Category: The MR Business
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Does evidence still matter?
Laast week there was an interview of sorts with Gayle Fuguitt on Research-Live. At one point she says: "We did some work asking our management what they were looking for from us and one of the points they raised was the issue of speed versus precision. The point wasn’t that they didn’t want precision; the…
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Why does it work?
Now there is a question that we ought to ask more often. At last week's MRMW Conference we heard about a whole lot of different methods—some mobile and some online—for which their evangelists made great claims. And those claims generally focused on the great insights they can deliver about some generic ill-defined group, typically "people"…
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The limits of outsourcing
Virtually every MR company of any size that I can think of does some amount of outsourcing to offshore entities, whether to a wholly-owned sub or one of the major providers of market research services. The attraction has tended to be threefold: (1) a smart, well-educated labor force; (2) a near fanatical reverence for process;…
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MR is not doomed, at least not yet
It’s Friday, an often slow day to start, and like many other people here in southeastern Michigan where I live I’m holed up at home with a backpack full of work I brought home last night in anticipation of the crippling snow storm that was widely predicted but never came. Catching up on my reading…
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ISO 20252 – Market, opinion and social research
In December we were audited for ISO compliance. After a week of staff interviews, project reviews and records inspections we were certified to the 20252 standard. Good for us! Now I recognize that there are more than few people in the industry who think ISO certification is some kind of retro thing that does not…
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A butterfly flaps its wings . . .
My head is still spinning from having just read Lenny Murphy's quick analysis of the SurveyMonkey acquisition of some of the assets for MarketTools. In his piece he describes MR as an industry under siege, in a state of chaos that ultimately may dump the industry into the "dustbin of history." Three things about this…
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Eric Salama on Radio NewMR
This morning I listened to an interview of Eric Salama, CEO of Kantar (and now TNS as well), on Radio NewMR. I know Eric Salama by name only and was interested to hear his take on the future of the industry. Overall his message seemed to be that our industry should focus on its strengths…
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Plus ça change – Part 1
Sometimes it feels like if you are around this industry long enough you begin to see things recycled, old ideas dressed up in new clothes and paraded out as the next big thing. That’s how I’m beginning to feel about big data. I find myself increasingly reminded of the twin next big things of the…
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Amsterdam Syndrome
Back in September I asked my friend and colleague, Theo Downes-LeGuin, to write a blog post that summarized his reaction to the ESOMAR Congress. He wanted to take some time to let it all sink in and has now sent me something. Here it is. After 2 days at the ESOMAR Congress in September, I…