MM Voices: Paolo Vacca
In our MM Voices blog post series, we’ll be introducing you to some of our employees – after all, our people are key to making sure we provide inspiring digital intelligence to our clients. This time we talked to Paolo, one of our Research Analysts who first joined Media Measurement as an Intern in January 2018.
What were your first impressions of Media Measurement?
A happy and supportive lot of people that do a lot of series work with passion and desire to make an impact. I am still amazed by the beautiful combination of the serious work we do for such impactful organisations and the positive, startup-like atmosphere we breathe in the office.
You’re a Research Analyst at MM – what does that actually entail?
I run and co-run a very diverse range of research projects for our clients – I speak to them to ensure that I fully understand what they want to get out of our service, set up my searches, explore social media and online news data, spot trends and interesting stories and communicate my findings. In short, I explore and interpret data to help clients make an impact – I don’t just “analyse”: it’s a full process. It’s also a good way to be constantly up to date with what’s happening in the world!
Describe a typical day in the life of Paolo…
I don’t think there is a “typical day” – although we have annual retained work, projects keep coming and going which means there’s always something different going on. My day does entail a pretty stable intake of tea and biscuits though!
One day I might be setting up searches for different language markets, then I might be exploring and downloading social media and online news data. The next day I might be following a particular news story and assessing the online conversation around it – what people are saying about it? What is the general sentiment around the story? And so on. I particularly enjoy compiling reports – I love giving life to a narrative out of data, and I am a big fan of cool data visualisations: writing reports gives me exposure to both and constantly gives me the chance to improve my skills.
It’s well known in the office that you studied linguistics at university – how has this helped you in your analyst role?
Linguistics is all about data – the analytical skills I earned from my degree have massively helped me get around the otherwise daunting flow of media data with which we work with every day. Plus, our reports cover over 40 national markets, which means that we deal with media data in 30+ languages. The majority of the tools and software available in the industry are not very intuitive when it comes to data in languages that use different scripts, or that simply do not put words in the same order as English does. This is crucial when gathering data. My expertise in linguistics has enabled me to help the company overcome some “linguistic challenges” that might prevent us from getting 100% quality data from non-anglophone markets.
What advice would you give to those starting a career in research?
Question everything: telling a meaningful story takes a lot of thinking around facts, interpretations and possible scenarios. Also, be open to change: in our industry, change and innovation take place in a matter of hours!
We’re always on the look out for intelligent and inquisitive individuals to join our research team. If you want to throw your hat into the ring, drop us an email on recruitment@mediameasurement.com or check out our Careers page. We’re currently recruiting for a Consultant Analyst, Analyst Interns, Business Development Manager and freelance roles.
Media Measurement is a leading digital research consultancy. We breathe life into data, telling meaningful stories that inspire fresh thinking. Today’s global digital village holds billions of conversations connecting people, ideas and opinions – this revolution is a force for good!
We work with organisations who have a positive mission. Who dare to challenge the status quo. Who recognise the opportunities hidden in digital data so they act – when and where it matters.
MM. INSPIRING DIGITAL INTELLIGENCE.
Contact us today at enquiry@mediameasurement.com or fill in the form here to discover how our research approach can help your organisation.
