Getting Back to the Trenches: Getting too Far Removed from the Customer Experience

Some days as a B2B market researcher, and in my previous lives in consumer research, I find myself becoming more intimate with SPSS files and questionnaires than with our customers. Ah, you might say, such is the life of a quant junkie. Well that may be true, as I do love working with the data that...read more

Ad Testing 101

There was a day not long ago that advertising testing involved sitting large numbers of people in a room and showing them ads embedded in pilot television shows with a pre-exposure survey and a post-test assessment following the programming and ad exposure. My how things have changed! With the...read more

Hey You! Feeling a Bit Irrelevant?

Is market research becoming irrelevant? If you follow the published works of Forrester Research then you may be tempted to believe that we should scrap our career path and pursue something different. Don’t be tempted! What Forrester brings to light in their article What needs to happen in market...read more

Keeping Market Insights on the Edge

Those in the behavioral economics field hold onto the mantra of trust in what people do, not what they say. Can consumer insights professionals gain from this, and if so how can it be applied? The short answer is yes, those of us in the consumer and B2B market research space can benefit from...read more

Using Qualitative and Quantitative Question Formats

In both consumer and B2B market research we are often faced with questions from clients that require both quantitative research methods as well as the deeper insights that come from unstructured or more qualitative approaches. Fortunately, online survey platforms such as Cvent allow us the ability...read more

A new twist on the one percent concept

There is another side to the ‘one percent’ debate. This presented itself in fine fashion recently thanks to two emails from LinkedIn. In the past year the business networking site surpassed 200 million profiles. In 2012, I received an initial email stating that I was one of the first one percent of...read more

Charting a New Direction with Research

One the primary purposes of marketing research (both for consumer and B2B market research) is to mitigate risk. Often I am asked what I do for a living and invariably my response is I quantify executives gut feelings. This is exactly where market research as a function needs to be. When we bring our...read more

Tips for Building a Better Product or Service

Are products services and vice versa? There is a bit of confusion in the marketing waters nowadays about this issue. Essentially, from my humble perspective, there is little difference between a product and a service. Yes, it is difficult to load a service into your car and install it in your...read more

Hey there...Are You Listening to Me?

It is January and an excellent time to begin listening the voice of the customer (VOC). Regardless of whether or not your focus is consumer-based or B2B market research your customers (both existing and prospective) have something to say. Are you listening?If you do not have a formal VOC program you...read more

Linking House Files to Survey Data

Making the connection between survey data and information stored in transactional data warehouses or CRM systems allows the consumer or B2B market researcher to exponentially grow the value of the customer insights they deliver. As with most survey-related topics, there is more than one way to make...read more
The Rise of the Smart Phone: Are you Leverging Mobile? 10 Tips for Mobile-Friendly Survey Creation