In this month’s issue of ESOMAR’s Research World The Next Gen Market Research (NGMR) Group’s recent Market Research Trends study was covered. The issue is devoted to High Impact Research, and as founder and moderator of NGMR and recently elected US ESOMAR representative I’m happy to share my thoughts on the study.

If you are an ESOMAR Member you can log into the online version of ESOMAR Research world via the image above and read the entire article/issue. For non-members I have provided the article below.
@TomHCAnderson

THE END OF RESEARCH AS USUAL?

Clients Adopt Next Generation Techniques With or Without Traditional Research Suppliers.
In recent years, the distinction between “traditional” market research and business intelligence has become exceedingly pronounced among commercial providers, and increasingly blurred among clients.

Technological advancements and socio-cultural shifts have opened the door to alternative insight sources and new approaches that clients have enthusiastically embraced, while many survey research suppliers cling stubbornly to conventional approaches.

Theses were among key conclusions drawn from a recent study among 855 members of Next Gen Market Research (NGMR), an online networking group of market research professionals.

The study explored a range of important issues among research clients and suppliers. Many of the results were predictable, but the survey also turned up some notable exceptions.

Next Generation Techniques and Analytics Adoption
Survey results indicate client-side researchers are more likely than suppliers to utilize “next generation” research techniques that fall outside traditional response-based methodologies. These span both mature and relatively novel, but increasingly popular insight tools: data mining, web analytics, CRM analytics, social networking analysis and blog mining.
In particular, client-side market researchers are much more likely than their supplier counterparts to engage in CRM analytics and Web analytics; they may be doing this in-house or through a specialist vendor, but that vendor probably does not define itself in traditional MR terms.
Moreover, MR suppliers who are not already providing these capabilities expressed relatively little interest in providing them in the future.

The study also uncovered unexpected disparities among types of statistical techniques clients and suppliers indicted they felt “comfortable discussing.” (Note: This is a subjective measure reflecting at least a reasonable theoretical understanding of a given technique, and not an indicator of proficiency to execute.)

Overall researchers were most comfortable with cluster and factor analysis, while CHAID analysis - a relatively intuitive data mining technique - scored surprisingly low among both groups, suggesting a general deficiency at the industry level.

Clients were significantly more comfortable discussing conjoint analysis. Suppliers, in turn, were more comfortable discussing structural equation modeling and canonical analysis.

Commoditization
More than half of client researchers did not agree with the statement “clients care a great deal about which panel company is used.” This opinion was also shared by roughly two-thirds of research suppliers, which suggests both groups agree that the online panel market is fairly commoditized from the clients’ perspective.

Conversely, large majorities of both clients and suppliers did not agree with the statement “sample is all about price, not quality,” although suppliers were significantly more likely than clients to agree. Additionally, only small minorities of clients and suppliers felt that online panel quality concerns have been “greatly exaggerated,” and even fewer respondents from both groups concurred with the statement “all panel companies are the same.”

Overall, it appears that clients recognize there are differences between particular panels and believe that sample quality is important, yet they also feel that quality is either beyond their control and/or best left to their suppliers’ discretion.

Researchers’ views on “Do-It-Yourself” (DIY) survey software platforms suggest online survey research, in general, has become relatively commoditized, too.

Although the study found significant differences at the extremities - far more client researchers than suppliers viewed DIY favorably - the majority of both suppliers and clients conformed to the notion that researchers are somewhat wary of DIY tools and concerned about their potential misuse, while not opposed to them in principle.

This is hardly surprising given the economy. “Off-the-shelf” products like SurveyMonkey have been popular with budget-conscious clients for years, and the global recession has doubtless furthered this trend. Ten years ago infrastructure was a significant barrier to entry; now, some DIY products are completely free. Setting aside potential quality issues, one can’t help to wonder whether survey programming and fielding is the best use of client side researchers time.

Supplier Selection: Quality Trumps Price
Clients’ criteria for supplier selection revealed several important trends. “Quality” was the overwhelming top factor in supplier selection among clients of all sizes, after which larger clients were apt to seek suppliers that offer “new and different techniques,” while smaller clients were significantly more likely to value “reputation” and “price.”

Shockingly, clients overall ranked “price” fourth among all selection criteria, preceded in ascending order by “new and different techniques,” “reputation,” and “quality.” In fact, “price” was on par with “personal relationships” among clients overall. Given the current economy and the diminishing margins reported both anecdotally and in MR companies’ financial reports, this finding raises questions about the perceived value of the typical MR deliverable.

Signaling a major shift, the least important consideration in supplier selection among clients overall was the size of the supplier company. One may thus infer that from the clients’ perspective there is no longer any direct correlation between supplier size and “quality” or “reputation.”

Conclusions
Clearly, technological advancements and market trends have in many ways commoditized conventional research by eroding barriers to entry and diminishing economies of scale. Survey research is just one form of data, and it may not be the most important - or lucrative - source in the future. Moving forward, research companies that in the past relied heavily on revenues from extensive field-and-tab operations may need to revise their business models and differentiate themselves through a broader portfolio of next generation methodologies and analytic techniques.

[Tom H. C. Anderson is managing partner of Anderson Analytics, LLC, and founder/moderator of NGMR. For further information or to download a full presentation deck of the study findings, please visit www.nextgenmr.com.]

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Writing today to announce that Anderson Analytics and the Next Gen Market Research Group (NGMR) will both take part in the Research Industry Trends (RIT) report in 2010.

Since 2003, select industry partners have participated in the Research Industry Trends Monitoring Group (RIT MG) which has produced the annual Research Industry Trends (RIT) report - covering trends in data collection, technological advances, and the state of the market research industry.

In 2010 Anderson Analytics and NGMR will join Cambiar, The Greenbook Marketing Research Directory, iModerate, Market Research Global Alliance, Peanut Labs, Pioneer Marketing Research, Qualitative Insights, RFL Communications, Rockhopper Research, & StrategyOne in producing the RIT.

Anderson Analytics will assist the RIT effort as needed with study/questionnaire design. Next Gen Market Research Group (NGMR) blog readers and LinkedIn group members will have the option of participating in and subsequently receiving reported findings from annual RIT studies.

I’m very happy to be part of this industry wide initiative which incorporates the collaborative spirit of social media.

@TomHCAnderson

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Also today wanted to share a link to some gender specific factoids/statistics from one of Anderson Analytics recent social media studies as well as the 10 tips below which came out of the group discussion with myself and,

• Toby Bloomberg, Founder, Bloomberg Marketing, a strategic marketing and blogging consultancy and Forbes’ Top 20 Women Bloggers
• Kelley Connors, President of Real Women on Health!, a multi-channel community with a radio show, top-rated women’s health web site and significant affiliate partnerships
• Rob Petersen, President of BarnRaisers, an online marketing solutions company using social media and proven relationship marketing principles
• Cassie Holm, National Strategic Alliance Director of Real Women on Health!, was the moderator

Here are 10 tips :

1. Invite in: Women are 3X less likely to care about the size of their network than men. Size may not matter but being shown personal attention does.
2. Understand who you’re talking to: 74% post pictures of family/friends and 71% talk about what they’re doing now as opposed to 60% and 58% for men. Take advantage of the opportunity and get to know them.
3. Listen and respond: Listening is a fundamental skill but, equally important, is proof you did.
4. Set guidelines and expectations: You can’t read body language on a social network. Security and privacy are big issues. Create a comfortable environment.
5. Be transparent: If you’re not part of the group and “trolling” for business purposes, you are very, very likely to be found out so be open about who you are.
6. Talk rather than target: When women are online, 50% are connecting with family and friends, reading someone else’s blog or posting a comment. They’re socializing so shouldn’t you?
7. Respect values: Dove ran a campaign on Facebook, “12 going on 20.” It asked young teens to describe what mattered when they were 5, 10 and 15 and how it influenced them today. It’s a great example of how social marketing showed respect for values.
8. Engage rather than sell: 60% or more are uploading picture or watching videos when online. Work as a co-creator, not a marketer.
9. Social media = social networking + social issues: Is called “social” for some key reasons. Make the most of both of them. Your audience will appreciate you did.
10. Give back - it’s part of the culture: You get back more when you give. That’s what we’re trying to do.

@TomHCAnderson

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Women are more social than men, especially in the fast growing world of online social media. From Twitter and Facebook to web forums and blogs, 65% of the virtual voices heard today belong to women, the same women who control 85% of all household purchase decisions. And they’re saying companies do a bad job of marketing to them, especially in industries like automotive, food, beauty, apparel, health care and financial services. In fact, 66% of women don’t believe healthcare marketers understand them.

That’s why a panel of social media experts is getting together to discuss: How Social Media Improves Marketing with Women. The panel will tackle the question from the perspectives of public relations, marketing, marketing research and, of course, social media. The panelists are:

• Tom H. C. Anderson, CEO of Anderson Analytics, an online research firm, and founder of LinkedIn’s most active market research networking group, NGMR
• Toby Bloomberg, Founder, Bloomberg Marketing, a strategic marketing and blogging consultancy and Forbes’ Top 20 Women Bloggers
• Kelley Connors, President of Real Women on Health!, a multi-channel community with a radio show, top-rated women’s health web site and significant affiliate partnerships
• Rob Petersen, President of BarnRaisers, an online marketing solutions company using social media and proven relationship marketing principles

The panelists will outline social media strategies, approaches and tips for businesses, small and large, on how to communicate with this desirable target through real, credible content and the savvy use of insights, learning and technology. There’s plenty of research to support their thinking.

• 10,000,000 more women are online than men right now
• Baby boomer women 55+ are the fastest growing segment on Facebook
• They’re more relationship driven and less transactional than men
• They blog, game, share photos and decorate their personal pages with an average 53 online friends and search 52% for someone else
• 74% shop online before they buy offline

The discussion will occur as a regularly scheduled broadcast of Real Women on Health! The panel will be moderated by Cassie Holm, Real Women on Health! National Strategic Alliance Director and co-host.

The virtual on-line radio show begins live on March 9th at 6:30 pm for one hour. To view the live production and network afterwards, please arrive at MultiVu, 350 Hudson Street, NYC, no later than 6:00 pm. After the show, the downloadable podcast can be found at Real Women on Health!.

For clarification: There are three ways to participate: 1. watch a live on-line radio show at MultiVu and meet and network after the show with others interested in social media 2) stay at home/office & listen through your computer and text chat your questions to the panel  or 3) dial in via phone at (646)929-2625 and ask questions if you’d like.

Should be a productive and lively discussion

@TomHCAnderson

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Continuing my search for new online trends today. Those of you who market to or conduct research among Millenials, or Gen Y as we prefer to call them at Anderson Analytics (Gen X2Z.com), are probably familiar with one of the several generational characteristics that seem to define them, impatience.

If you also happen to be a gamer and enjoy RTS (Real Time Strategy), I still love playing a good game of AOE on occasion (Age of Empires); you are likely to be all too familiar with this trait. Gen Y gamers seem far more likely to stop playing a game online at the outset if the game play has not developed in their favor within the first few minutes. The term Good Game or “gg” (the common online acronym) no longer means what it used to.

Gone is the gentlemanly protocol of chess and good sportsmanship most of us older gamers embrace. So what does this mean for us marketers?

Understanding Gen Y better, including their impatient streak, can help us improve marketing and product development for the segment. A good example related to gaming specifically is Achron as illustrated in the demo video above.

Rather than giving up after 5 minutes of play, Gen Y gamers can travel back in time to before they started losing. Mistakes are no longer permanent, only temporary; everything and anything can be undone.

I’ll probably give this game a shot, but not sure if my more linear Gen X thinking will allow me to enjoy it as much. However, I will be thinking about other ways products, services and marketing messaging needs to be tweaked for Gen Y in our Next GenX2Z study.

What do you think, would you enjoy Achron? Know of any other ‘impatience marketing’ examples out there?

@TomHCAnderson

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Last week after becoming the first market researcher to hit the 50,000 follower mark on Twitter, I’ve decided to take a bit of a break. Will still tweet, but it’s time to see what else is new in social media.

One of the trends I see coming is greater convergence of video on the web and in social media. Not just watching movies and TV online with Netflix and Hulu, but also more interactive use of video.

Webcams have been around for a while, and there is a bit greater use of them now thanks to Skype and new affordable/free business conferencing services. However, webcams still haven’t caught on as originally expected. Why? I think there’s still a hesitancy to let acquaintances and even close friends and family see and hear us anytime in the privacy of our own homes where we let our guard down and are not at our best.

Enter http://www.chatroulette.com which has been a micro trend the past few weeks and now has over 30,000 visitors at any one time. I posted the YouTube video above so you can get an idea of how it works, but there is no substitute for trying it out.

Warning, it is somewhat addictive and NOT for the faint of heart. Expect to see some disturbing people, but then again, you don’t have to worry about whether your hair is combed because you don’t know the “stranger” on the other side and will never see them again. Make sure your webcam is on, pour yourself a glass of wine or a cold brew and hit the “Start New Game Button”.

ChatRoulette looks like a fairly simple program (Flash based) and appeared about 3 months ago. It was started by a Russian 17 year old programmer. The point is, the instant popularity. In the past few days its been on the news and even on Jon Stewart’s, Daily Show!

Why may this be important? Applications like ChatRoulette may make us more comfortable with webcams, and soon they may be integrated with other social networking tools. If Facebook doesn’t think about adopting quickly, it could prove to be the Killer App for someone else.

Too early to know for sure, but I think chances are we may soon be “Veeting” instead of “Tweeting”.

@TomHCAnderson

[PS. As with all other social media trends there are obvious marketing, market research, and privacy issues... Also, as social media and market research converge will Next Gen Market Researchers need to be attractive in order to collect good data?]

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I’ve frequently commented on the problems associated with using social networks for marketing or market research. Examples have included API problems, having your widgets/applications turned off, having your twitter account turned off, having data that you have paid for deleted as a tool is discontinued without notice, having your profile images deleted or having your account shut down. The list goes on and on. Is it any wonder that the one buzz word senior marketers are most tired of hearing is “social media“?

Today we had been planning to start a new social media campaign for Anderson Analytics on Facebook and therefore when I noticed that the Anderson Analytics Fan page on Facebook was somehow missing (including all content and followers/fans).

As I was going to take the time out from my already buys day to file a complaint with FaceBook CS I noticed the TOS in regard to business accounts below. Not sure if it is new or not, I’ve certainly not noticed it before:

Maintaining multiple accounts, regardless of the purpose, is a violation of Facebook’s Terms of Use. If you already have a personal account, then we cannot allow you to create business accounts for any reason. You can manage all the Pages and Socials Ads that you create on your personal account.

Please keep in mind that the fans of any of the Pages you administer will not have visibility or access to your personal account or profile. Any actions that you take as a Page administrator on your Page will show the Page’s name as the actor and not your personal name.

If you wish to manage ads for multiple clients, you will need to do so from one account. We suggest you restrict all ads for each client to separate campaigns. Unfortunately it is not currently possible to designate separate credit cards for each campaign or to have multiple administrators for the same ad account.

This is part of the daily pain and never ending hassle anyone working with social media marketing has to put up with. You are at the total mercy and whims of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Not sure what the solution is, I guess it’s just part of the Wild Wild West of Social Media Marketing for now…?

Guess that’s why they pay us the big bucks, LOL

@TomHCAnderson

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Anderson Analytics and The Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG) today issued the results of our Third Annual Survey of Top Marketing Trends. To view a summary report in PowerPoint please visit Anderson Analytics.

As mentioned yesterday, I’ll try to share a few charts and thoughts here on the blog over the next few days as time permits. One of the findings I took away from the study was that there are signs the Twitter trend may soon reach it’s peak, even among its biggest fans, marketers. Why?

One of the first questions we ask each year is “what marketing trends or buzz words are you most tired of hearing ?” As you can see the term “Web 2.0″ was at the top of the list in both the 2008 and 2009 report, then disappeared in this years’ report. Marketers were so sick of “web 2.0″ that we replaced the term with the term “Social Media” (see chart above).

So what?

Sociologists, anthropologists and trend spotters feel free to chime in here, but I believe common practice is to assume that when those who first advocate a trend begin to tire of it, its days are numbered. This year the term marketers are second most tired of hearing is “Twitter”! Facebook and LinkedIn, both which are more popular among these marketing executives surveyed (92% are on LinkedIn) did not make the list.

It seems that large companies, those with over 2,000 employees, have been significantly more likely to bother investing in a presence on Twitter than smaller companies. Even the executives themselves, whether at large or small companies, are much more likely to use Facebook or LinkedIn.

So it seems that among these marketing executives, 72% of who said they were planning new social media initiatives in 2010, Twitter will not be as hot as it once was…

@TomHCAnderson

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Each year Anderson Analytics and MENG (Marketing Executives Networking Group) releases the Marketing Trends study results. We’ll be releasing results tomorrow, Tuesday the 2nd, and I will also share selected findings here on the blog over the next few days.

To start us off I thought I would share this year’s list of most admired marketing thought leaders. While several of our favorite marketing gurus continue to make the list, and Seth Godin remains in first place yet again we have a few new notables making the list this year.

The Marketing Gurus making our list for the first time in 2010 are:

PR Guru, David Meerman Scott
Community & Social Media Guru, Chris Brogan
Disruptive Innovation Guru, Clayton Christenson
Evangelism, Entrepreneurial & High Tech Guru, Guy Kawasaki

Congratulations!

While I’ve interviewed both David and Guy on this blog previously, I look forward to learning more about Chris and Clayton and perhaps having them on as quests as well.

Please comeback and visit the blog over the next few days as I share a few additional findings and thoughts from this years study. Also, a summary report of select findings will be published on www.andersonanalytics.com tomorrow.

@TomHCAnderson

[ABOUT THE STUDY: Anderson Analytics conducts the Top Marketing Trends survey among current MENG members each year between January and February. Anderson Analytics used text-mining software to code open-ended/free form text answers to questions in order to truly understand what issues are top-of-mind among the senior executives. The 533 responses in the 2010 survey yield a confidence interval of +/-3.64%.]

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@TomHCAnderson

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