30under30 Nominee Arthur Labarre
Great to speak to Arthur Labarre who works at Humanity Diaspo ONG as part of the civil service, with a mission to inspire youth to avoid gender stereotypes, and encourage more girls to consider a career in technology sectors. Arthur has some inspiring things to say and some great advice for younger researchers.
Take us through your industry journey so far? How did you arrive at this point?
It’s curious how life can only be a matter of time and being synchronised. Once, I was tagged by Elon Musk on Twitter but didn’t answer immediately because I was listening to a class attentively right to its end as an epicurian. By the end of the class, I was untagged of his post.
One year later, scrolling on LinkedIn, I saw a post that was inviting applications for ESOMAR’s volunteering team for the annual congress at Edinburgh. A few weeks later, I attended it and discovered unforgettable speeches and presentations. Today, I’m part of an incredible massive, expanded network all around the world in which I feel myself and whole as a one.
In my latest work experience, I was working at Station F, the biggest incubator in the world, together with the team of the NGO Humanity Diaspo, a French Tech start-up. I’ve researched incubating and learning solutions to raise awareness among young people, based within the Paris region, on digital jobs, innovative entrepreneurship, and promoting women presence in Tech.
So, what’s so inspiring about our industry?
Everything has been said in our industry, and yet there’s so much more to talk about and learn from. When you figure out the increase of data produced since the beginning of lockdowns, such as the unstoppable creation of new technologies as much as social needs, you understand studying and delivering insights stays crucial for marketers to improve again and again.
It’s impressive how much you can tell and figure out about today’s life thanks to data. In the market research industry, we must keep our eyes wide open about everything if we want to stay competitive and take part in the evolution. Maybe MRX still has much to be renewed with technology so that people only must close their eyes and jump into new insights and aspects of industry.
What message do you have for anyone considering a career in our industry?
I am often reminded of an advertisement which touched me a few years ago. It was one from Levi’s, there were people, landscapes, and a down-to-earth vocal text with the final sentence: « Go Forth ».
How do very junior researchers stand out?
As a very junior researcher, I would say experience from older people stays an example to refer to. I think we will give and become the best of ourselves thanks to our mentors. How would we innovate anything without them? I grew up during the boom of new technologies: there always has been computers and screens somewhere at home since I’m born. This is not the case of our mentors from who we have much to learn.