IN CONTEXT DISRUPTIVE INFLUENCE
having a disruptive influence on
Re-discoveri
Market Research
Seizing opportunity and innovation
in a ohanging industry
MATT VALLE
•^ matt.valie@gfk.com
O
ver the past several years, it
has been safe to assume that
the context of the market
research industry is one of crisis. For
market research providers, the vertically
integrated model has given way to
disaggregation as low-cost specialists
have created efficient operating models.
New thinking from the outside has
shown that what consumers say and
what they do are often different things.
New media have offered faster and
cheaper ways to answer the same
business questions. Industry "outsiders"
have taken research into their own hands
and have bypassed the professional
research function. And business leaders
have become more demanding in their
expectations of what market research
should be able to do.
All of this has cast a pall of fear and
concern about where the industry is
headed and whether the insights function
will be taken over by non-researchers who
do not appreciate the craft of research
and the importance of research quality.
Articles with titles such as "Is Market
Research Dead?" and "Why So Much
12 MARKETING INSIGHTS
WINTER 2013
Market Research Sucks" are indicative
of this concern.
In some cases, a distinction is made
between "traditional research" (dead
or at least dying) and "next generation
research" (get on board or become
extinct). But is this simplistic division
really fair?
When A.G. Lañey, GEO of Procter
& Gamble, famously declared "The
consumer is boss," it ushered in a new
era of awareness and importance for
the insights function. Why? Because
if the consumer is boss, you need to
understand her in order to win. To me,
this signaled that we have arrived—
insights had moved to the head of the
class. Since then, insights has become
part of nearly everyone's job descrip-
tion, which has facilitated an explosion
in new thinking, new processes and
new methods for answering age-old
questions of marketing and strategy.
Although far from a comprehen-
sive list, the new era has produced or
rekindled several key industry trends—
some brand new, some not so new and
some awoken from dormancy—but all
the status quo:
• Democratization: Gost-effective
survey tools like Zoomerang, Survey
Monkey and now Google Gonsumer
Surveys have dramatically increased
the number of business questions
that basic research can provide.
Decisions once made purely by gut can
be supported or refuted by input not
previously practical to collect.
• Behavioral economics (BE): New
understanding of consumer
decision-making has produced foun-
dational changes in what we collect,
how we collect it and how we interpret
it. In many cases, BE has produced
fresh innovations within tried-and-
true, traditional research methods.
• Biometrics and neuroscience: Similar
to BE, we can often get closer to the
truth, not by asking people what they
see or feel, but by measuring it directly.
• Data from everywhere: Online, mo-
bile and "always on," consumer tech-
nologies and applications produce data
as a by-product of their core service,
often making content and technology
providers rich sources of primary data.
• A return to data agnosticism: Just
as we use data in many forms in our
daily lives to make decisions—in
considering a new restaurant, we may
visit Yelp, talk to friends or do a drive-
by, for example—so, too, is market
research shifting back toward reliable,
credibly data-driven decision-making,
regardless of its source.
• Convergence and integration: The
promise of mining vdthin and across
data streams has given rise to Big
Data and the attendant possibility of a
360-degree, holistic understanding of
customers.
• Adjacent thinking: Technologists
have entered the industry in droves,
filling gaps and making connections

that were not always possible. Strate-
gic consultants, media planners and
ideators have also entered our space
to help give meaning to our work.
Visualization and storytelling: Cap-
italizing on research about how hu-
mans learn and retain information—
along with the increased expectation
that insights pros must influence as
much as they inform—new communi-
cation methods are expanding to help
us meet ever increasing expectations
for our efforts.
Globalization: Beyond simply adapt-
ing developed market methods to
emerging ones, research in emerging
markets is set to leap frog interme-
diary stages experienced within rich
markets. For example, mobile may
become the dominant research meth-
.com
od in some markets where Internet
penetration is still very low. In some
cases, emerging markets could be the
source of innovation that could then
be reapplied in the developed world.
What I see in our industry today and
for the foreseeable future is a rich mix of
both sustaining and disruptive innova-
tions, where new tools become com-
monplace and existing tools are made
continually better and applied more
broadly—to new users, new consumers
and new markets. As Rebecca Messina,
vice president of global marketing capa-
bility and integration at The Coca-Cola
Co., recently said: "Insights is everyone's
responsibility."
Although there is room under the
tent for high-quality specialists, the
LOG O N ! Learn more about the newest trends
in marketing research at HarketingPower.com.
companies and the organizations
that embrace a broad portfolio of
sources, perspectives and technol-
ogies will win the day.
As an example, after 30 years
the AMA made the decision to
broaden the scope of the Annual
Marketing Research Conference
to, simply, the Annual Marketing
Conference. The change was
borne of the realization that both
market researchers and marketers
are responsible for understand-
ing insights and how to apply
them. With the benefit of a broad
membership base, the AMA
recognized that members could
benefit not only by interacting
with people of their own function,
but also across functions and
with academics. The inaugural
year was successful in proving the
concept, and provided excellent
learning for making 2014 an even
better learning and networking
experience.
Rather than being fearful of
the changes in our industry and the
encroachment from other disciplines, we
need to celebrate ourselves as those first
drawn to this great industry and invite all
the innovation that we can handle from
wherever it may come. Rather than
crisis, we must see rejuvenation and
opportunity. Together we build a better
industry and keep it thriving for as
long as we can foresee, m
• » MATT VALLE is executive vice president of
global key account management at GfK and the
current president of the AMA Marketing Insights
Council (MIC). The MIC is responsibie for
representing the interests of markefing insights
professionals within the AMA, developing concepts
for and assisting in the implementation of
programs to enhance the value of AMA insights
membership base.
MARKETING INSIGHTS
WINTER 2013 13
Copyright of Marketing Insights is the property of American Marketing Association and its
content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the
copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email
articles for individual use.