Q&A with a corporate researcher

Editor’s note: Lubov Ruchinskaya was a finalist for the 2021 Researcher of the Year, end-client, award and was recognized for her achievements at the Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards Virtual Celebration. To learn more about the awards, visit quirksawards.com.

Lubov Ruchinskaya 

Colgate brand insight lead, Oral Care Western Europe, Colgate Palmolive 

How did you get started in marketing research?

I have been doing marketing research for the last 15 years working and living in different countries across the globe. Reading my profile in LinkedIn, one might think that I always knew who I wanted to be, since I started working in this area very early, but this is not the case!

Back in 2000, I studied in Moscow and was quite a generic student. A few years later, my family went through a crisis, and I faced a challenge – to enter university without any supporting courses for a government-sponsored free program or start working in one of the Russian factories that accept people without experience. Crisis creates opportunity and urgency for a change, and I started studying very hard.

I bet the probability of my success and chose the field of the study I was naturally good at – data, statistics and math. I did what was impossible and was the one person out of 250 to land the free spot in the course. I entered Moscow State University of economics statistics and informatics for the course “mathematical modeling in economics.” It sounded very fancy at that time, and it wasn’t until five years later that I would learn that this is the education required to become an insight professional. Impossible is possible, if you believe in yourself even nobody does.

After I passed the first exams, I put myself to work searching for financial well-being, trying different professions and following my passion until I came across a great challenge. Lufthansa was searching for a head of one-time market research to organize research in Moscow airports to analyze flying routes and passengers’ satisfaction levels. This project defined my future. It forced to me reconsider the importance of my education and put me on the path to becoming a professor of marketing, defend a Ph.D. in statistics and start my career at Kantar agency as a research manager. After I was invited by Colgate-Palmolive to join their family I have been staying with for the last 12 years changing roles, geographies and extending responsibilities.

Today I am based in Basel, Switzerland and lead insights for Colgate in Europe, working with the most talented and friendly people across the globe. 

What makes a marketing research approach truly agile?

Agility has become a buzz word in research since 2019. In general terms, agility means an ability to move with quick easy and grace and have a resourceful and adaptable character. It is a combination of an agile behavior and an agile mind. So, when it comes to the insights work, agility is about merging agile methods and agile mind-set to transform and elevate your work to the next level.

Therefore, even though agile methods and agility are closely connected, one does not mean another. Power of tools without human factors is very limited. It starts with the mind-set of people developing technology to address business needs and people who use it to solve business problems.

When it comes to the platforms and what makes them agile, I think there are two fundamental criteria that signify agility – speed and cost. Still there is one important factor I consider – data quality. High speed at low cost does not compensate for poor data collection, inaccurate coding or risks associated with data security. With time agile methods become more accurate and justify their position on the research market by proposing incremental benefits and demonstrating unique expertise. 

• For example, Toluna was one of the first companies proposing faster and cost-effective solutions. Today Toluna stands for global reach, integration of unique diagnostics, deep analysis and customized report preparation. 
• Fastuna disrupts the market of quick tests by proposing a tool with a standardized methodology and straightforward dashboards that delivers results just in two hours. They are constantly working on raising effectiveness of their tool – for instance, Fastuna recently integrated weights on brand usage that allows consistency between cells. 
• Zappi proposes customized – but in many cases validated – solutions, deep diagnostics, norms acquiring, data collection on the platform optimized for the client needs, online access to the reports and analysis among both broad category audiences and our core target audiences.
• EyeSee is another company developing new tech to deliver the best most predictive insights. Recently EyeSee launched a solution for testing social media posts in realistic and dynamic timelines – for all major social media platforms – allowing clients to understand the real impact of their content or ads, anywhere in the world.

At the same time traditional vendors started integrating new tech solutions, increasing the quality of consultancy, analysis and reports that in the end created a very healthy competition between well established businesses and agile startups and drove the on-going development of the market. 

Today at Colgate-Palmolive we are experimenting with new tools that allow us to get more in-depth analysis, stay System 1, ask less questions and observe people’s behavior. I strongly believe that leveraging technology is the key for the industry, still it will take some time for ML, AI and data science to be fully adopted. 

Describe a time you have stepped outside of your comfort zone as a researcher, and if it was worth the risk. 

Innovation is change and change is out of our comfort zone. To step out of a comfort zone is a risk and the role of an insight professional is to explore wild and brave ideas and measure risks associated with their implementation. I consider every project a unique opportunity to stretch the company and to improve services with the purpose of making the lives of people – our customers – better.

As a team in Europe we managed to challenge the status quo and propose unique opportunities for Colgate-Palmolive company to step into.  Several projects deserve to be mentioned:  

• We developed the Smile for Good toothpaste that contains a minimal number of ingredients and, in an industry first, lists each ingredient and clearly explains its purpose on the front of the pack. The product was certified with eco cert and other labels. The idea was sketched on the napkin and then we operated in a “startup” mode to develop and launch new product in less than six months. 
• Another project I am proud to be part of was communication development for Colgate Max White. With a powerful message “Your smile can rock the world, Smile on,” the brand set up deep connections with millions of people – all ages and looks. An inclusive, empowering affirmation for everyone to see Max White in a new way – more than just a toothpaste. 
• Finally, the successful launch of Colgate Elixir toothpaste bundle. This novelty addresses the major consumer pain point of seeing brushing teeth as a “boring chore” and transforms the experience into a truly pleasurable, beauty-inspired ritual. 

If you’re an end-client researcher and interested in participating in a Q&A with Quirk’s, please e-mail me at emilyk@quirks.com.