Avoiding Crummy Market Research

June 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I came across a great article last week that I wanted to bring to your attention. The article, entitled “Five Ways to Protect Against Crummy Market Research,” was written by Paul Gillin of The CMO Site, and being written from the perspective of an informed respondent, Paul brought up some great points.

Paul begins by pointing out some of the most offensive questions in a survey he recently received. Here’s his favorite (and mine, too):

Envision a scale with Highest Revenue at one end, and Highest Control of the Buyer Relationship on the other. Where would you put yourself on this continuum? (We don’t have the ability to draw a “dial” so please try to balance your answers on this scale.)

It’s painful just reading that question. And it’s hard to imagine that a market research professional was involved in any way in crafting that question. (If they were, they should be fired.)

Paul points out some of the other systemic flaws in this instrument, as well, and what will inevitably happen next:
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Filed Under: Market Research Tagged With: , , ,

Market Research Innovation Challenges

June 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

[Editor's Note: The  following post by Navin Williams was originally published by and is syndicated with permission by The GreenBook Blog.]

A few days ago I read the blog post by Tom Anderson covering the MRIA annual event in Canada.  It seemed like a very lively discussion and wish I had been there!  There are a lot of interesting conferences happening in the MR community (many of which I am missing!) about change and the direction MR is taking.

From Tom’s blog two quotes struck me and I have them verbatim below:

  1. “it’s telling that many now seem to understand that probably well over half of the ‘research’ firms out there won’t be around 5-10 years from now”
  2. “how the biggest firms in our industry have stifled innovation because it has been in their best interest to do so”

Though both the above lines were separated by more than a third of the post, I found them interrelated in the sense that the first is pretty much driven by the second.  The question is who will survive? Will it be the Goliaths of market research who seem reluctant to change the old ways or the new age firm David’s with radically different approaches in their DNA?  In an ideal world it should be a bit of both. The big firms lead with innovation and therefore lead the industry and a bunch of smaller firms cut through the clutter. Is that happening? Maybe a little. Is enough happening? Probably not.

This is not to say all the big agencies are not thinking ahead as some of them are and have been. Many are radically changing to embrace the coming future. Few agencies actually have or have started innovation divisions & innovation officers/executives whose whole brief is to think ahead of the curve.

Below I have tried to explain some of the reasons why I think the industry (as a whole – not individual firms) is where it is:
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Filed Under: Innovation, Market Research Tagged With: , ,

Knowledge Transmission

June 24, 2011 By 1 Comment

The dearth of Knowledge Transmission is the single-biggest problem afflicting the corporate world. Today’s organization is no different than yesterday’s as regards its ability to flow towards a configuration that impedes the progress of great ideas. This is the result of the malaise induced by middle-management which intercedes in favor of stasis versus change, thereby destroying ideas as they germinate. The real decision makers at the top, while not blameless, never get exposure to the brilliance that emanates from line-employees.

The ethos of majorities is almost always conservative. Elements of skepticism and irreverence are ground to a pulp in the process of “fitting in.” Winning favor in the traditional way is tantamount to ceding control of one’s own thought-process.

Couple this with the notion that great ideas come from outliers and you have a deadly combination: the modern version of The Peter Principle. Those who do rise, do so by whittling away at their own individuality. Those who don’t are often brilliantly iconoclastic and in their mental laboratories, ideas are generated at a rapid pace. But whither these ideas? They are destroyed early. Idea infanticide is a common trait in today’s corporation.

This is not yet another plea for crowdsourcing ideas. Instead, it’s a philosophical warning to anyone who wants the corporation to evolve and to be more, well, humane.

Filed Under: Career, Essay Tagged With: , , , ,

If you want to get ahead…

June 22, 2011 By 3 Comments

I was in a sales meeting a couple of days ago. We were telling a prospect about our new smartphone interviewing app, SurveySwipe. We were talking about apps and how they are used. There were several “old guys” i.e. over 40 and a couple of younger people (under 40) in the meeting.  For the record I am an old guy – way old. The discussion got on to who uses apps and what they are used for. My point was that apps are the new communication medium, because email is dying fast in the under 40 age group.

The older guys didn’t seem to agree, so I asked the younger guy how many apps he had on his smartphone – his answer was “50 – I think”. This clearly shocked the other older guys, they had smartphones but they used them like phones, not as computers to run apps. Smartphones are not phones. Smartphones are personal computing systems which are now the direct channel to respondents and consumers. And email isn’t going to cut it anymore.
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Filed Under: Mobile Tagged With: , , ,

ResearchBase: Health Risks of Cell Phones

June 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

You may have heard about the recent news concerning cell phone use and the possible associated health risks – namely, an increased risk of cancer. This is according to a recent announcement from the World Health Organization, which now categorizes cell phones in the same “carcinogenic hazard” category as lead, engine exhaust and chloroform.

A team of 31 scientists from 14 countries, including the United States, made the decision after reviewing peer-reviewed studies on cell phone safety. The team found enough evidence to categorize personal exposure as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”

What that means is they found some evidence of increase in glioma and acoustic neuroma brain cancer for mobile phone users, but have not been able to draw conclusions for other types of cancers.

In addition to the obvious concern for our own health and well-being, one of the more striking aspects of this story, though, is that prior to this announcement, despite concerns of a number of parties, the WHO had assured consumers that no adverse health effects had been established.

Which brings us to the latest addition to ResearchBase: a study conducted by Powerfeedback and SurveyAnalytics to determine the potential impact of this news on cell phone usage.
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Filed Under: Research Base Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Tyranny of the Majority

June 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The British Pacifist Arthur Ponsonby one said that “in wars it is the minorities that are generally right.”  In fact, throughout history, humanists have held that societies can be judged by the way minorities are treated.  The obverse of this is the notion of “the tyranny of the majority” in which by dint of numbers, a particular point of view wins.  It’s the logic of the Gadarene Swine.

The Corporate world is beset and burdened with this logic; its employees are bludgeoned into pulp.  It’s the bed of Procrustus.

While phrases like “the IBM Way” might seem laughable now, I believe that any of us would be hard-pressed to find a company of any appreciable size that doesn’t have its only homogenizing logic and culture.  Outliers are cut down to size.  Artists are told to put away their brushes.  Books are burned.

The ironic part is that in the long run, the corporate commissars and their willing executioners are the ones who suffer far more than the artists, outliers, minorities, and authors.  Those people typically find a place of happiness- they leave and do their own things.  It’s the former group that stays and silently suffers, sometimes with knowledge of misery and sometimes without.

Next time you are assessing an employee and you find yourself thinking “he/she is not a good fit,” ask yourself if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

In the long run the “not a good fits,“ I surmise, who will provide more value and radiate more joy than the good fits.

Filed Under: Career

What We’re Reading – Mobile Research Galore

June 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

We’re back this week with a round-up of what we’re reading. Our focus today is on a number of articles tackling the topic of mobile market research, including the impact of the smartphone, current limitations of mobile market research, and where we go from here.

  • What Smartphones Mean to Researchers – Mobility is creating a sea change in the market research industry, and at the center of that change is the smartphone. By enabling consumers and business to have constant, mobile access to data, smartphones have opened up new frontiers for how we communicate, share and connect with those around us, including our customers. In this article, author and Research Access contributor Vivek Bhaskaran analyzes the impact of the smartphone on our industry, and charges us to seize the opportunity that smartphones provides to deepen interaction with consumers.

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Filed Under: Gamification, Market Research, News, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , ,

Tag! You’re Mobile.

June 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Apple’s iPhone continues to accelerate sales, Android powered phones are everywhere and now with the Nokia-Microsoft deal, you can expect tens of millions more Windows Phones in users’ hands shortly.

Exciting times in the world of digital marketing, where mobile needs to be a key component of any serious campaign. The possibilities will explode going forward but we’re already seeing tremendous opportunities being enabled by adjunct technologies such as Microsoft Tag and QR Codes. While both are meant to allow mobile users to connect to specific online experiences by scanning a 2D bar code, we at Nayamode are seeing more interesting experiences powered by Microsoft Tag.

We helped Conde-Nast generate the largest ever 2D bar code scanning campaign in Allure magazine using Microsoft Tags printed inside. Readers scanned the Tags to win prizes, or sign up for an SMS alert to come back later and scan again for a chance to win. Nayamode helped to create the campaign, built the entire backend including  integrating with the SMS gateway provider, the SQL based database to track opt-ins and opt-outs. The campaign has been a huge success, significantly increasing reader participation overall compared with prior years.
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Filed Under: Innovation, Marketing, Mobile Tagged With: , , ,

Why Gamification is the Holy Grail of Business Engagement

June 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In an earlier article for Research Access, I discussed the process by which business ideas go from conceptual to institutional. The evolution from small idea to virtual ubiquity has at times taken decades; today, it can take as little as three years.

One such idea, still nascent, is Gamification.

Put simply, Gamification is about the holy grail of all business-engagement. As businesses seek to engage and excite customers and consumers, they flock to “medium-based” solutions versus “design-based” solutions all too often. So instead of finding a powerful interaction-metaphor to enhance engagement, many businesses have simply “gone digital” with nary a thought of what is at the core of engagement.

Put even more simply, Gamification is about making a game of EVERY single interaction and process internal AND external to any business.

My challenge to readers of Research Access:

1. Identify 4 processes that are causing trouble in your businesses
2. Ascertain whether the trouble stems from “lack of engagement”
3. Gamify these 4 processes
4. Re-measure. Are they still trouble spots?

I’m betting big on Gamification. I hope you’ll join me.

Filed Under: Gamification, Innovation Tagged With: , , ,

Are Market Research Tools an Alternative for Social Media Haters?

June 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Social Media has been around for a number of  years now, yet many CEOs just don’t see the point.  Most of them leave the social media activities to the marketing folks in their organization.

In a post on DIYMarketers, we explore the idea the some of today’s newest, coolest market research methods can actually be a great alternative for CEOs who hate all the hassle of social media, but want all the results.

Here is a summary of the alternatives:

  • If you hate the idea of losing control of your message, then create your own customer community.  You can create a customer or user panel with whom you are in regular conversation.  Ask the panel questions, via survey, they will give you answers.
  • Still question the ROI of social media?  Create a crowdsourcing space on your site where your customers can tell you their ideas for improvements and new products and you can respond.  Create a real-live brain trust and conversation that gets your customer involved in creating a product they will love and talk about.
  • Sick of people’s stupid updates?  Run surveys and polls on a mobile platform like SurveySwipe.  You can blast out a question to their existing community or upload a list of your own. You’ll get feedback in less than 2 hours!
I was one of the first people in line to criticize CEOs who weren’t taking advantage of the power of social media.  But as I got to really listening to their complaints — I really GOT IT.
The alternatives I’ve described here use the social media platforms, technologies and elements of fun and then target them toward ROI rich, time saving and customer engaging results.
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Filed Under: Market Research, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , ,
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