With Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas ahead, we have reached that time of year – to reflect and look forward to a fresh start in January.
Firstly, we’d like to thank you for your support and partnership in 2024, we’ve achieved great things together!
2024 has been packed with tech innovation, AI, logistics, consumer moments, global fieldwork, complex protocols, thousands of products, millions of consumers and several big corporate change cycles. So, the same as every year then!
Blue Yonder has grown over 20%, with new clients coming in and existing clients trusting us with more of their projects. Just over 50% of our business is now outside of the UK. We are so grateful to all our clients world-wide for an incredible year of partnership across projects large and small. There is no ‘typical’ Blue Yonder project. Our work spans all phases of the innovation cycle and is united by one thing; every project is seeking to find or demonstrate an edge for your top brand.
In 2024 we have invested in five key areas:
1. Building an extension of your team
Key senior hires in qualitative, statistics and automation, and promoting excellent people across the business, to strengthen the quality of insight and broaden our skill set.
2. Tech and AI
Agile methods with automated 24-hour reporting has been rolled out. Five approved AI platforms embedded into our work, allowing us to deliver faster. Over 10% Net Profit was invested, as it is every year.
3. Geographies
Expanded field networks across the US and LATAM and doubled the UK Sense:buds panel to 15,000 people, enabling us to meet your complex demographic needs.
4. Field and logistics
UK logistics centre opened, and 2024 saw the first full year of the Sense:lab business – offering excellent field basics and facilities where full service is unnecessary.
5. Creating and sharing knowledge
Across 5 conferences, 2 owned events and 4 webinars we shared as much of what we know as possible, we are your thought-leaders to advise and guide you.
Our vision remains to be the world’s leading 100% specialised R&D research agency. All the above has pushed us towards that goal. I hope you have seen at least some of that value in your Blue Yonder teams’ work for you this year.
What’s coming in 2025 (AKA 3 weeks’ time!)?
We will take several of the big themes from 2024, and dive into practical solutions. In discussion with you, we have heard important themes. Each creates an opportunity for us to partner.
Let’s get practical with AI: So many platforms, lots of unproven results and corporate caution. So, let’s work together to source the platforms that truly add value to the project, safely. Let’s dive deeper into our existing databases to align existing data structures and then use machine learning to pull out new insights. James Godfrey, our new head of statistics was hired with precisely that goal in mind
Let’s create Agility: Why should we have to sacrifice all flexibility when we aim to speed up. Let’s create tools and projects that sample, ask questions and report smartly. Let’s get the work done sooner and faster to keep R&D moving. And let’s report in stakeholder ready formats, whether that’s a beautiful PowerPoint, a dashboard or just one number in an email. Automated inputs and outputs, but with flexibility retained.
Look out for streamlined narratives and dashboards. We know the most practical challenge of all is time, and the lack of it. In 2025 our mission is to save as much of it for you as possible!
Let’s stay focused on sustainability and meaningful inclusion: There were some wonderful briefs to help create more inclusive products in 2024. We look forward to expanding understanding of this important area in 2025. Blue Yonder’s ‘Sustainability Now’ report will be out in Q1, containing the latest view on how people in the US and UK think about (or don’t think about) sustainability today. In both these fields R&D is leading the way. Whilst marketing may move on, the work of creating sustainable and inclusive products never stops.
Let’s meet in person: We have been at work with you across the globe in 2024, whether that’s our JV hubs in Philadelphia, Milwaukee and New Jersey, partner facilities coast to coast, and of course across Europe and the breadth of the UK. You will see even more of us in 2025, and we have exciting new field networks coming online in January which will make Blue Yonder up to 30% less costly on the simplest tests. Watch this space.
We are very excited about Pangborn in Philadelphia in August and we are hosting our own Campaign for Real Innovation event in London in June. Wherever you are in the world, we hope to see as many of you as possible throughout the year of 2025.
R&D never stands still. I believe one of the things that keeps so many of us in the sector is the constant shifting sands. It keeps things interesting. No day is the same. It also can be intense and stressful! Blue Yonder teams will never stop trying to be an extension of the team you need in those moments. So, thank you for sharing your biggest challenges with us, and making us part of your teams. In 2025, we look forward to helping you get what matters most to you, done!
Written by Richard Heath, Managing Director
December 2024
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