New and novel conversations from the consumer insights industry in 10 minutes or less.

I'm the Chief Marketing Officer for FlexMR. I've spent 8 years helping brands and agencies generate profitable, sustainable growth. Over this time, my work has involved a great deal of marketing strategy, consumer insight and revenue stream development.

The MRX Lab is a space to explore topics on the fringes of the market research and consumer insight industry. In each episode, we introduce a theme that has influence on the intelligence economies but rarely enters the mainstream spotlight. We've discussed the role of developers in creating the future of research, parallels between the profession and journalism, the impact of the slow movement and learnings from modern philosophical constructs - among many others.

Our listeners are marketers, product designers, brand managers and market researchers. They generally listen to multiple podcasts and appreciate the short 10 minute format of the show.
 

The MRX Lab started in response to a underserved need. An avid listener of business, marketing and digital podcasts myself - it wasn't long before I noticed the format growing in popularity in the consumer insight community. But most shows followed one of only two formats. They either focused on real-time industry news, or interviewing a revolving door of guests that shared similar stories about their business, services and growth.

What I, and others, craved was a show that took a more counter-cultural tone. One that presented new and adjacent ideas. Something that inspired and challenged the norm. So, in early 2020 - I set about creating a show that would do exactly that, and the MRX Lab was born.
 

The show is kindly supported by FlexMR, a UK insight agency that provides self-serve research technology and hybrid services. As sole sponsor, FlexMR provides the resources to record and distribute each episode - in addition to introductions to relevant guests.

The production lifecycle is usually about two weeks long, with the majority of time spent planning approaches to new topics and developing relationships with guests. We record in 1 hour sessions, and spend anywhere between 2-4 hours on the edit. This includes creating the both the final audio track and marketing assets which are shared with guests prior to the episode airing.
 

Podcasting, for me, is very much a community-led exercise. The MRX Lab doesn't accept sponsorships, as we are fully supported by FlexMR. That provides the freedom to not focus on download numbers, but the core objective of the show - to bring new and novel conversations from the fringes of the insight industry into mainstream discussion.

What I enjoy most about this is the platform it provides our guests, who have often spent large parts of their professional careers in small niches or working on important commercial challenges with little recognition. The show gives a voice and audience to these stories, frequently gaining traction and stimulating new ideas across the sector.
 

The first episode of the MRX Lab was recorded on a default laptop microphone with Microsoft Audio Recorder. It was about as lo-fi as you could get. Over the course of the show's three seasons, that setup has been gradually improved.

Today, episodes are recorded on a Blue Yeti X. Non-guest episodes are recorded directly into Adobe Audition, while guests are interviewed over Zoom. The editing process makes use of Audacity, Audition and Premiere Pro for video & social clips. We distribute primarily through Anchor, and share promo clips across a variety of social media channels.
 

About 80% of our 1k listeners find the MRX Lab through Spotify. iTunes and Google Podcasts make of the majority of the remaining 20%.
The MRX Lab is advertised through a variety of mediums, including Twitter, LinkedIn and consumer insight publications. We've also been fortunate enough to be nominated for Best MR Podcast of the Year in both 2021 and 2022 - which has helped the show grow significantly too.

But perhaps the most effective marketing channel has been our guests themselves. While not regular podcasters, our guests are proud of the episodes they contribute to - and share the show widely with their professional networks. This, plus the short-form nature of the show, has been the driving factor behind our sustained year-on-year growth.
 

There's a lot of advice out there. But what I would say first of all is just; don't overthink it. It can be really easy to convince yourself not to start out on your podcasting journey. Maybe that's because you aren't sure about your setup, or haven't found a topic yet. Remember, perfection is the enemy of progress. You will learn. You will get better. You might fail and start again. But you'll be starting from a better place than where you are today.

Also, be aware of what other podcasts exist in your space and ask - what can you bring that others aren't offering? It's easy to get lost in the noise, so be sure to consider what the simple and memorable hook is that will bring your audience back every time.
 

You can find out more about the MRX Lab at www.flexmr.net
You can connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherjackmartin/
Or, follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CJ_24K