This past weekend I finally got around to watching the first few episodes of "Mad Men" at the suggestion of friends.  I nearly shed a tear when a scene in the first or second episode involved the company's market researcher presenting their findings to Don Draper (the leading man and ad executive), who then promptly discarded the report into the trash.  It left me with the sinking feeling that this has probably happened at some point over the course of my career (although likely not nearly as dramatic :-)  It also made me think of the state of research now, and how we can make ourselves more visible and strategically relevant to organizations.  

Fast forward to this morning, when I caught a recent article from Adweek on how "Clients Could Make Better Use of Research." The article points to a recent BCG study suggesting that most companies are approaching their market research from a largely tactical perspective, while missing the strategic insights that are possible through research.  I've seen this play out in market research online communities (MROCs), where the initial objectives are very much on a strategic level, but slowly start to move toward quick hit tactical activities once internal clients realize that the community is an excellent resource for these types of insights.  It can be difficult to keep the focus on the strategic once this start to happen, although it can definitely be done.  Here are a few suggestions for how:

1. Set aside a set of activities each week for "big picture" objectives - A big advantage of MROCs is the ability to get tactical insights quickly and cost effectively, and this benefit shouldn't be ignored...  However, it's important to set aside time for "big picture" objectives each week.  Consider ways of carving out time in the facilitation plan to address these objectives weekly, and standing your ground when tactical activities start to encroach on these strategic exercises.  
2. Review the objectives whenever possible - Use weekly community meetings or weekly/monthly webinars as an opportunity to review the objectives.  While internal clients might get sick of hearing the same message over and over, they'll eventually get the point that there are strategic objectives in play and the time must be spent to uncover these types of insights. 
3. Clearly tie findings with strategic objectives - Whenever possible, try to tie back specific summaries and insights to the initial objectives, rather than just reporting on them as standalone summaries.  For example, in a recent community we made a separate section of the report that was dedicated to one specific strategic objective, and were sure to include this in each monthly report.  This helps communicate how these objectives are being addressed, and stresses the importance of them as well.  

MROCs represent a new opportunity for market researchers to gain visibility across our client's organizations.  However, it requires that we all take a leap of faith and change the way we uncover findings, deliver them and ultimately rally internal stakeholders around research findings.  This is something that we're working actively on here at PluggedIN...  Be on the lookout for a new product we're launching in January that will help companies move from Stage 1 of BCG's scale (the tactical research organization) to Stage 4 (strategic).  In the meantime, I hope these suggestions help!

--Matt

Market Research Design

As a researcher, one of the most important jobs we have is to craft research exercises (e.g., survey questions, discussion guide questions) that absolutely address our client needs. It sounds simple enough, but it can be hard to really know where you clients are coming from. We may know the client's objectives, but we sometimes don't have their level of knowledge about the product, the brand, or even the audience at times. Also, it can be difficult to completely understand their internal challenges (e.g., product limitations, executive pressure) that research needs to address in some way.

Background & Context

One way to achieve this understanding is to ask clients to associate a goal and a hypothesis with every research objective. For example, if they want to evaluate a concept, it is helpful to know why they are evaluating it. What decisions will be made as a result?  Also, it is helpful to have them share a hypothesis about what they think people will say. The purpose is not to prove a hypothesis true, but to give our questions/method a certain context that will address the hypothesis directly.

Actionable Research

The more specific goal/hypothesis we have, the more insightful our research activities are going to be, and the more actionable the result will be as well. Our method of choice happens to be market research communities, so this has a tremendous implications for long-term customer communities and managing client expectations over time. However, I think this has merit for all types of research methods from qualitative research to quantitative research, even extending to secondary research.

 -Ben

Tamara Barber of Forrester Research recently posted an interesting blog on "Research Panels vs. Research Communities - What's the difference?" that highlights something we've mentioned on the MROC Talk blog before, namely that there is a distinct difference between research panels and market research online communities. 

It's great to hear that other vendors and analysts covering the space are also onboard with the differences, as I think it will mean there is finally some clarification around the terms and ways these two methods are used in the industry...

What I particularly like about Tamara's post is her mention of the iterative nature of online research communities, and how that makes for a key difference between a research community and a research panel.  Research communities allow you to really explore a topic in-depth through numerous iterations around a similar theme.  This is one of the biggest benefits of an ongoing research community approach. 

If you get a chance, definitely check out the post and comments (particularly Diane Hessan's insightful comment about focusing on engagement over size).  A special "thank you" to Katie Harris for her mention of our blog in the comments :-)

If you're interested, you can also check out some of our previous posts on this topic below:

• When does a market research community become a research panel? 
  
• Research communities vs. research panels
• Rethinking qualitative research methods
• Qualitative versus quantitative feedback in online research communities

It seems like a lot of researchers and clients want to know how "research design" is different in a community than it is with point in time methods (like surveys, focus groups, and online focus groups). The answer can be slightly abstract. Community design is a bit more organic, adaptable, theme-based, and versatile, using a variety of tools at your disposal. In my opinion, it is not about using the same battery of questions, just posted in an online setting. It is about thinking differently about how you address topics and giving people new ways of expressing their opinions online.

Traditional Research Design

The easiest way to demonstrate this is with an example, so let's say you wanted to understand how teens use mobile phones. In a traditional or online bulletin board type focus group your question battery may be like this:

1. When was the last time you used your mobile phone? What did you do?
2. If you left home without your mobile phone, what would you miss most?
3. Tell me about how you use the phone feature on your mobile phone... what do you like about it? What don't you like?
4. Tell me how you use text... what are some of the challenges of using text on your phone right now?
5. How do you use the music feature... how would you improve it?

Online Community Research Design

• "Last Use" Discussion: Tell us about the last time you used your mobile phone... What exactly did you do?
• "Teens vs. Adults" Discussion: Let's say you were designing a mobile phone for Teens. How would your Teen Phone be different than typical mobile phones for adults? Think about the look, design, and the different features and functions you would want to include!
• "My Phone is Alive!" Photo Gallery: If your phone came to life as a person, animal, or another living thing - what would it be? Upload a photo of the "living thing" that best reflects your cell phone.
• "My Phone Diary" Blog Gallery: Keep a diary today and tomorrow of all the things you do with you mobile phone. So start with the moment you wake up this AM - and finish with the time you go to sleep tomorrow PM. Tell us every time you touch your phone... where you are, who you are with, what you are doing - everything!
• "Mobile Phones & You" Survey: Q1) What do you do most with your phone [call, text, listen to music, play games, use apps, other]? Q2) If you left home without your mobile phone, what would you miss most? [open end]  Q3) When you think about your cell phone, what 1-2 words come to mind? Q4-Q8) On a scale of 1-10, how important is the phone feature? [repeat for text, music, games, apps, etc.].

Organic Research Design

One important thing to keep in mind is that with the community environment, you have the ability to address objectives over time, and the community itself responds well to this more natural flow. You can take the findings/responses from this initial wave of research activity and incorporate it in your design of the next wave. In this example, it may be follow up discussions on the mobile phone features. You could identify the ones that members thought were the most important and run follow-up activities designed to understand how Teens are currently using these features and their thoughts about frustrations/gaps that these features need to address.

- Ben

I realize this one is a bit of a stretch, but with all this talk of energy conservation and being more responsible global citizens... Pound for pound, MROCs are the greenest methodology out there.

Let's say that 1 moderator and 2 clients depart on a domestic focus group project in 3 cities (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles). They conduct 3 groups in each city with an average of 10 people per group who drive about 22 miles roundtrip to get to the group... here is how the carbon footprint breaks down:

Flights (JFK - ORD - LAX) = 8,859 lbs of CO2

Driving to focus groups (mid size sedan) = 1,779 lbs of CO2

TOTAL = 10,638 lbs of CO2

You could run the same study in a market research online community with virtually no negative environmental impact. You could also invite many more people/clients into your study if you wanted to.  Now, I'm not sure that "impact on the environment" should be the key criteria in deciding what research methodology to pursue, but you can't argue that it is more environmentally responsible! Feel free to use this argument in your next proposal.

- Ben

Rochester, NY - April 1, 2009 - PluggedIN, a market research firm specializing in online communities, announces the launch of the Fax Blaster (TM),  a new revolution in market research.

The PluggedIN Fax Blaster (TM) process sends out open-ended surveys via fax to over 20,000 random numbers. Respondents on the other end are instructed to fill out the surveys in detail and mail back 2 copies of the completed survey to PluggedIN data headquarters. PluggedIN then sends one copy of the completed survey directly to their clients and stores the second copy offsite in case of an emergency.

Commenting on the launch, Partner and Senior Research Consultant Ben Werzinger said, "We are going back to basics. It's like web 0.0. When was the last time you received a fax? I'll bet it was a long time ago. People are really going to love getting a fax. It's so retro. We really think we are going to break through the clutter. I can't wait to see what type of responses we get back!"

For additional information on the PluggedIN Fax Blaster (TM), please remember it is April Fools!