Dedeker told an Advertising Research Foundation forum that market researchers need to employ softer skills, such as finding and telling persuasive stories or making greater use of ethnography and online communities.
She said: "What we've lost, because of our focus on evaluating concepts is the opportunity to listen more on the front end and co-create with consumers and to sense and respond on the other side."
It could signal a huge change for P&G, which currently spends about 80% of its market research budget on evaluating ideas prior to launch rather than listening to consumers at the beginning or end of a product launch to help generate ideas or improve products.
Dedeker said: "We're so focused on initiative qualification scores, on the check box that comes with the survey and feeding the metrics monster within our companies."
She added marketers need to look at engaging consumers more using tools such as social media to gain insights and win back consumer trust.
Dedeker's views were echoed by other speakers at the forum including Barack Obama's pollster Joel Benenson.
He noted that Obama's entire campaign might have unravelled had it taken John McCain's huge 55% to 29% advantage on the "has the right experience" question at face value.
Probing deeper Obama's polls found factors such as temperament and perceived ability to handle a crisis could also factor into that experience score, which Obama used to turn the experience question in his favour over the course of the campaign.