Marketing from a Market Research Perspective

Let’s face it. It’s tough out there right now for marketers. Companies are cutting marketing budgets to conserve money and market research is certainly on the chopping block. But in these uncertain times, its research that’s going to help companies figure out how consumer spending is changing and what they can do to get people to part with their hard-earned cash. This post by John Quelch from the Harvard Business Review provides some useful advice on how to make your market research dollars go farther. He advises companies to exercise a bit of skepticsm when taking research online and says:

“Online research is cheap, fast, and the wave of the future. Tools like SurveyMonkey allow non-expert users to create custom surveys in minutes. As an alternative to offline focus groups, custom online panels of consumers can be formed for qualitative research on new product ideas or new ads. Taking the do-it-yourself approach rather than outsourcing to a market research firm is attractive in a cost-cutting era, but you risk getting no more than what you pay for. The opinions of convenience sample of an enthusiastic online brand community may not represent all users.”

The advances that are being made right now in online research methodologies are really exciting. And they do give companies the opportunity to not only learn from but become part of the ongoing conversations that people are having about brands, companies and their products online. However, I wholehartedly agree that the “do-it-yourself approach” to online research carries with it some serious risks. I can’t tell you how many SurveyMonkey surveys I’ve come across that just make me cringe. At best, poorly concieved online research yields results that aren’t useful; and at worst, it yields results that are misleading or incorrect.

Here’s an interview conducted by the Operandi Group with two presenters at the CASRO Technology Conference that took place in New York on May 28th, 2009. Tim Macer, Managing Director of meaning ltd., and Patrick Molloy, Chief Strategy Officer of Confirmit conducted their 5th international survey with market research providers about their use of technology to conduct research.

They found that despite the industry buzz about conducting qualitative research online using social media technologies, 71% of firms’ revenues still come from quantitative methodologies. Mobile survey technology is also not a money-maker; it makes up just a tenth of a percent of revenues. Sounds to me like there’s some opportunity there.

And here’s the original post.

Thanks to Twitter #followfriday and MarketingProfs Daily Fix, today I came across two smart ladies with great perspectives on the DO’s and DONT’s of marketing to women. First up, Sarah Haskins of Current TV. In her segment, Target Women, Sarah uses her satirical genius to show us how brands and even certain industries can miss the mark when they try relating to women. Her perspective is spot on and her delivery is just funny.

Next, we have Stephanie Holland. Her blog, She-conomy, is a great resource for marketers (and those of the male variety specifically) who want to get smart about how to market to women effectively. We’re a finicky bunch so do your homework! Stephanie also does a weekly reader survey which just makes me happy. I love a good survey!

Click on their names to follow them on Twitter. Have a great weekend!

I’m not sure what it is that I like so much about this video.

It could be the game of Pong played with glowing flocks of sheep, or the sheep-herding dogs carrying out their primal duty despite the fact that the goal in this case is completely unrelated to it’s instinctual purpose. Whatever it is, it looks like others agree.

It’s been at the top of the Visible Measures Top 10 Viral Video Ad Campaigns Chart for two weeks running and has gotten more than 1.6 million views. UK’s The Viral Factory created the video for Samsung. However, they might want to consider making their association with the brand more obvious - I watched this video no less than three times on YouTube and never noticed that it had anything to do with Samsung. Although admittadly, I should have realized that no one, not even Welsh farmers, could possibly be that bored.

Over the last couple of months a handful of companies have encountered well-publicized groundswells of criticism in the social media sphere in response to new ads, branding or other seemingly routine changes in course. First there was the “Motrin Moms” incident where a commercial intended to engage moms (and in particular baby-wearing moms) spurred a fervent outcry that started with Twitter and quickly spread to YouTube and the blogosphere. Here’s the original ad if you haven’t seen it:

Then there’s Tropicana’s misstep with the redesign of their packaging, and Facebook’s about-face on changes to their Terms of Service in response to the resulting backlash.

There’s some really interesting debate going on about what the implications are for companies trying to navigate the social media phenomena. Social technologies are making it easier for consumers to disseminate their opinions and rally around one cause or another by creating Facebook groups, blogging, posting comments on other blogs and using Twitter. As a complaint or opinion gains momentum, google ranks are impacted and the issue can become a PR nightmare. [Read more →]