As search evolves and no-click behavior becomes the norm, understanding real conversations has never been more valuable. Christy Kelly, Executive Director, Strategy & Innovation from MMC and Jyoti Vaidee, Vice President of Product from Reddit explore how anonymous communities unlock more honest insights, helping marketers build smarter strategies across categories from healthcare to consumer brands.

[This interview was filmed at the Reddit Conversation Studio at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2026. Watch the video interview here]

Jyoti Vaidee: Welcome to the Reddit Conversation Studio. Tell me a little bit about how Reddit is showing up in your day-to-day? Do you have any favorite subreddits?

Christy Kelly: One is very common, travel, and I use it to go deep in places where I'm traveling that I haven't been but also places that I have been a lot including where I live to find out what is left unexplored. I really like the nuance that you can get into, and you can always find something new.

Jyoti Vaidee: AI is really changing the consumer journey. How are you seeing this shift in consumer decision making manifest in your business?

Christy Kelly: Well it's really interesting because that is happening but I don't think all brands are recognizing it equally yet. The language right now I'm seeing a lot in the field, and I lead GEO for my organization, it's they call it the “no click culture.” And people take that to mean that audiences are taking AI responses as rote and making instant decisions. What do I think? Engaging in the feedback loops isn’t through clicking on whatever sources AI is pulling. It is through their own research and communities they trust and Reddit is really good forum for that. One reason I think that is kind of like I just said on the travel front, it's a place to go deep and people always want to know that and want to validate that the recommendation is for them right. And so that is a place for them to gut-check, find the voices that they trust, and really get some of that feedback. So, Reddit has been very useful in reaching the communities as a follow up, but it's also very useful on the opposite side. I do work where we help brands optimize how they show up in AI responses, but the best way to show up strong in AI responses is answer the questions people are actually asking.And they're asking them on Reddit. And you get the good context on Reddit and deepen those threads that help you at the start of that journey. So I feel Reddit really comes into play before the search even starts, and then after the search as well.

Jyoti Vaidee: One of the unique things about Reddit is because we don't have influencers it's a very different model than a typical social media. So, in general users are anonymous on our platform. There is no incentive to say something that isn't genuine and therefore it just creates the cycle of sharing what they truly believe. And sometimes that means they might even say something that they didn't like about the particular product or brand. And of course, also share what they love about the product or brand. So, we find that a lot of brands and businesses are leaning into this and leveraging this. I'm curious, have you found opportunities to leverage these kind of Reddit insights in your business?

Christy Kelly: I love what you're saying about the power of anonymity. We talked about it at the beginning of social media and now it's easy to talk about some of the dangers or draw backs. But Reddit is one of those spaces where that power of anonymity really is preserved and people are talking about things that might not otherwise be comfortable talking about. So, you get a lot of richness for that reason. And it's powerful in all kinds of categories. I look at the insights in Reddit for managing dandruff, for finding the best methods to shaving your legs, but none is more powerful than in the healthcare space when you have to understand the true headwinds that the community people living with schizophrenia are facing or the rare sleep disorder that people don't understand how to communicate with audiences or talk with their friends and loved ones about what they're managing day-to-day. That's where there's so much power that as brands and communicators, we can help solve problems by knowing our audiences that much better.

Turn real conversations into smarter strategy

Looking to identify the questions, tensions and unmet needs shaping your audience’s decisions? We help brands translate authentic community conversations into actionable insights that strengthen communications, improve visibility in AI-powered search and inspire more relevant customer experiences.

Connect with us to learn more: hello@hellommc.com