Author: Ettie Etela

Understanding the power of nature on World Wildlife Day 2024

March 2024, by Catherine Gordon

United Nations World Wildlife Day (WWD) is celebrated every year on this day, 3^rd March, to recognise and celebrate wildlife’s unique role and contribution to people and the planet.  The theme of WWD for 2024 is Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation.  As well as opportunities for supplying digital infrastructure and equipment to conservation projects, companies are increasingly becoming aware of their own activities’ impact on wildlife, and a realisation that minimising this impact is not only the right thing to do but is a commercial necessity.  Market research and insight can be invaluable tools to help companies understand how their approach to wildlife, conservation and environmental impact resonates with their consumers, employees and their wider stakeholders.

Most companies are becoming more aware of their impact on the environment willingly or because they must.  Companies wanting to commit to being more responsible corporate citizens join the ranks of movements such as B Corp, which certifies that a company has achieved high environmental and social performance standards.  Other companies realise they have little choice but to adopt policies minimising environmental impact to comply with regulations, supply chain requirements or in response to consumer demands for greater environmental responsibility.  For UK companies, the introduction of biodiversity net gain regulations in early 2024 requires companies to address and fix any adverse ecological impacts of development projects. Having a responsible environmental policy is increasingly a commercial necessity rather than just a ‘nice to have’.

The UN’s theme of digital innovation in conservation shines a light on multiple ways in which tech is advancing the cause of conversation.  Whether we are inspired by learning about conservation projects through social media, watching wildlife do its thing in our own back gardens on motion-activated cameras or learning about new discoveries in nature through AI-driven research projects, technology has a lot to offer to conservation and biodiversity agenda.  Technological innovation has made research, communication, tracking, DNA analysis and many other aspects of wildlife conservation easier, more efficient, accurate and engaging.

The rich diversity of people interested in conservation and biodiversity became apparent in my local area when public access to a piece of ancient woodland was threatened.  A community group sprung into action and, helped by social media, formed an effective campaign to preserve access to the woodland when it was put up for sale.  The diversity of age groups and backgrounds of people involved in the community group was notable: BMX cyclists (young and not-so-young), dog walkers of all ages, runners, walkers, families, bird watchers, the local badger group, orienteers, those fearing the development of a housing estate.  Despite the diverse demographics and reasons for wanting to preserve the woodland, all were committed to its conservation and the biodiversity it contained.  The woodland was sold, but access was preserved for current and future generations through the designation of a number of new public footpaths along well-trodden routes, a process which the campaign group initiated.

The important insight here for companies is that conservation and biodiversity issues can resonate very strongly with consumers from diverse backgrounds and demographics and for very different reasons.  Insight research can help companies to understand better this complex mix, how this might impact their consumers’ buying decisions and how companies might adapt their own policies and practices towards conservation and biodiversity and evidence impact.

As well as responding to how customers feel about wildlife, conservation and biodiversity, many companies also support conservation projects as part of their community action programs.  Many wildlife charities have ‘corporate partnership’ programs and work with companies wishing to facilitate employee volunteering or well-being programs.  Our own community day here at MM-Eye supported a conservation project, carrying out maintenance work on a wildlife meadow at Wormwood Scrubs Park.  Wellbeing and community programs can be a big motivator for employees and potentially a recruitment draw.

Environmental considerations are becoming an inescapable aspect of the corporate world, and for many consumers and employees, wildlife conservation is a powerful motivator for action and personal choice.  Consumer insight research can help companies better understand the factors influencing their customers’ choices and how they can best address and respond to these changing attitudes. Broader stakeholder research, including employee research, may influence how best a company allocates resources to maximise impact.

If you want more information about how consumer or stakeholder research can help your business grow, respond to shifting consumer and employee attitudes to wildlife conservation, foster meaningful connections with your brand or product, and evidence of the impact, feel free to contact us at MM-Eye.

Beyond Surveys – How ThoughtScape™ Reveals What Consumers Really Think About Sustainability

February 2024, by Ettie Etela

At MM-Eye, our commitment to understanding the complexities of consumer sentiment drives our innovative approach to market research. In today’s world, where climate change and sustainability are at the forefront of societal concerns, capturing the depth of consumer emotions and attitudes towards these issues is so important. Traditional surveys, while valuable, often only scratch the surface of what people truly feel. The unspoken, nuanced emotions and thoughts that linger beneath the surface provide us with the most profound insights. This understanding is essential for grasping the present and shaping future communication strategies that connect deeply with consumers.

Our proprietary tool, ThoughtScape™, stands at the heart of our efforts to delve deeper into the emotional landscape of consumers, especially regarding their views on climate and sustainability. Developed by our in-house team, ThoughtScape™ is an advanced AI-driven solution that has revolutionised the way we understand and interpret consumer emotions. By analysing the spontaneous thought streams of consumers, ThoughtScape™ uncovers the genuine, often unexpressed, emotional connections people have with the topic of sustainability.

We have developed the Say Do Sustainability Tracker, which uses ThoughtScape™ to gain a detailed understanding of how consumers feel about sustainability and climate change. This tool is innovative and helps to find out levels of climate anxiety, hope, scepticism, and motivation that traditional research methods miss. These insights go beyond simply identifying trends, as they also provide a deeper understanding of the emotions behind consumer attitudes. This level of understanding is key for businesses and organisations that aim to meet consumer expectations and bring about significant change.

To truly measure and understand customer emotions, we know we have to look beyond what is explicitly stated. ThoughtScape™ enables us to decode the subtleties of consumer sentiment, offering a window into the genuine concerns, aspirations, and emotions surrounding climate and sustainability issues.

Over the years, ThoughtScape™ has evolved from a qualitative tool into a sophisticated platform that combines both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. Our commitment to meeting the diverse needs of our clients across various sectors is exemplified by this advancement. By continuously adapting and refining ThoughtScape™, we ensure that it remains a cutting-edge tool capable of providing actionable insights that inform decision-making and strategic planning.

Our work with ThoughtScape™, particularly in understanding consumer sentiment towards climate and sustainability, highlights our expertise in navigating the complexities of consumer behaviour. For businesses seeking to understand the deeper, unspoken sentiments of their customers and to build strategies grounded in authentic, actionable insights, MM-Eye offers unparalleled expertise.

As we continue to explore the emotional dimensions of consumer attitudes towards critical issues like climate change and sustainability, we invite businesses and organisations to partner with us. By leveraging the insights gained through ThoughtScape™, we can help guide your business towards achieving sustainable success, ensuring that your strategies make commercial sense and contribute positively to addressing some of society’s most pressing challenges.

If you are ready to uncover the true voice of your consumers and to strategise based on genuine insights into their feelings and attitudes towards sustainability, please get in touch with the team here at MM-Eye.

IS ESPORTS DYING YOUNG?

February 2024, by Matias Van der Heijden

Have you heard of e-sports? Did you think video games were just a way to kill time? Well, for most people, they are; however, for the best of the best, it has become a respectable career path. This has been made possible by the recent growth of e-sports. It may be a relatively new industry, starting to gain traction with the support of major video games significantly popular among millions. E-sports has now grown to have thousands of tournaments hosted by various organisations and even game developers themselves, offering prize money and a platform from which to be viewed.

Even though the number of tournaments involving numerous teams/organisations has grown and continues to grow, the viability of esports organisations from a business standpoint is yet to show anything promising. Many notable figures have invested in the industry, ranging from billionaires like Mark Cuban, Musicians like Drake and (retired) Athletes like Shaq and Michael Jordan. However, from these names, the statements vary about their investments, with Mark Cuban stating an esports team was an “Awful Investment”, but Shaq stating that he believes in his investment and that it’s “one of the fastest-growing industries” and “we’ve seen a huge increase in both gamers and viewers”.

Even with these investors, a large array of companies are reporting losses year on year. The most notable has been ‘FaZe’, an esports organisation that went public in July 2022 at $13.07 a share, then proceeded to lose 24% of the share price on the first day. The shares now trade at $0.15 a share as of January 2024. In 2022, ‘MAD Lions’, a popular organisation, had a revenue of $3.45 million; however, with operation costs of $9.5 million, they had an overall loss of $6 million. ‘G2’, another organisation, has reported profit for 2021 and 2022. This is a result of numerous successful teams gaining more notoriety and, therefore, more sponsorship money and a cut of prize money (however, prize money becomes quite insignificant as players take between 60-80% of the cut).

G2 may have found some success, but with the number of teams growing and the number of spots in major tournaments staying the same, it is getting more competitive to even own a team, let alone a successful one. Player salary costs a pretty penny, with the minimum wage in the LEC (League of Legends EMEA Championship) being $64,000, with the salary cap in this tournament being $2,000,000 annually (reportedly, some players are earning upwards of $5,000,000 in other regions). With these costs for just the players, it’s no wonder that the organisations hiring them are struggling to make money.

But why can’t esports seem to make enough money to match these costs? If we look at the numbers, viewership for esports events is steadily increasing. The League of Legends World Championships 2023 reached a peak of a whopping 6.4 million live viewers and over 100 million hours watched. 18,000 people even attended the event in person.

Even with all this viewership, most teams that played didn’t seem to be able to make enough to cover their operations costs. Could it be that there still isn’t enough viewership? Will viewership continue to grow more? Why aren’t people watching? Why does a game like League of Legends, with over 150 million players registered, only have 4% of its player base willing to watch?

These are the sort of questions we answer at MM-Eye where our consumer research plays a pivotal role in providing answers to complex questions and devising practical solutions. Delving into the underlying reasons behind consumer behaviours could empower the e-sport industry to make more informed decisions and take strategic actions that help support viewership and commercial investment.

With League of Legends planning on coming to the UK for 2024 and using the o2 as their stadium, it’s possible viewership may reach a new peak in the year ahead, but what could be done to further boost this growth? If you have burning questions like this about your industry, product or brand please get in contact with our team @MM-Eye.

Happy World Wetlands Day

February 2024, by Catherine Gordon

Today marks World Wetlands Day, a day when we recognise the importance of wetlands to biodiversity worldwide.

I recently came across a conservation project which highlighted the importance of wetlands to biodiversity here in the UK and their importance in tackling the wider challenges of climate change, particularly the impact of increased flood risk on communities and our landscape.

On a recent family holiday to Cornwall, I discovered that the Lost Gardens of Heligan became the latest UK re-introduction site for beavers during 2023. Other sites in the UK – in Scotland, Devon and Derbyshire – have already seen beavers re-introduced, with some kits already born to these beaver families, the first since beavers became extinct in the British Isles 400 years ago.
Beaver re-introduction projects are being managed by the Beaver Trust, a nature restoration charity established in 2019. Beavers are seen as a ‘keystone’ species, with their re-introduction boosting biodiversity. This is predominantly through the dams constructed by beavers as part of their natural instinct, leading to the creation of more wetland areas as streams and watercourses expand behind each dam. Beavers build their dams to be naturally leaky, so watercourses continue to run, albeit much slower, particularly during periods of heavy rainfall and flooding.

In the case of the site at Heligan in Cornwall, it is also hoped that beaver constructions may reduce the risk of flooding further downstream in the coastal village of Mevagissy due to rainwater being held back by the beavers’ dams. The Heligan site is of added interest for future re-introduction sites in the UK because the large area over which the beavers can roam includes farmland, so project leaders are keen to see the beavers’ impact on Heligan’s grazing livestock.
This trip got me thinking more about the importance of wetlands to our environment and the diverse range of stakeholders who could be impacted by these types of nature conservation and re-introduction schemes, such as landowners, farmers, local residents, tourists, and those running visitor attractions.

The UK Wildfowl and Wetland Trust states, ‘ If rainforests are the lungs of the planet, then wetlands are the lifeblood’. World Wetlands Day recognises and celebrates the importance of wetlands to the world and the diversity of life they support. World Wetlands Day was first organised by a group of environmentalists who wanted to celebrate and protect wetlands. The date, February 2, marks the day when the Convention on Wetlands was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971. The main aim of Wetlands Day is to spread information and awareness about the value of wetland habitats and encourage people and governments to take action to prevent their loss. Wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests, and more than 35% of the world’s wetlands have been degraded or lost since 1970. The U.N. formally instituted World Wetlands Day in 2021.

Wetlands can be very small or very large areas where the land is saturated with water throughout the year, and life has evolved to exist in these flooded oxygen-less conditions. Wetlands are one of the most misunderstood ecosystems, but they are teeming with life and are home to unique plants, fish, reptiles, mammals, amphibians, and birds. Every continent has its own range and variety of wetland habitats, ranging from giant deltas and mighty estuaries to mudflats, floodplains, peat bogs, the humble garden pond and wetlands created by beaver dams. However, wetlands are also extremely ecologically sensitive. They are the most easily affected by environmental changes, pollution and climate change. Even minor changes can prove catastrophic for wetlands and all the life that is dependent on them.

World Wetlands Day reminds us of the crucial role wetlands play in our environment and communities. As we have seen with the beaver reintroduction projects in the UK, such as at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, these initiatives are key to restoring biodiversity and managing climate challenges like flooding.

Wetlands are essential, offering benefits from flood control to climate change mitigation. The experiences from Heligan highlight how important it is to work together, involving everyone who has a stake in these projects – from local folks and farmers to environmentalists and government officials.

Here at MM-Eye, we are passionate about helping nature and people get along better. We specialise in gathering insights that make sure everyone’s voice is heard in conservation projects. Our research helps understand the needs and views of different groups, making sure projects like wetland conservation work well for everyone involved.

We bring together different perspectives to create strategies that help both our communities and the environment. Whether it’s looking into how bringing back beavers affects us all, figuring out how wetlands can help with flooding, or finding ways for people to get involved in protecting nature.

As I discovered at Heligan, a diverse range of stakeholder groups are impacted by any wetland conservation or creation project – residents, farmers, land managers, environmental groups, developers, and Mother Nature herself.

As with any project involving diverse and competing stakeholders, research can ensure all views are captured and considered to ensure the long-term success of the project aims and the buy-in of diverse stakeholder groups.

Please get in touch with the team at MM-Eye if you are interested in stakeholder research or would like to tap into our expertise in sustainability research.

Employee Ownership – Reflections, One Year On

January 2024, by Catherine Gordon

MM-Eye became employee-owned a year ago this month, and it has been quite a year of change and progression across the whole business.  At our recent all-partner meeting (we now call ourselves ‘partners’ rather than ‘staff’), we discussed the changes experienced during this time and shared thoughts and feelings about being employee-owners of the company.

The overwhelming sentiment was positive – we feel like we have done a lot in a year, but we are still very much starting a process of transformation for ourselves and our business.  We felt it would be useful to document and share our experiences at this point in our journey as we celebrate the first anniversary of employee ownership for MM-Eye – and in doing so, we hope to inspire other businesses to take a step towards it.

The main organisational changes which employee ownership required at MM-Eye were the creation of a Trust Board and an Employee Council, which were both up and running fairly quickly.  The Trust Board oversees the decisions of our Operational Board with a remit to ensure the interests of MM-Eye’s employee-owners are properly considered.  The Employee Council represents the views of partners and feeds these back to the Operational Board.  The Operational Board has adjusted to being accountable to the Trust Board, which includes an Independent Trustee, Danny Sims of DJS Research (also an employee-owned business) and an Employee Trustee, Meg Rudman-Walsh, one of our Research Directors here at MM-Eye. In addition, Damien Field, our Managing Director, also represents the Operational Board.

We realised, soon after the initial set-up of 2 employee council groups, that a single Employee Council would be more effective and efficient. Representatives on the Employee Council have been getting into the swing of giving feedback and thoughts on various topics, ranging from employee satisfaction improvements to a newly drafted bereavement policy and a new partner bonus scheme.  A lot of us have had new roles and responsibilities to get used to, over and above what we’d consider our day job, and we are all feeling a cultural shift of having to ‘think like owners’ and realising we now have decision-making voices.

During our partner meeting discussion, a wide range of thoughts were shared in response to Danny, our Independent Trustee, asking how we all felt about employee ownership a year in.  Here are a few of those we shared:

• Feeling included in decisions being made.
• Feeling our views matter and that we are listened to.
• Employee Council feedback is making a difference – we now have a few examples of reviewing and suggesting changes to draft company policies before implementation.
• Realising we have the power to suggest and make changes to how we work, which will improve employee satisfaction.
• More transparency in financial matters, with training provided to equip us with the knowledge we need to make sense of the information shared.
• Positive responses reported by our business development team when talking to prospective clients. Employee ownership is considered a distinctive feature in the market research world – it underpins our values and is associated with better service levels.
• Our Independent Trust Director is like having an ‘honest friend’ in terms of advice and guidance – this is the first time the operational directors have had this type of external advice, support and accountability.
• Career progression opportunities for all staff, having more transparent conversations about succession and clear opportunities for future leadership roles for those who want it.

Overall, we had a very positive, open discussion, affirming the benefits of employee ownership so far.  It still feels like early days, with lots to do – like embedding an ‘ownership’ culture, settling into the routine of our regular council and board meetings, and embarking on our long-term leadership succession process – but overall, we have made a positive start.

If you are thinking about the employee ownership route for your business, don’t hesitate to get in touch! We would be very happy to talk more about how we have got to where we are.

Decoding the Sustainability Dialogue from Davos 2024

January 2024, by Ettie Etela

Here at MM-Eye, we have been closely following the discussions at Davos 2024, especially the ongoing dialogue around climate change and sustainability. These themes are not new, but a crucial angle is often missed in these high-level discussions – the consumer perspective.

Our latest Say Do Sustainability Study, which we are excited to share later this year, dives deep into this aspect. We have found that while terms like ‘Polycrisis’ might dominate headlines, what really matters is how consumers perceive and react to these issues. It is about understanding the gap between what brands say and what they actually do, and how this impacts consumer sentiment.

Our recent research showed a widespread sense of climate anxiety prevalent among the UK public. This anxiety is deeply intertwined with economic concerns. The drive towards a more sustainable, greener lifestyle is often seen as a costly and impractical endeavour for many. Across the board, there’s a heightened awareness of the financial strain such lifestyle changes can impose on households. This creates a significant barrier, as the desire to adopt environmentally friendly practices is frequently overshadowed by economic limitations.

We also saw a noticeable disconnect between what consumers expect from businesses and what is actually being delivered. There is a growing concern about the future of our planet and the effectiveness of the measures currently in place to protect it. This sentiment resonates with a broader scepticism about the practicality of some proposed sustainable solutions. For instance, the production of electric car batteries, often touted as a greener alternative, comes under scrutiny for its own environmental impact. This contradiction points to a complex landscape where the ideal of sustainability is sometimes at odds with the reality of its implementation.

These findings reflect a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the public’s sustainability and climate change perspective. It is clear that while there is a strong desire to move towards more sustainable practices, there are also significant challenges and concerns that need to be addressed. The research offers valuable insights for brands, businesses and policymakers to help them better align their strategies with consumers’ real-world experiences and expectations.

At MM-Eye, we believe the key lies in understanding people. It’s not about crunching numbers; we also need to tap into the human element of the climate crisis. How do we communicate effectively? How do we help people navigate these challenges? These are the questions we are trying to answer.

The Say Do Sustainability Study is a guide to understanding consumer sentiment in the face of global sustainability challenges.

So, as we all look to make sense of the discussions at Davos 2024, we want to highlight the importance of bringing the consumer into the conversation. We are committed to bridging that gap at MM-Eye, ensuring that the voice of the consumer is not heard, understood and acted upon. If you want to find out more about SDSS or any of the other great research we do, please get in touch with the team.

Veganuary and a New Era of Ethical Consumerism

January 2024, by Ettie Etela

As we come hurtling into a new year, with the merry gluttony of Christmas behind us and looking into the long winter, many choose between habitual consumerism and ethical consumption.

Veganuary, a campaign that once started as a humble British initiative, has now become an international call to embrace a plant-based lifestyle for at least a month. Veganuary represents a journey of ethical awakening where our choices reflect our moral standpoints.

According to Statista, January 2022 saw more than 629 thousand individuals globally embracing Veganuary, marking a surge of more than triple the number of participants in 2018, reflective of the growing popularity of plant-based diets and an indicator of the shifting consumer consciousness towards more ethically sourced products. The UK, being the birthplace of Veganuary, alongside India and the US, saw the highest number of sign-ups, creating a trident of change in a world grappling with the repercussions of climate change and animal agriculture.

The after-effects of Veganuary continue to have an impact after the month-long vegan voyage. A Guardian report states that 23% of non-vegan participants decided to stay on the green side, while 43% reduced their consumption of animal products by at least half, and a further 20% reduced it by between a quarter and a half. For the many people who participate, this isn’t just a culinary transformation; it’s a push to more conscious consumption.

The ripple effect of this ethical consumerism is significant. According to a UBS survey, the proportion of individuals trying plant-based meat alternatives rose from 48% to 53% between March and November 2020 in the UK, US, and Germany. This shift reflects a deeper, more profound change in consumer preferences, driven by a blend of ethical, environmental, and health considerations.

Consumers with robust moral convictions tend to gravitate towards ethical products that align with their values and beliefs according to The Ethical Consumer Research Association. There are multi-layered motivations behind ethical consumption, ranging from social identity expression and enhanced self-image to a quest for higher quality and product performance.

The narrative of Veganuary is closely aligned with the consumer perspectives we see in our Say Do Sustainability Study (SDSS), our study to help businesses navigate consumer perspectives in the realm of sustainability. The SDSS helps business leaders align business practices with the shifting tides of consumer preferences.

As we approach a new era, the correlation between veganism and ethical consumerism is a positive outcome in the global business ethos. The spectrum of consumer choices is becoming increasingly influenced by eco-friendliness, and as we enter a new year, the Veganuary movement is a sign of the evolving consumer narrative – it is a story where ethics and commerce coexist in harmony with sustainability.

If you want more information about how consumer research can help your business grow, enhance sustainability, and foster meaningful connections with your brand or product, feel free to contact us at MM-Eye.

Celebrating Accessibility: Happy Birthday Louis Braille

January 2024, by Catherine Gordon

Today is World Braille Day, an International Day of Awareness highlighting the importance of the Braille writing system as a means of communication for blind and visually impaired people worldwide and promoting equal opportunity and inclusion.

It is the birthday of the system’s creator, Louis Braille, who was born in France on this date in 1809. He lost his sight as a child in an accident in his father’s workshop. Inspired at school by a visit from a Captain in Napoleon’s army who taught him about nighttime coding systems, Louis went on to develop and create a fingertip-reading system of raised dots — which became synonymous with his name.

Braille is a code for individual letters or phrases and can be used in different languages. Each character is a cell of up to 6 raised dots, the cell being small enough to feel with the touch of a fingertip, enabling the reader to move quickly from one cell to the next across a page. Versions of Braille for maths symbols and music notation have now also been developed. Braille’s creation is today recognised as a worldwide means of written communication for blind and visually impaired people; it improves quality of life, increases access to education and employment, and reduces social exclusion.

I remember seeing David Blunkett, a government minister between 1997 and 2005, reading speeches written in Braille from the despatch box in parliament, his hands gliding swiftly across the paper in front of him, his guide dog sleeping at his feet. When appearing on the Radio 4 programme ‘Great Lives’, David Blunkett chose to talk about Louis Braille, and the impact his writing system had on his own life chances. He believed it gave him the opportunity to be at the top of his game and lead a full and influential life.

Today there are many other examples of technological developments which improve access and opportunities for a wide array of physically or mentally impaired people. They range from mobility aids, prosthetics and orthotic devices, to hearing aids, screen readers and website apps.

We come across many different companies currently designing new mobility and access products, such as education software tools to improve access for neurodiverse students. There are also specialist funders who back technology developments aimed at people with learning disabilities.
Louis Braille’s lived experience of sight loss informed the creation of his writing system, but how can today’s product developers capture the invaluable feedback of the lived experience of people with a diverse range of disabilities, and interpret what people really want and need?

There is a clear role here for customer insight research to find out what end users really want out of any proposed new product — at the design, prototype testing and product launch stages. Research can also assist the customer journey from purchase and ordering all the way through to product setup, improve the clarity of instruction manuals, and provide ongoing support. Such research can be invaluable for the development of mobility products aimed at end users with diverse and often very person-specific needs.

By engaging with the end user, insight research can give any company a deep level of understanding of their customers’ and prospective customers’ needs and priorities. This will ensure commercial success and also ensure that companies are maximising the social benefit their products bring — inclusion in society and equality of opportunity.
Happy Birthday Louis Braille!