The NOVA Partnership Quarterly Newsletter June 2025

Synthetic data is a hot topic, but when it comes to boosting small quant base sizes, MMR urges caution. While technically possible, synthetically inflating sample sizes doesn’t really increase confidence in results, it simply fills gaps based on the original data. Therefore, confidence all boils down to how representative the initial sample is, and if it is small, then it is at increased risk of being biased. This is especially risky in product testing, where we know there are underlying sensory preferences that are hard to target or quota, therefore, with small sample sizes, there is an increased risk of misrepresenting these preferences.

We’re leveraging the expertise of our Data Sciences team to ensure that our own synthetic capabilities are tailored to support the nuances of product testing, whilst in parallel helping to establish guardrails for the use of synthetic data. We’d love to explore scenarios and solutions with our clients, and to advise on when to use synthetic data – and when not to.

NOVA’s Alexandra Kuzmina joined Ray Poynter’s NewMR webinar with a presentation on Signals from the Future: Emerging Methods in Product Experience Insights.

This session explores how product experience insights can embed future thinking to stay ahead of profound shifts in technology and human behaviour. From voice-enabled chatbot surveys and virtual moderators to AI Personas enriched with dynamic data, emerging tools are reshaping how we engage consumers and leverage insights. By spotting signals of change and imagining plausible futures, we can prepare for disruption and uncover new opportunities for growth and innovation. Join the live session on June 25th or register to receive a recording.

In today’s climate of tighter budgets and rising expectations, insight teams are being asked to deliver more: faster, smarter, and with greater impact. Recent developments in research technology are showing that this challenge is also an opportunity to rethink how we work.

Read on for key takeaways from a recent industry event exploring how research tech is evolving.

Headed to Pangborn? Here are MMR’s accepted submissions.

At MMR, we’re excited about what AI can do, but we’re just as serious about how it’s done. As we explore new ways to unlock efficiency, deepen consumer closeness, and elevate insight, we’ve put strong foundations in place to ensure AI is used responsibly across everything we do.

That means rigorous vetting of AI tools, clear guardrails for how they’re applied, and a dedicated AI Governance function to keep us (and our clients) on the right side of innovation. Because when it comes to AI, it’s not just about moving fast, it’s about moving smart, with trust built in.

We’ve also responded to the ESOMAR 20 Questions on AI, giving clients full transparency into how we work and what we stand for.