What if, for once, we reversed the roles?
At Leger, we are used to asking questions, analyzing answers, and uncovering insights that inform decisions. With The Pollster Polled, we shift perspectives: we give the floor to those who are usually behind the surveys.
For this third installment of the series, we met with Stéphane Drouin, Senior Vice-President, Strategy and Consumer Insights at the Montreal office. He leads a highly experienced team divided into three areas of expertise: customer and shopper journeys, customer experience, and brand image.
Stéphane brings over 35 years of experience in marketing, strategic business development, and entrepreneurship, with a career marked by remarkable achievements. He is also widely recognized for his expertise in shopper marketing and for his entrepreneurial leadership.
As Artificial Intelligence Continues to Evolve, What Does the Future Hold for Market Research and Polling?
Today, a growing share of consumers relies on AI to discover, compare, select, and even purchase products. Such a shift has major implications for brands and retailers. If your brand isn’t visible to AI, there’s a real risk it won’t even make it into the consideration set.
Where does AI intervene? How does it influence decisions? And which brands does it surface, or ignore? It’s no longer just about the customer journey; it’s about decoding how AI it is reshaping that journey.
Our role as market researchers is to help organizations answer those questions. That means measuring how brands perform within AI-driven environments, identifying gaps, and helping them optimize their presence so they remain competitive in an AI-mediated path to purchase.
What Are You Most Proud Of?
What I’m most proud of is how quickly we’ve been able to innovate to keep pace with how shopping behaviors are evolving, both in-store and in this new AI-driven world.
In just the past six months, our Shopper Insights team has launched a new generation of research solutions designed to give retailers and brands a clearer, more actionable understanding of today’s shopper.
With Shopper Flow, we leverage mobile geolocation data to analyze store traffic and category-level behaviors. Shopper Path helps decode the modern journey to purchase, including the growing influence of AI. Shopper View uses eye-tracking and emotion AI to measure the real impact of packaging and in-store visual elements. And with Smart Persona, we can rapidly test and validate shopper behavior hypotheses.
Together, these solutions reflect a broader ambition: not just to follow change, but to anticipate it.
At Leger, we take pride in continuously innovating to help our clients stay ahead, especially in a context where both technology and consumer expectations are evolving faster than ever.
How Does Leger Help Its Clients Translate Insights Into Action?
With AI transforming discovery and retail behaviour continuing to evolve, we help clients move from understanding to action.
We do so by combining advanced measurement with clear, decision-oriented outputs. With solutions like Shopper Flow, Shopper Path, and Shopper View, we identify the moments that truly influence choice — whether it’s visibility in AI-driven environments, in-store navigation patterns, or the impact of packaging on attention and emotion.
But insight alone isn’t enough. We translate these findings into concrete levers: where to invest, what to optimize, and how to improve conversion across the path to purchase.
In a landscape that’s becoming more complex and AI-mediated, our ambition is simple: help our clients not just keep up with change, but act on it with confidence.
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With The Pollster Polled, we will continue to spotlight the perspectives, expertise, and vision shaping the future of market research. Because behind every data point are people—and behind every great survey is a passionate team turning information into informed decisions.
