spon-con and algorithmic results have led to a loss of trust. In response, people have turned to the advice of communities like those found on Reddit. That’s one of the reasons why Reddit was the #6 searched keyword on Google in 2024.
But rather than asking the question themselves, they’re finding the answers from questions others have asked weeks, months, or even years ago. This invisible influence is rarely measured in social listening, as practitioners focus on mentions in the present as metric of truth. While that might apply to other, more ephemeral platforms like X or TikTok, the true gold is in Reddit’s historical data. The goal of my talk is to show you how to leverage this incredible data.
QUAL360 NA: What motivates you to join the Qual360 North America conference and what are your expectations?
Rob: It’s always great to hear from peers in our field. I love learning about how they’re overcoming the challenges we’re all facing and inventing new ways to derive insights.
QUAL360 NA: What is the place of qualitative market research today, and where do you see the industry heading?
Rob: From where I sit, we’re experiencing a shift as seismic as when social listening first emerged on the qual scene. At Reddit, AI has completely changed how we do every aspect of our jobs, uncovering insights no human strategist would ever be able to–at a speed that is unprecedented. It’s lowering barriers of entry and democratizing the incredible insights that exist within every company’s data. Just like back then, those researchers that not only embrace, but innovate on this new tech will have a massive advantage over those who shy away from it.
QUAL360 NA: As the research landscape evolves, as does the role of the researcher, what are two new skills qualitative researchers should be adding to their arsenal and why?
Rob: I’ve been using the example of the CMO transition a few years ago as a blueprint for us. As digital marketing, social media, and CRM systems all became more central to the CMO role, they started to become a hybrid CTO and CMO. Knowing marketing technology (and now performance marketing) became nearly as important as the traditional skills of branding and messaging.
I think researchers are now in that same position. It’s great you can write a killer survey, but so can ChatGPT. It’s amazing that you can connect dots in your results, but so can a half decent LLM. Our jobs now are to be curators and force multipliers to the organization. We’re preaching democratization and self-service. We’re technologists and enablers, helping to provide the guardrails to ensure the company can get the data and insights they need on demand.
QUAL360 NA: How are you responding to the availability of big data and the proliferation of AI tools when managing your qualitative consumer research?
Rob: My goal is for everyone at the organization to be able to ask a normal human question and get a compelling story with applicable data formatted into a presentation (or implemented in advertising) in seconds. We’re very close to that reality.
To get tactical, I’ve split my AI strategy into three parts:
- Enabling speed and access: how does AI remove the jargon or programming barriers (e.g. SQL) that has kept insights siloed and slow.
- Generative reports: starting with repeatable tasks, how do we use AI to create the final product. No one wants another chart or dashboard; they want a talking point or piece of collateral or a key insight.
- Immediate action: we’re connecting our AI insights directly to revenue opportunities. We place them directly in those workflows to enable immediate (or even automated) action on the insights we find.
QUAL360 NA: Apart from work, what should delegates talk to you about at Qual360 North America– do you have any particular personal interests, hobbies or extracurricular activities and engagements?
Rob: I’m obsessed with soccer, so if you wanna jam on the Champions League, I’m your guy. I also have two little girls (4 and 18 months), so if anyone has mastered getting them to eat, sleep, and generally not cause chaos, I am all ears!
Favourite recommendations to make to industry colleagues for inspiration, innovation, guidance and leadership:
- In your ears – Podcast: Not a podcast guy, but you’ll catch me jamming to yacht rock while I’m cooking. It’s my way of unwinding after a long day.
- Must read – Book: The Pyramid Principle and Smart Brevity are two I return to over and over. It’s so easy to overthink and over-explain insights, and this keeps me laser focused on what really matters to execs.
QUAL360 NA: Thank you so much, Rob! We look forward to welcoming you to the event.
🚨 Final Call! Ticket sales for QUAL360 NA are closing soon!⏳
Join us in Washington D.C. on March 12-13 25, to connect with leading industry professionals and explore how qualitative research is shaping the future. Don’t miss out on Rob’s session and networking opportunities with leading brands like Colgate-Palmolive, Reddit, Meta, Amazon, TikTok, Samsung, Nike and more.
Secure your spot now—only 50 tickets left! Check availability here.
