2009 ARF Industry Leader Forum - San Francisco

Come and Experience Your Own Transformation

A One-Day Workshop

January 27th, 2009 • Bently Reserve, San Francisco

Tap into the flow of consumer conversations and behavior. Hear how it is changing existing approaches to research. Learn how to impact your marketing and research. Leave with not only knowledge, but tools.

On October 29th, over 200 research and marketing leaders assembled in New York and the way they thought about research was transformed. This sold-out event illustrated the industry opportunities as listening redefines the future of research.

88% of New York respondents said that they would recommend the event to their colleagues.

“The good people at The ARF are enthusiastic about changing research into listening – and the goal of listening is to make people’s lives betters. We need this kind of transformation to regain trust in our organizations and return to a time of economic stability. A great beginning. A movement I want to be a part of.”

“It’s exciting that the industry is finally embracing “listening” as a powerful new means to gain insight and complement traditional research. The event provided a great introduction to what’s being done successfully already to get everyone thinking about next steps.”

“Helped change my worldview about the state of research and where we are headed ...”

The transformation continued in San Francisco on January 27th:

• Facebook and Millward Brown in Industry Perspectives Panel
• Charles Schwab discussed how they are Listening to the Voice of their Customers to stem attrition, increase share of wallet, and solidify customer loyalty in this difficult economic environment
• Kim Dedeker of P&G was the keynote, sharing her views and issuing a clarion call on the transformation she believes is needed to keep the research industry relevant and valuable to advertisers
• Joel Benenson, pollster for Barack Obama, Founding Partner & President, Benenson Strategy Group and Co-Founder, iModerate, will provided insight into why we need to move beyond norms and challenge some of our current research assumptions 
• Michael Perman from Levi Strauss shared proven storytelling methods for effectively communicating research results
• Pete Blackshaw, Nielsen Online, one of the true innovators in this space, shared a vision of how organizations must embrace a listening culture and what that means
• Stephen Kim from Microsoft described how analysis of digital behavior leads to powerful insights into creating contextual relevance
• The ARF updated attendees on its “Research Transformation” initiative, the proposed new mission, vision, and scoping for research and how those in attendance can benefit