J Walker Smith
Member since April 2004J. Walker Smith is the Knowledge Lead for the global consulting and strategy practices of Kantar. Walker has been described by Fortune as “one of America’s leading analysts on consumer trends.” He is co-author of four highly regarded books, a conference keynote speaker, a blogger, a columnist and a former public radio commentator. He is a 2021 inductee into the Market Research Council Hall of Fame and the 2020 recipient of the American Marketing Association’s Charles Coolidge Parlin Award for outstanding contributions to the field of market research. He is a 2012 inductee into the North Carolina Journalism and Media Hall of Fame. In 2014 and 2015, he won the WPP Atticus Award for Strategy and in 2013 for Consumer Insights. Walker holds a doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- AI Natives Are Different in
Planning & Buying Insider on
06/24/2026
Over the immediate term, AI-native firms will get more out of AI and do more with AI, as big brands watch and learn. Big brands can afford to be behind at the get-go.
- AI Is New And Not New in
Planning & Buying Insider on
05/27/2026
So far, AI is just another tool for persuading humans, but when consumers hand off to AI agents, humans will be out of the loop. That's not something marketers have faced before. Humans have always
been the target. Until now.
- Affordability Is Also An Attitude in
Planning & Buying Insider on
05/13/2026
Pocketbooks are taking a hit, but affordability is not only about price. It's also about how people regard the system itself and the world-at-large. Lower prices won't fix this.
- Heads, Hearts, AI in
Planning & Buying Insider on
04/29/2026
The notion that AI is all facts, no emotion is belied by the connection between humans and chatbots. If this seems odd, it's no different than brand love, superfans, or evangelists.
- AI In Marketing: ATM Or iPhone? in
Planning & Buying Insider on
04/14/2026
Imagine consumers delegate shopping to agents. Businesses will no longer sell to humans. They'll be selling to smart technologies. No need to communicate with people. No need for marketing.
- A Lot Of A Little Is Still Not Enough in
Planning & Buying Insider on
03/18/2026
Insurgent brands accounted for 36% of aggregate growth across all categories, which seems pretty impressive, given that they only comprise an aggregate share of less than 2%.
- AI Is A Brand Hack in
Planning & Buying Insider on
03/04/2026
Information asymmetry has been the cornerstone of brand value, enabling marketers to both sell more and sell for more. AI changes that.
- Don't Be Dumb in
Planning & Buying Insider on
02/19/2026
AI is dumbing down marketing like never before. Not dumb in a pejorative sense. Rather, in a practical sense, as in skewed evidence. Marketers may not care about it, but marketers certainly know about
it. It's central to the way AI works and it's no secret.
- The Economy All-In-One: New Home Starts in
Planning & Buying Insider on
02/04/2026
I am occasionally asked what metric I think is best for keeping track of consumers. There's no hesitation with my answer. It's new home starts. Let me explain why.
- What's So Big About AI? in
Planning & Buying Insider on
01/21/2026
Open AI researchers found product purchasing was 2.1% of all ChatGPT conversations. Which raises a critical question: Is this big or not? The answer is, it depends.