FEATURE19 December 2013

Top tens of 2013: Opinion pieces

Who says that researchers like to keep their opinions to themselves? These 10 were more than happy to share what was on their mind, and readers lapped it up.

Res_4010995_opinion

1. The losing candidate in The Apprentice boardroom
Episode 8 of this year’s The Apprentice poignantly illustrated the distorted and damaging representation of market research currently being broadcast to the public on a weekly basis.

2. That elusive thing called ‘insight’
Insight Inside’s Andy Howden set out to understand why insight sometimes fails to gain traction. He asked 30 heads of insight and marketing directors to explore how effectively insight is working in their business and how it could work better.

3. How to ‘market’ market research
Craig Scott knows the importance of research. He’s now a director at Brand Learning where he advises companies on how to build their marketing capabilities, but before that he held research and insight roles at Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Kimberly Clark. So, he asks, why are market researchers undervalued?

4. What would Google do with market research?
Mike Stevens of Vision Critical considers how research has to change in the Age of Google.

5. Approaching the singularity
The belief that technology will eventually supersede human intelligence is leading to a reductionist view of consumer behaviour, warns GfK’s Colin Strong.

6. Close to the Edge
After the Millennials comes Generation Edge. Ian Pierpoint and Caroline Fletcher consider what this unique group of consumers might mean for brand managers and researchers.

7. Protecting the science
Market research is awash with new ideas, new methods of data collection, and new challenges. But, argues Ray Poynter, too many unsupported, pseudoscientific claims are being made by people who should know better. In moving research forward, there are some basic tenets that need to be respected.

8. Control your category with conjoint
FMCG manufacturers are often fighting for attention in a crowded category. Impact Research’s David Pearmain explains how category conjoint can help them stand out.

9. Customer first, without compromise
Steven Van Belleghem and Peter Hinssen share learnings from their ‘inspiration journey’ around Silicon Valley.

10. Making sense of the census proposals 
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has launched a consultation on approaches for providing census information and population estimates. Barry Leventhal weighs the pros and cons of the two options on the table.

Check back tomorrow for the top ten #mrx tweets of the year

@RESEARCH LIVE

0 Comments