December is often accompanied by a sense of fulfillment and nostalgia. As the last month of the Gregorian year, it’s associated with endings and reflecting on lessons learned. We want to take this opportunity to do the same and take stock of the lessons learned in 2025, which is now beginning to say goodbye. We readily acknowledge that the third decade of the twenty-first century has been anything but calm and predictable.
Since 2020 threw us into an uncertain lockdown and challenged almost all the certainties we knew, we had the opportunity to pause and reconsider the direction our lives were taking. Market Research was no exception. Both companies and the industry were profoundly affected, and both had to rise from the ashes to move forward. Today, COVID-19 is still used to explain adverse effects. Therefore, today we begin a two-part series listing key lessons learned during this period.
Prevention. In both geography and the insurance industry, the future is often seen as an asset rather than an amorphous, undefined uncertainty. Both disciplines recognize that, despite the prevailing reality of daily life, there is always a critical moment that disrupts our routines and demands swift and decisive responses. We are not suggesting that we should live in anticipation of future dangers, but part of risk management involves accumulating invaluable resources that will allow us to survive the initial stages of a calamity.
Flexibility. Markets are typically managed through business plans that attempt to control the variables that best explain the behavior of a given phenomenon. This is part of the study of market analysts. However, the environment can be unpredictable at crucial moments. This tests the responsiveness of even the most experienced managers. Even with well-defined short- and medium-term plans, it’s essential to know how to effectively change course during challenging times.
Planning. We might seem to be repeating ourselves with the first point. However, there are significant differences between prevention and planning. Traditionally, planning simply involves defining the appropriate steps and processes for the most likely conditions in a given place and time. This can be quite profitable in most cases. In the real world, although the percentage is very low, events occur that shatter all expectations. It’s worthwhile to have plans in place for at least the most common contingencies.
Trust. At this point in history, we have an abundance of professionals who can meet our needs. This diverse market of experts in various fields might lead us to believe that assembling a competent and supportive team is easy. With recent crises, defining and retaining a group of people who demonstrate great expertise and loyalty in times of difficulty has become especially important. Make sure you assemble a team with these characteristics before it becomes necessary.
Even now, we are still facing the consequences of the biggest health crisis of this century. A popular saying goes that “we tend to stumble over the same stone more than once.” This is evident in every news story about companies and individuals reverting to pre-2020 practices without considering that this reduces their adaptability to extraordinary circumstances and diminishes their efficiency in this era of omnipresence thanks to the internet and mobile devices.
At Acertiva, we were able to overcome this situation thanks to having clearly understood some lessons that we share with you in this post. This allowed us to be more resilient and assertive with our employees and clients. Therefore, we offer you a team of analysts and strategic partners to help you achieve your goals of understanding people and brands in LATAM. Contact us today. This could be the start of your next success story.
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