This morning, our CEO Steve Hatch spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about YouGov – how we are approaching this year of elections, how we get our data accurate for all our clients (both in politics and beyond) and how we use machine learning AI in our innovative MRP.
As Steve discusses, at the heart of what we do are our panel of people who take our surveys and share their data. We work hard to make sure anyone and every walk of life feels able to take YouGov surveys. The rich data they provide powers not only our accuracy but also enables our innovation.
The quality of the data our panel provides has led us to accurately predict elections the world over, and it is the same data that supports global companies to better understand their customers and help them make better informed decisions.
Listen to more of Steve’s interview here.
Mom was joking about being a bit of a bumper time for journalists. Elections bumper time two. Of course, if you're a pollster, I'm sure you've heard a lot of references to Hugo's work throughout the election campaign already. Perhaps be less aware of its other consumer research it carries out all around the world. All its potential ramp up, potentially to an initial public offering itself, an IPO, selling shares on a Stock Exchange somewhere, maybe All things to ask the chief executive of Yugo, Steve Hatch, who's with us. Steve, morning. Good morning. Nice to be a bumper year in terms of elections. Does that mean a bumper year in term of profits at you Gov? Well, it's certainly it's certainly is a very significant year for for for democracies. In fact, it's the largest year on record with over 2 billion people voting around the world actually. But I I'm significant addition to that where the call of a snap election in France just this week as well. So very dynamic here now people that and certainly it's a good business for us, but actually politics and and our public. A part of our business actually represents only 5% of the total, but it plays a really important role. It's often where panelists hear about this for the first time. So like come and join kind of you Gov. It enables us to promote our brands and we're well known in the UK, but we're actually expanding significantly overseas and that helps us particularly in the US. And it's also where, of course, we're able to test our accuracy and create new types of technology to improve that. I was going to ask you exactly that. So a gateway then to the other work you do, just explain to people. Guess what the bulk of the the money making side of the business is then? Yeah. So I, I said the other 95% of the company is made-up from, you know, providing data and insights to, to companies and different sectors around the world to help them understand how people are thinking and feeling about their company or their brands and to help enter continue to grow as well. And as I say, what elections are always to do, they really help us test and innovate. So yes, most recently we've been The Pioneers of AI machine learning technique called MRP that's enabled us to be the most accurate pollster in the last 6. One of the reasons I should say last 6 elections around the world and of course, that gives reassurance to some of our commercial organisations that our data, you know, it's not only real people, but it's also really, really accurate. Quick one on an IPO, is that likely, is that in the pipeline? And, and where would it be it? We're actually listed in the UK, so in, in London. And we, we actually, there was a potential for dual listing right, in New York as well. Well, we've, we've always examining to see where the best value for the company is going to be represented. I mean, right now the UK has been the place. To enable us to span from a, you know, a political polling company that's just in the UK to a company that operates in 49 markets and across a high number of sectors. But, you know, that's not to say that we're not always thinking about what the best place to recognize the value. And in terms of the US, you were talking about the brand and we were touching on it with Anastasia, felt it gonna be a very contentious election. What what difficulties, I suppose, does that have for a brand like you when you're doing political polling, when politics has become so partisan? Well, we have a very clear role, which is to to provide neutral curate information as part of the mission of the company is to help people in individuals of all sizes make better decisions based on that accuracy. And that's founded in one having a poll, a panel that's representative of people in particularly underrepresented groups. That means using things, for example, like audio surveys for those people that are blind or partially sighted so they can participate, and then the application of the technologies that I've mentioned in machine learning and AI. Really enhance accuracy. So our role in any country where where where we're working is exactly the same. A busy year ahead, Steve, thanks for your time. Steve Hatch, the boss of yogurt there.
Good to know you are doing well David.
On another point .... Did you know the languages department at Aston is being closed down. The last students studying French finish next year. Part time staffing for their final year needs.
Sheila Finnemore
🇺🇸🏅 37% of Americans are interested in the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics. Who are they, and how are they planning to follow the Games?
🏆 In YouGov’s latest report, we compare America’s interest in the Games against 11 key international markets, exploring demographic engagement trends, viewing behaviors and motivations for watching, as well as revealing the most anticipated Olympic sports.
And, no, Pickleball is not an Olympic sport!
Grab your copy 👉 https://lnkd.in/embRJJRg
Among the findings:
*The Olympics has widespread appeal, with relatively consistent interest levels across all age groups – especially in the US
*18–24-year-olds are more influenced by their family/friends to watch the Summer Olympics, whereas older fans feel a stronger sense of national pride and desire to witness athletic feats
*Live TV viewing and shorter form recap content will be the most popular ways to engage with the Games
*Swimming, gymnastics, diving, basketball and beach volleyball are Americans' five most anticipated Summer Olympics sports.
How do these stats vary between men and women, and among Americans of different age groups?
👉 Download the full report here: https://lnkd.in/embRJJRg
🌐 🔍 Discover the latest insights and research from YouGov!
A few of the topics in this edition include:
🇫🇷 How global audiences will watch the Paris Olympics
🤖 International opinions on AI in advertising
✅ YouGov's top tips for effective survey design
Happy Reading!
📲 Gen Z are 8x more likely than Baby Boomers to trust products from celebrities and influencers. How else do different generations respond to what they see on social media? How much money do Instagram users make? Why do people use TikTok?
👉 Explore all this and more in YouGov’s new social media report https://okt.to/6GUO4a
(And sorry, LinkedIn, you aren’t in this one, but get in touch and we’d be happy to do a deep dive on LinkedIn-ers too!).
After a very late night following the UK general election results, it’s clear that YouGov’s final projection of our MRP model properly told the story of the 2024 election.
We called 92% of the seats correctly, and our model correctly projected:
- Labour’s landslide victory
- The extent of the Conservative vote collapse
- The nearly perfect projection of Liberal Democrat seats
- The Green party and Reform UK as growing electoral forces
This was not a straightforward election. The electorate has shifted significantly over the last decade in a number of ways and various voter groups that were previously closely aligned to particular parties have become unmoored. A related point is that the 2019 Tory election-winning coalition – a unique blend of north and south cultural and economic conservatives and liberals – has fragmented beyond recognition in the past five years, with each of Labour, Reform UK, the Liberal Democrats, and the Greens benefiting.
All of this made political modelling for the 2024 election especially difficult. However, a number of factors helped us. One of the most significant was a market-leading and completely new innovation; our “unwinding” algorithm which helped us deal with the unique, high-change situation which the data was pointing toward and for which we had no precedent or prior data to help guide us.
Another was the quality of our data. Machine learning models such as MRP work best when high quality data is fed into the model. Because YouGov owns our own panel, we have a unique relationship with the people taking our surveys and have a deep understanding of who our panellists are. This helps us build and execute market-leading models at scale which can also be used for our clients to answer their own business challenges.
There are things in the results that we will need to build into our future work. As a data and analytics business, we constantly look for ways to improve our methods and we will be doing a thorough review of any areas where we can take learnings from for next time to make our MRP even more accurate and how we can apply our success into other areas of YouGov’s work.
Read more about YouGov’s projections compared to the election results and learn more about what made our MRP model work so well: https://lnkd.in/eDrgK5tv
🔍 📰 The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism's Digital News Report, which is based on a YouGov survey covering 47 markets, highlights the growing influence of video platforms and messaging apps for news consumption.
Our latest article breaks down which platforms are most popular for news consumption across a variety of markets and demographics.
👇Read the article below to see how these trends vary from country to country: https://lnkd.in/ePtvaShh
What do undecided voters want?
Over the 2024 general election campaign, YouGov’s Qualitative team have been getting to the heart of what the public really think about the UK’s major political parties and the issues driving their decisions as they head to the ballot box on 4 July.
One example of this work is the Sky News YouGov Voters Panel – an online community that represents over 40 different seats across the UK and reflects a wide range of demographics and political opinions.
While some panellists expressed concern about the Conservatives attempting to “consolidate the grey vote,” others also posed questions about how Labour would fund its headline pledges.
To learn more about what undecided voters think about the party manifestos, visit: https://lnkd.in/efgUPHVy
📺 Please join us in hearing what our Voters Panel have to say – tune in next week on Sky to hear the views of undecided voters and see the power of YouGov Qualitative research in action.
HSBC is Singapore’s Biggest Brand Mover last month! Congratulations for securing the top spot in May. We would also like to extend our congratulations to Samsung Electronics Singapore, Visa, Spotify and PayPal for making it into our Top 5.
Our monthly rankings cast a light on who’s performing best with our flagship product, BrandIndex. Want to know where your brand stands? Read more in our article and download the full report: https://lnkd.in/gU89ENP7
📲 While plenty of social media upstarts have come and gone, the main players remain relatively consistent.
Does each social platform’s membership remain the same as well?
📊 YouGov's latest report dives into the data, revealing the latest audience makeup for the top social networks, with deep dives into generational and gender differences.
Grab your copy here: https://okt.to/3A2Up8
🎉 YouGov’s second annual Workforce Diversity Report is here! 🎉
Investing in Diversity & Inclusion is core to our purpose to give the world a voice. We cannot achieve this externally if it is not reflected internally. 📣
To help us better understand our workforce and implement tailored initiatives that meet employee needs, we run our "Count Me In” campaign bi-annually. The “Count Me In” campaign invites YouGovers to voluntarily disclose and update their demographic data.
👉 Download the 2024 Workforce Diversity Report to learn about our strategy and initiatives to champion a diverse workforce and an inclusive workplace. https://lnkd.in/epTz9dkb
Disclaimer: Our data collection approach varies by market location, complying with local employment and data privacy laws or conventions.
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has released the 2024 Digital News Report, which is based on a YouGov survey covering 47 markets that together account for more than half the world’s population.
The report provides an in-depth analysis of how the digital news landscape is evolving.
Our latest article pulls out three key insights from the report, including that people are actively avoiding the news in many places around the world.
👉 Read the article and download the full report here! https://lnkd.in/enPXEX2U
Student at The University of Birmingham
1moGood to know you are doing well David. On another point .... Did you know the languages department at Aston is being closed down. The last students studying French finish next year. Part time staffing for their final year needs. Sheila Finnemore