Ep #12: Shakti Banerjee on Transforming Businesses Through Qualitative Research & Strategic Insights

Welcome to Episode 12 of ‘Heureka – The Insights Podcast’ by thelightbulb.ai.

Shakti Banerjee is a seasoned MR professional with over 25 years of experience in qualitative research, marketing, and business leadership. Currently Vice President, Qualitative Research at Hansa Research Group.

Guest: Shakti Banerjee

Shakti Banerjee is a seasoned MR professional with over 25 years of experience in qualitative research, marketing, and business leadership. Currently Vice President, Qualitative Research at Hansa Research Group, she drives strategic consumer insights to empower business growth.

She has also been the Qualitative Research Director at Varenia CIMS and Vice President of Research at Direct Field Services, leveraging her expertise to deliver actionable market solutions. Previously, she founded Coral Research Services and co-founded IRIS Insights, establishing her reputation as a visionary & leader in the Indian market research industry.

Host: Ritu Soni Srivastava

Heureka – The Insights Podcast is a series of podcast episodes hosted by Ritu Soni Srivastava, who is a seasoned entrepreneur, focused on her current startup thelightbulb.ai, a full-stack emotion ai platform for digital interactions that has scanned more than 8 million faces for emotion analysis. She has held pivotal profiles across deep-tech, health-tech, telecom and media companies over the last 20 years. Her cross-industries experience gives her a unique edge in understanding consumer trends and insights across verticals.

In the podcast, Shibarjun shares some interesting experiences, challenges and solutions of working from agency as well as brand side.

Engagement and Sentiment Analysis of Podcast

Note: Engagement and sentiment analysis are generated using thelightbulb.ai’s  Insights Pro

Voice Transcripts of Podcast

Note: Transcription of the podcast is generated using thelightbulb.ai’s Insights Pro

Heureka by thelightbulb.ai, The Insights podcast.

Ritu Soni Srivastav – Hi, everybody, and welcome to the next episode of Heureka, the Insights podcast where we get leading professionals from the field of insights, analytics, research, and marketing to talk to you about their day-to-day life and also to give you a glimpse into this little understood but widely prevalent area of market research.

Today, we have with us somebody who’s very special, somebody who I’ve been chasing for a little while to get on this show. Her name is Shakti Banerjee, and she’s the vice president and lead for qualitative research at Hansa Research Group.

Now overall, from whatever I know, and, Shakti, correct me if I’m wrong, you’ve had a very wide and very checkered career, whether it was as a marketer, you know, a manager marketing for, Dainik Jagaran Venture or whether it was as an investment banker for Allegro.

Ritu Soni Srivastav – Then you’ve grown up through the ranks of market research and become a founder member for I Iris Insights. You were a managing partner and founder for Coral Research Services, which specialized in qualitative research, and you’ve dealt with a whole host of clients, whether it was from telecom, media, IT, FMCG. And then you’ve been with Varenia, CIMS, and now you’re finally leading the wing for Hamza.

It’s a dramatic career with so many aspects and phases to it that I’m blown away. How did it happen?

Ritu Soni Srivastav – Tell us all. Okay.

Shakti Banerjee – And thanks, Ritu, for this, like, you know, quite a detailed introduction. So, so when when I was doing my post-graduation, I always wanted to be in the, like, you know, advertising, industry, because for some reason, advertising, maybe because of its glamour attached to it or whatever, always fascinated me. And, so I was, picked up through campus recruitment by, JWT, then HTH. Now today, it is, Wonder Man Thompson. And I thought that, it was like a dream come true for me.

Shakti Banerjee – And, I really enjoyed my tenure, handling, accounts like, and, Nestle. And then when mean so, I was looking for a change, because, during those days, HTA didn’t allow people from the same organization to get married. So that’s how I thought of, changing, and I landed up, in marketing, for. And it was like during my tenure in advertising and in marketing, beat investment banking or media house, I thought that market research really fascinates me, and I wanted to be on the other side of the, table. And yeah.

Shakti Banerjee – So that’s how I ventured, into, market research. And ever since then, it’s been almost, like, I think, 15 years. I have been into this field and, till date, I’ve never got bored for a single day, being in this field.

Ritu Soni Srivastav – That’s absolutely awesome. Now to have access to a field that is so it differs from a day-to-day basis depending on which client, which kind of project, what business insights. So I totally get where you’re saying that this is a very exciting industry. But tell me what your day-to-day life looks like. I know you lead a large portfolio with Hansa, now a listed company.

Ritu Soni Srivastav – Actually, I think, a lot of us don’t realize the sheer tedium of administration and routine that most team leads face. So, I get how a lot of your work day is very structured, but that you know, there are these little wonderful surprise nuggets in terms of the learning that you get from every project. Now tell me, Shakti, you’ve been in this industry for almost a decade and a half. You’ve seen it through the lens of multiple different organizations and roles. To people who are outside market research, it’s a very opaque industry.

Ritu Soni Srivastav – So there are preconceptions or misconceptions about research. Having been an insider now, what do you feel are the commonly thought of misconceptions that people outside the industry think about market research, but which is not true?

Shakti Banerjee – Okay. Ritu, I mean, I believe that many people outside the industry, still have a limited understanding of market research, as you rightly said. And, it’s like, you know, I think most underrated, field as well. Because, most of the people, the moment you say market research and, most of the first, that spontaneous reaction is, oh, so what do you all do? And when you say that, okay.

Shakti Banerjee – We collect primary datas, through, surveys, so immediately, people’s, common misconception is that, a market researcher goes door to door with questionnaire and, like, you know, so what’s so great about it? So I’ll let, you know, give you a small, anecdote. So I met one of my friend’s father after many, many years, And, so he asked me that, okay. So what are you doing beta these days? So I said I’m, running a market research agency.

Shakti Banerjee – And it’s not that he’s less educated. His daughter is a professor in Calcutta University. His son is, an, IPS officer, and uncle was equally, learned. But his instant reaction was, Bitter, you have always been so good in studies, so why did you have to choose this field? And I was, like, looking at him that why what happened?

Shakti Banerjee – So he was like, hey. And that is normal perception is people don’t realize the complex technicalities and, like, you know, the strategic thinking that go, like, you know, far beyond these basic, misconceptions. So I think that is somewhere we market researchers also have to, like, you know, do something where at least this industry also gets recognized outside the industry people.

Ritu Soni Srivastav – I mean, branding

Shakti Banerjee – MRSI and those who are big, like, you know, real insights people. Discussion guide or, And, actually and that is what I think is, lot of people, still they don’t, value this industry the way it should have been.

Ritu Soni Srivastav – No. I totally agree. And, you know, from a lot of the guests on the show, we’ve heard so many examples of how insights have tangentially changed brand directions, positions, insights, change the outcome and trajectory of brands, but unsung heroes situation or marketing or brand accolades. Hello?

Shakti Banerjee – Brand strategies, recommend, but I think we forget to do it for our own selves. But, we also need to get recognized as, like, you know, something which what we are doing is some worthwhile. I’m not saying the clients don’t understand. Clients do.

Shakti Banerjee – There also, I think there is a lot of, difference.

Ritu Soni Srivastav – A lot of education needed. I think for such a large, lucrative, prevalent industry, it’s very understated. It flies really under the radar, but it is what it is. Now tell me, now that you’ve been for so many years in the industry, what are the most marked changes that you have seen in the transformation of the industry over the last couple of decades?

Ritu Soni Srivastav – Awesome. Tell tell me specifically in the space of qualitative research, where do you see technology really moving the needle for you? I know a lot of qual we deal with, you know, researchers day in and day out, and I’ve seen in the last one and a half years that we’ve been around, we’ve seen a dramatic change in the way researchers in the qualitative space look at technology. Where do you feel it’s adding value for you?

Shakti Banerjee – I think, apart from many other things, one of the, most important thing I find where technology is helping is, like, you know, efficient time management. And you’re right. I mean, post COVID I mean, of course, the transformation has been happening for quiet, a few years. But post COVID, we saw random change in, client’s perspective, from client’s perspective, from, researchers’ perspective also. So, for example, before COVID, nobody thought that even qualitative research can be done online because it was something which was not even thought of.

Shakti Banerjee – Nobody even imagined that, online qualitative research can happen. So that is where and and it is shape as, saving a lot of time, lot of effort. So, like, you know, earlier if, one has to physically go somewhere and then for whatever x y z reasons of the, unit would get cancelled or something. So, it would, like, you know, take away the whole time. Now those things have become very easy.

Shakti Banerjee – Plus, as I said that, like, you know, clients also, because everybody is in that hurry. Not that I’m trying to blame the clients because they are also, because things are changing so rapidly that everybody wants results also that rapidly. So, I think, that is where technology is, like, you know, reshaping the traditional market research landscape. So, because of technology, we are able to enhance speed, the scale of the, work that we are able to do and even analytical capabilities. So these, I think, are addressed I mean, through these, we are able to address, like, you know, few challenges, and a lot of opportunity lies, with respect to data collection, etcetera, that we are using these days, because of technology.

Ritu Soni Srivastav – No. I think you’re absolutely right. In fact, we’ve really seen qualitative research as a segment really climb onto the technology bandwagon and embrace it. I think one of the fears that initially we saw from researchers when, you know, we talk to them about technology initiatives is the is the worry that technology may replace a researcher. But over the last year and a half, we’ve seen that maturity come in where they realize that research is human led.

Ritu Soni Srivastav – Right? So, it’s about human insights, and you cannot replace the human research faculty there. Technology can enhance, speed up the process, cut down on manual work, bring timelines down, you know, get the tedious manual work out of the way. But that real nuance still remains very, very human, and I think we’re starting to see that awareness come in now. So tell me, Shakti, you’ve now been around and you’re a senior in the industry.

Ritu Soni Srivastav – There are so many people who are making their career choices now as to what careers to pick. Research being the low-key understated space that it’s in. What would you like to tell potential people who are looking to make their career in research and insights? What tips would you have for them to craft their careers better?

Ritu Soni Srivastav – Absolutely awesome. I think the point about empathy is so spot on because you’re literally putting yourself in the shoes of different profiles of people on a daily basis and trying to see things from their point of view, and that’s not easy to do. It’s not easy at all. So in continuation of this thought, what are some of the epiphanies and learnings from this long career and over one and a half decades in market research that you would like to share with your peers, people who are in similar positions like you in other industries? What are things that you would like to share with them?

Shakti Banerjee – So, this entire thing about AI would replace, researchers. I think that itself is a misnomer, and that is what I would say to all my peers that we need to look at how effectively and innovatively we can use these tools to make, insights more meaningful and come up with, certain innovative, solutions for our clients.

Ritu Soni Srivastav – Absolutely. I think spot on, you’ve hit the heart of the problem and really given such a lovely example of the microwave. It’s such an apt example. Garbage in, garbage out. If you don’t guide it, no amount of technology can give you the kind of inputs you’re looking at.

Ritu Soni Srivastav – Absolutely awesome, Shakti. As always, it’s been such a pleasure to speak with you, and your anecdotes and your beautiful way of visualizing these thoughts has has made this conversation a delight. I’m sure a lot more people would like to connect with you. How do they find you if they want to connect with you online?

Shakti Banerjee – I’m there on LinkedIn, then Instagram and Facebook. But, yeah, LinkedIn, of course.

Ritu Soni Srivastav – And she’s very responsive, which we can personally guarantee. She’s extremely responsive, very approachable, and very open to new ideas and thoughts. So we would love for you to connect with her and give her feedback as well on the podcast and any other questions you might have. Thank you, Shakti. As always, it’s been a pleasure to connect with you, and we look forward to doing a lot more work with Hamza in addition to what we’ve done already led by your thought leadership.

Shakti Banerjee – Sure. Thank you so much, Ritu, for having me here. It was a pleasure as always talking to you. Thank you. Okay.

Shakti Banerjee – Thank you so much. Thanks.