Ch- Ch- Changing Market Research
Posted by Jeffrey Henning on Thu, Sep 30, 2010
The only constant is that researchers will discuss the need for change. And the 2010 American Marketing Association’s Marketing Research Conference in Atlanta was no different in that regard. Prominent discussions included the need to change how companies serve their markets, the need to change how research serves companies and the need to change the processes that serve research. Perhaps this was fitting for a city whose two iconic brands signify change: Delta Airlines is named after the Greek letter used as a mathematical symbol of change, and The Coca-Cola Company constantly changes while attempting to preserve a hold on nostalgia.
Stan Sthanunathan, vice president of marketing strategy and insights for Coca-Cola, kicked off the conference by proposing ten principles to help researchers become change agents. “We have made progress as an industry,” Stan said, “but more out of necessity. Have we changed fast enough to become change agents in business? NO!”
Gary Singer, of Buyology, pointed out that Chief Marketing Officers say that Marketing is responsible for incremental growth, yet Chief Executive Officers say that Marketing is responsible for transformational growth. Hammering this point home, Claire Hart, CEO of Infogroup, focused on using market research to address the CEO’s priorities.
Other speakers provided valuable case studies of the transformative power of market research:
- Deborah Wall, customer insights leader of GE Capital Americas, discussed how the Transportation Finance Services division was literally saved by a Voice of the Customer program. Financing trucking and transportation, this division was serving a market hit hard by the recession. To get back to profitability, GE developed four segments, identified that the biggest opportunity was not in the largest segment, and developed value propositions and a go-to-market strategy for the target segments. The entire process took a year, but changing the focus of the sales force to the new segments and new value propositions resulted in profitable growth and saved the business. “Nothing could feel better than saving a business!” Deborah said.
- Veronica Smiley, director of marketing at Harrah’s Entertainment, discussed her firm’s need to change when the recession hit, since gambling is one of the first discretionary expenditures cut. After a two-month research process, Harrah’s launched a new service providing free “high roller” style vacation planning to groups of friends and family who weren’t interesting in gambling, but who were interested in experiencing Las Vegas to celebrate a wedding, engagement, birthday, reunion or other event. Research identified that this “leisure group on occasion” segment represents a $4.5 billion market that Harrah’s new offering can tap into, replacing lost gambling revenue.
- Murli Bulwuswar, a vice president with Farmers Insurance, founded that firm’s Insight & Innovation Team to provide “thought leadership that drives action.” His team has provided data-driven insights that realign corporate strategies, identifying a $750 million market opportunity that awaits Farmers by better training all its agents to emulate the techniques of its top agents.
To change how research serves companies, presenters frequently called for researchers to broaden their methods. A common theme was the need to better research emotions as drivers of buying behavior and satisfaction. Jamie Turner of 60secondmarketer presented twelve secrets as to why our brains buy things we don't need, emphasizing that “people buy for emotional reasons, then rationalize the purchase with logic.” Deborah Wall of GE talked about identifying the emotional needs of different market segments, exclaiming, “Yes, people in B2B settings do have emotions!” Jim Joseph, discussing his book The Experience Effect, said, “Every single brand, I would contend, has an emotional benefit. Even pharmaceutical products, where the makers think there is no emotional benefit. You can’t settle for the generic emotional benefit; you need to dive deeper to really understand.”
For changes in process, Gian Fulgoni, CEO of ComScore, discussed the value of extending panels to including behavioral tracking, to measure online audiences “beyond the click”. Randy Berkowitz, a vice president with Combe Incorporated, discussed shifting from surveys to prediction markets for early concept testing. Kathryn Korostoff of Research Rockstar and Michaela Mora of Relevant Insights made the case for shifting from rating questions to MaxDiff questions.
As Stan said, “It is not about following the change as quickly as possible. It is about helping companies to shape the change.”