Case study of Carat: Revealing the world’s most emotionally intelligent brands through AI-powered mass qual

DVJ Insights and Carat have collaborated to reveal the world’s most emotionally intelligent brands by using mass qual techniques to holistically measure people’s experiences and emotions, spanning the importance of emotions and emotional intelligence (EQ) in brand communication, in business, culture and leadership.

Carat, one of the world’s leading media agencies, is a firm believer that more human understanding builds better relationships and makes the world a better place. The more people and brands understand each other, the more value both parties can enjoy from the experiences they share.

In a study from 2020, Carat revealed a strong correlation between a brand’s EQ and its business performance – brands with higher EQ perform better and are more relevant. In 2021, they dived even deeper into the consumer language, utilizing DVJ’s mass qual techniques, to uncover key language points to ground their client-focused expertise on the next level.

Hence instead of using pre-defined answers, DVJ let respondents tell their stories and emotions in their own words. The data were analyzed with the help of AI producing validated and generalizable insights into how well people think brands are doing in different EQ areas. We analyzed generational differences revealing a revolutionary approach to understanding the quality of the experience that people have with brands and whether being more ‘human’ means that brands are more successful. The study consisted of eight steps and covered 10 markets and 48 brands ensuring representation across key geographical regions with 1,000 respondents per market.

By combining traditional quant with AI-powered text analytics we were able to determine that brands with higher EQ scores evoke more positive emotions and alignment with category emotions is key for brands.

Key takeaways:

1. Insights into generational differences in a view on EQ of brands; how Samsung outperformed Apple with social skills; and how is Amazon in charge of its narrative.
2. Processing such an enormous amount of data required AI-powered text analytics. Employing AI cut short the processing stage, which allowed us to focus on the analysis and discover the trends within the stories that really matter. Such a large amount of data was processed in a way that humans could never secure in the same cost/time-efficient manner.
3. Emotions really underpin everything as humans just cannot tell a story without emotions. Brands with higher EQ building mutually beneficial relationships with consumers based on trust, transparency, and positive values have a significant advantage in growth! We were able to determine that brands with higher EQ scores evoke more positive emotions and alignment with category emotions is key for brands.