Swiss Cheese and Marketing Research

  

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We all know what Swiss cheese is – the cheese with the holes.  The holes, which are naturally formed during the fermentation process, allow air to pass through the cheese, giving it a distinctive taste and consistency.  In this case, holes are expected and good but when conducting marketing research, unexpected holes are bad.

‘Holes’ occur in research when at some point in the research process, someone either forgets to include something or wants to add something after the project has started.  ‘Holes’ can also occur if the wrong sample is used or analyzed incorrectly, making the data unreliable.  And unreliable data is worse than no data at all.

To ensure that your research process doesn’t end-up like Swiss cheese, it’s best to include your research provider from the ideation stage to the project’s conclusion.  For the client, the opportunity for the research provider to be in the planning sessions for a project not only ensures that there won’t be any gaps or miscommunications during the planning phase, but also will relieve any doubts about the conclusions.

There is a lot of talk – and evidence of – companies conducting their own research.  As easy as it seems, most small to middle-sized companies just don’t have the experience or research expertise to do the job right.

There are some projects that only require responses from the general public, regardless of their age, sex or income/education level, but those projects are few and far between.  The truth is that most research projects need to contact a certain segment of the population to get their questions answered correctly.  Obtaining the correct sample is only a part of the process – designing the questionnaire, performing analytics on the responses and drawing conclusions are equally, if not more, important to the project.

So, in conclusion, holes in cheese are good; holes in research are bad.  If you want to make good cheese, use an experienced cheese maker, since that’s their business.  If you want good research, use an established research company, since that’s their business.

Have you ever been involved in a project where unexpected holes emerged and how did you deal with them?