Ab’s Labs Blog
BRAND STRATEGY & MESSAGING:
Most brands have a Gen Z problem. They just haven't admitted it yet. Despite billions spent on purpose-driven campaigns, creator partnerships, and social-first content strategies, the vast majority of brands are losing the trust battle with the next two generations of consumers — not by a little, but by a lot. And the uncomfortable truth is this: it's not a Gen Z problem. It's a brand problem.
These generations aren't broken, difficult, or impossible to reach. They've simply developed a finely tuned detector for inauthenticity — and most brands keep tripping the alarm.
Did you know up to 30% of online survey responses are unusable or fraudulent? AI bots are now skilled at natural language, generating open ended responses, maintaining consistency with personas, and passing logic checks.
However, advances in market research quality systems have kept pace with today’s needs. Layered defense tools, continuous monitoring, personalized recruitment, and updated tools are available to prevent fraud.
At Conversate Labs, we don’t just lead global market research, we actively collaborate with our clients to understand the problem, determine the niche target market, and recruit solid participants in each and every study.
Our approach to AI fraud includes quality from the start. We don’t just use random lists or outdated methods to find participants. We get to know your audience, their behaviors, and scope the problem you are solving for and incorporate those nuances into every person. Our tailored approach to research recruitment begins with taking your target market and finding those exact type of profiles to engage and participate with us throughout the research journey.
Many of the traditional marketing assumptions have more to do with historical preferences, generational bias, and legacy marketing plans than with how the audience actually behaves today. With consumption trends changing this fast, brands have a real opportunity to investigate the customer experience before launching a new campaign or product. Learn how to allocate your marketing mix to fit today’s consumer.
Right now, when someone searches using ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews, the results are built almost entirely from earned, owned, and organic content, not paid placements. Roughly 94% of links AI search tools cite are non-paid media. So what does this mean for your marketing budget? Think of paid media as a faucet. When you turn it off (and sometimes, even when you just turn it down) it stops. You always have to pay for more to come out. Most brands haven’t mastered the art of earned media yet and it is an invaluable marketing tactic for 2026 and beyond. Earned media compounds. And it can be one of the most valuable strategies with long term ROI for years to come.
For 5 years, Conversate Labs has helped brands do something most marketing firms can't: understand their audience deeply, and then execute on new insights. We've run focus groups for Fortune 100 companies, designed research that informed global product launches, and helped brands and leaders communicate in a way their employees and customers actually respond to.
We are putting the “I” in AI at Conversate Labs. Over the past few months, we have all been hearing and talking at length about AI. Just like you, we are committed to bringing the latest technology to our clients. But the question still remains, what value does it bring to you and the work you do everyday? After talking with so many clients, vendors, suppliers, and thought leaders, Conversate Labs has been working to help answer this question and maximize the value AI can bring in helping solve complex problems. Whether you are entering a new market, trying to find new customers, launching a new campaign, or evolving a product line, there are many ways to integrate AI solutions to connect with you audience to help make great decisions to grow your business. So where do we see AI in the future of insights? Turns out, it starts with you and “I”!
A new year. A clean slate. A chance to start fresh. We all get to start the new year with hope and optimism. But the best brands today take it as an opportunity for a chance to look back and learn, while also understanding what’s relevant to today’s consumer. Affordability will be a top concern and be at war with brand affinity. The Best Global Brands according to Interbrand reported increases in global brand value to $3.6 trillion, up 4% in 2025. So what are the best brands doing right that we can learn in a price sensitive market?
Bud Light, Nike, Apple, and American Eagle. When it comes to knowing what to say and when, it seems like no brand is safe. Take the recent American Eagle ad that went viral for offending many for its reference to “good jeans”, a stray from its All-American brand strategy. The ad briefly caused a small stock increase, then produced a -80 point swing in brand sentiment. Our blog will explore how your team can create a winning brand and communications strategy, without offending customers, in 2025.
How do you stay relevant in a politically charged year? A recent study found a swing towards more positive opinions from Americans wanting companies to take a stance on important topics. However, this does not mean to to jump in right away. Yes, being more open and transparent will win over workers and customers, but ensuring it aligns with your values and strategic objectives is key - they will call you out on if you miss the mark. Let’s explore the top messages of 2025.
Marketing & Communications:
Most brands have a Gen Z problem. They just haven't admitted it yet. Despite billions spent on purpose-driven campaigns, creator partnerships, and social-first content strategies, the vast majority of brands are losing the trust battle with the next two generations of consumers — not by a little, but by a lot. And the uncomfortable truth is this: it's not a Gen Z problem. It's a brand problem.
These generations aren't broken, difficult, or impossible to reach. They've simply developed a finely tuned detector for inauthenticity — and most brands keep tripping the alarm.
Global workforce engagement has dropped to its lowest level since 2020. If you're seeing good people leave despite doing "all the right things," you're not alone and it's rarely a perks problem. It's usually a clarity, communication, or manager problem.
Start by understanding what's actually changed for your team, focusing on people and action over quick fixes, and investing in manager training that actually moves the needle.
Many of the traditional marketing assumptions have more to do with historical preferences, generational bias, and legacy marketing plans than with how the audience actually behaves today. With consumption trends changing this fast, brands have a real opportunity to investigate the customer experience before launching a new campaign or product. Learn how to allocate your marketing mix to fit today’s consumer.
Right now, when someone searches using ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews, the results are built almost entirely from earned, owned, and organic content, not paid placements. Roughly 94% of links AI search tools cite are non-paid media. So what does this mean for your marketing budget? Think of paid media as a faucet. When you turn it off (and sometimes, even when you just turn it down) it stops. You always have to pay for more to come out. Most brands haven’t mastered the art of earned media yet and it is an invaluable marketing tactic for 2026 and beyond. Earned media compounds. And it can be one of the most valuable strategies with long term ROI for years to come.
For 5 years, Conversate Labs has helped brands do something most marketing firms can't: understand their audience deeply, and then execute on new insights. We've run focus groups for Fortune 100 companies, designed research that informed global product launches, and helped brands and leaders communicate in a way their employees and customers actually respond to.
We are putting the “I” in AI at Conversate Labs. Over the past few months, we have all been hearing and talking at length about AI. Just like you, we are committed to bringing the latest technology to our clients. But the question still remains, what value does it bring to you and the work you do everyday? After talking with so many clients, vendors, suppliers, and thought leaders, Conversate Labs has been working to help answer this question and maximize the value AI can bring in helping solve complex problems. Whether you are entering a new market, trying to find new customers, launching a new campaign, or evolving a product line, there are many ways to integrate AI solutions to connect with you audience to help make great decisions to grow your business. So where do we see AI in the future of insights? Turns out, it starts with you and “I”!
It was a stressful day at work, as usual, so I decided to go on a walk with my son. I was talking to him about the things I do for work in a way that a 10 year old would understand. “Mom helps people talk to each other about what they do best.” To which he responded, “You help people be good?” Yes, finding the good in what we do every day is just another reason I love my job.
With so many brands and leaders today struggling to find the right words to say about sustainability, it would be an understatement to say our Labs have been busy lately. There’s good all around us, we just need a little focus on what we care about most, who we want to tell, and how we can say it in a way that is authentic, even to a 10 year old.
Sustainability and ESG have been around for a long time, but everyone is asking right now, “How do we rebrand it for the next generation?”
Will you ever forget March 2020? I remember vividly my family was going on vacation for Spring Break until the news broke of the Coronavirus. Airports shut down. Hotels closed. Freeways were empty. Offices were quiet. We spent the next several days, weeks, months, and years fearing the unknown and adjusting to our new life at home.
It’s no secret the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Americans were profound. Conversate Labs knows the importance of continuing the conversation when an unprecedented event like this has had such a significant impact on our lives and work.
Research & Insights:
Most brands have a Gen Z problem. They just haven't admitted it yet. Despite billions spent on purpose-driven campaigns, creator partnerships, and social-first content strategies, the vast majority of brands are losing the trust battle with the next two generations of consumers — not by a little, but by a lot. And the uncomfortable truth is this: it's not a Gen Z problem. It's a brand problem.
These generations aren't broken, difficult, or impossible to reach. They've simply developed a finely tuned detector for inauthenticity — and most brands keep tripping the alarm.
Global workforce engagement has dropped to its lowest level since 2020. If you're seeing good people leave despite doing "all the right things," you're not alone and it's rarely a perks problem. It's usually a clarity, communication, or manager problem.
Start by understanding what's actually changed for your team, focusing on people and action over quick fixes, and investing in manager training that actually moves the needle.
Did you know up to 30% of online survey responses are unusable or fraudulent? AI bots are now skilled at natural language, generating open ended responses, maintaining consistency with personas, and passing logic checks.
However, advances in market research quality systems have kept pace with today’s needs. Layered defense tools, continuous monitoring, personalized recruitment, and updated tools are available to prevent fraud.
At Conversate Labs, we don’t just lead global market research, we actively collaborate with our clients to understand the problem, determine the niche target market, and recruit solid participants in each and every study.
Our approach to AI fraud includes quality from the start. We don’t just use random lists or outdated methods to find participants. We get to know your audience, their behaviors, and scope the problem you are solving for and incorporate those nuances into every person. Our tailored approach to research recruitment begins with taking your target market and finding those exact type of profiles to engage and participate with us throughout the research journey.
You have approval to launch a new brand campaign and everyone on your team is so excited. But now you ask, “What should we say?” So many of us get captivated by fancy designs, new ads, and empty promises. But the real work of great marketers and communicators today lies in their ability to connect and care, or what we are advising our clients to focus on the 5 Cs of great communications. What makes someone stop endless scrolling? Why does one ad make you laugh or cry and the other to take a bathroom break? How can we figure out what makes us purchase that product a month later after several online campaigns? I’m going to give you a sneak peek into the art and science of great branding and explore why focusing on the Top 5 Cs will help you create a winning strategy.
Whether you're stepping behind the glass for the first time or revisiting the experience, the benefits of being in a research venue with your team are extensive. There's a ritual to conducting research in-person, a commitment that transcends observation. If you're a road warrior, you know the feeling. Your body is almost programmed to these moments. When you’re sitting on the airplane with your own thoughts, there's a profound connection between the researcher and the journey of discovery. These moments can lead to unique ideas and directions. When you’re in-person, your attention is dialed in, focused on what's happening on the other side of the glass – fewer distractions, more clarity – something that only being in an environment designed for insights can allow for. Discover how to maximize your in-person research.
Ever wonder how a company gets started, why a consumer chooses to spend their money or where a store chooses to first open its doors? Figuring out the motivation behind your actions can be a powerful exercise. Purpose isn’t driven by a company, it starts with passionate employees, managers and leaders. Coming together to serve each other, a mission, values, and common goals can’t happen without each other. So how to you reach the next generation when it comes to talking about your core purpose and workplace culture?
Have you ever taken a survey and quickly answered the last few questions just to get it over with? Or have you been chasing data and updating dashboards with little thought on what to do with it? With so much data and so little time these days, we have prioritized speed over quality and we are often left paralyzed as a result. Our recent conversations with marketing leaders indicate a need for solving some of the toughest questions business leaders have faced in years. But is there really an “easy” button?
It is well known the role of the manager has been evolving over the past few years. Managers have always been responsible for achieving goals, fostering teamwork, and managing priorities, but Conversate Labs has found that many managers describe themselves much differently. Taking on more roles during the pandemic like problem solvers, therapists, strategists, and much more, all while leading virtual teams, the role can seem like a daunting task. So we thought we would ask, “What do employees want from their managers in 2023?”
Conversate Labs in the News:
Conversate Labs Publishes New Research for Consumer Electronics Show on The Great Resignation.
Conversate announces Women’s Business Enterprise Certification
Conversate Featured on CNBC Squawk Box for The Great Disconnect
Conversate Publishes New Research for CES
Conversate Labs Publishes New Research for Consumer Electronics Show on The Great Resignation.