Winning with people

Trends, countertrends and the human anchor

One presentation was about trends and countertrends. About acceleration versus slowdown. Automation versus craftsmanship. Scale versus intimacy.

AI is everywhere. Synthetic data is booming. Efficiency is king.

But every trend creates its own countertrend.

The more we automate, the stronger the desire for authenticity.
The more we digitise, the deeper the need for real connection.
The more we model behaviour, the more we want to understand real emotions.

That tension is not a problem. It’s the opportunity.

Because the future of insight isn’t human or AI. It’s human and AI.

Flesh and blood still matter

In our presentation we made one thing very clear:
If you want to understand society, brands or behaviour — you need to connect with real people.

You need to sit across from them.
Observe what they do, how they interact, how they spend their time.
See the smile that doesn’t match the words.
That is irreplaceable. And yet.

If you stop there, you’re leaving value on the table.

Enter the Virtual Audience

Together with the Nationaal Ouderenfonds we showed how Virtual Audience became a catalyst for impact in the National Elderly Study .

The context is urgent.

The Netherlands is ageing fast.
Between 2020 and 2040 the number of 65+ will grow by 43%.
The number of 80+ almost doubles (+96%).
And today already 1.8 million older adults feel (extremely) lonely — a number expected to rise to 2.2 million in 2030.

Loneliness is not just a statistic.
It is stress.
It is declining health.
It is increased risk of dementia and depression.

If there was ever a topic where human understanding matters, this is it.

From personas to people

For the study we defined personas among adults aged 65 to 85+ — men and women, diverse health situations, different life stages.

We interviewed them about:

• Barriers to participating in new activities
• The experience of losing mobility
• The hesitation beneath the hesitation
• Their perception of the Senior PlusPunt

The outcomes

We learned a lot about causes of loneliness, how to overcome etc. The evaluation of the Senior PlusPunt was really positive.

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The evaluation of our client

Virtual Audience is not real people but it is getting damn close. A beautiful insight!

Virtual Audience is AI-powered qualitative research based on synthetic data — built on massive datasets of real human behaviour, opinions and other insights, enriched by macro and social data sources.

It delivers insights 80% faster and at significantly lower cost.

So what is winning with people?

Winning with people is not choosing sides.

It is not saying: “Only real interviews count.”
Nor: “AI will solve everything.”

Winning with people means that you choose based on your needs and determine which route to take, digital, real or a combination.

Hybrid is not a compromise.
It’s the strongest position you can take.

Because in the end, whether someone is flesh and blood or a digital construct based on millions of data points — the goal is the same:

Understanding.
Empathy.
Better decisions.
More impact.