Clients look to bring more online work in-house
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US-- Research buyers are predicting flat growth for the industry in 2009 – but shifts in their spending patterns may see agencies fighting over a shrinking pool of money.
A recent survey of 67 clients found little indication that massive cuts in research work was on the cards – but signs were clear that they planned to shift more of their data collection online, said Simon Chadwick, CEO of Peanut Labs.
This alone would be enough to translate to a fall in agency revenues, given the cheaper nature of online research.
However, when asked how they plan to carry out their online work, a net 40% more users say they will do more of it in-house using their own resources.
Analysing the results of the survey – co-sponsored by Peanut Labs, MRops and Cambiar – Chadwick said that the share of work going outside, the share of work available to agencies, “is going down”.
Chadwick said clients are increasingly distinguishing between the “real added-value research that is strategic” and simple data delivery projects – projects they are becoming more comfortable in handling themselves, such as customer satisfaction surveys or other small custom projects.
But this shift in mindset need not be bad news for all agencies, as Chadwick believes those that can develop real strategic relationships with their clients actually stand to benefit.
Click here to listen to a recording of a webinar last week, in which Chadwick discussed the results in more depth.
Author: Brian Tarran
Comments (1)
Brian, your readers can also download the PowerPoint deck to go along with the audio file you have linked in your article. They would get more out of having both the PowerPoint and the audio. Here is the link:
http://www.peanutlabs.com/peanutlabs/Cookie?link=Webinar_Industry_survey_3-2009_FINAL.pdf
Mark R. Houston
Vice President of Marketing
Peanut Labs
