The Cambiar blog
Corporate insight leaders: their most pressing needs
The Market Research Council (MRC) was chartered in 1927 to promote the field of market research. MRC members are senior research executives, and MRC meets monthly to host presentations and discussions with research leaders.
Monica Wood (J&J Diabetes Care) recently moderated a terrific panel discussion with three corporate research leaders – Jack Lee of Estee Lauder; Jim Nyce of Sun Products (formerly head of insights for Kraft); and Trish Rainone of Chase.
What were the key takeaways?
It’s about anticipating and inspiring action that fuels growth and profitability.
Jim opened by saying: “We’re here to make the business grow and be more profitable. Without that we’re just a cost.” He went on to say: “Getting ahead and anticipating what the company needs to know is critical”, and Trish added: “It’s about how to have answers before they have the questions. 4-6 weeks doesn’t fly. We’re trying to be thought leaders.” And it’s about inspiring action.
“Taking learning out in a way that’s so inspirational they can’t help but act on it. The time for people to pay attention to us is smaller and smaller” [Jim]
“We cull down to 3-4 pages that are sent in advance to our CEO, and then the CEO may have one question and then talk about recommendations. We don’t do research presentations any more to the C Suite.” [Trish]
Synthesis is huge
“There are vast amounts of data coming at us. Proprietary, secondary, social media. Data is a commodity. A searchable repository is not good enough.” [Trish]
Jim noted: “Accountability for organisational learning is at least as important as the learning (from studies)”. Jack added: “We’re looking everywhere for insights, e.g. social media, customer complaints, more. The role of MR is to synthesise it all. It’s less specifically about the research, it’s more about what we know, what it means.” None of the panel would trust a supplier to do it completely because suppliers lack deep knowledge of their business. They want suppliers to synthesise the learning from all the studies the supplier has done for them, but that’s as far as they want the supplier to go.
“Project management orientation doesn’t cut it. Suppliers ought to be doing cumulative learning.” [Jim]
When addressing the question, “What makes for a good synthesiser?”, Trish answered: “Curiosity. I look for someone with a Master’s degree who sounds curious and asks good questions. A drive to know and learn.” Jack concurred, adding: “I look for curiosity and drive to learn and look across different areas, to be able to think across categories.” Note to suppliers – synthesis is a huge client need, and a huge opportunity for suppliers who can understand their client’s business in depth.
Suppliers need to step up
Jack led with: “Suppliers need to understand what my business partner needs to know. It’s never reliant on a single piece of information. I want suppliers to come with a POV, be willing to disagree, challenge the way I think, stand up in the boardroom and present difficult facts.” Trish has some preferred suppliers, who she expects to learn and grow with. She wants preferred suppliers to reach out and touch base – a lot of suppliers don’t do that even yearly. Jim noted: “I can’t manage the quality of the research product. I pay for that.” Making a different point, Jim stated: “You (supplier) can’t communicate with the CEO. There’s been a huge desire to do the things you can’t do (i.e. present to CEO).”
They need help with social media
Everyone recognises the need to do more and to get more help from the supplier community. Trish spends a lot of time tracking social media – providing texture around quant data, especially on brand health; and volunteered that “the engagement piece is where I get lost”.
Marketing ROI is currently unmeasurable in the new era
Jim provided an excellent historical perspective: “We became very, very good at measuring the ROI of traditional marketing programs, so much so that it was irresponsible for companies to be making significant marketing investments without serious assessment of the productivity of that spending. As a discipline we delivered tremendous value to companies through this work. Now, however, we are leaving that world and entering a new era in which the vast majority of brand exposures which consumers will have are not through intentional, targeted, context-controlled media delivery by the brand owners, but rather through incidental online encounters, and through discussions and pass alongs via social media. That world, including the branded creations which will populate it, is currently unmeasurable and not currently amenable to marketing productivity assessment.”
A closing thought, on mobile
“Mobile’s coming. We know we have to start. We have to figure out how to do it.” [Trish]
What is Google up to with Consumer Surveys?
Let’s face it – we all knew this was coming. If you were a company that possessed massive content, an awesome analytics machine and access to billions of people, wouldn’t you be looking at ways of monetising all of that? If, in the process, you became a classic example of disruptive technology to entire industries, wouldn’t that be cool? So, why are we acting so surprised?
Google Consumer Surveys (GCS) is just one little brick in the wall of Google’s march towards becoming the world’s go-to company for all things analytic and intelligence. At present, GCS looks pretty basic: two questions per “survey” (but you can string “surveys” together), $0.10 to $0.50 a response and a limited range of question types that you can utilise. Certainly not professional grade, so they must be targeting SurveyMonkey, right? Wrong. Just go through that pricing structure again. If you want to do a 4-question, general population survey with 1,000 people, it’s going to cost you $400. On SurveyMonkey, all you need is a $25 a month account to do the same thing. No, it’s the data collection companies they are after. Get a quote for the same thing from Toluna, uSamp or SSI (and we did) and the price will be four times as high.
So who is the target market? Quite clearly, it is the professional DIY research user – the brand manager, the marketer, the guy in IT or, quite possibly, the researcher who is attempting to achieve more with less. And the pitch to them is fairly compelling – sample that delivers more accurate results than that from any panel (so Google says) at a price that cannot be matched, and ‘now’.
The professional research community may well look upon this and conclude that it isn’t ‘real’ research; after all, it can’t handle complex innovation projects or brand trackers, can it? Yes, well that was what DEC said about personal computers and what Polaroid said about digital photography. A disruptive technology will always enter a market with a supposedly inferior product at a ridiculously low price. The establishment writes it off and then it’s ‘boil the frog’ time. Established companies do not realize that the interloper is slowly boiling them until it overtakes them and they are out of business.
Don’t be a frog.
Smart hiring pays big dividends
Over the past year, the Cambiar partners have been writing, presenting and blogging about the winds of change within the MR industry. Leading companies across the value chain are listening, evaluating business models and setting strategy for the future. In addition, new entrants, many from outside our industry, are adding to the mix as well as challenging the status quo.
With all the change happening, executives are also realising that their talent needs are changing. Joan Lewis, global consumer and market knowledge officer at P&G, said in the recent Esomar Global Market Research Report: “The element of research that will have to change faster is the profile of people – people who can show integrated thinking, courage and leadership, with less emphasis on back-room analysis or sales… What we need are more talented people who can build the industry.”
We agree. Where in the past the individual project was king, now the relationship dominates. Corporations expect their business partners to know the business, bringing a holistic array of information to bear on the issue at hand.
All this is good, but are MR executives really embracing this ‘new talent for a new age’ concept? I asked Lock Collins, Cambiar’s human resources practice leader to weigh in on the topic.
Beth: In the area of human resources and talent, what do MR executives want these days?
Lock: Clearly clients are looking for those unique individuals with grounding in market research combined with the ability to understand and discuss with senior management the key business issues that they face. In our industry, that’s a rare combination. Of course, they need to have a track record of success and must be passionate about the industry.
Also, it seems that we’re moving away from the traditional ‘hunter-farmer’ models with companies structuring around account managers that ‘have it all’. Desirable candidates can listen to a client’s problem, develop solutions, oversee the project team and provide insights. These people are truly the renaissance men and women of the market research industry. On top of this, individuals will need to have a point of view on the new MR world and be storytellers. This is a tall order for most.
Are clients starting to hire specialists or mostly generalists?
Lock: Right now I think MR firms are still looking for generalists, especially at the account management level. We’ve had discussions with firms regarding their interest in hiring researchers outside traditional marketing and business channels. For example, some companies have hired graphic designers to support their reporting and presentations, and others are experimenting with hiring individuals that understand storytelling – journalists for example. I can see this trend picking up steam in the next couple of years as the new modalities gain acceptance.
No company can afford a wrong hire. What recommendations do you have for improving a company’s success rates?
Lock: Managers have to be serious about interviewing and selection. All too often hiring is treated way too casually. There are a number of best practices in this area that I’d be happy to share at a later point, but in my experience great managers are looking for candidates who possess those intangible behaviors that will lead to success in the position. We’re doing more to help our clients focus on the desired behaviours and characteristics, as well as a strong organisational fit vs the traditional list of research methodologies and knowledge of the end client’s industry.
On the flip side it still seems like a competitive employment market. Do you see any trends in what employees or prospects want from an employer?
Lock: Our sense is that individuals with 0-5 years of experience may be operating in a traditional employment environment, not much different to 20 years ago. At the more senior levels, where our practice is focused, candidates are consistently looking for a few things.
First, autonomy and the ability to develop solutions in an unconventional way – not the way ‘we’ve always done it’. With this autonomy comes a blurring of work and personal life, with individuals wanting to work on their own schedule in their own location. Some of our clients prefer to have employees engaged in the day-to-day activities of an office. We’re finding that more and more of our clients, however, are expressing the flexibility for senior-level employees to be located anywhere.
Among our candidates, we are also noticing the desire to walk away from the large established research suppliers. Many more are now attracted to entrepreneurial opportunities in which they can ‘build something’.
Finally, senior candidates are not looking for a job. They are interested in moving a vision forward and financially sharing in the results.
Moneyball and market research
Recently I went to see the movie Moneyball, based on the true story of the Oakland A baseball team’s general manager Billy Beane. I’m not a hardcore baseball fan, I went because I was intrigued by the story of how a leader (Beane, played by Brad Pitt) used statistics and analytics to do the impossible: build a team of no names, win 20 games in a row and change the business of baseball forever.
Beane is considered the precursor of a trend that has swept the baseball world — sabermetrics – and much has been written about the story and the broader messages about running a business. But I’d like to hit a few ideas your way as you plan for 2012 and beyond.
So what is there to learn from the story?
Beane faced challenges head-on. The A’s were losing their best players to other teams with large payrolls. Instead of playing victim or ignoring the problem, Beane claimed it, found a solution and took a big risk by bringing in an Ivy League economics graduate to analyse players stats, replacing the traditional way of assessing and recruiting talent. By caring more about a player’s ability to get on base, Beane challenged conventional wisdom and proved his detractors wrong.
He managed objectively. Prior to the events of Moneyball, scouts assessed players in a substantially more subjective manner. And, while experience and gut feel matter in decision making, Beane brought a new dimension to the sport. By analysing players by the numbers and statistical probabilities, he brought objectivity to the table.
He was transformed as a leader. Beane had the strength of character and courage to stay the course even when his plan didn’t seem to be working. He evolved as a leader, going from being a distant manager to one that was fully engaged with the sport, his team, and the players.
With much change happening in our own industry, we should think more like Beane. Ask yourself and your leadership team the following questions:
- Do we understand the changes that are impacting marketing research?
- Are we able to assess our current state and create a plan going forward?
- Are we willing to put everything on the table and challenge the status quo?
- Are we managing by the numbers? Do we know what drives profitable revenue?
- Do we have the right talent for the future? And if not, how do we create a plan for hiring new talent for this new age?
- Does our current staff have the right skills to surprise and delight our customers?
Business is about making intelligent choices and now more than ever we need to challenge conventional wisdom in order to chart a new way forward. Beane chose an unknown and risky path, and in the end he changed his organisation, himself and the industry. My kind of leader. Your’s too?
For more on this topic this topic, see Jeffery Henning’s post on transformation and Fast Company’s Eight strategies to fight ordinary.
Lead! A sea change is coming
Cambiar today unveiled findings from “The Cambiar Future of Research Study” at the AMA Research & Strategy Summit in Chicago. The study looked out to 2020 and heard from 160 corporate researchers who have a wide range of experience, level and industry backgrounds. We also heard from research company executives, and I will be presenting the integrated results at the CASRO Annual Conference October 19 in Palm Beach, Florida.
What did we learn?
Researchers are expecting major change. Almost 60% of corporate research VPs expects major transformation by 2020; 70% expect this to be evident by 2015. One quarter of corporate researchers expects that the leading research company in 2020 does not exist today. Another one fifth expects that Google or Facebook will be leading the pack.
Corporate researchers will be consultants more than researchers. Virtually all corporate researchers believe that successful market researchers will have great consulting skills. This trend is already manifesting: Best Buy, Novartis, Pepsi and Starbucks have all recruited former BCG or McKinsey consultants to leadership positions.
We’ll have global responsibilities. Researchers believe that growth in MR spending will be driven from outside USA/Europe, and that jobs will have global or international responsibilities.
The future is about listening, measuring emotion, and mining knowledge. Nine out of ten researchers believe consumer listening will lead to major changes. Emotion measurement is expected to be part of the standard toolkit, although the jury is still out as to whether neuroscience and biometrics will be commonplace. Three in four researchers expect that marketing issues will be addressed by mining existing knowledge rather than initiating a project.
What about today? How are we doing? Not well. Only 25% of corporate researchers are “very satisfied” with the role of their department. We asked about barriers to success, and heard some fundamental issues.
The top barrier? ‘We are not operating as Thought Partners’ (defined by the Market Research Executive Board as an ongoing consultant to the business, an informed business partner, opportunity identifier or strategic thought partner). There is a huge gap today between corporate researchers’ desired role as a Thought Partner (92% want this), and their actual role (37% have a Thought Partner role). Six in ten have an “in the trenches” role; they are brought in too late, treated as order takers, or have business teams that want to control information.
How can we become Thought Partners? Support from the top is a key enabler. Given that many research departments are operating in an “in the trenches” mode today, there is a need to negotiate a “management contract” with senior management about how research should engage and operate with the business. [I discuss this in High-Impact Research: The New Strategic Partner. Research World, March 2010].
The top enabler is for research to identify and communicate insights that deliver business impact, going beyond the “what?” and “so what?” to the “now what?” This requires a different way of working, with a focus on collaboration, synthesis and storytelling.
What are the training needs? Top of the list are the journey from researcher to consultant, and storytelling and other impactful communication skills. Additional training needs include synthesis skills, development of rich insights, and learning about new research modalities.
So, what should corporate research leaders do?
- Become a great consultant (or risk being replaced by one!)
- Negotiate a management contract to enhance your role
- Evaluate staff capabilities and implement training for consulting skills, storytelling, synthesis and insights for impact
- Leverage and integrate new research modalities
- Lead! A sea change is coming
We’d like to hear what you think about the future, what you’re doing to stay ahead of the curve, and what you’re wrestling with.
