July 1, 2004 | Issue 12

Editor's Note

	MR Perspectives is a twice-monthly newsletter that provides perspectives on market research topics of interest, best practices tips, emerging trends, quick case studies, and other useful information. Subscribe View Past Issues

Events

	July 12-14, 2004 Chicago Strategic Planning Competitive Intelligence The Institute for International Research -- USA is sponsoring a seminar on how to integrate competitive intelligence into the strategic planning process. The conference is at the Millennium Knickerbocker in Chicago.

	July 12-14, 2004 Chicago Shopper Insights In Action 2004 The Institute for International Research -- USA is sponsoring a seminar for mid and senior level research executives in the retail and consumer packaged goods industries on current trends in consumer demands. The conference is at The Westin Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

At Polaris' Website

	Empowering Employees Opportunity For Improvement systems are today's version of the employee suggestion box. Such systems create a link between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction by encouraging employees to think of ways to improve what they do from the customers' point of view. Successful OFI systems, such as those at Turner Studios in Atlanta or Baptist Health Care of Pensacola, can lead to improved corporate performance in both employee and customer satisfaction research, and, in turn, do wonders for employee morale and customer referral rates. For an article on OFI systems, originally published in Competitive Edge, visit the Polaris website's Insight Education Center at www.polarismr.com/ insight/index.htm.

Crunching Through the Data Ceiling

Most company insiders understand the function of a Chief Executive Officer or a Chief Financial Officer, but too few understand the function of a company's lead researcher or even know what they should be called - Vice President of Strategic Intelligence, Vice President of Marketing Research or perhaps Chief Marketing Research Officer. Senior researchers from Atlanta's largest corporations were asked at a recent gathering to identify the title and function of the senior most marketing researcher in their company. In the ensuing discussion, many voiced concerns about a kind of glass ceiling, noting that few, if any, CEOs at large U.S. companies come from a marketing research background.

One attendee recounted an amazingly similar situation with Information Technology specialists, once considered very talented yet geeky "pocket-protector" types who made sure the technology infrastructure worked. They kept to themselves, didn't talk much and worked alone in rooms no one else ever saw -- a somewhat similar situation to the traditional marketing researcher. As technology began to fuel corporate growth in the early 1990s and businesses started using technology not just to solve problems and make their companies more efficient, but started leveraging technology as a competitive advantage, the importance of IT managers in corporate America grew exponentially. Concerns over Y2K served to enhanced their importance. A Chief Technology Officer is integral to virtually every medium to large company now and many have gone on to become CEOs of America's largest companies.

How did they do it? According to industry insiders and magazines such as Forbes, Business Week, InformationWeek and Fast Company, many did it by taking advantage of a very visible opportunity to act as, and be perceived as, strategic thinkers and drivers of business rather than just IT specialists. Many broadened their business acumen with MBAs, management classes and people skills training, making themselves an indispensable asset to their companies.

What can you do as a marketer or marketing researcher to facilitate your trip into the executive suite? Learn from the IT lesson. First and most importantly, marketing researchers need to truly understand and be confident about their business impact. With the ever-increasing ability to gather customer information throughout their lifecycle, and the ability to survey and track behaviors in real time, companies are recognizing the importance of marketing research and analysis more with each day -- especially because research findings can translate customer behaviors into successful sales and customer retention strategies. Do you think of your marketing research this way?

Here is a quick list of strategic and tactical initiatives you can undertake now:

Strategic: Understand what top management needs.
Strategic: Look for and recognize key trends, especially those others may not see clearly.
Strategic: Take risks, be a thought leader and make your voice heard.
Tactical: Be your own best cheerleader and make sure everyone is aware of the great work you are doing.
Tactical: Know your different audiences and what they want or need (bonus if executed before they even ask).
Tactical: Synthesize and present information in readily digestible insights.
Tactical: Discover your weaknesses and get training. Management training, HR training, presentation training, whatever you need help with.
Tactical: Get a mentor to help guide you.

Effects of Anti-Spam Legislation

The new anti-spam law, known officially as The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003, became effective at the first of the year, but it does not apply to survey research.

Instead, the CAN SPAM Act covers commercial electronic mail messages, which it defines as "any electronic mail message, the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service." The law specifically exempts "transactional or relationship-based" emails between a business and its customers, which definitely covers any customer satisfaction type research.

Most marketing researchers, however, feel the CAN SPAM Act will affect data collection methods used by the marketing research industry, according to the 2004 Research Industry Trends Study recently published.

Among the 721 respondents from full-service suppliers, client-side marketing researchers and consultants, 70 percent said the legislation will affect data collection methods utilized by their organizations, 20 percent feel the main impact will be reduced cooperation rates and 13 percent have concerns about the representativeness of samples. Ten percent perceived the higher cost for completing surveys to be an issue.

Regardless, with access to customer emails becoming more prevalent, and the continued growth of opt-in consumer/business panels for use in sampling, the Internet methodology is poised for the greatest growth among all survey methodologies, according to the study, which was sponsored by Pioneer Marketing Research, DialTek, LP, and BayaSoft.