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The Intuitive Customer - Helping You Improve Your Customer Experience To Gain GrowthAuthor: Colin Shaw, Beyond Philosophy LLC
We believe you should laugh and learn! 'The Intuitive Customer' podcast achieves this. Hosted by Colin Shaw, recognized as one of the top 150 business influencers by LinkedIn, where he has over 283,000 followers, and Prof. Ryan Hamilton, Emory University, discusses how you can improve your Customer Experience and gain growth. This review sums up: "The dynamic between the two hosts makes this podcast. Each brings a unique take on the topic and their own perspective and plays off each other sense of humor. I come away after each episode with a feeling of joy and feeling a bit smarter". Visit www.BeyondPhilosophy.com Language: en Genres: Business, Management, Marketing Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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The Rise of Synthetic Audiences: Fast, Cheap… but Believable?
Episode 420
Friday, 2 January, 2026
In this episode of The Intuitive Customer, Professor Ryan Hamilton is joined by Ben Shaw, seasoned brand strategist, to unpack the promises and pitfalls of synthetic audiences - AI-driven research used for faster, cheaper market research. Synthetic audiences, powered by large language models (LLMs), can replicate customer segments and respond to creative concepts or product questions at scale cutting the time and cost of traditional surveys. But does it come with trade-offs? Expect lively debate on the AI vs. LLM naming debate, the enduring value of ethnography and nuance, and practical tips for blending synthetic and traditional research to make smarter, more human-centred decisions. From democratising access to consumer insight to questioning the believability of robot-approved ad copy, this candid discussion highlights how to use these tools wisely. 🔑 Key Takeaways Synthetic ≠ Real: Synthetic audiences use LLMs to predict human responses—they're powerful, but they're still not replacements for real people. Direction not Proof: Treat synthetic audiences as a first-cut hypothesis tool i.e.great for inspiration, not yet reliable as stand-alone evidence. Nuance & Minority Voices Matter: AI often defaults to the average response, risking loss of critical insights from edge cases or minority behaviours. Democratisation of Insight: With the right data, teams from product to shop-floor staff can ask customer-centred questions directly. Best Practice: Use synthetic audiences for speed and hypothesis testing, then validate with real humans—especially for high-stakes decisions. 📚 Resources & Mentions HubSpot CMO Kipp Bodnar "Better, faster, AND cheaper isn't a trade-off anymore" Harvard Business School study 'Using LLMs for Market Research'
