Archive for the ‘Industry News’ Category
Monday, October 1st, 2007
ESOMAR’s latest market resarch industry figures (published in “Global Market Research 2007″) show an increase in global market research revenue. The Global market now stands at USD$24.6 billion - an increase of 6.8% on last years figures (4.0% after inflation).
Europe enjoys stable growth of 5% (2.8% after inflation), North America 6.6% (3.4% after inflation), along with double digit growth in geographies such as Brazil, China, India and Russia.
For more information on these figures, visit the ESOMAR website.
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Market Research China, International Market Research, Market Research, Industry News |
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Thursday, September 13th, 2007
Following on from our post yesterday…
Market research in general is becoming more production oriented, likewise qual.
A common currency of unit cost per group discussion now exists. This key evaluative metric applies to most qualitative practice. Standard qualitative measures are becoming a - albeit high-quality – commodity. As such, there are price and delivery time pressures.
Market research, especially in the qualitative and innovations space, is blurring at the boundaries.
So, what is the definition of ‘research’? Increasingly money is being spent on research activities that are not ‘mainstream’; non-researchers are doing ‘researchy-type-things’ as part of a wider offer. Researchers are doing other things too, of course, but more competitors exist than those we’d normally call research agencies.
Different business models are co-existing uncomfortably.
We established there is no ‘single’ model in our sector. We are structured as a hybrid of ‘consulting’ and ‘manufacturing’. Buying patterns have traditionally reflected the latter: they are mainly driven by fixed price, units of product. In turn models that are appropriate to the buying of large scale data collection are being applied inappropriately to various types of consulting.
In fairness, buyers’ working patterns with agencies are changing too: witness increasing reference to ‘data providers’ and ‘insight providers’ in roster definitions.
So should data collection be seen as a commodity?
Yes. There is a measurable unit of production with associated quality controls, and that’s all there is to it.
Should group discussion, without any bells and whistles, is now treated very much like a basic unit of production.
Will the Market research sector as a whole become commoditised? Yes and no. There is an entire sub-sector of activities and advisory services unrelated to the data machine that should be priced on time/value, not cost, but currently it’s insufficiently delineated.
It’s being treated as one: partly because agencies are selling these activities and clients are buying them as such. Also, partly because it’s clients, and suppliers work to a fixed price overall project model. Is this really appropriate for current work practices?
Maybe it’s time for a structural reorganisation within the Market research industry, and a new narrative. Here businesses would be segmented into ‘makers’ and advisers’. In Market research, the ‘makers’ would include most of the mainstream and might well redefine their core business(es) around ‘Volume’.
But at the ‘value’ and ‘vision’ end of our market, to avoid commoditisation, quallies can continue to fight their corner through relentless innovation. Luckily, this has always been one of their strengths. The best outcome is self renewal; a resurgence of new methods analogous to the original meteoric rise of ‘qual’ in the 1980’s. Clients are saying the this I exactly what they’d like and expect to see. Most importantly, it will be very good business for everybody.
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Quantitative Research, Qualitative Research, Market Research, Industry News |
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Wednesday, September 12th, 2007
Here at B2B International, we pride ourselves on being able to convert data into intelligence. We know that if we can get people, whose responsibility it will be to execute the actions, to own the data, we will achieve a positive outcome for getting action.
However, good research is not just about good interviewing and accurate reporting; it is also about communicating the findings to the research sponsors in such a way they can action the findings and achieve their goals. The B2B International team always work with our clients to develop actionable findings and communicate these in a way that allows strategic decisions and tactical action plans to be developed. From our experience we offer help and guidance in taking projects from initial concept through to implementation and completion; not just data delivery.
Here is an interesting extract taken from AQR’s (Association for Qualitative Research) www.aqr.org.uk ‘In Brief’ September edition by Andy Dexter, Truth. It argues the case that is it time to restructure the market research industry into volume agencies that concentrate on quantitative volume, qualitative specific agencies and consultancy advisers.
We are all in the business of market research. Agencies exist to make money. Clients buy research to make (or save) money. Clearly this works, or there would be no agencies, and precious few clients. But ‘how’ does it work?
At this years BIG, I examined the research industry from a ‘business’ perspective. In turn, this provoked questions about the economics and business models underpinning it and led to three main observations
We measure our industry as an ‘industry’ not a service.
Market research statistics have traditionally focussed on turnover: the amount charged by agencies to clients. It’s how manufacturing and retail industries benchmark themselves – by sales. Yet practitioners in sectors that researchers usually compare themselves to – advertising, PR, brand consultancy, etc. – are more interested in measuring fee income.
This focus on the top line means we tend to measure ourselves in a way that lends itself to industrialisation and commoditisation. This is a global phenomenon. And to reinforce this, we have designated ourselves and ‘industry!
The P&L account of our industry looks production rather than service oriented.
Looking at profitability or research agencies, and the underlying business models that drive them, there is clearly a dominant economic model in the research ‘market’. This is more analogous to production-oriented sectors than consultancy professions.
Similarly, it is clear that acquisitions, economics of scale and cost management – rather than true revenue growth – enables the larger players to maintain profits.
Distinct segments in our market reflect different financial dynamics at play.
In any sector there are three basic ways to make money on the supply side. Firstly, sell lots of stuff very competitively and make production and delivery highly economically efficient: ‘Volume’. Secondly, sell high value, high prestige stuff and ensure it is appreciated accordingly: ‘Value’. And thirdly, sell an idea; create demand for specialist new stuff that may not even exist yet: ‘Vision’.
Readers will have an immediate view on where particular agencies or agency types might sit. Thinking beyond our sector, under (1) we would typically find manufacturing, retail, and production businesses; product and volume-oriented; whose business is cost control and efficiency –led. Under (2)2 and (3) we would find advisory business, with a less pyramid-like structure. So, if there are two different markets, where is qual heading?
My initial instinct was to assume that, as a ‘sub sector’, qual would naturally fall under the heading of the advisory business model rather than the production-oriented ones. But this might not be the case…
This article continues tomorrow..
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Quantitative Research, Qualitative Research, Market Research, Industry News |
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Tuesday, September 11th, 2007
“Wander the halls of any of today’s ever-multiplying corporate-innovation conferences, and you’ll find experts playing to packed houses, evangelizing the power of user-driven design, the importance of ethnographic research, and the value of an internal “innovation culture.” Corporate managers are eagerly soaking up this “right-brain religion,” hoping that an injection of creativity and customer input will help them stand out in markets crowded with interchangeable piffle.â€?
Surely this is the very domain of marketing research? If clients really are wandering around in hope rather than expectation where does this leave our industry? Is it fit for purpose and if so for what purpose?
Market research is no longer a small decentralized profession. Through the last few years that market has seen an increasing consolidation within the research industry leading to larger players providing research solutions on a global platform.
With the development of global online panels, intellectual data can now be gathered for a very reasonable price. However, some believe that this ‘standardisation’ of service offerings from the larger research players has led to standardized delivery of data and results that lacks creativity, insight and therefore resulting action. Tied in with increasing demands from clients who are looking for a consultancy offering that works with the client team to help implement change from research findings, what will the future market research industry look like?
In a recently written paper, Mike Cooke and Nick Buckley of GFKNOP, look at the changing face of market research and what this means for the market research industry. This can be viewed at www.b2bresearch.org.
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Market Research, Industry News |
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Tuesday, September 4th, 2007
An interest article on the BBC website yesterday highlighting the power of word of mouth. The article is an indication of what people have been talking about for a long time - the impact word of mouth in the day of web2.0 and social networking sites (such as facebook and myspace).
Take a look at an article that we posted on this blog back in December last year called “Solving Problems With Word Of Mouth�.
The story from yesterday revolves around a UK bank withdrawing the 0% interest overdraft on their student accounts. A group opposing this change was created on social networking site facebook, and after immense pressure the bank caved in and decided to scrap plans to withdraw the interest free overdraft.
Is this the start of things to come or a flash in the pan? Post a comment below and let us know what you think?
To view the full article click here.
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Customer Satisfaction, Industry News |
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