Market research almost always relies (or should rely) on U.S. Census data. The data are rigorous, reliable, and fundamentally important to every business, not-for-profit, and government body in the United States. So if you get a package that looks like this, as a neighbor did last week, here is what you should do: Open it…
Last week I learned about a surprising niche of marketing specialists that I never knew existed: Consultants who fix terrible reports written by market research vendors. Not to toot our horn too loudly, but I received this note from Gary Schmidt, Chief Catalyst of West End Consulting, who does just this type of consulting: Joe,…
A couple of weeks ago we highlighted the top tier marketing research priorities identified by a select group of corporate executives who are members of the Marketing Sciences Institute, and who represent the corporate-user side of marketing research. Every two years they vote on where to direct the institute’s research funds for academic research. Not…
Every two years marketing executives from more than 60 corporate members of the Marketing Science Institute (MSI) vote on the most important marketing topics they need to understand better. They represent companies like Kraft, Colgate-Palmolive, Bank of America, Nielsen, and Walmart. MSI—a think tank, of sorts, whose mission is to “bridge the academic and business…
Our financial services group at the Chicago AMA hosted a panel last night of financial advisors to talk about the challenges of reaching customers. We recruited three advisors of different types: Todd Johnson from New England Securities (MetLife), Michelle Dunigan from BMO Harris Financial Advisors, and Patrick Cote from AssetGrade. The panel was moderated by…
If you do concept testing that involves evaluating messages, ad copy, value propositions, benefits claims and so on, chances are you get to the end of the study and say, “Now I know which messages are best. But how many should I use?” New research just published in the Journal of Marketing suggests that the…
As a citizen and voter, I am appalled to learn that our government routinely spies on the phone and digital communications of ordinary people and businesses and now harasses the journalists who are bringing it to our attention. And as a business owner in the market research industry, I am deeply concerned that government spying…
Here is our best advice when it comes to best practices: Be mindful of them, but never be a slave to them. In fact, the better practice is to always start with your own situation. Research “best practices” have helped others solve their problems. But the starting point for you should be your questions and…
Recently we’ve been writing about nuggets of gold discovered in the ivory tower – that is, market research insights we find by reading academic journals. As luck would have it, we stumbled upon one such nugget this week. It answered a question posed by Diana Hamann, aka the wine goddess, purveyor of a favorite local…
The best way to stay fresh, interested, and excited about market research is to read, read, read. It’s the same thing I always told my students in social theory classes. Useful ideas come from those engaged with the world around them who read all kinds of books and articles from a huge variety of sources…