by Exclusive from PepsiCo: How Qualitative Research is Revolutionizing Large-Scale Studies for Impactful Insights
As we approach the upcoming Qual360- Qualitative Research Summit in Berlin, we had the pleasure of speaking with one of our speakers, Rachael Popoola. Dr. Rachael Popoola is a seasoned leader with 15+ years of experience in driving growth across Consulting, Banking, FMCG, and Telecom. With a background in Business Economics, she has held key roles at SIAO Consulting, Royal Bank Scotland, P&G, Etisalat, Diageo, and PepsiCo. Rachael is an expert in Research, Insights, and Strategy, helping businesses achieve transformational growth through consumer-driven innovation and strategy.
QUAL360: Without giving too much away – what is the core message of your talk and what would you like delegates to remember?
Rachael: My core message will be on how to maintain integrity in large-scale qualitative studies.
Thanks to technology, AI tools has made analysis of data very easy, removing the complexity that comes with traditional approach. AI-Enhanced qualitative tools should be leveraged, not just for speed of analysis but for end-to-end planning of qual studies. Some research companies use AI from planning stage to automate tasks like transcription, coding, and initial analysis in qualitative research. This obviously helps the agency with agility and cost reduction but also hugely benefit ‘me’ as a client giving me confidence that I am not sacrificing depth & robustness for speed or cost, so it becomes a win-win. These AI tools are also particularly useful in large-scale qual with tools like NLP helping to enhance scalability and drive efficiency of large qual data by auto detecting comprehensive themes and sentiment across massive datasets that otherwise would have been missed with traditional human handling. With this, you don’t lose the richness & integrity and you are also able to turn these huge data into actionable insights more efficiently.
Using reliability, cross-validation, and triangulation to reduce bias are other approaches to ensure the integrity of the large-scale qual data. Exploring clusters or cohorts’ analysis i.e. segmentation, could also help break the study into manageable parts, like demographic or geographic groups, which allows for deeper analysis while maintaining focus without losing data integrity.
Finally, considering iterative reviews for continuous refinement of insights and revalidation also enhance integrity.
QUAL360: What motivates you to join the Qual360 Europe conference and what are your expectations?
Rachael: I like the fact it’s a client-only event because you get genuine and honest perspectives from experienced insights without any underlying sales intention. I think with a conference like this, no one would is impressing anyone with how to buy into their sophisticated tools, everyone is most likely coming with the same mindset of ‘learning’ from each other, so there wouldn’t be sugar-coating of methodologies or views. It’s also learning about what is new in the qual industry and with this, I can bring back huge knowledge of qual usage from other industries and companies back with me to the UK. Also, it’s a huge opportunity to network with other experts and expand my circle of influence. It’s my first exposure to the European Insight platform having made huge contribution in Africa, so I want to get involved in another Insight planet and Qual360 conference feels like a great place to start!
QUAL360: What is the place of qualitative market research today, and where do you see the industry heading?
Rachael: Qualitative market research plays a critical role in understanding the deeper motivation and tensions behind consumers’ choices and its significance in uncovering “why” continues to be invaluable today, despite evolution of AI. With a modern-day technological approach to handling qual, qualitative research has evolved; becoming faster, more scalable, and integrated with quantitative approaches, giving a more comprehensive understanding of consumer behaviour especially when integrated with quantitative approaches. However, there is still huge room for experts to leverage AI in qual studies vs. traditional approaches as I believe that we only started scratching the surface given.
In the future, will expect more advanced AI driven platforms that will offer real-time analysis and interpreting consumer feedback & emotions with deeper meanings in an unbiased way. Being extremely optimist, I believe qual can also hugely leverage Immersive technologies like VR and AR to enhance contextual research by simulating real consumer environments in the future thereby eliminating or reducing the gap & bias between actual and claimed behaviour.
QUAL360: Tell us one qualitative research stereotype you´d like to reinforce, and one stereotype that you´d like to overcome?
Rachael: Will like to reinforce the benefit of Qualitative research which provides deep, rich insights, exploring motivations that quantitative data cannot capture. It’s essential for understanding the context behind consumer behaviours, and helping brands connect authentically with their audience. And helps Insights experts not to be data robots with quant but storytellers with the human context behind the quant. The stereotype to overcome is the perception of qualitative study being slow, expensive, and difficult to scale, as advanced technology can to remove this to great extent and when applied appropriately.
QUAL360: How are you responding to the availability of big data and the proliferation of AI tools when managing your qualitative consumer research?
Rachael: Honestly this is still a concern for some companies because whilst AI benefits is enormous, the security and danger of its excessive reliance are yet to be fully established. So, we try use close-source AI as much as possible in cases where we absolutely need to use AI for efficiency.
QUAL: Apart from work, what should delegates talk to you about at Qual360 Europe– do you have any particular personal interests, hobbies or extracurricular activities and engagements?
Rachael:
- I am into promoting Diversity & Inclusion within the workplace and at my town council.
- I am into community development, funding education initiatives year on year for kids in Africa.
- I sing and I am very much into Christian religion.
- Also planning to explore Europe while on this side, so any tips on where to start from any travel experts would be great.
QUAL360: Favourite recommendations to make to industry colleagues for inspiration, innovation, guidance and leadership:
Rachael:
- In your ears – Podcast: The Consumer Insights Podcast – Stravito
- Must read – Book: The Consumer Insights Revolution by Steve Phillips
- Working mode or inspiring song recommendation – Song: This Is Me
- Song by Keala Settle
QUAL360: Thank you so much, Rachael! We look forward to seeing you at QUAL360 EU 2025!
Join us at QUAL360, the world’s only global conference series dedicated to qualitative market research, with a 15-year legacy of fostering a vibrant community of “Quallies.” On January 29-30, 2025, in Berlin, elevate your qualitative research skills with expert-led sessions, dynamic panel discussions, and invaluable networking opportunities. This year’s agenda focuses on the future of research, offering insights from leaders at Nestlé, Philips, Booking.com, PepsiCo, Capital.com, and many more.
Don’t miss your chance—Early bird pricing ends soon, and waiting could cost you an extra $500. Secure your spot today and save before prices increase!
