Heed the Need: Advice to Research Firms from ESOMAR Qual 2010 Keynote
By Stacy Graiko
November 29, 2010
The ESOMAR Qual 2010 held in Barcelona – City of Inspiration – challenged us to re-think how we deliver qualitative research findings. Jackie Hughes’s (Kellogg) keynote speech on opening day urged us not to deliver insights, which can be here-and-gone in a flash. Instead she suggested the notion of “continuous, daily enlightened thinking,” which is sustainable and can be built upon, as the way to lead our client teams toward real ‘game-changing ideas’.
Hughes suggested that our reports are too long and that we spend too much time focusing on what we have learned: they’re not always clear in their recommendations, and they don’t always tell our clients what they should do. As a stark contrast, Hughes suggested trying a six-sentence report with top lines that tell clients what action to take as a result of our learnings instead of merely reporting what we’ve found and what it could mean. Finally, Hughes suggested delivering ROI models with research results, in order to help our clients make sound financial decisions based on research.
Hughes shared her perspective as a client, telling us that clients are looking for long-term relationships with researchers that they can work with collaboratively to add tangible value to their business. Her final advice spells this out explicitly: “position yourself as a marketing consultancy with research as your main product, not a research firm that provides consulting.” Though her advice was aimed at a qualitative researcher audience, it can be applied more broadly to research firms in general.
In my conversations with colleagues after the keynote, it seems many of us are either delivering on most of what Hughes suggested or have started to make changes in that direction. Shorter, directive-but-not-descriptive reports are becoming the norm. The days of one-off “project” relationships have passed and researchers are staying engaged with their clients even after the report has been delivered. Our instinct as researchers is to be very collaborative – to share what we learn as we’re learning it – and to guide clients to ideas that are ripe for further exploration. Intuitively, her recommendations make sense and work with our innate set of tools.
Researchers also have a natural instinct to want to change the game. But despite this inclination, we tend to get very engrossed in methods; in doing so we often miss opportunities to help our clients shine. Most of the conferences I’ve attended this year have been preoccupied with the ‘how’ and ‘what’ of what we do rather than the ‘what we do with it all’. Conferences this year have been rife with controversy about ho, when, and whether to use social media in our research toolkit. We may have missed the bigger picture: research in itself is useless without analysis by a strong team that can apply its expertise to deliver game-changing results. The research finding presentation should be just the first step in a long-term implementation phase.
The topic harkens back to my days in ad agencies where we struggled to position ourselves as a ‘partner’, not a ‘vendor’ or ‘service provider,’ avoiding the constant threat of ‘consultancies’ that promised to do it all. I’m afraid the same danger is relevant for researchers today: if what Hughes warned is true, and various types of consultancies (brand consultancies, marketing consultancies, etc…) are successfully pitching research to our clients, they’re delivering not only the research product, but also detailed plan on what to do with the learnings. If our industry does not adapt, they will take our place right under our nose.
The warning is worth heeding: researchers need to stop delivering study-based findings and find opportunities to sustain meaning between active studies, distinguishing themselves from consulting firms. Providing “blue-sky” thinking, watching the competitive marketplace and monitoring the media (including social media) provides tremendous value to our clients and ultimately ensure us a seat at our clients’ planning tables. Providing results with easily interpretable ‘next steps’ which can be quickly acted upon is the key to sustaining our relevance and delivering value.
Our clients demand partners – not service providers. Let’s give them what they need to be successful and ensure the sustainability of our profession. Thanks to Jackie Hughes for providing the straight talk our industry needs.
Hughes suggested that our reports are too long and that we spend too much time focusing on what we have learned: they’re not always clear in their recommendations, and they don’t always tell our clients what they should do. As a stark contrast, Hughes suggested trying a six-sentence report with top lines that tell clients what action to take as a result of our learnings instead of merely reporting what we’ve found and what it could mean. Finally, Hughes suggested delivering ROI models with research results, in order to help our clients make sound financial decisions based on research.
Hughes shared her perspective as a client, telling us that clients are looking for long-term relationships with researchers that they can work with collaboratively to add tangible value to their business. Her final advice spells this out explicitly: “position yourself as a marketing consultancy with research as your main product, not a research firm that provides consulting.” Though her advice was aimed at a qualitative researcher audience, it can be applied more broadly to research firms in general.
In my conversations with colleagues after the keynote, it seems many of us are either delivering on most of what Hughes suggested or have started to make changes in that direction. Shorter, directive-but-not-descriptive reports are becoming the norm. The days of one-off “project” relationships have passed and researchers are staying engaged with their clients even after the report has been delivered. Our instinct as researchers is to be very collaborative – to share what we learn as we’re learning it – and to guide clients to ideas that are ripe for further exploration. Intuitively, her recommendations make sense and work with our innate set of tools.
Researchers also have a natural instinct to want to change the game. But despite this inclination, we tend to get very engrossed in methods; in doing so we often miss opportunities to help our clients shine. Most of the conferences I’ve attended this year have been preoccupied with the ‘how’ and ‘what’ of what we do rather than the ‘what we do with it all’. Conferences this year have been rife with controversy about ho, when, and whether to use social media in our research toolkit. We may have missed the bigger picture: research in itself is useless without analysis by a strong team that can apply its expertise to deliver game-changing results. The research finding presentation should be just the first step in a long-term implementation phase.
The topic harkens back to my days in ad agencies where we struggled to position ourselves as a ‘partner’, not a ‘vendor’ or ‘service provider,’ avoiding the constant threat of ‘consultancies’ that promised to do it all. I’m afraid the same danger is relevant for researchers today: if what Hughes warned is true, and various types of consultancies (brand consultancies, marketing consultancies, etc…) are successfully pitching research to our clients, they’re delivering not only the research product, but also detailed plan on what to do with the learnings. If our industry does not adapt, they will take our place right under our nose.
The warning is worth heeding: researchers need to stop delivering study-based findings and find opportunities to sustain meaning between active studies, distinguishing themselves from consulting firms. Providing “blue-sky” thinking, watching the competitive marketplace and monitoring the media (including social media) provides tremendous value to our clients and ultimately ensure us a seat at our clients’ planning tables. Providing results with easily interpretable ‘next steps’ which can be quickly acted upon is the key to sustaining our relevance and delivering value.
Our clients demand partners – not service providers. Let’s give them what they need to be successful and ensure the sustainability of our profession. Thanks to Jackie Hughes for providing the straight talk our industry needs.
