Unfiltered Perspectives, Unexpected Opportunities: The 2010 AMA Marketing Research Conference
By Marisa Porter
October 1, 2010
The AMA’s 2010 Marketing Research Conference in Atlanta theme was “Unfiltered Perspectives. Unexpected Opportunities.” This conference provided an opportunity for both suppliers and clients to hear about specific case studies from many industries—including CPG, restaurants and consumer electronics—and also to hear about research industry trends.
One particular theme that emerged was about innovation and the need for change. Stan Sthanunathan, VP of Strategy and Global Insights at Coca-Cola, discussed the importance of remembering “It is not about following the change as quickly as possible, it is about helping shape the change.” Stan emphasized the need to embrace technology, and most importantly embrace risk. Innovation is going to be hard, and sometimes painful, but the result of this labor and forward thinking can have monumental results. In a similar vein, Joe Batista, Chief Creatologist for Hewlett-Packard discussed the need for open innovation as compared to closed innovation. Open innovation moves beyond the boundaries of the firm – instead of thinking within the company framework, think outside of the company. In open innovation, research boundaries become porous so that researchers have the ability to create new markets.
Another theme that emerged was specific to the way we create presentations. As researchers we want to put as much data on a slide as we can – and we have become pretty good at it. Gayle Lloyd, of Batesville Casket, discussed the CRUCIAL need for researchers to move away from this “data-dump” and become bold researchers. Researchers need to focus on the personal strength and leadership skills needed to move an organization and the industry forward. Company executives would rather hire a savvy business person over an excellent researcher because research and statistics can all be taught. When researchers go to a client with a presentation, they need to be able to talk about the story behind the underlying data; the statistics and graphics should be used for support, they should not be the focal point.
One of the most important themes at the AMA conference this year was the importance of emotion. Both Jamie Turner and Gary Singer agreed that between 85% and 95% of all of our decisions are emotional and subconscious. While we have excellent tools to look at conscious brand associations and ratings, the market research community agreed that what we really need are tools to look at the subconscious, emotional drivers of behavior (like Sentient’s Automatic Brand Associations Methodology). Gary Singer, CEO of Buyology, discussed the need for a brand relationship framework. Within this framework, Gary described how Buyology categorizes relationships in four fundamental ways, described as Neurotypes. These four neurotypes – awe, exploration, harmony and superiority – can categorize any human – brand relationship. Gary emphasized the need for researchers to develop tools, similar to these neurotypes, to look at unconscious and emotional drivers.
This conference emphasized that, as an industry, we need to move beyond traditional research methods. We need to think about what motivates us as researchers. We need to think about innovation. We need to think about being game changers.
One particular theme that emerged was about innovation and the need for change. Stan Sthanunathan, VP of Strategy and Global Insights at Coca-Cola, discussed the importance of remembering “It is not about following the change as quickly as possible, it is about helping shape the change.” Stan emphasized the need to embrace technology, and most importantly embrace risk. Innovation is going to be hard, and sometimes painful, but the result of this labor and forward thinking can have monumental results. In a similar vein, Joe Batista, Chief Creatologist for Hewlett-Packard discussed the need for open innovation as compared to closed innovation. Open innovation moves beyond the boundaries of the firm – instead of thinking within the company framework, think outside of the company. In open innovation, research boundaries become porous so that researchers have the ability to create new markets.
Another theme that emerged was specific to the way we create presentations. As researchers we want to put as much data on a slide as we can – and we have become pretty good at it. Gayle Lloyd, of Batesville Casket, discussed the CRUCIAL need for researchers to move away from this “data-dump” and become bold researchers. Researchers need to focus on the personal strength and leadership skills needed to move an organization and the industry forward. Company executives would rather hire a savvy business person over an excellent researcher because research and statistics can all be taught. When researchers go to a client with a presentation, they need to be able to talk about the story behind the underlying data; the statistics and graphics should be used for support, they should not be the focal point.
One of the most important themes at the AMA conference this year was the importance of emotion. Both Jamie Turner and Gary Singer agreed that between 85% and 95% of all of our decisions are emotional and subconscious. While we have excellent tools to look at conscious brand associations and ratings, the market research community agreed that what we really need are tools to look at the subconscious, emotional drivers of behavior (like Sentient’s Automatic Brand Associations Methodology). Gary Singer, CEO of Buyology, discussed the need for a brand relationship framework. Within this framework, Gary described how Buyology categorizes relationships in four fundamental ways, described as Neurotypes. These four neurotypes – awe, exploration, harmony and superiority – can categorize any human – brand relationship. Gary emphasized the need for researchers to develop tools, similar to these neurotypes, to look at unconscious and emotional drivers.
This conference emphasized that, as an industry, we need to move beyond traditional research methods. We need to think about what motivates us as researchers. We need to think about innovation. We need to think about being game changers.
Thanks for the post Marisa. I followed several tweet streams last week about the conference, as we were not able to attend. This is a great wrap-up, and provides some useful insights, especially with regard to delivery of research.