Infographic: FlexMR's 2021 Year in Review

Each year we’ve reviewed the progress and challenges we’ve had to deal with a company and as a part of the insights industry – the past year has been just as weird and different as the last as we still suffer from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But that doesn’t mean everything has been bad, in fact, with more than 8.59 billion vaccination doses given around the world and around 3.63 billion people vaccinated globally (source), we are starting to take charge of the pandemic and adapt quicker to new variants, new outbreaks and new disasters than ever before. While it’s clear that we still have a way to go before we’re out of the mess, there finally looks to be a sliver of light at the end of the tunnel.

At FlexMR, we’ve adapted and innovated almost as fast as the world has, with the addition of new tools and services, new staff members, new awards and recognitions, new websites, innovations and new directions.

The Last 12 Months

The last year was filled with innovation and revolution for both FlexMR and the wider industry, with more creative research conducted and better insights developed than ever before...

The Road So Far

While the pandemic has taken its toll on the world, it has also opened up a lot of new opportunities as we adapt and innovate. The pandemic hasn’t impacted the growth of FlexMR in the slightest, with seven new staff additions to the firm across all departments to support the evolution of the brand.

And what an evolution it has been. As of the 28^th July 2021, FlexMR was the research-led technology agency no more, and instead transformed into the Insights Empowerment Agency equipped with all of the new programmes, tools and services to better partner with stakeholders and provide an educational research experience that bettered all parties involved.

The new five new services launched include our Stakeholder Alignment Programme, two Close Connection Programmes (video and survey), and the Insight as Art Programme which is based off the award-winning Insight as Art campaign of 2020. These services have propelled our brand into forefront of the insights industry, along with the addition of our new video booth feature and VideoMR tool at the end of April 2021, which in just eight months after it’s unveiling, we have streamed a grand total of 4780 minutes of video data all containing high-quality insights and connecting stakeholders directly to research participants.

The Insights Empowerment Framework was FlexMR’s crown and glory innovation of 2021, and was the defining idea on which all other tools and services were developed. The Framework provides a new outlook on how research should be conducted translating into brand new research styles that benefit both FlexMR and all of their clients as partners and stakeholders.

In lieu of many in-person events, this year we took it into our own hands and ran our own insightful events. In the three roundtables we held, we had 29 senior insight professionals attend from a variety of industries to share their thoughts and experiences on stakeholder engagement, agile and efficient research, and how to put together an effective insights strategy. With that wide scope of experiences at one table, there were a lot of new suggestions and innovative ideas being shared.

In addition to all of this, FlexMR are now an official MRS Company Partner, and have formed their very first Advisory Board comprised of four current clients who will help inform key strategic business decisions made by the FlexMR Senior Management team. This board have been active since 21^st July and have already been involved in a number of decisions that have influenced the direction of the brand.

FlexMR continues to be recognised as a first-rate research provider and innovative research technology provider. Following the success achieved 2020 despite adverse circumstances, FlexMR has been shortlisted for 3 different prestigious awards, our MRX Lab podcast was shortlisted for MR Podcast of the Year, and the company featured three times in the new GreenBook GRIT List as #44 in their Top 50 innovative companies, #23 in their Technology Providers category and 15^th as a Qualitative Research provider! This all goes to show that the new services, events, and innovations launched this year were recognised very quickly and assured us we were heading in the right direction.

FlexMR 2022 - The Road Ahead

With the vaccines and booster jabs making their way into the global population, we’re hoping for more of the same!

• More virtual and in-person conference events – with the uptake in vaccinations and the increased handle over the pandemic, we are hoping to sign on to meet other industry professionals at more events in the coming year.
• Epic roundtable discussions – however, with the success of the roundtable events this year, we are already planning to hold four more (one each quarter) of these exclusive invite-only events next year! Stay tuned for the announcement of each one.
• More tools, services and strategies – We wouldn’t be FlexMR without the continual drive to innovate, so look out for our new tools, services and updates to the InsightHub in the next year.
• Lots of insight-related content – Of course the Insights Blog, resources page and external industry publications will be updated with a lot more insightful research content comprising of blogs, thought leadership articles, whitepapers, case studies, and more. Make sure to subscribe to our blog so you don’t miss out on the valuable insight of our staff as they contribute new articles each week.

We know by now that it’s hard to predict the future, especially in times such as these, but with everything FlexMR have planned for 2022 it’s looking to be another exciting year. Stay tuned for more creative innovation, electric partnerships and research projects, and most importantly, insight empowerment.