It feels a little different now, something is in the air. Now, people can’t get enough of customer insights, it’s the connective tissue in the body of business growth. It used to be that market research was this staid, project thing—have a question? Do a study! That just doesn’t work in today’s marketplace where customer attitudes and behaviors quickly become outdated, as markets and needs move at the speed of light.

Last week, I saw two things that made me really excited to be in the customer insights business. First, colleagues who attended the ARF Research Transformation initiative meeting in early November relayed some quotes from a speech made by ARF CRO Joel Rubinson, like this one:

“…marketers must become fast learning organizations. Researchers need to become agents of change to help the organizations they serve transform in this way. Such organizations realize that great ideas can come from anywhere and that there is shared control with consumers. To serve such organizations, the researcher’s role, must expand beyond measurement to also listening for the unexpected in order to inspire the organization.” (My emphasis was added.)

Inspiration!! Yes!! Inspiring takes things to a whole new level, and really, if businesses are serious about customer centricity, shouldn’t the customer be the muse? Isn’t this the way for insights to be strategic and game-changing—not just gathering dust in a binder on the shelf?

Then, to further add to this feeling there’s something big happening… BCG published a study stating that nearly 90% of blue-chip companies aren’t fully leveraging their market research functions because they are simply order takers instead of strategic partners generating breakthrough insights. In the best companies, researchers can answer the “so what” in a meaningful way and provide senior executives with perspective critical to their decision making. Wake up people! It’s time to seize the day!

Given the rapid growth of online market research, especially customer communities, (which according Forrester Research analyst Tamara Barber, is only going to continue to gather steam), there is a huge opportunity for customer insights professionals to get a seat at the C-table. They can have a connection to the voice of their customer (or non customer as the case may be) at all times. They have a listening channel to hear the unexpected—new, fresh, ever-changing perspective, to impact their business decisions both large and small. They can “bring it” every day.

I think we are at an inflection point in our industry; it’s time for transformation to take hold and bring about this new order for market research—customer insights are going to be the lifeblood for organizations that want to thrive in continuous change. (We recently did a webinar which talked about the change in thinking that’s needed for 21st century market research, and how insight communities can meet these needs; listen to the full session here.) Are you seeing this too? What do you think needs to happen to make researchers the “agents of change” in this new business order?

12 Responses to “A New Day for Market Research”

1. Ken says:

   December 1, 2009 at 10:13 am

   Great post Debi. Terrific content and writing. A must read.
2. Randy says:

   December 1, 2009 at 10:54 am

   Good insight! I’ve seen so many companies not leverage project results to their fullest. Plus mkt research groups within co’s are too dug into the weeds these days. There needs to be a layer of customer insight pro’s who are the trend spotters, and communicate to c-level. You can’t be digging through the weeds of SPSS, AND spotting the trends, AND pulling the slides together, AND working with c-level on “what’s actionable” on a daily basis.
3. Twitted by drkleiman says:

   December 1, 2009 at 2:31 pm

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4. Michael Troiano (@miketrap) says:

   December 2, 2009 at 5:11 am

   Amen. Market research is dead. Long live the fast learning marketer…
5. Rachel Happe says:

   December 2, 2009 at 5:45 am

   Great post Debi -

   I couldn’t agree more and actually I see the secret sauce of all communities being very actionable, real-time, insights. The companies that use their communities to do this will have huge advantages if they can figure out how to quickly roll insights into corporate operations. Of course, all of that is predicated on being able to build robust communities… and that is not small feat and a barrier for many companies at the moment.

   Carry on with the great work you guys do :)

   Rachel
6. David Meiselman (@dmeiselman) says:

   December 2, 2009 at 6:52 am

   Right on Debi!

   I think what you are driving at is also a corollary of the relationship development aspect of social media and leveraging communities for customer insight. Good insights SHOULD come from good relationships. As we move past the era of mass marketing and into the one of social connectedness at scale, the insights the marketer can get through customer relationships provide a real opportunity to listen to the customer at scale…

   To use one of those old SAT-like analogies, perhaps as Traditional Market Research was to Mass-Marketing, Customer Communities will be to Social Media Marketing…
7. Cathy Harrison says:

   December 2, 2009 at 6:57 am

   Absolutely agree – these are exciting times. Too often still corporate researchers are excluded from key strategic meetings where they can get a full understanding of the issues. Cross-functional teams (always including a researcher) are the most effective way for companies to get a holistic perspective of the issues/opportunities and work towards a common goal. In the less progressive companies there is a disconnect between product development, brand management, marketing, sales, and customer service – driven by turf wars and inefficiencies. The researchers I know are intelligent and creative, fully capable of evolving with the times, but they need the support of the top executives. Sometimes a change in structure (and accountability) needs to come before a change in thinking occurs.
8. Twitted by dmeiselman says:

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9. Debi Kleiman says:

   December 2, 2009 at 12:08 pm

   Great comments! Thanks! I am so excited to see the energy around this topic.

   It is about speed and actionability that leads to increased relevance – the holy grail of insight right Rachel? We’re digging deep for it every day, lucky to have amazing curious clients. Thanks. :)

   I agree Cathy, a change in structure could help the mindset shift. I think c-suite says they want insights but then doesn’t make it a priority to go to the source or make it a continuous feed. I think there’s something in the way insight gets served up in organizations that can make all the difference too. It needs to paint a picture, tell a story – inspire!

   So true David, and it creates huge possibilities to learn even more than ever before. It’s a true shift and the market researchers that harness it and recognize the value in these new relationships, rather than getting hung up on the technicalities, I think, are going to be the leaders going forward. Love your analogy!!

   Randy, it’s interesting to think that maybe there needs to be a “translator” skill set for insight pro’s –or a strategy layer on top to help bridge the divide to executives day to day decision making and what they are learning with consumers. Another idea — how about if executives incentives were aligned with how well they truly “get” their consumers. Could there be a measure for this?

   What else? Tell me more of what’s on your mind here…
10. Barbara Bix says:

    December 3, 2009 at 10:09 am

    Hi Debi,

    Couldn’t agree with you more–yet so few B2B businesses gather market insights as a regular part of their daily operations. Sure, Sales is out there with prospects and customers but they don’t have the time–and aren’t financially motivated to share to disseminate what they learn–with the rest of the organization.

    It was interesting to note that Pragmatic Marketing’s recent survey noted that product managers are working hard on product roadmaps and marketing requirements–yet are spending very little time with prospects, customers or marketing research. It makes one wonder how they get products and communications right.

    Perhaps they’re not. I just sat in on a Marketing Sherpa presentation that said that getting the message right is a key concern for B2B businesses–so I hope they do start taking advantage of social media venues to get easier access to customer insights.

    That said I think the trend is moving in the right direction. With growing interest in web analytics, marketing automation, etc., companies see the impact customer insights can make–and that dearly held assumptions about customer preferences are not always valid.
11. PRESS RELEASE: GM Announces Leadership Changes – Automotive News | Management Business Wisdom says:

    December 4, 2009 at 1:30 pm

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12. foibles says:

    December 9, 2009 at 9:21 am

    speed and actionability indeed. It’s important to be agile. Tools for tracking raw trends and sentiments ‘in the wild’ have a use but they are often crude because the data hose is so fat and noisy (think: Twitter). Polling and surveys still have a place at the table, albeit adjusted for new media platforms. zoomerang’s facebook app comes to mind as one tool for fast action.