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Who is The MR Heretic?

January 22nd, 2011 · 5 Comments

If you’re a Next Gen market researcher who’s on Twitter or reads blogs, chances are you’ve heard of The Market Research Heretic. @MRHeretic, maintains a blog called Market Research Death Watch which is now being quoted by mainstream research pundits.

For his no punches pulled often scorching commentary on the market research industry, the MR Heretic is loved by many and probably also hated by a few. I’ve long been a fan, and find that we usually agree.

I think some of the allure of the MR Heretic has to do with anonymity. While we’ve gained so much from the connected and open nature of social networks, I feel we’ve also lost the power to comment on things freely online. MR Heretic fills this important need for many market researchers.

All we know about the MR Heretic is the brief self description available on his blog which reads, “I am the growing multitude of people in the Market Research industry who have realized that the status quo is obsolete, and we face a choice between evolution and extinction”.

About a week ago I heard the Heretic was looking for me. We caught up and chatted for nearly two hours about research innovation and technology. While he wouldn’t tell me exactly who he was I did ask a few innocuous fun questions to get a sense of the man (I asked) behind the mask.

My hunches seemed fairly close. Though he is a Blade Runner fan, it’s just one of many movies he likes, “V for Vandetta is also up there ;)”. I had pegged him as a gamer, and he admitted to social/casual play, and if musical tastes tell you anything, he enjoys everything from Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, and Classical, to Rap (Tupac & Biggie).

I decided to invite him to an interview here on NGMR, to which he agreed. So check back sometime next week if you’re interested in learning a bit more about the MR Heretic in this exclusive first ever Interview!

@TomHCAnderson

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Tweets about this post:
ThE_ED at 2011-01-24T13:11:57Z: Who is The MR Heretic? http://zfyqm.th8.us by @tomhcanderson #mrx
berniemalinoff at 2011-01-23T19:21:29Z: we want to know how to improve, in addition to what's wrong RT @mdrezz Who is The MR Heretic? http://zfyqm.th8.us @tomhcanderson #NGMR #MRX
julie1research at 2011-01-23T13:35:21Z: I wanna know...Who is The MR Heretic? http://zfyqm.th8.us @tomhcanderson #mrx
tomderuyck at 2011-01-22T22:10:54Z: Curious! ;) - RT @mdrezz: Place your bets! Who is The MR Heretic? http://zfyqm.th8.us @tomhcanderson #NGMR #MRX
mdrezz at 2011-01-22T19:27:15Z: Place your bets! Who is The MR Heretic? http://zfyqm.th8.us @tomhcanderson #NGMR #MRX

Tags: Interview · Market Research · Marketing research

5 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Twitter Trackbacks for Who is The MR Heretic? [tomhcanderson.com] on Topsy.com // Jan 22, 2011 at 2:40 pm

    [...] Who is The MR Heretic? tomhcanderson.com/2011/01/22/who-is-the-mr-heretic/ – view page – cached If you’re a Next Gen market researcher who’s on Twitter or reads blogs, chances are you’ve heard of The Market Research Heretic. @MRHeretic, maintains a blog called Market Research Death Watch which is now being quoted by mainstream research pundits. [...]

  • 2 Dan Foreman // Jan 24, 2011 at 4:54 pm

    Exciting stuff, Tom, looking forward to learning more about this interesting person.

  • 3 Sean Copeland // Jan 25, 2011 at 12:19 am

    I understand wanting to be anonymous as not to destroy a reputation, but what does he/she have to lose? Is this actually a case where one person is publishing posts for those in the industry that are too scared to have their opinions heard? I’m very curious to read the interview.

  • 4 Tom H C Anderson // Jan 25, 2011 at 4:50 pm

    Sean, yes, that is a bit the case here. MR Heretic will explain a bit, hopefully he’ll also entertain some questions here on the blog afterwards.

    Regardless of the details though, as you can imagine, if a researcher working for a company either client or supplier side, is making statements about the industry, it could pose problems as the views might not be congruent with those of the company she/he represents.

    There are those that do speak up more than others. NGMR Advisory Board member Gordon Morris for instance, while at Sony Ericsson was probably the most vocal and honest client side researcher within the NGMR discussion board community.

    But being vocal about anything you believe in usually carries a price as there is always someone who disagrees with you.

    Part of the cool thing about the early BBoards online was the anonymity. Now with social networks, a lot of that has been lost.

  • 5 mrh // Jan 25, 2011 at 6:53 pm

    @Sean Copeland
    While everything in Tom’s comment rings true, there is also something to be said for what can be gained when words are freed from their speaker.

    You’re not judging my words based on your feelings about gender, race, age. You aren’t thinking about whether I have the right education or experience to comment on the subjects I cover. You aren’t influenced by any past interactions we may have had, either positive or negative. You can read with a clean slate… minus any feelings you may have about Guy Fawkes.

    Blogging is all about attention seeking and self promotion. The MRH blog isn’t. It’s about a philosophy. I didn’t invent it and I don’t own it. When I realized that many people in the industry feel as I do, I created a symbol and gave it a voice.

    If my words resonate with something inside you, you can consider yourself a MR heretic without joining a group or following some self appointed leader. If you hate what I’m saying… don’t hate the playa, hate the game.

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