Retail sentiment became more negative in the third quarter of 2018. The biggest change on social media was found in posts around big box stores like Wal-Mart.

Q3 2018 showed a large decrease in social post volume, compared to this period last year. Those who did post were riveted by healthcare miracles and incredible health stories. Providers were also showing their growing wisdom by advertising job opportunities over social media.

Too often, important shopper insights research is done in a hurry, often on a limited budget. As researchers, we all understand the need for conducting faster and better research, but there is a case to be made for slowing down the process somewhat in order to uncover deeper, more impactful insights and provide meaningful recommendations.

Q2 2018 was the season for product product promotion. Buzz around the commercially successful Nintendo Switch continued with a new announcement at the yearly E3. Other companies utilized social media directly with large advertising campaigns aimed at boosting product awareness. Strategies varied; Coca-cola appealed to buyers’ hearts; Ihop capitalized from confusion.

The bitcoin buzz has yet to quiet down in Q2 2018. New initial coin offerings are expanding ideas about what is possible with cryptocurrency and blockchain. And Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg’s congressional hearings have opened larger concerns cybersecurity among financial institutions that handle large volumes of customer data.

Q2 2018 brought with it new conversations around health. Digipharm’s business model opened new conversations about the potential for intersection between cryptocurrency and healthcare. Users of Twitter and Facebook have mixed opinions about healthcare acquisitions, and Amazon breaks into the sector with a controversial figure at its head.

It was all about Amazon on social media during Q2 2018. Reactions to the first Amazon Go stores have been largely positive, in spite of concerns about potential job displacement. In the fashion space, retailers are feeling the heat from Amazon’s new Prime Wardrobe offering. And Video is becoming a more frequent medium for reviewing retail products.

Very few organizations question the value of User Experience (UX) research when designing or overhauling their digital touchpoints. Recognizing the value in UX and implementing a company culture that encourages and utilizes user research are two different challenges. 

Have we forgotten that innovation at its core is about creativity? Take creativity and all of its inefficiency and “messiness” out of the process and you won’t be innovative. Timelines, formulas, and stage gates do help guide your progress but relying on them to produce your close-in — let alone breakthrough — innovation will turn your innovation resources into just a cost center. No competent innovation specialist (and most of them are competent) does this consciously. It simply happens inadvertently all too often and dooms the innovation process.