research world 47 september

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Encouraging, advancing and elevating market research worldwide No 47 | September 2014

RISE OF THE MACHINES Turning the cornerA brightening outlook

New revenue streamsNew horizons

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4 RESEARCH WORLD | September 2014

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EdiToRialA whole new world

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RW ConnECTBig data and the future ofqualitative research

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dR. PETEThe walk-in clinic for research ailments

85

MEdia SCanDriving brand advertising into onlinechannels

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MaRKETinG CaSE HiSToRYHow changing consumer behaviour maychallenge traditional marketing research

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ESoMaR lounGE

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ESoMaR CalEndaR

26 RESEARCH CHALLENgE

ThE NEw Look ofANALyTiCSAs we’re sparring, my kickboxing trainerasks me the same question in everysession: “Where are you looking?”

38 RESEARCH IN BuSINESS

ThE fUTURE of MARkETRESEARChFull-service-self-serve research

60 gLOBAL MARKET RESEARCH

MoDEST GRowTh foRwoRLD’S LARGESTRESEARCh fiRMSThe world’s largest 25 marketing researchfirms experienced modest revenue growthin 2013, driven by syndicated services firmsand held in check by changing currencyexchange rates and flat revenue peremployee.

66 BOuNDARIES

SCoUTiNG foR GRowThWhat is the best way to reach girls andyoung women for the World Association ofgirl guides and girl Scouts (WAgggS) inMalaysia, Madagascar, Oman, Poland andSt. Vincent and the grenadines?

87 ESOMAR ANNOuNCEMENT

ESoMAR MEMBER ExPELLEDfoR BREACh of iCC/ESoMARiNTERNATioNAL CoDE

REguLARS FEATuRES

Encouraging, advancing and elevating market research, worldwide.

Editor-in-chiefSimon Chadwick

EditorsAngela Canin, Kathy Joe

Sub-editorChristopher McLaren

Editorial BoardRex Briggs of Marketing EvolutionAnsgar Hölscher of BeiersdorfJeffrey Hunter, ConsultantJohn Kearon of BrainJuicerDavid McCaughan ofMcCann Erickson Sean Meehan of IMD

ContributorsJo Bowman, Robert Heeg,Manfred Mareck, Tim Macer

Advertising salesJohn van [email protected]

Production co-ordinatorMascha Ringers

Lay out & Art directionPuntspatie [bno]

PrintJoh. Enschede Amsterdam

[email protected] World welcomes contributionsand reserves the right to select and edit readers’contributions.

Contributions should be sent [email protected]

Whilst every effort is made to ensure thatthe information in this magazine is correct,ESOMAR does not accept liability for anyinaccuracies that Research World might contain.The views expressed in this publication are notnecessarily those of ESOMAR.

Copyright © ESOMAR 2014. All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced inany form or by any means without prior permissionin writing from the publisher. Research World ispublished six times a year by ESOMAR, AtlasArena, Hoogoorddreef 5, 1101 BA Amsterdam,the Netherlands.Tel: +31 20 664 2141. www.esomar.org® Research World is a registered trade markof ESOMAR

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ERRATUMThe Data, analysis, action! article in the June/Julyof RW should have stated that it was the father ofthe teenager who didn't know she was pregnantand who then apologised to Target for creating ascene when he found out from his daughter that,indeed, she was pregnant.

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5RESEARCH WORLD | September 2014

SEPTEMBER 2014

32 OuT OF THE BOx

RISE OF THE MACHINESDigital pioneer Andy Hobsbawm tells Jo Bowmanthe machines are here.


DATA viSUALiSATioN iNMARkET RESEARChMention data visualisation to any threeresearchers, and reactions will range fromenthusiasm – and even conviction – toscepticism or despair that it is anotherexample of “dumbing down.”

20 BOuNDARIES

ThE wAy of ThE MAGPiEA three-step programme to transformcuriosity into inspirational thinking anddoing


DoiNG MoRE wiTh MoREMulti-phase and hybrid studies yieldgreater depth

48 ESOMAR gLOBAL RESEARCH

TURNiNG ThE CoRNERReturning confidence and increasinginvestment in North America have helpedcounter the effects of slowing growth inthe world’s biggest emerging economiesin 2013.

72 TRENDS

NEw hoRizoNS, NEwREvENUE STREAMSThe research and marketing giant WPPnow makes 50 percent of its money frommarkets and tools that didn’t exist in theyear 2000. CEO Sir Martin Sorrell explainsthe rise of data – and why it doesn’t quitehave all the answers.

78 PRIVACY

To ARMS, SMART DATASCiENTiSTS!How change, science-fiction and privacymay be key to safeguarding research


i said i pulled these facts and figures out at random, but actually,when you look at them all together, they form a mosaic of theworld of research in the not-very-distant future. it is a future that isintriguing and exciting, even if it is one for which we have tomindfully change in order to be successful. and that brings me toperhaps the most intriguing question of all: what type of people,with what skill sets and what character traits, will lead us to thatsuccess?

Clearly, they are going to have to be people who are naturallycurious and who have the ability to handle large and diverse datasets. They are going to have to be digitally capable, too, but atthe same time possess the insight and empathy to reallyunderstand consumers and the ‘why’ behind all that data. Theyare going to have to be at ease in a multicultural world, and, mostof all, they are going to have to have the ability to take all of this,synthesise it, put it into stories and visuals that are easilyunderstood and then consult on its meaning.

Very likely, we will not find all these attributes in one person,but the concept of team collaboration is one that is very muchtaking hold today. one can visualise teams of specialists, dataanalysts, synthesisers, storytellers and consultants comingtogether to bring real impact to the research that they design anddisseminate.

But, most excitingly, many of the traits that i have outlined arethe ones that characterise the Millennial Generation–collaborative, curious, digital-native, data-proficient synthesistswho are completely at home with multi-tasking and dealing withdiverse sets of information in real time.

The fact that this generation is gearing up to assumeleadership positions in the market research and analytics industrygives me tremendous hope for the future.

This month’s issue is a must read from cover to cover forthose wanting to gain a comprehensive idea of where weare going as an industry/profession and how we are goingto get there. But for those of you who are just skimming

until that plane ride where you catch up on all your reading, letme pull out some choice bits at random for you to chew on:• 50% of WPP’s data investment Management (aka Kantar)

revenue now comes from markets and tools that did not existback in 2000. Who said that the mega research companies areslow to change?

• Martin Sorrell, the Warren Buffett of media and market research,is placing heavy bets on everything digital–and on the BRiCS.

• The ‘internet of things’ will create brand relationships that arefar more binding than those of today–and, in the process, be abonanza for data scientists and market researchers.

• The combination of big data and qualitative research means abig win-win for research.

• Qualitative research is itself creating ‘little big data’ in thethousands of pieces of text and video imagery that it is capableof generating in one digital or mobile project–and the rise ofmulti-part or sequential qualitative projects will only acceleratethat.

• We are the “curiosity industry.”• Co-creation, synthesis, storytelling, predictive analytics, mobile

and passive data collection will be the pillars of our professionin the future.

• data visualisation, a critical part of our success in the future,takes expertise, analysis, teamwork and thoughtful design toreally work.

• We are in the midst of “a technological revolution and aconsulting evolution.”

• ‘agile research,’ in which research processes are increasinglyautomated, will free up researchers to add consultative value ina way that they have not been able to do in decades.

A wholenew world

EDITORIAL

SimOn CHADWiCk


Data visualisationin market research

Mention data visualisation to any three researchers, and reactions will range from enthusiasm–andeven conviction–to scepticism or despair that it is another example of “dumbing down.”

RESEARCH CHALLENgE

Tim mACER

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John Schiela, vice president ofconverged technology and media atPhoenix Marketing, a uSa-basedconsultative research company, says, “Weuse a lot of different tools to visualise data:Marketsight, dapresy, Excelsius; we dostuff in SQl Server, HTMl. Each has theirbenefits and their challenges.”

Schiela has moved both internalanalysts and clients away fromconventional cross-tabular reports topredominantly visual and interactivemethods. He cites two major benefits:“one is to avoid ‘death by data.’ i thinktables really limit how you look at data”;secondly, he asserts, “visualisation allowsyou to do [what] we often don’t do as anindustry, and that is to pull in other macro-level data and visualise this, too.” ForPhoenix, this means moving towards what

Schiela describes as “a more business-report style of presentation,” focused onbusiness questions and solutions, “asopposed to a typical research report thatanalyses the data you collected but doesnot address the business solution.”

Schiela considers the view thatvisualisation results in a diminution ofunderstanding or the misplacement ofrigour. For him, it is a malaise that stemsfrom execution: “We have a tendency tosay, ‘i need a dashboard.’ Someone takesthe data, dumps it in, and–hey, you’ve gota dashboard! But they’ve not done thebusiness-process analysis, so you end upwith a pretty little dashboard that does notshow you anything from the businessperspective.”

He also sees that the role visualisationcan play in the analytical process is oftenoverlooked in research: it can offer abetter way to pick up weak trends. He willuse miniaturised charts with rating scaleswhich “you can eyeball in seconds,”sometimes fashioning hundreds of thesetiny bar charts onto one sheet. “The

and then there are these tools that veryquickly make what are very good-lookingdashboards. a mistake people make is thata dashboard that may be fantastic foranalysing the story can fall apart when theythen try to go on and communicate thatinsight further.”

Whitehead emphasises the need tounderstand the audience and not assumethat one dashboard will fit all eventualities.She describes the solution she wouldadvocate for a large media-buying client(which could apply equally to any majorbrand): “The user-journey for a chiefmarketing officer is probably two to threechoices to go through to reach thedecisions she needs to make, and for thisyou need a very simple representation. Shecan go and look at the workings, but sheprobably does not need to. an analyst tool

lets you turn all the dials all the time andcheck scenarios.”

“But the chief marketing officer stillneeds to be able to check the workings;she won’t have got to that position withoutbeing able to,” adds Sturt. “and if youpresent junior analysts with a really slickinterface with one or two insights, they willimmediately distrust it because it looks tooeditorialised and too curated.”

Sturt mentions a particular appetiteamong research companies and theirclients for visual storytelling combined withinteractivity. according to Whitehead,“market research is more advanced thanmany industries, and there is an increasingunderstanding that creativity has a placeamong more thoughtful market researchfirms.”

whAT’S oUT ThERE?Technology providers have responded, too;from a position of there being no specialistvisualisation tools available for survey datafive years ago, there are now several,including dapresy, Marketsight and E-Tabs.

The craft of presenting data asimages is suffering something of animage problem in our industry,even though it is unarguably the

direction of travel that data-saturatedenterprises are expecting their insightproviders to take. are researchers right tobe sceptical? i spoke with a range of data-visualisation proponents who have no suchqualms.

The uK’s Guardian newspaper has, overthe years, led the field with itsextraordinarily revealing data visualisationsand infographics. its in-house digitalagency provided data visualisation andstorytelling services to clients and hasrecently been spun off under the nameGuardian digital agency but it has recentlybeen acquired by Kantar, and nowoperates under the name Graphic. it worksincreasingly with market researchcompanies, visualising their data andproviding training in visual storytelling.Emma Whitehead, head of Graphic, says:“The challenge at the heart of datavisualisation is the tension betweencreativity and scale. Technology gives youscale, and people believe that must scalecreativity as well –which is a very significantmisconception.” Whitehead views theemergence of web-based diY infographictools like Visual.ly and infogr.am as‘potentially dangerous.’ “i can fill in atemplate that will give me a nice longinfographic, but that is not the same as ananalyst and a designer really thinkingabout it.”

DUMBiNG DowN?Tobias Sturt, design and user experiencemanager at Graphic, advocates a carefullyconsidered three-stage process tovisualising data into either dashboards orinfographics (see the accompanyinginfographic). Each stage, he says, requiresdifferent people with different skill sets:“don’t listen to people who say they are adata visualisation expert, and all you needto do is hand over your data– it is all aboutteamwork.”

Sturt is of the view that it is notvisualisation that risks trivialising data butthose who are willing to take a ‘clip-art’approach to their visual presentation ofdata. “There is a new wave of tools comingalong,” he says. “Tableau is getting bigger,

“I think tables really limit how you look at data.”


for both data integration and interactivity.He says, “if it is not wired up to beconnected to the live data–and constantlychanging– it is just a static chart. andinteractivity, which is not the same asintegration, also matters. Giving the usercontrols so they can manipulate what theyare seeing makes for a much richerexperience.”

NETwoRkSan area of data visualisation that warrantsmore attention in research is networkmapping. Based on network theory, whichsits somewhere between sociology,

are used to working in a structure ofquestion by question, slide by slide,” hesays. “So we use a lot of visualisations thatbasically have the same structure as aPowerPoint deck, just presented online.a good data visualisation will create astory that helps the user to understand. itwill filter away everything that isn’trelevant. That detail will still be there in thebackground, but only when you ask for it.a dashboard should be worth a hundredslides.”

Michael denitto, CEo of Marketsight,which also provides online charting anddashboard software, speaks of the need

industry has developed something of afallacy about significance tests,” he says,alongside other analytical methods such as‘top-two-box’ reporting: “You have to becareful you are not doping the results bydoing this.”

The specialist technical providers aremindful of the challenges visualisationpresents to those working in marketresearch. Torbjörn andersson, CEo ofdapresy, which provides survey-datavisualisation software, sees researchersstruggling to break free from PowerPointand ‘sequential thinking’ when they try tocreate a dashboard or infographic. “They

A network map of tweets containing #ESoMAR reveals trending topics and connections between bloggers, companiesand publishers active in the world of research

Created with NodexL (http://nodexl.codeplex.com) from the Social Media Research Foundation (www.smrfoundation)


with Pew Research, which identifieddifferent typologies of social networks inTwitter,1 including ‘community clusters,’‘brand clusters’ and ‘polarised’ networks.He says the story the research uncoveredis that “the shapes of these collections ofconnections are important. if you look at atopic and it is polarised, then you need todo something different to one that ishighly interconnected.” The shapes candetermine the actions.

What unites each of these data-visualisation advocates is the power theysee in its role in data analysis as well as inpresentation. data visualisation challengesa number of research orthodoxies, notleast because it demands science andcreativity work hand in hand. While wecan’t all be designers, we can all heed thecall to develop our visual literacy.

1 “Mapping Twitter Topic Networks:” From PolarizedCrowds to Community Clusters, Pew ResearchCenter, bit.ly/1daAdZV

Most of us have an obstacle toovercome in learning how to interpretthese maps. as a network advocate, Smithdevotes much of his time to “cultivatingvisual literacy” in his audience. as heobserves, “There is a point where we aretaught what is a line chart, but at no pointwill [most people] get taught what anetwork is. i have taken on the task ofconverting the universe to understandingwhat a network chart is. and it’s nottrivial.” not least because they also useadvanced statistics behind the scenes thatwork on what he describes as “collectionsof connections” in order to discernpatterns.

What this can mean for the researcheris illustrated in a report Smith worked on

statistics and engineering, network mapscan unravel the complex webs ofinteraction that exist within social networksand provide a meaningful way ofinterpreting geo-locational data frommobile survey apps. network maps havealways been notoriously difficult toproduce, but one not-for-profit outfit, theSocial Media Research Foundation, hasrecently developed nodeXl, an open-source application which generatescomplex network maps that are not onlyrelatively easy to interpret but also simpleto create.

Marc Smith, chief social scientist atuSa-based Connected action ConsultingGroup, is a sociologist with a particularinterest in network analysis. He is also amajor contributor to the Social MediaResearch Foundation’s nodeXl initiative.Smith is convinced of network maps’relevance to market research. He says: “amap performs three different tasks: Wheream i? Where else would i like to be? andhow do i get there? Entire networks can bemapped, and when you do that, they willtell you a story. For example, a networkcan tell you who is the most importantperson in a network. So ‘Where am i?’‘Who’s important?’ and ‘How can i get tothem?’ are three important stories we cantell with network maps.” They also happento be the same questions asked by amajority of research projects.

Marc Smith is chief social scientist at Connected Action Consulting group in the uSA. John Schiela is VP ofconverged technology and media at Phoenix Marketing in the uSA. Tobias Sturt is design and userexperience manager at graphic in the uK. Torbjörn Andersson is CEO of Dapresy in Sweden. MichaelDeNitto is CEO of Marketsight in the uK. Emma whitehead is head of graphic in the uK. Tim Macer ismanaging director of meaning ltd and honorary research fellow at the university of Winchester in the uK.

“There is a point where we are taught what is a linechart, but at no point will [most people] get taughtwhat a network is.

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Step 1. ExperimentThe american writer Ralph-Waldo Emerson once said: “all life isan experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” Sodabble with different topics and pastimes to your heart’scontent–anything that has the bright shine of new knowledge oreven plain and simple fun. don’t think about how ‘useful’ it will befor you; just collect and marvel.

niklas luhmann, one of most important sociologists of the20th century, was famous for keeping an elaborate filing system,his “Zettelkasten, ”where he stored snippets of informationpertaining to a myriad of different fields of knowledge. He liked tokeep them on file just in case they’d become useful at some point.

artists and craftspeople, too, like the fashion designer PaulSmith, are renowned for maintaining workspaces in the style of aRenaissance “Wunderkammer,” stacked full of strange andbeautiful objects.

There is so much information in the world that it’s quiteimpossible to take it all in. But instead of narrowing our vision andpursuing knowledge in our field only, let us approach the world ofknowledge as a playground of possibilities.

Step 2. ExploreBut going broad is not enough. next, we need to go deep. at thispoint, we should stop dabbling and start focusing. Pick one of theshiny topics or activities, and explore it thoroughly. devote timeand passion to really understanding its intricacies. Pursue it withthe curiosity and the fervour of a child exploring the world for thefirst time.

So go out and take a course in Japanese calligraphy, eventhough you have no one to write to in Japanese. or go and learnhow to 3d-print objects, even though you don’t use a 3d printerin everyday life.

non-utilitarian learning will transform you in subtle ways.While immersing yourself, you will 1) acquire new skills; 2) gain a

B y investing time in passionately exploring foreign fields ofknowledge and skill without utilitarian regard, we cancreate the necessary momentum and sail on the winds ofchange–with the magpie as our spirit animal.

The word is out: any business-service provider that wants to besuccessful in today’s environment needs to come equipped withthe ability to engage, inspire and wow their clients. Marketresearch is frequently diagnosed with an image problem, yet iwould argue that our industry is ideally equipped to excel in thisrace.

at the most basic level, it is said that the sheer number ofinterests you have has a fundamental influence on your overalllevel of ‘interestingness.’ in that case, we should easily be able tooutperform our competitors–after all, we are an industry foundedupon curiosity. So how can we cultivate our curiosity more so asto create the kind of environment in which fresh thinking canthrive? let us look to one of the most curious species in theanimal world for inspiration–the magpie.

ENTER ThE MAGPiEConsider the magpie, that famously feisty stealer of all thingsshiny. This bird is believed to be one of the most intelligentanimals on this planet, capable even of recognising its own mirrorimage. Yet magpie’s pursuit of all things shiny is something of amystery to researchers. For all we know, they pick up glitzy thingsand bring them to their nests without any functional intent– justout of sheer curiosity and playfulness.

i think we can learn from this bird’s refreshingly playfulattitude: we can learn to let go of our overly utilitarian, linear andgoal-orientated way of pursuing knowledge and skills. let themagpie stand instead as a symbol of taking a non-directedinterest in the world, and follow me on a three-step process toinspirational thinking.

The Way of the MagpieA three-step programme to transform curiosityinto inspirational thinking and doing

Market research–or, perhaps, the curiosity industry–needs to up its ante specifically when it comes todelivering fresh and inspirational ways of thinking

BOuNDARIES

CHRiSTOpH WELTER


and fresh approaches in the industry. Consider the theatre fanwho pursues stage acting as a hobby in her free time, and oneday it hits her that a group of actors could help revolutionise thedebrief as we know it by acting out findings live with clients. ortake the animal lover who relentlessly ponders the intricate waysin which we need to understand different creatures’ sensoryperceptions so that we can treat all animals ethically: one fineevening it hits him that we humans are animals with differentsensory faculties too, but research so far has left the gap wideopen. Thus the idea of five-senses research is born.

To make the most of it, we should try to instil the magpieattitude deep into the organisational culture of research:• Make room for inspiration, spaces where people can dabble

with their curiosities. Even just having a physical library ofinspiring books will make a difference over time.

• Encourage people to exploit their life’s passions, possibly inconjunction with flexible career and work-time models.

• Create spaces where minds and ideas can connect, whetherthey are inspiration sessions or evening salons for discussion onhot topics. and invite other magpie thinkers along to join.

The wonderful thing about magpie-ing is that all you need iscuriosity and passion. let them guide you, and don’t get in theirway.

fresh perspective on things; and 3) meet new people. or, as thephilosopher Roman Krznaric notes, it “may be worth learning towear the hats of different professions in order to stimulate us toask new questions or challenge our assumptions andconventional thinking.”

Step 3. ConnectThe last step of magpie-ing is the one where you wait … andtrust that magic will happen. Trust that your newly acquiredknowledge and skills will eventually connect you with other ideasin ways hitherto unforeseen. History is full of examples that suchmagic is quite real.

in 1931, there was a humble draftsman working at the londonunderground Signals office by the name of Harry Beck. Harryhad a passion for physics and had acquired quite a good bit ofknowledge of electrical circuit diagrams. and then one fineday–Boom!– it hit him that the apparent confusion of the londonunderground could be seen and rendered as a circuit diagram,and the iconic version of the underground map we all know wasborn.

Charles darwin took time off from his studies in medicine in1827 to go out on a geological excursion studying fossils. He wasboth astounded and puzzled by their geographical variation. Hepublished amazingly detailed illustrations of the fossils, but at firstnothing much happened. Years later, when reading Malthus onthe struggle for existence, new neural connections startedforming, and gradually, over the following months, an idea wasborn: natural selection.

Maria Popova, curator of the knowledge and inspiration blogBrain Pickings, says: “in order for us to truly create and contributeto the world, we have to be able to connect countless dots, tocross-pollinate ideas from a wealth of disciplines, to combine andrecombine these pieces and build new castles.”

That, in essence, is what a magpie attitude to inspiration is allabout.

ThE MAGPiE RESEARChERGreat artists and scientists are very often magpie characters, butwhat is a researcher if not a mixture of artist and scientist?Magpie attitude has lead and is continually leading to innovation

Christoph welter is director of strategy at Point-Blank International in germany

User instructions for successful magpie-ing: Please try at home

1. ExperimentGo out there and just dabble with newknowledge and activities. Like themagpie, pick things up just because theyare glitzy and shiny. And if they fail tospark any deeper interest – let them go.Dabble, experiment, play.

2. ExploreFocus on one of the things you havepicked up – the one that inspires youmost. Dedicate your time and attentionto it. Bring it into your ‘magpie nest’ andmake it your own, but still be ‘intent’free with your choice – go for whatdrives you, not for what you consideruseful.

3. ConnectTrust and wait for magic to happen. Thenew perspectives and skills you haveacquired will transform and eventuallyenable you to rethink your job in novelways. Lucky collisions between ideas oldand new will spark fresh thinking anddoing.


The New Lookof AnalyticsAs we’re sparring, my kickboxing trainer asks me the same questionin every session: “Where are you looking?”

RESEaRCH CHallEnGE

BRiAnA BROWnELL


something cold and complicated. as aresult, the ability to communicate results toa wider audience in a compelling way,regardless of that audience’s technicalsophistication, is an essential skill for anyanalytics professional.

Storytelling has been a major trend inadvertising, because stories have a power -ful emotional draw. But this approach hasrelevance within an organisation as well.uptake of a new strategy within a businessdepends both on internal stakeholders’desire and ability to execute it. it is nolonger required (or even desirable) to fill100 slides with tables and discuss minutestatistically significant comparisons.illustrating findings using graphics, videoand stories is becoming the norm.

The balance between actionable andoptimal differs considerably within eachorganisation, but the common struggle indescribing ever more complex statisticalmethods suggests that the art ofexplanation promises to be an importantpoint of discussion in the field for a whileyet. Changes in communication style bothbetween organisations and within anorganisation have a major impact onfinding and retaining talent in an areawhere the trifecta skill-set of businessacumen, people skills and technical skills isalready nearly impossible to come by.

LookiNG AhEADEver since nate Silver made a nearly dead-on prediction of the 2012 uS presidentialelection results, while at the same timevarious pollsters around the world wereway off in their election forecasts, analyticshas been both harkened as a miraculoustool and reviled as unreliable. it’s nowonder that many businesses have alsoshown an increased interest in usingpredictive analyses to enhance the insightsthey get out of their analysis of static data,while at the same time failing to implementthose results (or doing so only withconsiderable trepidation).

With all the technological advances inthe ways in which data can be stored andquickly analysed–and results applied–newmodels can be quickly examined and fine-tuned as they are operationalised.Refinement and testing that were notpreviously possible have been enabled byincreasingly fast processing power.

or industry movement, companies areincreasingly looking inward as theyattempt to streamline their brand promiseand improve their competitiveness in themarketplace.

LookiNG foR CoNNECTioNS‘Big data’ has been a big buzzword for awhile, and many businesses feel thatthey’re missing out on the trend if theyaren’t doing something with big data. inreality, there isn’t a magical big dataformula that will turn a data set intorelevant, actionable insights. in manycases, the biggest issue with big data isindecision–there are so many possibilitiesthat it is very difficult to determine whattype of analysis might be appropriate.

With such an array of data sources,dashboards are increasingly the go-to hub,as they provide a single place wherebusinesses can easily see key metricsacross different business lines, locations,time frames and, yes, big data sources.Collating and visualising the data is onlypart of the issue, however. often, finding ameaningful way to deal with that big dataquestion mark takes a considerableamount of art and ingenuity–skills thattake time to develop.

Fortunately, there are somestraightforward strategies to consider. oneof the great promises of big data is itsability to facilitate insight triangulation–looking at the similarities and differencesin multiple data sets which are not neces -sar ily linked together, such as syndicatedproducts, primary research and businessintelligence. Together, they can providemuch more insight than any one inisolation.

LookiNG fRiENDLyif the word “analytics” makes you think ofa concrete room filled with giant computertowers and endless reams of numbersflashing across the screen, you’re notalone. analytics is often perceived as

While i am supposed to belooking broadly at thevarious places that a punchor kick could come from,

noticing and taking advantage ofpotentially beneficial openings, i amalmost always focusing on the taskimmediately at hand–avoiding that fistcoming right towards my face.

often it’s the same at the office, wherethere are a myriad of daily distractions.While switching focus from project toproject, it’s rare to find the time to lookmore broadly at trends in industry and tonotice the similarities in the problemsfaced by many businesses. But majorchanges in consumer and businessbehaviour are becoming more and moreevident across sectors. These changes givean indication of how the relevance anddemand for certain specialised analyticsmay rise, thereby shaping the new look ofanalytics.

LookiNG iNwARDBrand is no longer exclusively the domainof the marketing and communicationsdepartments but rather has become an all-permeating quality: a company’s brand isviewed as an extension of its corporateculture. The focus on united culture andvalue proposition means that everyonefrom the frontlines to the C-suite influencesthe company’s identity from the inside out.

at the same time, customers are alsoexpecting to be closer to companiesproducing the products they use and love.Many businesses have allowed customersto come in from the outside, treating themas important partners and sounding boardsfor new product development andadjustments to the customer experience.

as a result, the distinction betweencompany insiders and outsiders isbecoming increasingly blurred. While mostanalytics in the past was outwardly focusedon things like understanding consumerbrand perceptions, competitor behaviour

“Brand is no longer exclusively the domain of themarketing and communications departments.”


whERE ARE yoU LookiNG?With the term ‘big data’ being bandiedabout in mainstream business magazinesand infographics of all kinds clogging upour Facebook feeds, the major, rapidchanges in analytics are set to becomeincreasingly important. Broader trends inoperations management continue to affectthe demand for specialised analytics.Fortunately, analytics is by its naturereflective. Trends we see when lookingoutward can have a great influence on howwe are able to position ourselves in regardto clients–and within our ownorganisations. By searching for ways thatanalytics can provide increasing value intoday’s and tomorrow’s economy, we canmake sure that data science remains acrucial investment for businesses in yearsto come.

with video camera capabilities but also bywidespread video sharing online. Makinguse of mobile technology to understandhow location fits into the bigger researchpicture in terms of service offering,advertising and targeting remains apromising area to explore more fully.

LookiNG BENEATh ThE SURfACEindirectly collected data about behaviourvia devices such as door counters, outdoorsensors and time-usage recorders isquickly increasing in variety and availability.This passive data has the great advantageof providing the opportunity to compareobserved behaviours to peoples’perceptions of their own behaviour.natural experiments with pricing,positioning and marketing messaging arebecoming common.

Many organisations are interested indoing their best to optimise offeringsbefore bringing a product to market, andthis explains the popularity of data-collection methods that attempt to elicitnaturalistic information about likelybehaviour prior to launch. increasinglypopular methods include neuroscience orgamification techniques, both of whichattempt to circumvent our tendencies torationalise past behaviours and explainmotivations when asked about themdirectly. Combining implicit and explicitmethodologies is becoming anincreasingly powerful way to analyse andpredict behaviour.

Regrettably, though, most sources areat present vague about the actualmethods used in forecasting, while at thesame time seeming to overpromise results,thus making it difficult to separate themarketing hype from any truly profoundnew prediction methods. let’s hopeincreased interest will lead to increasedtransparency in this area.

LookiNG AT LoCATioNWith smartphone penetration steadilymarching up in nearly every countryaround the world, mobile data is a majoropportunity for insightful analysis intoculture, lifestyles and behavioural patterns.location-based data has been used inpassive ways to optimise street traffic,predict repeat business, track customermovement within an establishment andoptimise new store placement.

active data uses mobile ethnography,and this “day-in-the-life” type of deepqualitative research is made possible notonly by the prevalence of smartphones

Briana Brownell is manager of analytics at Insightrix Research inCanada

natural experiments with pricing, positioning andmarketing messaging are becoming common.



model, renting them on a thrust-per-second basis in a way similarto small businesses buying services from amazon. Such a modelis made possible because of instruments that allow remotemonitoring of each engine. The engines, in a sense, “talk” to theengineers back at HQ.

imagine this model applied to car insurance, Hobsbawm says:already, tracking devices allow policies to be altered according tothe way individuals drive, but what if you could have a policy foryour regular routes and then upgrade when you go away for along weekend? in healthcare, a “smart pill” has been approvedfor use by the uS Food and drug administration. “it’s sort of theequivalent of swallowing an entire surgical team in terms of thediagnostics– the idea of new technologies and pathways thatallow you to remotely monitor health and even administertreatment, or use wearable technology to encourage people tolead healthier lifestyles so they don’t get ill in the first place.”

For objects to be connected with the internet, they need tobecome searchable resources with their own digital footprint: anidentity that can be searched, linked to, shared and manipulated.This means objects can be both virtual and physical. Your car, forinstance, could then become part of your social network. “i’m notentirely sure why you’d want a car to be part of your socialnetwork, but it’s interesting that you can,” Hobsbawm says. “Youcan friend your car, and it can send you alerts saying ‘My batteryneeds recharging.’” There are fridge magnets that can re-ordermilk when you’re running low, Philips light bulbs that changecolour according to instructions from a user’s smartphone andindicators that alert a householder–or farmer– that plants orcrops need watering. it’s conceivable that a washing machinewould be able to recommend a trusted local tradesperson–andeven book an appointment–when it needs repairing. Budweiserhave developed a novelty branded light that, once it has beentold which team your support, launches into a celebrationwhenever your team scores.

We search online for gift ideas, tradespeople, newsand entertainment, but what if you could Google aparking space and your possessions could talk toeach other?

The connections that have linked people and businessesthrough their computers and phones are about to precipitate thenext industrial revolution, one no less significant than theinvention of rail travel and electricity. andy Hobsbawm, founderand chief marketing officer of software company Evrythng, saysthe nascent “internet of things” is a game-changer for individuals,businesses and governments, as everyday objects from parkingmeters and thermostats to medicines and clothing connect to theinternet via sensors or computer chips.

By 2015, Hobsbawm predicts that one trillion devices will beconnected to the internet, billions of them not computers orsmartphones but ‘things.’ “now is the coming dawn of whenthings start to become connected, from the chairs you sit on tothe streets, the buildings and potentially even smart dust in theair,” he says. “There are a lot of ‘things’ in the world, and forthem to start becoming connected has got to be quite significant,even if we don’t know exactly how it’s going to play out. it’s avery big, disruptive shift.”

We’re already familiar with the beginnings of the internet ofthings. near-field communication enables physical things likelondon’s oyster cards, which can be used for payment across thetravel network, to feed massive amounts of data about passengerpatterns to data analysts who can work out how best to managetraffic flows. The same kind of tracking could be used to managecontainer ships and other ways of moving.

ThE BUSiNESS MoDELBut it’s not just new connections; new business models areemerging from the internet of things as well. Rolls-Royce, forinstance, is able to proved jet engines on a subscription-style

Rise of themachinesdigital pioneer andy Hobsbawm tells Jo Bowman the machines are here.

OuT OF THE BOx

JO BOWmAn


consumer products sold every year–smart tags that can triggerthe launch of information or links via a smartphone are entirelyplausible, Hobsbawm says. an object could, therefore, “tell” itsnew owner how it was made or provide links to warranties,instruction manuals and ongoing suggestions for use.

“What we’re trying to do is connect people to brands viaphysical things,” he says. The new owner of a guitar, for instance,might “claim” it online through a QR code on the item or a near-field communication tag, and that online connection could triggertailored experiences. a discount at your nearest music shop couldbe offered; you could receive music playlists if you like a certainstyle of music; you might receive a suggestion to invest in heavierstrings, links to musicians nearby looking for a guitarist for theirband or even a discount on a British airways flight to nashvillebecause the guitar “knows” you’ve been listening to a lot ofJohnny Cash. The guitar manufacturer goes from knowingnothing about purchasers to having an ongoing relationship withthem.

other brand experiences could be triggered by, say, a suddenchange in the temperature where the user of a product lives orthe national football team making the World Cup finals. aparticular book could become a digital pass to a literary festival,and a drinks brand might send a limousine for your ride homeone night because it knows it’s your birthday. a motorist might beable to follow parking spaces on Twitter and know when they’revacant, and a cereal packet that might normally include a plastictoy for children might instead provide points on Candy Crush.diageo has done a Father’s day promotion in which apersonalised film could be digitally attached to bottles bought asgifts, with a CRM opt-in for both giver and recipient.

The skills required for a marketing world that’s more aboutpersonalisation than a broadcast blast are an extension,Hobsbawm says, of those that have always been at the heart ofmarketing. “in a sense, modern marketing is deeply powered bytechnology at all levels. if you look at what exists in a CMo’s stackof systems, it’s becoming unbelievably sophisticated. What i’vetalked about is an extension of that, even if it’s a dramaticamplification. That would suggest that anybody who’s inmarketing, unless they’re fluent in technology and they’reunderstanding that world and thinking of technology-poweredmarketing as marketing, then they’re going to run into problems.The world is networked. all marketing is a way of understandingthe world in order to connect buyers and sellers, so if you don’tunderstand the world, you’re in trouble.”

iNfoRMiNG DESiGNThere is some risk that if objects and brands are doing their owndata collection and informing communications, researchers aremade, to some extent, redundant. But actually convincingconsumers to connect up their many things and be honest aboutthe information they supply is where a new role for researchemerges, Hobsbawm says.

“The research industry is in a very interesting place, becausethe more data there is, the more potential insight there is. in apetabyte age, where you can turn on features for, say, threemillion people and just see what they do, i think that does put

“These things can be combined in interesting ways. disneycame up with a storybook application on a tablet that can besynched with your Philips light, so if you’re reading a kid’s storyon the iPad, the lighting will change according to the narrative.So you can start to see ways that all this creativity creates newopportunities, because it’s all part of a system, and i think we’reonly just starting to scratch the surface.” often, the applicationsof these types of advances are not immediately evident, butHobsbawm says that’s no reason to dismiss them: “They haveways of becoming useful in ways you can’t imagine.”

BRAvE NEw woRLD of MARkETiNGThis all throws brand marketing into a new light, because whenobjects become connected, their digital lives can change thephysical products, too. Take nike running shoes connected to theFuelBand system. “The shoe is actually a social, connected dataservice that connects you to friends. it tracks your runs, it givesyou access to a community, and if you compared two nike shoesthe same size and design, they’re in fact completely different,because your shoe has a data footprint different to mine,”Hobsbawm says. “What that means for me is that to suddenlyswitch shoes is as painful as it is to switch from amazon toanother e-commerce provider that doesn’t have all of my historyand my credit card and wishlist and so on. So the ability topersonalise objects–and for them to understand your history anduse it – is quite a powerful way to bind people to them. We’removing to a time where objects are dynamic and adjustthemselves to your preferences. Things are going to change, andtherefore the way they’re marketed is going to change as well.”

as Stefan olander, VP of digital sport with nike, has said,once a brand has established a direct relationship with aconsumer, the brand doesn’t need to advertise to them.

While it would be prohibitively expensive to computer-chipevery single object consumers buy– there are 3.3 trillion


pressure on pre-existing techniques which are more slow moving.The question for the research industry would be how fluent theybecome with managing the analytics of big data–blending theseenormous data sets and predictive algorithms–as well as more ofthe qualitative and psychological research. if the research industryreally embraces the big data analytics as well as all of thetraditional skills, then it’s in a really good place.”

Helping brands understand how consumers relate to theinternet of things would be a vital service. “What is it that peopleactually want is where marketing and research comes in,” he says.“How you create the right propositions needs deep insights. dopeople want to be alerted when the burglar alarm has gone off?i would think yes, because it’s a situation where you want to takesome action and you want to alert the police as well. do youwant to be alerted when the washing machine’s finished its load?Possibly. These are all just proposition questions about how youdesign the service. The nuance of how you design the service isthe experience. But whether or not people want to be alerted ofthat, you need to research it and ask them.”

Andy hobsbawm is founder and chief marketing officer of software company Evrythng

“Convincing consumers to connect up theirmany things and be honest about theinformation they supply is where a new rolefor research emerges.”

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ThE MARkET RESEARChvALUE CURvEour chief technology officer recently gavea presentation at the iieX conference,delivering a great illustration of the failingsof the traditional market research businessmodel. We can all think of projects thathave dragged on, squeezing the profitmargin with every day spent drilling intothe data. The traditional market researchvalue curve has a steep initial climb, whereresearch agencies spend their time under -standing a client’s issues and applying theirconsultative frameworks. data collectioncan be swift, and though coding question -naires can take some time, it’s when wemove into processing, analysis andreporting that the profit we deliver dropssignificantly. Junior research executives arerelied upon to review the data and deliverinsight, simply because it’s not economi -cally viable to have consultants poring overevery table. data processing and analysisoften takes several weeks, and a wholeteam is occupied with making sure that thedata is clean–and manipulating it whennecessary. This process squeezes the realvalue, the delivery of strategic insight,which is rushed to meet with tight dead -lines and already overflowing timesheets.

in the new world of research that weenvisage, the value curve is radicallydifferent. Expert resources have beendeployed in the design of the project

customers at the heart of business?absolutely. do we need to evolve andadapt to this new world? of course.

Join me, if you will, and imagine whatthe insight world will look like in fiveyears’ time.

What was once our bread and butter isincreasingly at risk from new approaches,in many cases approaches which fit betterwith the pace and demands of modernbusiness. in five years, the insightprofessionals who will have profited andsucceeded in this new world will havebeen those who have managed to convey,package and deliver their expertise free ofthe constraints of traditional marketresearch. data checking and processing,laborious survey scripting, charting andaligning PowerPoint presentations: all ofthese will become programmatic,handled by machines. our future lies inadding value, using our knowledge andexpertise to consult and design, toanalyse and put trends in context.The process of market research will besqueezed and dismantled, and peopledelivering insight will become increasinglyskilled consultants, aided by machines.as a wise speaker at a conferencei recently attended quipped, we arelooking at a “technology revolution and aconsultancy evolution.” i can find nobetter words to sum up how i see thefuture of our industry.

F rom the shift from CaTi to onlinesurveys in the 90s to theemergence of mobile, big dataand insight communities in the 00s,

innovation in research technology hasconsistently given us the tools to positioncustomer insight at the heart of modernbusiness.

in recent years, however, the pace ofchange has been accelerating rapidly.Computing is advancing faster than everbefore. Coding languages such as Rubyon Rails and cloud technology likeamazon’s EC2 have democratisedtechnology, allowing entrepreneurs with avision to quickly develop an idea into arobust, scalable digital business. in thiscontext, business ideas are exploited withincreasing ease, and new ways ofcollecting, understanding anddisseminating customer data areemerging all the time. our clients are alsomoving faster than ever, and where theywere previously content to wait weeks ormonths for insight, they are now used towaiting minutes, calling on big dataplatforms or social media queries toinform their decision making instead ofconventional survey data.

Where does it leave us, you might ask,the stalwart research industry with our richheritage and wealth of experience inunderstanding people? do we still havean indispensable voice in keeping

THE FuTuRE OFMARKET RESEARCHFull-service-self-serve research

as we all know, our industry has changed radically in the last 20 years.

RESEARCH IN BuSINESS

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enterprises, companies which couldn’tpreviously afford the premium that greatresearch delivery often demands. Think, forexample, of a marketing manager for a mid-sized brand, someone who might have anannual budget of uS $200,000 formarketing and perhaps uS $15,000 forresearch. Most research agencies wouldstruggle to deliver real value for thatamount, and, though we might not want toadmit it, many would want to avoid thatsort of client–often demanding and withcomparatively shallow pockets. With full-service-self-serve tools, that client can nowrun up to ten projects in a year, testingcreative campaigns, understanding branddrivers, filtering taglines, exploring socialmedia and running online focus groups– inessence, a full, agile, slim-line research pro -gramme delivered to an affordable budget.

ultimately, we are convinced there arebenefits for all in the way that insightdelivery is changing. it’s a brave new world,and not everyone will jump in head-first.However, it is a very brave agency whichdecides to ignore the trends and chal -lenges in their entirety. This is agile, it’sthe future, and we are proud to be a partof it.

ting to their thinking with innovativesoftware features that our applicationaffords. Forward-thinking people in thosecompanies share our goal: to add valuethrough design and great thinking ratherthan process. of course, there have beenquestions around cannibalisation,particularly with high-value assets such asthe ConversionModel and Millward Brown’screative testing being made available at areduced price. However, i would argue thatthe far greater threat comes from diY solu -tions and other sources of data managem -ent which, if left without response, arelikely to erode our revenues with increasingseverity over the next decade.

it is often all too easy to focus on riskwithout giving enough thought to theopportunity that innovation enables. Wesee great potential in the full-service-self-serve space to increase research use and,in some cases, even increase researchspend overall. We envisage an agile worldin which consumer insight is affordable andaccessible enough to be deployedfrequently and iteratively, in which, forexample, brand managers can inject theconsumer voice at every stage of thecreative development process instead ofrelying on one or two potentially lengthyand expensive research projects. Full-service-self-serve makes this method ofworking viable. Certainly our experience isthat, once businesses adopt this approach,the benefits they reap easily validate theirrisk, keeping the customer at the heart ofthe development process whilemaintaining an emphasis on deliveringeven more great quality insight.

By cutting down on process, andconsequently cost, we are also opening upexpert insight to small- and medium-sized

before it has even begun. The process is byand large programmatic, with some timespent on customisation, and the value thatresearchers provide increases towards theend of the project: spending their timeconsulting and having meaningfulconversations, and charging clients for theirtime accordingly. We are clearly still in theearly days, but our experiences with ourpartners suggest that this is more than justspeculative musing. They are seeing theearly stages of a step-change in theirrelationship with clients, and it is exciting.

iNTELLiGENT AUToMATioNThe really exciting change is that the reachof technology won’t stop with process;software is getting much smarter. We investa lot of our time experimenting withautomation, and even analysis is on ourradar. By employing senior consultants tocraft strategic, category and even brand-specific analysis text, then linking that textto changes and permutations in data, wecan manage insight-generation with theclick of a button. There are somelimitations to this technology–that’s whereresearchers step in to give context–but weare constantly striving to improve it.Whatever you may think, the stake is in theground, and the challenge to the industryhas been set: evolve, or watch your marketshare cede to new innovations.

our vision for an agile, consultancy-driven, technology-enabled research worldis validated by the increasing number ofentrants to the ‘full-service-self-serve’space. as but one example, at ZappiStore,we have partnered with forward-thinkingcompanies such as Millward Brown, TnSand MMR to deliver their iP onto ourautomated self-service platform, contribu -

Stephen Phillips is CEO at ZappiStore in the uK

Value

/Pro�t

Time T

Full service MR offering adds signi�cant value to client by spending time understanding their company and problem

Data gathering still pro�table (Survey Monkey EBITDA 53.9%)

Reliance on execs having to �nd the story every single time undermines standardisation and quality

Signi�cant time spent on data manipulation and hygienic factors before any true value can be added

Data structures de�ned early in process with limited manipulation �exibility leads to high rework costs

Manual interventions to produce usable information from source data increases costs signi�cantly

Strategic insights deliverd under time and cost pressure, if at all

Study design

Data collection

Data cleaning

Mistakes Fiddle with pptx

Headline insights and strategic next steps

Stare at tables looking for the story

Value

/Pro�t

Time

ZappiStore process

by automating study design and data collection

Data processing and reporting delivered in real time via expert-led automated data platform – building the story behind the data

Researchers focused on exploring the story to create actionable outcomes for the client

Beginning of a true enriched dialogue with each client that focuses on future steps

Study design

Data collection

Headline insights and strategic next steps

What next?

Graph 1. Traditional market research model Graph 2. New world research value curve


http://www.esomar.org/events-and-awards/awards.php?utm_source=research-world&utm_medium=rw-pdf&utm_content=rw-september-2014&utm_campaign=rw-september-2014


Turning the cornerA brightening outlook

Returning confidence and increasing investment in north america have helped counter

the effects of slowing growth in the world’s biggest emerging economies in 2013.

ESOMAR gLOBAL RESEARCH

JO BOWmAn


such a small base that these markets continue to have littleimpact on the overall performance of the region. Bangladeshgrew at more than 28% in 2013, but it remains less than oneone-hundredth the size of the Chinese market. The region’s netgrowth was 1.6%.

• The two biggest markets in latin america both saw declines inmarket research turnover in 2013: Brazil by 2.8% and Mexico by5.9%. Brazil’s dip can be somewhat attributed to the fact that,in the previous year, there was a surge in demand for researchahead of the hotly contested municipal elections, while inMexico the lull follows a cooling of the broader economy.argentina and Peru were the stand-out growth markets in theregion, posting 19.7% and 15.5% growth respectively, althoughin Peru, the lower costs of digital research compared to othermethods is leading some clients to move their research in-house, hurting agency revenues. net growth for the region was-0.1%.

• While absolute earnings volume in local currencies was up inafrica, the effect of exchange rate changes versus the uS dollarand high inflation–surpassing 16% in East africa in2013– meant the region ultimately had a net decline in inflation-adjusted revenue of 1.2%. The region’s biggest market, Southafrica, enjoyed growth in digital research and served a growingnumber of domestic clients looking to expand across theregion, but it struggled with a growing number of clientsseeking ad hoc work rather than contracts, smaller clientbudgets and a shortage of trained staff; it saw a net loss of2.0%. Meanwhile, West africa (up 7.3%) and nigeria (up 5.3%)were buoyant.

• in the Middle East, a slowing decline in 2013 represented animprovement over the sharp drop-offs in 2012. net growth was-1.2% for the region. lebanon was the star of the show, posting

ESoMaR’s annual report on the state of the marketresearch industry shows that north america’s recoveryfrom recession helped world research turnover rise 0.7%in 2013 to uS $40.3 billion. This is the same overall

growth rate the industry saw a year earlier, but then it was latinamerica and asia-Pacific that were buoying the industry. Thisyear’s Global Market Research report, to be launched at theESoMaR Congress in nice on 8 September, suggests that 2013was a year of transition: there is strong optimism that 2014 will bea more prosperous year for the industry, with forecasts predictingthe highest levels of growth for some years (and significantlyhigher than a year ago).

The GMR report ventures beyond regional averages to givean overview of the market; it looks at how the industry has beentackling the challenges it faces in different market sectors andhow it is expanding into new areas, growing its value as anessential service to business (often helped by technology thatonce looked like it might threaten the sector’s very existence).

ToP-LiNE fiNDiNGSEurope continued to account for 40% of global research turnover,despite none of the Eu-15 countries making it onto the list of theten fastest-growing markets in the region. north america grew itsshare by two percentage points to 39% of the total; its gain wasasia-Pacific’s loss. Booms in small, fast-growing asian marketsfailed to make up for slowing growth in China and Japan (afteradjustment for inflation). Highlights of this year’s GMR reportinclude:• Market research turnover increased in 49 countries or sub-

regions in 2013 and declined in 40 (after adjustment forinflation).

• in north america, the uS grew by 2.7% in the year, trackingsteady improvement in the national economy. Growth inrevenue from survey research slowed to less than 1%, butqualitative enjoyed a strong recovery, as did syndicatedresearch and media research. Research turnover in Canada isonly a fraction of that in the uS, but growth there of 7.4%helped lift revenue for the region as a whole by 2.9%.

• ukraine was the fastest growing market in Europe for thesecond year running (8.2% net growth in 2013), followed byRussia (5.8%), most likely driven by strong performances in thefirst three quarters of the year (before tensions over Crimea andeastern ukraine flared up). France (0.1% growth), thenetherlands (0.6%), denmark (0.4%) and luxembourg (2.0%)were the only markets in the Eu-15 to stay in positive territory,with Portugal (down 22%) the hardest hit by general economichardship. Bulgaria (5.3% growth) was the best performeramong new Eu member states. Cyprus, the smallest researchmarket among the new members, saw revenues plummet byover a third. overall, European net growth was -1.4%.

• in asia-Pacific, the largest market, Japan, showed sluggishgrowth of just 0.5% (after adjustment for inflation) and China,which now has turnover approaching that of Japan, showedslower growth in 2013 (4.4% as compared to more than 11% ayear earlier). Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia and laos grewat a tremendous pace (50% in the case of Myanmar), but from

Middle East

$ 277; 1%

W

Africa

$ 382; 1%

Latin America

$ 1,920; 5%

Asia Paci!c

$ 5,998; 15% (-1)

North America

$ 15,705; 39% (+2)

Europe

$16,005; 40%

Graph 1. Global market research turnover 2013 US $ 40,287 million

ESoMaR estimates. Rounded figures presented. Brackets show percentage pointchanges in market share compared to 2012.


coming from expansion in the healthcare, technology, financialservices and fashion sectors.

“as africans are very conscious of status, even in rural areasyou’ll find some of the latest Samsung phones and iPhones;they’re very keen to purchase products that express who they are.We probably have more German cars than they have inGermany,” Falala says. as people move up the socio-economicladder, they look to express themselves in new ways, so there’sgrowing demand for cultural experiences such as theatre, danceand dining out.

Globally, the manufacturing sector is still the biggestconsumer of market research, followed by media businesses andfinancial services.

despite the overall lacklustre growth in the global marketresearch industry in 2013, there’s confidence that business is onthe up. a far larger majority of respondents to the GMRquestionnaire than in recent years is predicting better times in2014: 82% said they expected growth (compared to 60% a yearago); 9% expect an industry decline in revenues (an improvement

record net gains of 38.9% due to rising demand for researchand the launch of the GfK MRME TaM panel. The GulfCooperation Council countries–Bahrain, Kuwait, oman, Qatar,Saudi arabia and the uaE–together are the biggest market inthe region and grew 4.4% in 2013. Continuing instability in theregion affected the industry in other countries. israel saw a1.5% net decline, Egypt’s market dipped 8%, iran dropped11.2% and iraq was down 45.5%.

ThE NEw NoRMALThe biggest markets for research remained unchanged from2012: the uS stayed at the top of the league and in 2013accounted for 37% of revenue (followed by the uK, Germany,France and Japan). These five markets together represented70 per cent of the industry’s global takings.

Yet it is apparent that business confidence has yet to return inthese markets to the levels that existed before the 2009economic crisis. “We’re operating in a world which is growing ata much slower pace than before the financial crisis, not just in thedeveloped world but also in developing markets,” says ipsosfounder and co-president didier Truchot. “The corporate worldhas become very risk averse,” he says. “innovation is being usedto streamline a business rather than as leverage for growth. Thetaste for adventure just isn’t there.”

developing markets still present the strongest influence ongrowth in demand for research, though the large BRiC marketsare less significant than they were a few years ago, and smaller,fast-growing emerging economies are where much of the clientappetite is shifting. at the same time, the rise of technology-based companies is putting into sharp focus the true importanceof brand and reputation, along with the potential for technologyto disrupt not just tech-focused industry fields but also financialservices, retail and media.

“What’s most exciting is seeing the market research industryrevitalised by new thinking, doing what we always used todo–taking the best of the new scientific thinking and technologyand adopting it into practice,” says GfK global training directorPhyllis Macfarlane.

latin america is one of the regions presenting strongopportunities for future growth, as local and internationalbusinesses seek to understand the newly affluent–and those onlower incomes whose spending power is slowly rising.

Sarah Boumphrey is head of countries and consumersresearch at Euromonitor; she says the region’s increasingeconomic stability, young population and proximity to the uS arehelping growth. “There are more than 87 million middle-classhomes with household incomes between uS $10,000 and uS$45,000,” she says. “Engaging with these consumers early on canproduce long-term benefits. These consumers, once won, can betransferred up the value chain from the initial low-pricedpurchases to high-margin products and services.”

africa, too, is a collection of markets in which much remainsto be understood about consumers and their fast-evolvingpreferences and priorities. Sifiso Falala, CEo of Plus 94 Research,says businesses are aware of the risks of working in volatilemarkets but have confidence that things are on the up. Growth is

World

Europe

North America

Asia Paci!c

Latin America

Africa

Middle East

0,7%

-1,4%

2,9%

1,6%

-0,1%

-1,2%

-1,2%

Graph 2. Net growth rate 2013 (adjusted for inflation)

Globally, the manufacturing sectoris still the biggest consumer ofmarket research, followed by mediabusinesses and financial services.

Exchange rate fluctuations eliminated. iMF inflation rates used to determine net growth.


over last year’s 19%); 9% expect no change (versus 21% theprevious year).

CLiCk AND CoLLECTTechnology continues to change the way that researchers carryout their work, and it continues to lower the barriers to entry fornew kinds of service providers that are generating businessinsights. The highest proportion of work being done online is inJapan, where, in 2013, 46% of turnover came from online (upfrom 40% in 2012). Bulgaria, a huge centre for outsourcedresearch, is the second-biggest online market (43% of the total isonline), followed by Sweden and Canada (both 38%), with thenetherlands rounding out the top five (36% of research is online).

The rise of big data–and a falling out of favour of the term‘big data’–has led to misunderstandings about what can andwhat can’t be achieved with it. “as more people get their handson big data, they’ll see that, while you can now potentially provesomething that you had a hard time doing with traditional marketresearch,” says Google research manager Thomas Park. “But itdoesn’t pop out automatically. it’s really, really hard work to makesense of that data.”

nick nyhan, digital coordinator and strategist for Kantar, saysthe ‘making sense’ aspect of research is where the future of theindustry really lies; he thinks much of the meaning of real-timedata only comes from putting it into context–and often thecontext of many years of other research. “That means that thecritical skills in the market research industry are more in demandthan they were before. it’s just that there’s more competition.”

The expansion and diversification of the research industry issomething that newcomers to the business say should bepromoted at universities, where the range of opportunities that aresearch career can offer is still poorly understood. “Today’sbooks and courses don’t even talk about online research orqualitative research, so the perception that’s perpetuated is one

Jo Bowman is an independent journalist based in the uK

Rest of the world

$ 12,242; 30% (+1)

France

$ 2,679; 7%

Japan

$ 1,843; 5% (-1)

USA

$ 14,991; 37% (+2)

Germany

$ 3,468; 9% (+1)

0

United Kingdom

$ 5,065; 13%

Graph 3. five largest markets–Market share 2013 (US$ millions)

Other

16% (+1)

Manufacturing

44% (-2)Wholesale and retail

5% (-1)

Telecommunications

6% (+1)

Financial services

6%

Public sector

9%

Media

14% (+1)

Graph 4. Sources of research turnover 2013 (%)

that’s far from reality–paper-and-pen research, and callingpeople up and doing surveys,” says Tanmay dhall, a qualresearch consultant with TnS in dubai and board member ofFringe Factory. Private-sector marketing and researchprogrammes, such as those run by Coca-Cola and nielsen, arehelping shed light on what the industry is really about, and somesmaller agencies are becoming active at the university ‘milkrounds’ as they seek to attract sharp, talented graduates. dhallsays young people’s perceptions of research are slowly changing:“There’s young blood in the industry which wants change and isworking for it. if we can communicate the variety of careeropportunities available, it will help us take a real stepforward.”

GLoBAL MARkET RESEARCh 2014

The only global analysis of market research spendan ESoMaR industry Reportin cooperation with Bdo accountants & advisorsnow in its 26th year, the report includes:

• Global & regional highlights and five-year trend data on 81 countries

• Country-level breakdowns of sources of turnover, spend by researchmethod, design and project type

• Expert insights into the changing needs of research clients and agencies

To see a preview and order the report, please go towww.esomar.org/publications.GloBal MaRKET RESEaRCH 2014 is free to ESoMaR members in PdFformat and can be downloaded in the MyESoMaR section of the website.


Doing More with MoreMulti-phase and hybrid studies yield greater depth

While single-phase consumer engagement still has its place, a new trend in global

marketing research is the rise of multi-part or hybrid research projects.

RESEARCH CHALLENgE

iSAAC ROgERS


prior feedback and revisit the ideas withthe same participants who participated inthe first sessions.

as researchers, we can often forgethow unusual the focus group environmentcan be for a respondent. a consumer isasked to visit an office in a building they’velikely never entered, sit around a tablesurrounded by a handful of strangers andanswer questions about products they useat home–all while glancing uncomfortablyat reflections in a giant mirrored wall. Whilean effective moderator can alleviate muchof this uneasiness, it can still be a tremen -dous challenge to develop rapport, presentbrand new concepts or ideas, moderate alively discussion and cover all the primarytopics in a 60- or 90-minute session.

Most researchers will quickly admit thatmany, if not most, of their groups couldbenefit from more time in discussion.However, by the time the 90 minutes is up,some participants are nearing the end oftheir natural attention span, while othersmust return to their lives, jobs and familiesoutside of market research.

However, we don’t live in a strictly face-to-face world anymore. online qualitativeresearch platforms afford any researcher amultitude of simple-to-use and flexiblesolutions to craft a custom hybrid projectwith relative ease.

REAChiNG fURThER foR iNSiGhTSone key area where hybrid projectssucceed is their ability to easily carry aconversation with consumers over anextended period of time. Historically,longitudinal qualitative projects were someof the most costly and difficult researchmethods. However, today’s digitaltechniques provide a tremendousadvantage for longer term participantengagements.

one of the most powerful applicationsof hybrid approaches couples a face-to-face session with a follow-up onlinediscussion days or weeks after the focusgroup. This “debrief” session can oftenyield amazing new insights that weren’tcaptured in the first event. it allowsresearchers to refine concepts based on

A s greater and greater numbers ofdeveloped and semi-developedcountries refine their internetinfrastructures and services,

digital research technologies are allowingmore global researchers to engageconsumers quickly, easily and affordably–ata variety of times, in a range of settings andlong after they’ve left the focus group.

one of the most effective strategiesemerging today in global qualitativeresearch is the rise of multi-part or hybridresearch projects. Some researchers havefound this to be their “secret weapon” forachieving the client goal of providing moreinsights, faster, while at the same timehelping to keep project costs low.

The basic concept of multi-modalresearch is fairly straightforward: instead ofrelying on a single phase of consumerengagement, such as a one- or two-hourfocus group session, a researcher insteadengages with the customer two or moretimes in a variety of formats. in the past,the concept of continuing the conversationafter the focus group, or perhapsinterviewing participants three or four timesduring different periods in their path topurchase, might have seemed like animpossibility. The cost and logistics ofreconnecting with consumers in a strictlyface-to-face world limited our ability toengage past a single focus groupexperience.

“We can often forget how unusual the focusgroup environment can be for a respondent.”


unique habits. Rather than walking “cold”into a one-on-one interview with a stranger,the moderator and participant were able tocontinue their existing relationship duringtheir first face-to-face chat. The level ofrapport between them was high, as they’dspent the past two weeks engaging andgetting to know one another in an onlinediscussion. This allowed the researcher toengage in a frank and honest conversationwith the participant on a topic that is, forsome, a sensitive subject. in this case, theresearcher felt the level of accuracy in thedigital diary greatly exceeded a typicalpaper journal, and the hybrid approachmeant a more comfortable discussion withthe consumers in the face-to-face setting.

A NEw DAy foR RESEARChThere’s a lot of talk in our industry aroundthe challenges facing today’s researchers,much of it seeming to imply or assume that,as a group, we’re somehow unfit for thefuture. it seems some pundits want toargue that researchers aren’t up to the taskand that our industry is forever stuck in thepast.

That’s not how i see it. From where i sit,i see a new day dawning for research.

Every day, i see more and moreresearchers rising to action. Practitionersacross the globe are realising that today’sdigital tools, coupled with an existingmastery of research methods, allow themto gaze deeper into the consumerexperience and uncover fresh new insights.With each bespoke project design, i’mseeing creativity flourish and renewedexcitement in our industry. The one-size-fits-all mold is breaking, and a new age ofmixed method, hybrid and truly custom-tailored design is upon us.

participants will be willing and able to becontacted– for very little additional effort orincentive (typically, participants are paidless than 50% additional honoraria for thedigital debrief). additionally, the cost of anonline webcam group or bulletin boarddiscussion is generally a small fraction ofthe overall project cost.

CoNTExTUALiSiNG ThE PAThTo PURChASEHybrid qualitative methodologies aregaining traction as a way to develop animmersive understanding of the consumerpath to purchase and a more directmechanism to study real-world habits andpractices.

in the past, qualitative researchersstruggled to adequately capture a broadconsumer experience. Traditional single-phase research often consisted of a singleinterview or focus group in which theparticipants recounted a decision-makingor buying process based largely onindividual recall. Realising theshortcomings of relying on accuratedepictions from consumer memory,qualitative researchers often relied on thepaper diary or journal method to moreadequately capture these events.

But what happens when a researcherreplaces that paper diary with a digitaltool? Take, for example, a recent project inSoutheast asia, in which the paper diarywas replaced with a mobile-enabledqualitative discussion. For two weeks, 30consumers documented each alcoholicbeverage they purchased or consumed viaa smartphone app, submitting hundreds ofphotos and videos that captured theirpurchase and consumption patterns.during that two-week data-gatheringphase, participants could also log on to anonline conversation in which the moderatorcreated a rich dialogue about alcoholtrends.

after the two-week mobile datagathering phase, the consumers wereinvited to a mix of face-to-face sessionsand online individual webcam interviews(depending on their proximity to a centralfacility). The moderator used theconsumers’ individually generated contentand their actual usage photos, videos anddiaries to develop a custom-tailoredconversation based on each individual’s

This is where the debrief online sessioncomes in. instead of bidding farewell tothese respondents forever, you can insteadenrol them in a three-day online bulletin-board discussion or invite them to awebcam group a few days or weeks afterthe focus group. You are provided anopportunity to hear from the consumersafter the ideas presented in the groupshave gestated. Researchers tell countlessstories of product concepts that just didn’tget traction in the groups–yet after a fewdays’ thought, many participants begin tosee benefits (or concerns) they hadn’tformulated during the short time in thefocus group.

The debrief sessions are a perfectopportunity to revisit key discussion topicsthat might have been short-changed in thelive sessions. in effect, you are given asecond chance to engage with theserespondents and cover content that wasskipped–or perhaps content that didn’teven exist–at the time of the first phase.How many times have you left a projectwishing you could go back and ask eachrespondent a few more questions? Howmany times has your client come to youwanting to keep the respondents in thegroup just a few minutes longer? if you’relike most researchers, this is a frequentoccurrence.

The ease of joining one of these digitalconversations means that most, if not all,

isaac Rogers is chief innovation officer for 20|20 Research in theuSA


Mar

co J

euris

sen


fEw fiRMS DRivE GRowThWhat drove growth this year? Seven all or mostly syndicatedfirms–nielsen (including its acquisition arbitron), iMS, iRi, nPd,comScore, J.d. Power and Video Research–accounted for 58%of Top-25 revenues and had a combined growth rate of 4.1%.The balance of 18 firms grew by 2.5%, just above the 1.7%inflation rate. So syndicated firms primarily drove growth thisyear, supported by their long-term contracts. However, thedifferences are quite modest.

not all Top-25 firms shared in the overall gain: 14 firms onthis year’s list grew faster than inflation, the same number as lastyear, including just three that grew by double digits. of the 11remaining, eight experienced actual revenue declines.

in the past, smaller firms typically grew faster than largerfirms, and this is true for 2013 as well. among the five top firms,

Table 1: year-to-year Revenue Growth of Top-25 Research firms

Currency Effects/After WW

generic* + m&A’s = Total inflation

2013 3.4% -0.1% 3.3% 2.0%2012 2.6 NC 2.6 0.52011 4.1 1.6 5.7 3.02010 4.9 1.1 6.0 4.32009 -3.1 2.5 -0.6 -2.02008 3.9 2.9 6.8 3.52007 7.7 1.4 9.1 6.12006 5.1 3.5 8.6 6.42005 5.4 4.5 9.9 7.42004 4.8 1.1 5.9 3.4

* Generic excludes M&As (acquisitions or divestitures) and currency effects.Note: Growth rates based on home country currencies.

Total growth of the Top 25 improved slightly over theprior year, up 3.3% in 2013 (vs. 2.6% in 2012), butremained well below the previous two years (at about 6%each, following recovery from the worldwide recession)

as shown in Table 1. after adjusting for inflation, growth wasreduced to 2.0% and 0.5% for 2013 and 2012 respectively,which together represents about a third of the growth of theprior two years combined.

To understand why this happened, look to wide swings incurrency exchange rates versus the dollar over the last two years.For example, the Japanese yen jumped nearly 24% and theBrazilean real increased over 10% compared to the dollar in2013. Conversely, the euro dropped over 9% and the Britishpound declined nearly 2% versus the dollar in 2012. Theseswings, when netted out, served to depress the Top-25 firms’total growth rate over the past two years.

Mergers and acquisitions contributed as well, but much lessthan in the years 2005–2009, which showed total growth ofnearly 10% per year. at the same time, currency fluctuationsduring those earlier years had much less effect than in the pasttwo years. Still, M&as’ contribution to total growth wascancelled out by the negative effect of currency exchange ratechanges.

Generic growth, which strips away the effects of bothcurrency fluctuations and M&as, reveals the underlying basicbusiness direction of the Top 25. its growth for the last two yearsmirrors total growth but is less than years prior to 2012 when,with some exceptions, generic growth averaged 4% to over 5%.

This current weakness reflects continued conservativeresearch spending by corporate buyers caused by worldwideeconomic conditions: the slow recovery of the uS economy, aEuropean economy mired in recession with continuing debt andbanking problems, and slowing economies in asia Pacificmarkets.

Modest GrowthFor World’s LargestResearch FirmsThe world’s largest 25 marketing research firms experienced modest revenue growth

in 2013, driven by syndicated services firms and held in check by changing currency

exchange rates and flat revenue per employee.

gLOBAL MARKET RESEARCH

LAuREnCE n. gOLD


with economic conditions in both Europe and the uS butnevertheless retained its 2nd place ranking. iMS is now reportingfull-firm revenues, as revealed by its new listing on the nYSE, andmoved to 3rd place. as a result, ipsos fell to 4th place and GfK to5th place, each growing by less than 1%.

iRi retained its 6th-place ranking, after moving up two placesin 2012 with last year’s large organic growth. Westat, whichexperienced a 17% growth rate after being flat last year, movedup to 7th place with a large revenue gain. dunnhumby returnedto the list this year with an 8th-place ranking, while inTaGEdropped two ranks to 9th due to large yen-to-dollar exchangerate changes. nPd held its 10th-place ranking.

those with revenues over uS $1 billion each, revenues increased3.0% organically (vs. 2.3% for the same firms last year). Thebalance of 20 smaller firms grew at 4.9% (compared with 4.3% ayear ago).

ToP 25 RANkiNG ChANGESChange in the rankings of Top-25 firms is a constant from year toyear, and 2013 is no exception.

among the 10 firms at the top of the rankings, nielsen onceagain kept hold on 1st place–a status unchanged since the listwas first compiled–and accounted for 28% of the list’s revenues.Kantar, whose revenue increased 1.6%, continues to grapple

Table 2: 2013 Top 25 Global Research organizations

Organization Headquarters parent Research- global percent Revenues From Outside

Country Only Research Change

Full-time Revenues2 from Home Country

Employees1 (uS$ millions) 20123 (uS$ in millions) Home Country

Nielsen Holdings New York & Netherlands USA 36.700 $6.045,0 4,0% $2.850,4 47,2%Nielsen Holdings New York & Netherlands USA 35.400 5.569,0 3,9 2.844,2 51,1Arbitron Columbia, Va. USA 1.300 476,0 5,8 6,2 1,3

Kantar* London & Fairfield, Conn. U.K. 22.800 3.389,2 1,6 2.436,6 71,9IMS Health Danbury, Conn, USA 10.000 2.544,0 6,1 1.609,0 63,2Ipsos Paris France 15.536 2.274,2 0,8 2.116,9 93,1GfK Nuremberg Germany 12.904 1.985,2 0,8 1.389,6 70,0Information Resources Chicago USA 4.635 845,1 4,1 341,4 40,4Westat Rockville, Md. USA 2.044 582,5 17,0 18,8 3,2dunnhumby London U.K. 715 453,7 8,8 347,0 76,5INTAGE Holdings** Tokyo Japan 2.527 435,5 6,5 24,2 5,6The NPD Group Port Washington, N.Y. USA 1.282 287,7 5,4 85,4 29,7comScore Reston, Va. USA 1.166 286,9 15,7 84,1 29,3J.D. Power and Associates* Westlake Village, Calif. USA 738 258,3 2,5 85,4 33,1IBOPE Group Sao Paulo Brazil 3.296 231,1 3,4 51,7 22,4ICF International Fairfax, Va. USA 908 225,3 -6,0 53,3 23,7Video Research** Tokyo Japan 414 204,0 -0,3Symphony Health Solutions Horsham, Penn. USA 548 198,7 -1,3 2,2 1,1Macromill Tokyo Japan 864 184,7 10,6 20,1 10,9Maritz Research Fenton, Mo. USA 757 177,6 -6,0 38,7 21,8Abt SRBI Cambridge, Mass. USA 1.138 172,8 -1,6 17,1 9,9Decision Resources Group Burlington, Mass. USA 625 150,3 4,2 42,2 28,1Harris Interactive New York USA 542 139,7 -0,7 53,6 38,4ORC International Princeton, N.J. USA 494 122,0 -0,8 40,1 32,9Mediametrie Paris France 705 106,1 2,0 14,9 14,0You Gov London U.K. 524 101,4 6,0 71,3 70,3Lieberman Research Worldwide Los Angeles USA 412 100,3 -1,5 32,3 32,2Total 122.301 $21.501,3 3,4% $11.826,3 55,0%

* Estimated.** For fiscal year ending March 2014.1 Includes some non-research employees2 Total revenues that include non-research activities for some companies are significantly higher.3 Rate of growth from year to year has been adjusted so as not to include revenue gains or losses from acquisitions or divestitures.

Rate of growth is based on home country currency and excludes currency exchange effects and M&As.


• ownership is more concentrated. This is primarily aconsequence of amalgamation, the end result of hundreds ofacquisitions made over many years in many countries. Eightfirms, accounting for most of the Top-25 revenues, are publiclylisted companies in the uS, uK, France, Germany and Japan.Four others are wholly owned subsidiaries of larger public orprivate companies, with the balance privately held byinstitutional investors, private equity firms or companyfounders/top executives. Two companies did not providefinancial information (which was estimated for this report).

whAT’S NExT foR ThE ToP 25?it is safe to assume the Top 25 will continue to grow in the nearterm, but at a rate one-third to one-half of that prior to therecession, given the persistently unsettled economic conditionsthat continue to prevail around the world. Still, demand exists forsyndicated research firms as corporate buyers seek marketplaceunderstanding.

Where this leads the Top 25 in its longer term future isuncertain, given that spending for market research is partiallydiscretionary and subject to continuing economic uncertainty.

Both syndicated and overlapping media research will continueto be in demand, while the future of ad hoc survey research,subject as it is to the whims of corporate buyers, remains cloudy.Meanwhile, the Top 25 cautiously continues to adopt digital andbig data, which could be the driver of market research in thefuture. Social media research has also been adopted by the Top-25 firms, but how it will impact the future of these businessesremains unclear.

Will M&a activity resume its pre-recession pace? in the past,Top-25 firms have turned to M&as when they wanted to increasetheir size. lately, however, they have concentrated on acquiringsmall firms to satisfy local requirements. M&a activity willcontribute to growth when the big firms resume buying eachother.

Top-25 revenues were verified by each firm’s public record or third-party sources,generally outside accounting firms, following compilation by uS market researchnewsletter Inside Research. It was published in the American MarketingAssociation’s Marketing News-magazine this year in August. It also compiles M&Aactivity in each of its issues.

among the remaining 15, three firms moved up at least tworanks. Symphony Health Solutions moved from 19th to 16thplace, helped by rapid spending increases in uS healthcare. oRCmoved from 24th to 22nd with the full integration of its MarketingResearch Services acquisition. J.d. Power regained its 12th-placeranking by fully recovering from revenue declines two years ago.

Video Research moved down two places due to currencyexchange rates, while lieberman Research fell four places to thebottom of the list due to both a decline in revenues and the factthat one of the new firms ranked above it on the list. decisionResources Group is the second firm new to the list. displaced wasnikkei Research, whose revenues fell below the threshold, whilearbitron become part of nielsen.

MoRE ChANGES ThiS yEARlooking deeper into the Top 25 reveals the following not-so-apparent changes:• The qualifying threshold is higher. a 2013 ranking required

revenue of uS $100 million, an increase of nearly uS $8 millionover last year. For the eight years following 2000, the thresholdranged up and down between uS $42 million and uS $54million, but in 2008 it began to rise to its present record highlevel, which will no doubt continue to rise in the future.

• M&as declined. The number of M&as made by Top-25 firmsdeclined in 2013 by 67% to 21 (vs. 31) the year before. The bigacquisition in 2013 was nielsen’s buying arbitron, whichaccounted for about 75% of total Top-25 M&a revenue. (Thetop year for acquisitions was 2008, just before the start of ofthe worldwide recession.) acquisitions were mostly small in2013, which trend is in keeping with most firms’ strategy of“backing and filling” internationally.

The top five firms (excluding iMS, which did not reveal itsacquisitions) made 14 of 21 M&as this year (or 67% of the totalby count). Kantar led the list with six, followed by GfK with threeand ipsos with two. nielsen also had two, including the bigarbitron buy.• Productivity continues to be flat. in 2013, productivity averaged

uS $176,000 in revenue per full-time employee. Productivityhas been relatively flat over the last six years (despite a dip in2009). More efficient and less costly software, more datacollection via the internet and more business-focusedmanagement have all played a part.

Laurence N. Gold is editor and publisher of Inside Research in the uSA

acquisitions were mostly small in2013, which trend is in keepingwith most firms’ strategy of“backing and filling” internationally.


Scouting for growth

What is the best way to reach girls and young women for the World association of

Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WaGGGS) in Malaysia, Madagascar, oman, Poland and

St. Vincent and the Grenadines?

BOuNDARIES

nOAH ROyCHOWDHuRy AnD niCHOLA kEnT-LEmOn


iNSiGhTSThe analysis resulted in four distinct stories.

Stakeholders’ Narrative:Stakeholders carry an overwhelminglypositive perception of WaGGGS. Thisperception is driven by the civic-mindednature of its activities–offering support tocommunities in times of difficulty–and itsability to promote social cohesion,particularly during times of social andpolitical unrest. Stakeholders recogniseWaGGGS as a truly internationalorganisation, able to capitalise on theknowledge, resources and partnershipopportunities that its international presenceenables and creating a sense of belongingto something bigger than a nation.Stakeholders notd that WaGGGS has anurban bias, with a lack of presence in ruralareas preventing WaGGGS from fullycatering to membership demand.

Parents’ Narrative:overall, parents view WaGGS as a gatewayto opportunities for self-development,confidence-building, and life andleadership skills. The compassionate/civicdimension of its activities is also a hugeasset. interestingly, most parents assert thatthe decision to pursue membership (or not)is entirely shaped by the child and herpersonal interest. Peer pressure isperceived as the most dominant factor ininfluencing a child’s interest in taking upmembership.

Managing or making time to enablechildren to attend activities is currentlyseen as a major barrier to membershipuptake.

volunteers’ Narrative:WaGGGS is a volunteer-supportedorganisation. The volunteers are the engine

question the ownership of the researchprocess, which, historically, has alwaysbeen the sole responsibility of theresearcher, with the respondent acting as apassive participant. The first challenge wasto identify a ‘study cohort’ of respondentswho could take on additionalresponsibilities. This cohort would be opento acquiring new skills, recruitingrespondents, facilitating discussionsessions and making detailed field notes.For the qualitative component (tenroundtables and 30 interviews), the studycohorts were trained using a speciallydeveloped programme that explainedvarious questioning techniques and activelistening skills. Simulation/mock discussionswere carried out with every cohort team.Finally, every team was given detailedworkbooks that required completion at theend of a discussion/interview.

For the quantitative component of thestudy (1500 survey completions), thecohorts were walked through thequestionnaire, and all instructions wereexplained. in most markets, questionnaireswere completed both online and face toface. The method was designed to create acadre of motivated staff and volunteerswho would be able to respond to similarrequirements in their own countries.Furthermore, WaGGGS anticipated that,with limited support from the researchagency, the study could be replicated to abroader set of markets in the region (atarget of 30 countries was suggested in theinception report). Given the diverse culturalbackdrop of the study, we took significantmethodological guidance from thedepartment of anthropology at thelondon School of Economics, which wasable to advise on the composition of asingle approach that could be rolled outacross markets.

The World association of Girl Guides andGirl Scouts (WaGGGS) is a world-leadingmembership organisation with a presencein 145 countries. They estimate that thereare 900 million girls aged 15 years oryounger living in the world, but theycurrently reach less than one per cent ofthese girls. WaGGGS are committed tofinding ways to ensure that all girls andyoung women are valued and take actionto change the world. This means they needto reach more girls and young women. inorder to better understand and respond tothe above challenge, WaGGGScommissioned a study amongst parents ofyoung people, stakeholders, members andvolunteers.

The study focused on current, lapsedand potential sub-segments of WaGGGSmembers and volunteers. The study wasconducted in five diverse markets(Malaysia, Madagascar, oman, Poland andSt. Vincent and the Grenadines) that hadvarying organisational structures,membership growth rates and culturalnuances. The primary focus of the projectwas to gain a well-rounded understandingof both the drivers of and barriers toWaGGGS volunteering growth andmembership levels. it was anticipated that,with these insights, the study wouldhighlight recommendations which wouldidentify new pathways to access WaGGGSvolunteering and membershipopportunities.

With WaGGGS being a truly collabora -tive and volunteer-led organisation, themanagement of this study was based ona ‘discuss and agree’ philosophy ratherthan by issue of ‘command and control’instructions. an important part of the briefwas to train/capacity-build membersand volunteers within WaGGGS toindependently design and supportsubsequent rounds of a similar study.WaGGGS viewed this as an opportunityto directly engage staff and volunteers ina crucial decision-making opportunity.

‘STUDy CohoRTS’The complexity of the sample, the diversityof the markets, the capacity-buildingrequirements and the organisationalstructure of WaGGGS required a studydesign that challenged the acceptedformula. at northstar, we wanted to

The method was designed to create a cadreof motivated staff and volunteers who wouldbe able to respond to similar requirements intheir own countries.


are created by community members andelders in the absence of formal school orfaith organisations. open units supportedby technology can be at the vanguard ofcreating a significant presence forWaGGGS in remote and hard to reachareas of the world.

iN CoNCLUSioNThe research design of this projectenabled us to complete a robust researchexercise in very challenging and diversemarkets with a limited budget. The impactof the findings was amplified by the closeinvolvement of ‘study cohorts’ from thevarious member countries. Their effortsand inputs made the report vivid and‘real.’

a single methodological approach forall markets, devised with the help of thedepartment of anthropology at thelondon School of Economics, allowed fora streamlined analytical process and thedevelopment of recommendationsapplicable across varied markets andcultures.

recommendations will be presented to theWaGGGS World Congress in Hong Kongfor agreement and adoption across 145member countries.

Advancement of volunteerismThe ability of volunteers to transfer skills tothe job market would increase volunteerretention. a global certification regimeshould be considered by WaGGGS.Ensuring the availability of tools andtechnologies that enable bettermanagement of time will further benefitvolunteer retention.

Towards 12 Million MembersSociability (making friends) is a positiveforce for membership growth, and thisneeds to be emphasised in communicationand stakeholder advocacy. The truly globalcapability and strength of WaGGGS needsto be amplified across markets.internationalism is a powerful tool inpromoting membership growth. WaGGGSneeds to continue to be seen in action incommunities, schools and public spaces.in general, ‘sustained visibility’ createsword of mouth in the community(parents/elders) and helps drives peerpressure. This helps boost membership.

Membership PathwaysWaGGGS need to recognise and buildupon the importance of schools and faithgroups as channels for membershipgrowth. This is particularly true of non-Christian and emerging african centres ofgrowth. WaGGGS should considercreating a mobile/online channel toaugment existing channels. This will helppotential members engage easily using acombination of mobile and internet-basedchannels. WaGGGS could explore thecreation of open units. These are units that

room of the organisation. They are akin tothe frontline staff within a company.Volunteers associate girl guides/scoutswith the following dimensions:• Sociability (new people, new friends,

etc.)• Community (involved in activities for the

greater good)• Self-improvement and learning

There is a strong desire among volunteersto gain ‘professional/academicdevelopment.’ a number of volunteersmentioned the desire to have acertification scheme to recognise theirefforts and make them relevant for the jobmarket. Managing time and ensuring thatvolunteers feel motivated are critical forWaGGGS to minimise volunteer attrition.

Members’ Narrative:The members are the customers ofWaGGGS. School, friends/family andvisibility of members in the community arethe most common sources of awarenessand pathways to membership.

70% join, at least in part, in order tomeet new people and make friends. Theinherent challenge of activities, troopleadership skills and international ties alsoplay an important part in adoptingmembership. among potential anduninvolved audiences, more information isrequired regarding benefits, timecommitment needed, signing-upprocedures and the cost of joining.

Recommendations to Advancevolunteerism and Grow Membershipon the basis of the above perspectives,three categories of strategicrecommendations were made toWaGGGS leadership in March 2014. allhave been accepted. in July 2014, the

Noah Roychowdhury is the principal and Nicholakent-Lemon is the associate director at NorthstarResearch Partners in the uK



http://directory.esomar.org?utm_source=research-world&utm_medium=rw-pdf&utm_content=rw-september-2014&utm_campaign=rw-september-2014


New horizons,new revenue streamsThe research and marketing giant WPP now makes 50 percent of its money frommarkets and tools that didn’t exist in the year 2000. CEO Sir Martin Sorrellexplains the rise of data – and why it doesn’t quite have all the answers.

TRENDS

JO BOWmAn

research at their heart, and which have been focused on thegrowth markets–Millward Brown, Kantar World Panel, KantarMedia and Kantar Retail and Health–have flourished.

The uS and Western European markets continue to face thepressure of slow economic growth, and this, coupled with the riseof procurement, has affected the growth of custom research. Thereverse is also true, led by the BRiC markets and the so-callednext 11 fast-growing markets, as well as other burgeoningeconomies in latin america and Central and Eastern Europe,where online has grown with tremendous speed. “in 2014, 50 percent of our revenues were not there 14 years ago. it’s the 45 percent that’s in digital, and half of the 31 per cent that’s in the fast-growth markets.”

This shift in sources of revenue means that people with talentin data are set to benefit in the future. “Three-quarters of ourrevenue is coming from three areas: data investmentmanagement, media investment management or media planningand buying, and digital. That’s three-quarters of our business that,actually, don draper [the central character of the ad industrydrama Mad Men] wouldn’t recognise if he was around,” Sorrellsays. “Those skills are what are needed. More skill inprogramming, more skill in data, more skill in digital, and by thati mean desktop search, display, video and social and mobile.They’re what i call the five legs of the Google stool. if you look atthe powerhouse in the online world, it has to be Google and, inmy mind, will continue to be Google.” Google is not just aresearch partner and sometime competitor, they’re also one ofWPP’s largest clients–WPP agencies placed uS $2.5 billion ofclients’ media budgets with Google last year; that figure isexpected to reach uS $3 billion this year.

oNLiNE vS. offLiNEThe twin catalysts for growth–digital media and fast-growthmarkets–will strengthen their influence on the industry, Sorrell

The international marketing network WPP used to have alarge market research division. “We don’t call it researchanymore,” says its CEo, Sir Martin Sorrell. “We started offwith market research. We thought that sounded pretty

boring, so then we moved to consumer insight, and then in a fitwe decided to call it data investment management.” The change,despite the rather unfortunate acronym, indicates somethingsignificant about the way the business– indeed, the entiremarketing communications industry– is evolving.

“Ever since we started to call it data investment managementit’s suddenly started to grow more rapidly,” Sorrell says. “i don’tknow whether there’s any causality there at all, but certainly it’smade the segment of our business more sexy. There’s a reallyimportant point here, though, not just a frivolous one. ourrevenues last year were about uS $18 billion, of which close to $5billion– in fact we will cross $5 billion this year–comes from whatwe call market research, consumer insight and data investmentmanagement. There’s another $4 billion out of the $18 billion,making a total of eight or nine out of 18 billion– so half ourbusiness–which is in media planning and buying.” links betweenthe media and the data investment arms of the business arebeing strengthened, and that integration is being pushed both toclients and to WPP’s employees, who currently number about178,000 people worldwide, 36,000 of them in data investmentmanagement roles.

DATA-oRiENTED RESEARCh iS ThRiviNGin the new world order of post-lehmann, post-crash economics,Sorrell says, it’s the data-oriented part of the research businessthat has thrived, especially in fast-growing markets. Customresearch now accounts for less than half of WPP’s “research”business, and 60 per cent is syndicated or part-syndicatedresearch. The custom business, most of which is in maturemarkets, has suffered, and those companies that have syndicated



that, because it’s an integral part. The word ‘creativity’ tends toget used by advertising agency people and research people, butconsumer insight people and data investment people can be justas creative. Even financial people can be creative.”

“You’re only as good–and this applies to the people [inresearch] just as much as it applies in the advertising and mediaparts of our business–you’re only as good as your last idea.You’re only as good as your last thought. and the barriers to entrytoday are pretty low. You people who are inexperienced whohave good ideas can win. So you can start a business with limitedcapital requirements but strong intellectual capital. it’s a bit likesports and entertainment. Why did afro-americans go into sportsand entertainment? Because the biases and the bigotry and thebarriers to raw talent were not there. and the advertisingbusiness–and i would include market research or consumerinsight or data investment management in that, it really isextraordinarily vibrant…”

The creative industries, of which research should consideritself part, make a huge contribution to economic growth, despitetesting times in recent years, Sorrell says. WPP in the uK aloneemploys about 15,500 people, a significant rise in headcountfrom three years ago, when staff numbered 12,500. Creativity inthe sector is actually improving, not diminishing, because oftechnology, he says. “i see more of it now … lightspeed,Millward Brown, [advertising evaluation tool] linkExpress, they’reall highly creative. TnS is highly creative”

The shape of the research industry will continue to change,Sorrell predicts, as the big agencies snap up smaller ones and thesmallest of organisations emerge to snap at everyone’s heels.“The barriers to entry are low and have probably gotten lower.i would say a healthy independent sector in any part of ourindustry will continue to flourish. Bigger companies tend to getcomplacent and arrogant … so that’s healthy. i think what you’llget is smaller independent agencies, and bigger consolidationswill continue to happen; it’s the middle ground that will get eatenup. But the big opportunity for us, the really big opportunity on abig scale– i’m thinking about China and india … if you align fast-growth markets with digital and with data, that’s where we’ll beplacing our chips.”

says. “online revenues are 35 per cent of our revenues as awhole, but the industry is only spending 20 per cent online. Weknow that consumers spend a third of their time online or onmobile; there’s clearly a dissonance there. From a WPP point ofview, we’re on the money, but i would want [online as aproportion of total media investment] to be 40 to 45 per centbecause i think that’s the direction it’s going. it’s not somethingpeople who fell trees and distribute newsprint like to hear, buttraditional newspapers and magazines are still under tremendouspressure. iPads and other screens are displacing the old forms ofnewspapers and magazines, and we invest too much, roughly 20per cent of our budgets– there– roughly the same as on mobile,and we know consumers only spend 10 per cent of their timewith newspapers. But these things do take time. Things alwaysaccelerate faster than you think they will.”

“The generation that’s graduating from universities now is thefirst generation that has lived with the internet from the day theypopped their head out of the womb, so it will take time, butwhen those people get into positions of power, influence andcontrol, which, given the number of internet billionaires andsuccesses there are, is not going to be a long period of time,then you’re going to see even more rapid adoption. and theirony of all this is that i think you’re getting more rapid adoptionfrom the BRiC markets, particularly China.”

He highlights high-growth business success stories such asthe mobile handset operator Xiaomi and online portals turned e-commerce hubs and soon-to-be banking networks like alibabaand Tencent as examples of the disruptive companies of thefuture. “You’re seeing revolutionary developments in mobile andsmartphones and link smartphones with financial transactionsplatforms and, by the way alibaba also has a logistics platform,it’s these changes are happening very fast, and there aren’t thelegacy forces in China that don’t want change.”

With the growing availability of consumer and marketdata–and the ability to trade digitally in real time–comesautomation. WPP now has the world’s biggest programmaticmedia trading platform, Xaxis, which the company now values atuS $4.5 billion. Most of the platform was launched just threeyears ago. “i think that tells you how important it’s becoming.”

MAGiC ToUChin an increasingly data-driven and automated industry, what thenis the role of creativity? Sorrell replies, “i don’t mean to diminish

Sir Martin Sorrell is CEO of WPP

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“You’re only as good as yourlast idea. You’re only as goodas your last thought.”


The debate over the future of privacyand data protection is testament to thefriction being created by the dynamism oftechnological change. Given our ever-increasing capacity to gather informationabout individuals and groups–coupledwith the economic potential that thisinformation represents– the concernsraised by Minority Report suddenly seemfar more pressing and far more real thanwhat we’re used to confronting in a fewhours’ science-fiction diversion on the bigscreen.

Technology, like research, is agnosticand can quickly lend itself to abuse if itlacks the right safeguards. Market, socialand opinion researchers in the 1940s, withincredible insight, understood this. Theyalso saw the danger to the researchbusiness model of cowboy actorsundermining public confidence and trustin the companies tasked with collectingthe raw opinions of individuals. our self-regulatory model and the iCC/ESoMaRCode evolved directly from that wisdom,and they have made it possible to conductmarket, social and opinion research withthe permission of regulators and publicauthorities worldwide.

However, our research into customersatisfaction, online audience measurement,analytics and business intelligence–usingvast arrays of data collected actively andpassively–has, despite our tradition of

the seemingly incessant need to rebooteverything and give it a harder edge, onethat could make you more depressed thanwhen you entered the cinema–at least ifyou weren’t already an ardent believer.

Back to reality. our regulators arewrestling with big issues that willdetermine whether our world will be morelike Star Trek’s vision of Earth as atechnological paradise or more akin to thefuture depicted in The Matrix, in whichtechnology itself has led to our demise.The outcome hinges on how we deal withbig topics like global warming, widespreadpoverty, the rise of global extremism and,yes, the rise of a global digital economy. inessence, the digital economy debate boilsdown to whether the scenario depicted bythe blockbuster movie Minority Reportmight become a reality. Should somethingbe done about guarding against such ascenario, and, if so, what should thatsomething be?

Minority Report, directed by StevenSpielberg, stars Tom Cruise as a policeofficer of the PreCrime division, which, in2054, apprehends criminals before they’veeven committed a crime, using informationgathered via psychics known as ‘pre-cogs.’The movie’s premise fast-forwards us to auniverse in which big data is ubiquitousand relevant “slices” of it are increasinglybeing exploited by all sorts of actors withall sorts of motives.

The 21st century is a pretty excitingcentury to live in for science-fictionfans, as many of the hypotheticalsproposed by some of its finest

exemplars are now become reality. Themarket, social and opinion researchprofession is at the apex of an amazingdigital revolution, with a lot to gain if itpositions its unique expertise to thebenefit of its clients, respondents and,indeed, society.

in our own profession, this means thatwe are being asked to shout about thevalue proposition of market, social andopinion research even louder. Why?Because we are perfectly placed tobecome the agents of smart data. Wehave the ability to decide which elementsof data (be it big or small) are relevant to abusiness question–which parts of the datashould be chosen, analysed, synthesisedand reported on to formulate an answer.it’s not the size of the data that mattersbut its relevance and its context.

as a fan of sci-fi and technology, theoutcomes of research fascinate and exciteme. and fans, like market researchprofessionals, have had to deal with our fairshare of changes. Even my beloved StarTrek fell prey to this paradigm of change.The Star Trek that used to be optimisticabout the future and brought numerousphilosophical and social debates to ourscreens has become a prime example of

To Arms, Smart-Data Scientists!How change, science-fiction and privacy may bekey to safeguarding research

There isn’t a day that goes by in which we are not starkly reminded of the pace of

change that’s pulsating through our planet.

PRIVACY

kim SmOuTER


from the same privileges as these of “non-commercial” research.

We need to own that assertion andbecome the evangelists of our approachto data. The power of understandingwhich parts of available (big?) data aremost relevant/needed to solve complexbusiness and social questions will bewhere market, social and opinion researchcan really shine. We should remember that,even in Minority Report, only the data thatwas relevant to the crime was chosen aspart of its pre-solution. We do need to beaware that we face a large publicperception battle, but we should also beaware–and confident– that we alreadyhave the tools to wage the public relationswar successfully through continuedcommitment to our self-regulatorymodel.

frequently linked to privacy scandals.There is anecdotal evidence in Europe thatthis is starting to translate into lowerresponse rates. More disconcerting is thefact that regulators and courts are nowseriously reconsidering whether market,social and opinion research shouldcontinue to benefit from the sameprivileges afforded to “non-commercial”research, ie, research commissioned bygovernments.

Should we be fearful of thesedevelopments? as a relative newcomerto the market research, i would say no.a challenge is being laid at our door:we need to make the value of our industrymore apparent. We need moretransparent, bigger and bettercoordinated efforts from our global tradeassociations, focusing on explaining to thepublic where our roots lie and how ourexpertise, as smart-data researchers, willcontinue to deliver positive results forclients whilst maintaining the protectionwe guarantee our respondents andparticipants. We have been doing thiseffectively for over 50 years; why aren’t weshouting about it?

Smart data– in the right hands, withappropriate safeguards and redressmechanisms such as those provided by ourself-regulatory codes–actually makes apowerful case for market, social andopinion research to continue to benefit

effective self-regulation, made regulatorsand citizens alike question whetherresearch is as “white hat” as it claims to be.our ability to understand real-timedecision making is our own paradigm shift,and it is starting to raise eyebrows publicly.We are no longer mere observers andanalysers of a situation; many of theservices we sell are blurring the distinctionbetween advising and actively guidingdecision making–particularly when itcomes to commercial purchase decisions.The key “missing link” here, however, isthat we often fail to highlight the plethoraof safeguards that we put in place (andthat are second nature to us) to ensure wedo not “sell under the guise of research.”

GRBn, the Global Research Businessnetwork, conducted a study in two of ourbiggest markets which demonstrated thatlevels of trust in market, social and opinionresearch had dropped below those ofseveral household names that are

kim Smouter is the government affairs manager at ESOMAR

“We need to make thevalue of our industrymore apparent.”


http://www.esomar.org/membership/corporate-membership.php?utm_source=research-world&utm_medium=rw-pdf&utm_content=rw-september-2014&utm_campaign=rw-september-2014

Dear Dr. Pete,

obviously i try to keep up with the times by adjusting myquestionnaires to take account of changing technologies andpractices. i just added questions about smartphone ownership,because i believe that is the new thing, and i am amazed to findthat smartphone owners are less likely to be using the internet.i don’t get it – i thought they would be early adopters. What’sgoing on?

lionel Frobenius

Dear Lionel,

Firstly, congratulations on keeping up with the times. i think yourproblem is in not keeping up with semantics. We (researchers) areoften castigated for our use of language: we are pedantic, we over-define and we write in a way we would never speak. it is onlyresearchers who use the term “surf the internet,” for example, orwho lump YouTube and Facebook together under the banner of“using social media.” users out there, however, are “Facebooking”or “going on” YouTube. We get the overall idea; we just use thewrong verb. and the same is true for your smartphone users.“How did you do the price comparison?” is answered, “i did it onmy phone.” You need to listen to real conversations, even listen toyourself– it will help!

Dear Dr. Pete,

are you always right?John Wade

Dear John,

no, occasionally i am wrong. a few years ago, i wrote about aconfident projection from 2007 that said that, by 2011, 80% ofinternet users would have a ‘second life.’ i said then that i’d waituntil 2011 to write something sniffy about future gazing–and thenpromptly forgot. Well, Second life had (on ‘good authority’) about600,000 active users in 2013. So when thinking about the future,let’s be careful out there–and put our confident predictions wellout past our retirement age.

Send your questions to Dr. Pete care of [email protected]

Dr. Pete is Pete Cape, global knowledge director at SSI

RW Connect is ESOMAR’s online magazine, giving you the latest in marketresearch techniques, case studies, trends and opinions from the leading voicesdriving the industry.

rwconnect.esomar.org

Steve August is founder and CEO of Revelation in the uSA

Big Data and the Future ofQualitative Research

in the new world of big data, some might question whetherqualitative research is still necessary. indeed, qualitativeresearch has always been a small part of the market researchindustry compared to quantitative research. But qualitative still

has a place in the research toolkit. in addition to its stand-alonerole of generating deep consumer insight, qualitative researchhas always fulfilled an additional and fundamental role– that ofdelivering the “why” behind quantitative research and datatrends. and ultimately, understanding why something ishappening is the key to knowing what to do about it.

People are more than a collection of data points. There isirrefutable power in seeing customers’ faces and hearing theirstories to illuminate the “why” behind the patterns in data andgiving companies insight on how to move forward. Behind everydata point is a human story that holds the key to thatunderstanding. Qualitative brings the human element to a data-driven world.

But that is not to say that qualitative research doesn’t have itsown ‘big data’ challenges. one of the great things about mobileand online research is their ability to capture a large amount ofexpression from engaged participants very quickly. However, thisalso represents a challenge for analysis. For example, in a recentproject, 70 participants produced 400 pages of text, over 1,100images and many hours of video in just five days of activities.

While the size of all this data can be measured in meregigabytes (vs. exabytes), to a qualitative researcher, that is a hugemountain of in-depth information–call it “little big data.”

Faced with little big data, qualitative researchers haveunderstandably looked to technology for help, especially in thecase of text analytics. However, i have talked to researchers whohave utilised different text analytics tools, some integrated intoqualitative analysis packages, some fully dedicated to textanalysis. Quite a few of the researchers i have spoken toregarding this approach reported to be less than satisfied …

To find out more about big data and the future of qualitativeresearch, read the full article on RW Connect.

Dr. PeteTHE WALk-in CLiniC FOR RESEARCH AiLmEnTS

RW COnnECT



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all stakeholders as important. acrossEurope, the combination of online and TVmeasurement is seen as a top priority byall respondents, but differences open upfor the combination of print and online. intraditional print markets (especially thenordic and German-speaking countries) inEurope, over 70% of respondents rate theintegration of print and online audiencedata as important, compared to fewer than60% in traditional TV markets such as theuK, France and southern Europe.

MEASUREMENT iS oNLy hALfThE ANSwERaccording to a study by Goo Techno -logies/Harris interactive, almost three-quarters of americans ignore onlinebanner ads, followed by social media ads(62%) and search engine ads (59%).Compare this with traditional TV, radio ornewspaper advertisements, which only onein three respondents claim to ignore.

Whilst there is a clear challenge for themedia research community to come upwith better audience metrics and developsensible definitions of what should countas an actual exposure, there is an equallyserious challenge for creative professionalsto make online ads more interesting andengaging.

(NB: The author is the co-chair of the IAB Europe’sBrand Advertising Committee)

in addition to demands for relevantaudience metrics, the majority ofstakeholders (75%) also support theintroduction of standardised brand KPissuch as brand awareness, purchase intentand brand affinity.

No CoNSENSUS yETFor online audiences, the reporting ofseparate data by device (PC/laptop, tabletand smartphone) is seen as important by75% of advertisers and agencies but onlyby two-thirds of publishers, who–surprisingly–seem less concerned aboutthe total reach of their media brand.

around 70% of agency respondentswant to see measurement of clutter andtime spent on a web page; site owners areless interested (60%) in being evaluatedagainst these criteria. There is also a distinctlack of consensus between stakeholders onthe topic of viewability. over 80% ofadvertisers and agency respondents want amove away from served viewableimpressions, but just over 60% of publisherssupport this idea. The same goes for anymeasure of how long display ads are in viewor how long a video ad has been watched.

on some of the brand KPis, anothergap between stakeholders is apparent.over 85% of advertisers and agencies valuedata on brand interaction such as likes,sharing and resulting online word of mouth;only 70% of publishers show any interest.Equally, measuring the achieved uplift indirect site visits is much more important toadvertisers (85%) than to publishers (66%).

overall, the ability to merge resultsfrom different media currencies is seen by

This spring, the iaB Europe conduct -ed a survey to gauge the opinionsand priorities of major stakeholdersacross Europe, including

advertisers, media agencies and publishers.over 700 industry experts participated, initself an indication of the importance ofmoving on from traditional click-throughrates, which served direct-responsecampaigns very well but do not provide thedata that brand advertisers need.

ovERALL PRioRiTiESThe industry has a good understanding ofhow online works for direct-responseadvertising, but brand managers are lesscertain of how online channels perform forbrand campaigns and what payback theycan expect for their investment. notsurprisingly, 80% said they need a betterunderstanding of how online platformswork for brand advertising, especially incombination with other media channels.This highlights a fundamental challenge forthe online industry to address. Bettermeasurement alone is not the solution.

looking specifically at audience data,over 75% of respondents express the needfor compatible metrics (net reach,frequency and GRPs) across all majorchannels, with an option to integrate thedifferent currencies for cross-mediaevaluation. But whereas eight out of tenrespondents want compatibility with other(domestic) currencies, only six out of tenwant compatibility of online audiencesurveys across Europe, despite theinherently international nature of the onlineworld.

DRIVING BRAND ADVERTISINGINTO ONLINE CHANNELSBetter metrics are important to convince brand advertisers of the benefits digitalchannels can deliver–but better measurement alone may not be enough.


Manfred Mareck ([email protected]) is an independent mediaand marketing consultant.

MEDIA SCAN

mAnFRED mARECk

offers marketers a more complete pictureof what customers did–and didn’tdo–while shopping.” For example, whatdid shoppers look at but notpurchase–and why? “That sets the stagefor understanding and anticipatingconsumer needs and even real-time bestresponse.” as more companies begin touse analytics, competitive advantage willcome increasingly “not just from describingpast action but from embedding analyticalapproaches into everyday processes andfrom combining data with managerialexpertise.” More than mere technicalexpertise, data-based decision making willalso require managerial skill: “Companiesneed marketers who can ask the rightquestions, think about what analysis to runand then interpret the results to generateuseful insights.”

From: “The Coming Reality: What You Really Need toKnow about Your Customers and Your Data.” MSIregional networking event, Carroll School ofManagement, Boston College, March 18, 2014; andKoert van Ittersum, Brian Wansink, Joost M. E.Penning and Daniel Sheehan, “Smart Shopping Carts:How Real-Time Spending Influences Spending.” MSIReport No. 11–117.

dining, etc.). increasingly, such conciergeservices may be delivered by aggregators,and this may require a rethinking of thescope of traditional alliances andassociated marketing research.

The second development in consumerbehaviour that Professor lemon identifiedis the “quantified self” movement,exemplified by the many devices (such asFit Bit) that allow consumers to monitortheir activities in areas such as exercise,health and wellness. it is a truism thatmuch consumer behaviour is habitual andunreflective, but there is growing evidencethat feedback from these and otherdevices can drastically alter thisdynamic–and thus pose a challenge (oralternative) to traditional market research.For example, “smart carts” that allowconsumers to monitor the items theyselect can have opposing effectsdepending on the type of shopper:budget shoppers may discover that theyhave unused budget which can then beapplied to the purchase of more expensivenational brands they typically avoid; non-budget shoppers may become more priceconscious (even without real spendingconstraints) and substitute more lower-coststore brands. as with expectation spillover,consumers may come to expect suchfeedback in other situations, potentiallyaltering customer experience, satisfactionand loyalty.

This discussion of self-monitoring ledto the second talk, by Sam Ransbotham,assistant professor of information systemsat Boston College. as ProfessorRansbotham says, “Transaction-level data

One take on the big issues facingmarketing research can befound in the Marketing Scienceinstitute’s 2014–2016 Research

Priorities, recently voted on by our 70+corporate sponsors to guide our funding ofacademic research and the focus of ourconferences, workshops and roundtables(available online at:www.msi.org/research/2014–2016-research-priorities/). of the 11 areasidentified, our two top-tier priorities are“understanding customers and thecustomer experience” and “developingmarketing analytics for a data-richenvironment.” not coincidentally, thesewere the focus of a recent MSi regionalnetworking event hosted by the CarrollSchool of Management at Boston College.

in the first of two related presentations,MSi academic trustee and chair of themarketing department Katherine (Kay)lemon spoke about “coming to grips withyour connected customers” and identifiedtwo developments in consumer behaviourthat will challenge market researchers inthe years ahead. The first she calls“expectation and execution spillover”– thefact that companies from apple to Zapposare setting the standards for customerservice and innovation by which consumerswill judge virtually all companies.“Customers now expect you to be as goodas the recognised leader in any category.”one consequence is that expectations forseamless delivery of customer experiencemay involve not only the focal company(eg, a theatre) but also all related services(ticketing, child sitting, transportation,

How Changing ConsumerBehaviour May ChallengeTraditional Marketing ResearchComing to grips with your connected customers

Earl L. Taylor is chief marketing officer at the Marketing ScienceInstitute. Links to related content are available onwww.msi.org


MARKETINg CASE HISTORY

EARL L. TAyLOR


that Ms. Poitoux’s refusal to communicate,except in writing, was improper in thesecircumstances.

The disciplinary Committee agreedthat Ms. Poitoux did not ensure that theproject was carried out, reported anddocumented accurately as required underarticle 4e of the iCC/ESoMaRinternational Code.

Furthermore, she failed to providesuitable information about the appropriatetechnical details or the quality of her workto the client, or to ESoMaR’s ProfessionalStandards Committee and the disciplinaryCommittee, although it is clear that thesedetails were seriously questioned.

The disciplinary Committee concludedthat the complaint was well-founded andthat Ms. Poitoux acted in contravention ofher professional responsibility andbreached articles 1c, article 4d and 4e ofthe iCC/ESoMaR international Code,which she had undersigned on joiningESoMaR.

ESoMaR has communicated that theindividual Member Mark only can be usedto identify a single person, and not acompany, as a member. The way that Ms.Poitoux allowed Com’Bak to use theESoMaR mark, without indicating that she,not the company, was a member ofESoMaR and the fact that she alsoavoided providing information about herposition within the company, and aboutthe offices and its address, demonstratedthat Ms. Poitoux was unaware of theresponsibilities connected to ESoMaRmembership.

The Committee concluded that asthere is no indication that Ms. Poitoux hasunderstood or accepted the obligations ofan ESoMaR member, in particular tocomply with the iCC/ESoMaRinternational Code, she should beexpelled from ESoMaR membership.

A fter following up a complaintabout a survey in which she wasinvolved, ESoMaR has expelledMarie Chantal Poitoux, C.B.M.

CoM’BaK Marketing ltd., frommembership for breaching theiCC/ESoMaR international Code onMarket and Social Research.

The complaint was investigated byESoMaR’s Professional StandardsCommittee and then referred toESoMaR’s disciplinary Committee.

in reviewing the complaint, thedisciplinary Committee agreed that it isimportant that researchers can rely onmembers of ESoMaR as being trustworthyand professional.

Therefore, if substantial problems ariseabout the quality of a study, and the clienturgently requests a phone call to discussthem, an ESoMaR member should takethat request for contact seriously andmake him or herself available for such aconversation. The Committee considered

ESOMAR ANNOuNCEMENT

ESOMAR member expelled for breachof ICC/ESOMAR International Code


BE iNSPiREDMarket research is an industry that has the ability to changeand evolve very quickly, but there are common themes andrecurring questions we need to ask ourselves. How can wecontinue to engage young researchers? How can we ensurethat the future of the industry remains self-regulated? How canwe reframe the big challenges facing the industry and changethem into opportunities?

during my term as ESoMaR President, it has been anhonour to tackle some of these questions and provide aframework for the society to continue to address these issues ina way that is accessible by all. But the responsibility does notfall only on ESoMaR. as an industry and as a community, theresponsibility to ensure that the future of our profession isbright falls on each and every one of us.

For every set of guidelines produced, for every publicationthat ESoMaR prints, for every technique and methodologyshared, for every occasion we have to demonstrate the valueand Roi of research in business and society, for every youngresearcher engaged through our university events, globalevents and/or the Fringe Factory, ESoMaR needs you.

Every development and initiative ESoMaR creates isguided by you, the researcher. and the more of you who getinvolved, the stronger the organisation becomes and thebrighter the future of the industry becomes.

m y term as ESoMaR President draws to a close atthe end of this year. To better understand thehopes and fears of grassroots researchers in everysector, and to better understand how we–as

ESoMaR–could support and address those issues, i made apromise when my tenure as President started (two years ago)to try to connect with as many researchers as possible. Sincethen, with the help of ESoMaR’s extraordinary and scopiccalendar of local and international events, i’ve been luckyenough to have talked to hundreds of researchers from allcorners of the world and to gain important feedback onESoMaR’s role in their daily lives.

i would firstly like to thank all the researchers and clientsi talked with for providing valuable insights into the way theywork in both established and emerging markets, and forhaving talked to me of their hopes and fears for the future ofthe industry. it’s been an extraordinarily inspiring two years,and the feedback i gathered has been invaluable for myselfand my fellow council members in guiding the direction ofESoMaR in recent months. Whether it is our current work onopinion polling or mobile research guidelines, our targeteddiscussions with European parliamentarians, our contributionsto curriculum debates with universities providing MRqualifications, or simply our informal chats with industryleaders, they all have had roots in the content(s) of thosediscussions.

ESOMAR LOuNgE


Dan foremanis president of ESOMAR.


UPCoMiNG LoCAL EvENTS

4 NOVEMBER “BEST OF” ESOMAR–BRAZILNOVEMBER “BEST OF” ESOMAR–HOLLANDNOVEMBER “BEST OF” ESOMAR–NIGERIA5 DECEMBER “BEST OF” ESOMAR–CHINA

This is why i hope all our members will get involved in theESoMaR Council Elections this year in one way or another.ESoMaR is your society. We take our mandate from you, so it’sincredibly important that as many members are representedthrough voting as possible.

all the information regarding Council elections can befound in MyESoMaR; i encourage you all to take a few minutesout of your day to take a look. Every member who getsinvolved strengthens ESoMaR and our industry as a whole.

ESoMAR CoNGRESSThe candidates for Council will be announced at the aGM atthis year’s ESoMaR Congress. For those who can’t make it toCongress this year, let me urge you to review last year’s aGMMinutes, also available in MyESoMaR, and complete the proxyform to ensure your voice is heard.

The theme of Congress this year is “inspiration”, and,judging by a programme that explores behavioural economics,cultural research, the new consumer, semiotics, research inemerging markets, and contains full sessions on the future ofthe industry through the eyes of the young members of ourcommunity, it appears this year’s theme is more than apt!

But to be honest, i find Congress inspiring every year. Forme, the ESoMaR Congress is the town hall that our uniquecommunity gathers in each year to share our wealth ofknowledge, to connect with old friends and make new ones, todo business, and to guide the future of the industry with asingle global voice.

if you are at Congress, don’t be shy in stopping me, theother Council members or any of the ESoMaR team to give usyour opinions on ESoMaR the Congress, or your thoughts onthe industry in general. if you are unable to attend, then pleasefeel free to e-mail me directly at [email protected].

Make your voice heard, and vote. Join with us in celebratingthis industry and inspiring both our customers and oursuccessors, and together, let us ensure the next generation willbe as enjoyable and rewarding as the last one has been!

ESoMaR members now receive an edge in businessintelligence, with access to an archive of almost 2,000 researchwhitepapers in MyESoMaR, the exclusive members platformof the ESoMaR website. a unique library of knowledge,charting the journey of research for over a decade.

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ESOmAR is the essential organisation for encouraging,advancing and elevating market research worldwide.

Visit www.ESOmAR.org to find out more.

wEBiNARSESOMAR regularly hosts webinars from leading global researchersto connect you to the latest innovations and information in themarket research industry. For information on upcoming webinarsstay tuned by visiting www.esomar.org/webinars.


CALEnDAR 2014/2015

woRkShoPSWorkshops are interactive learningsessions for small groups and runalongside ESOMAR conferences. Space islimited; register early to secure your place.

SEPTEMBER

ESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH CONgRESS

CoNGRESSNICE / 7–10 SEPTEMBER

NovEMBER

ESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH CONFERENCE

GLoBAL QUALiTATivE VENICE / 16–18 NOVEMBER

MARCh 2015

ESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH LOCAL EVENT

BEST of iNDiAMuMBAI / MARCH

ESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH FORuM

MENAPDuBAI / 3–4 MARCH

APRiL 2015


LATiN AMERiCA 2015 SãO PAuLO / 26–28 APRIL

MAy 2015

ESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH LOCAL EVENT

BEST of RUSSiAMOSCOW / MAY


ASiA PACifiCSINgAPORE / 17–19 MAY

JUNE 2015

ESOMAR WORLD RESEARCH ACADEMY

SUMMER ACADEMy AMSTERDAM / 8–12 JuNE


http://www.esomar.org/events-and-awards/events/webinars.php?utm_source=research-world&utm_medium=rw-pdf&utm_content=rw-september-2014&utm_campaign=rw-september-2014

http://www.esomar.org/events-and-awards/events/workshops.php?utm_source=research-world&utm_medium=rw-pdf&utm_content=rw-september-2014&utm_campaign=rw-september-2014

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