Lydia Fuller

There is effectiveness sense in nonsense. This was one of the insights that Ipsos in the UK's Eleanor Thornton-Firkin and Samira Brophy shared to close out MAD//FEST North from the new MISFITS Stories publication. Drawing on a dataset of 15,000 ads evaluated with sales validated metrics, we have identified that humour delivers a x2.7 higher effectiveness lift when framed in the illogical and unexpected. This finding speaks to how the audience of advertising wants to be played with, wants their expectations subverted, their assumptions to be denied, because they're typically looking for escapism and entertainment, not an ad. If you'd like to find out more about the findings in MISFITS Stories you can access it for free in the link in the comments. Follow me for data and insights in creative effectiveness. We are Ipsos #CreativeExcellence and we support the world's leading advertisers to harness creativity in their ads to spark brand growth.

61

2 Comments

Our MISFITS Stories are always hugely insightful and based on data. Click through to find out about the gloriously weird, the beautifully illogical, the narratives that don't make sense. These are the stories that are nearly three times more effective.

2

WHEN COMMERCIAL SUCCESS DEPENDS ON CONSISTENCY For many research and insight agencies, the issue isn’t capability - it’s consistency. Strong proposals get written, new opportunities appear, good conversations happen… but results vary. The reason? There’s no steady rhythm behind the commercial activity. I’ve worked with agencies that simply needed to build that rhythm. Clear ownership, structured follow-up, and the confidence to prioritise the right opportunities week in, week out. When the process becomes predictable, results do too. If your commercial performance feels like a rollercoaster rather than a rhythm, it might be time to steady things. You’ll find it’s often easier than you think.

2

1 Comment

🚀 The UK food and drink industry is evolving fast, are you ready for 2026? IGD (Institute of Grocery Distribution)'s new UK Trends 2026 reports reveal what’s next for the industry’s key markets, helping you gain insight, spot opportunities, and plan strategically for a competitive year ahead. 🛒 Grocery: understand how value, health, and sustainability will reshape retail. 🧍‍♀️Shoppers: gain insights into how cost, sustainability, experiences, trust, and wellness are driving choices. 📊 Away From Home: discover the forces shaping dining out, from cost pressures to sustainability and tech-driven experiences. 🥪 Food To Go: learn how convenience, health, and elevated experiences will define on-the-go eating. Full reports are available to Retail Analysis, ShopperVista or Away From Home subscribers — and non-subscribers can access a free Highlights summary to explore the key takeaways. 👉 Read our article to learn more about our four new reports and access downloads: https://apo.sc/ol1qe #FoodAndDrink #UKFoodIndustry #FoodTrends #RetailTrends #AwayFromHome

15

A good read on #syntheticdata by Kantar If you don't have time for a good read this weekend, have a look at the 3 Myths below... There’s a lot of discussion about synthetic data, but far less clarity on how it actually works. We’re cutting through the noise with evidence from thousands of experiments and over a billion synthetic records. Explore Kantar's latest paper to see the evidence, the pitfall and the path forward. https://lnkd.in/grP7VHcD

26

Data quality is a core consideration for every Insight professional. I have found myself removing up to 30% of respondents on some surveys due to poor answer quality, contraditions as well as the standard removals for speeding etc. So it's really interesting to see this benchmarking report looking at the quality issues for UK quantiative research, compared with other countries. This might be something to consider for the ALVA Insight Forum next year Bernard Donoghue OBE, Lesley Morisetti Thanks to Angelfish Fieldwork for this useful summary. https://lnkd.in/exUbZ9KW #marketresearch #dataquality

26

10 Comments

I keep going back to this fascinating report on the digital behaviour of 15-24 year olds and thinking about the implications for health information. As future doctors, nurses and pharmacists, how will their online habits shape their approach to medicine and patient care, and how can we ensure they're equipped to deliver effective omnichannel communication to their future patients? As patients, how can we ensure they receive accurate and engaging health information in a way that resonates with their digital preferences, meeting them where they are across all relevant platforms? #Ipsos #Ipsosiris #DigitalBehaviour #GenZ #HealthcareMarketing #Omnichannel #FutureofHealthcare #PatientEngagement

11

Take-home grocery sales reached a record £13.8 billion in the four weeks to 28 December 2025, up 3.8% year on year, according to our new data. Grocery inflation eased slightly to 4.3%, offering modest relief over the festive period, with households spending an average of £476 - £15 more than last Christmas🎄 Spending on promotions and deals reached 33.3% of sales, up from 32% last year, and the highest proportion since before the pandemic, as households capitalised on widespread retailer offers. Supermarkets’ premium own label lines exceeded £1 billion in sales for the first time in December, appearing in 92% of shoppers’ baskets, with the highest spend seen in fresh meat and chilled snacks such as finger food, dips and antipasti. Alcoholic drinks for December’s festive moments were purchased by three quarters of British shoppers, while the low and no-alcohol category, saw a 14% rise in spend. Read the article and explore the full data: https://lnkd.in/ez5R-jc3 Or listen to our bite-sized briefing here: https://lnkd.in/ezAq7GCE #Worldpanel #GroceryMarketShare #Christmas

3

Today's fragile consumer landscape carries the marks of the past and the shadows of an uncertain future. Looking at some of the latest UK consumer data tells a story that’s more layered than the headlines suggest. ✅ Consumers have more financial security than perhaps they perceive. Disposable income rose by £25 a week on average across the UK (Asda Income Tracker), with regions like London, East Midlands and Scotland now exceeding their pre-pandemic cash levels, although, adjusting for inflation, real purchasing power has only just begun to recover ✅ Confidence remains vulnerable. 58% believe the economy is worsening (KPMG) despite real wages growing and unemployment staying low. The Deloitte Consumer Confidence Index remains flat at -7.8% and the GfK Index is down at -19 ✅ Behaviour is not purely reactive to today's conditions; it’s shaped by memory, fear, and projected futures. Even as inflation has fallen to 2.6% (ONS), consumers continue to navigate a world where prices remain well above pre-pandemic levels ✅ Experiences that offer participation and memory-making (sports, travel, entertainment) are outpacing more passive consumption. Spending on travel rose by 5.7% year-on-year (Barclays), with 59% of UK adults planning an overseas holiday this year (highest intention since 2011) and consumers intend to increase culture and entertainment spend by +3.8% (Deloitte) ✅ Travel, leisure and wellbeing categories are protected even as discretionary retail categories see cuts. Eating out spend fell by -5.1% in Q1 (Deloitte), but spending on holidays increased by 3 to 5.5% (Deloitte) ✅ Tactical spending is now a habit, not just a short-term reaction. 43% of consumers are actively reducing everyday spending, and 36% are saving more as a precaution (KPMG). 70% cite price as their top purchasing driver, up 3 points (KPMG) ✅ Retail sales volumes rose by 1.6% quarter-on-quarter, the fastest growth in four years (ONS), but were fuelled by discounting and tactical price comparisons, not pure consumer optimism What emerges is a consumer shaped less by today's data, and more by the lingering ghosts of past instability, the narrative of inflation, and fears about what lies ahead. Even when financial resilience is real, narrative resilience is weaker. Spending habits have reset: tactical, selective, memory-driven. Consumers are not withdrawing, they are re-prioritising: ringfencing wellbeing, shared experiences, and emotional essentials. We need to recognise that confidence is no longer just an economic measure - it is a storytelling indicator. It reflects how people feel about their past, their future, and their place within a larger, uncertain world. It’s not enough to respond to the data alone. We need to pay attention to the traces it carries, to the quiet forces shaping choices, long before they appear in the numbers. #ConsumerConfidence #ConsumerBehaviour #UKEconomy #Strategy

7

4 Comments

🚀 The UK food and drink industry is evolving fast, are you ready for 2026? IGD (Institute of Grocery Distribution)'s new UK Trends 2026 reports reveal what’s next for the industry’s key markets, helping you gain insight, spot opportunities, and plan strategically for a competitive year ahead. 🧍‍♀️Shopper perspective: gain insights into how cost, sustainability, experiences, trust, and wellness are driving choices. 📖 Read the highlights today, available for everyone https://apo.sc/bhl4w 📥 Full report is available for Shopper Vista subscribers https://apo.sc/w00q4 #FoodAndDrink #UKFoodIndustry #FoodTrends #RetailTrends #AwayFromHome

9

The MRS B2B conference is always packed full of some of the smartest people in the industry - so the bar is set high if you are presenting! Fortunately I was sharing the stage with Belinda Shearer, from Haleon to talk through an experiment that we conducted at Ipsos in the UK on the impact of behavioural interventions to support pharmacists delivering positive outcomes for pain patients. Some broad points we wanted to bring out: * There is a move from 'more understanding' to testing 'what works' in which case we are looking for causality and therefore points to the need for experiments * B2B and B2B2C environments are massively changing (and pharmacy very much so) but for positive change to happen we need to understand the very human nature of this environment - and then design our tools accordingly * There is a need for creative approaches - perhaps less in terms of the design of the experiment itself (more complexity can mean lower explainability) - than in how to access these often private spaces and then measure the nuanced human dimensions that are shaping behaviour. B2B and B2B2C is an exciting space to be working in - and very much at the frontline of change and innovation!

56

5 Comments

📢 NIQ's UK February Total Till headlines are live: 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Industry growth has slowed as Consumer Confidence drops and units fall by -0.8%. 📈 Shoppers spent £16,2b in 4 weeks to 21/02/26 which is a +2.3% growth on a year ago but growth is down on last month 💻 However, eComm Grocery Multiples still seeing strong growth of +9% Stay tuned this week for more detail. #retailinsights #consumerinsights #TheFullView NielsenIQ

39

Ever been sat there pretending to listen to someone tell a long winded boring story with no clear point? Remember what that story was about? I’m guessing the answer is no, although you might have learnt to steer clear of that person at a party! Why then in research do we insist on either data dumping or telling very boring stories? I’ve written an article about the importance of (good!) storytelling when it comes to communicating data into businesses 📊

17

1 Comment

I really enjoyed working on this report on survey nonresponse for the Scottish Government, and it’s great to see it published. Declining response rates can often feel like an intractable problem, with increasing resources devoted just to slowing the decline, let alone reversing it. For me, this research brought home that while there is no silver bullet, we can at least gain a rich understanding of the causes and correlates of nonresponse. In turn, this can be a great help in designing, adapting, and tailoring our survey designs, all in the interests of producing the most accurate and meaningful survey estimates possible.

8

Fascinating series of prompts from #mrx agency leaders on social fragmentation , the demise of the average consumer and the marketing and practical implications of tech via MRS Research Live

1

Only the common-or-garden levels of doom and gloom in the first session at today’s MRS Conference. Jokes aside, an excellent summary of three key tensions shaping the UK landscape from Kelly Beavers of Ipsos, followed by a stimulating panel discussion chaired by Dex Hunter-Torricke. Key image shared is from Jane Frost’s opening remarks highlighting the chasm between rates of AI adoption in research and actual training on these tools - made an interesting read. Looking forward to the next session.

14

1 Comment

Eye-opening findings from our new Value for Money Study. Great read for anyone working in brand, strategy or consumer insight.

6

https://ow.ly/CmaS30sMe1p Consumers are feeling the impact of rising prices, leading many to compare prices and seek deals. Brands can play a crucial role in helping them navigate these challenges. Explore our latest Ipsos Essentials report for insights into consumer perceptions of rising prices across different categories and the actions they are taking to navigate these. Learn how your brand can make a difference.

6