The Market Research

Year in Review

Lessons learnt in 2012

+ What to prepare for in 2013

Introduction…

Introduction Alison White takes a look back at an eventful year in Market Research….……....…1

The View from the Top Our panel of experts consider “The most influential development of 2012” and take

a stab at predicting what we can expect in 2013………………………………...……..3

A Letter for the Newbies Betty Adamou goes on the worlds best tangent in a letter for all the MR newbies out

there. Addressed to the rookies but essential reading for all……...…………....…7

Top 10 New Years Resolutions for Business The Face Facts Research team compile a list of New Year’s Resolutions to inspire

your own business goals in 2013.…................................................................………9

Contents

by Alison White

Dear Friends, Colleagues, Clients, Fellow Researchers and whoever else that

might have had the good fortune to find this review!

It really has been a busy year for us all, hasn’t it? So, as we prepare to bid farewell

to 2012, the Face Facts team thought we’d usher in the New Year by taking a look

at the best of the last. 2012 saw incredible advances in Market Research, allowing

us unprecedented access to respondents. Technology rapidly advanced and so too

has research as we have been allowed the opportunity to reach people anywhere

and at any time - a luxury that has certainly increased the scope of our work.

This year has also seen the advent of ‘Big Data’, as it established itself as a real

facet of Market Research. The popularity of Data during the US Presidential Race

surprised us all, as it became fashionable to know what the latest poll was, and the

stats to support it. Undoubtedly the popularity of Data during the election indicates

that it is firmly here to stay.

2

This year has also played host to some extraordinary conferences that brought

together many of the field’s brightest minds to seek out a new path for us all at this

time of unrelenting and exciting change. I was fortunate enough to be able to

attend The MRS Annual Conference, MRMW Amsterdam, BIG and TMRE Las

Vegas this year (plus countless Research Club events, of course!) where my faith

in what this industry is capable of was utterly restored.

“

We were also thrilled to hold the incredibly well received ‘Redefining Research

2012’ conference through our sister brand The Research Mafia where we saw

some brilliant guest speakers, as we joined together with good friends, new and

old.

Inspired to help our industry further, next year will see the launch of the Face Facts

Grad School, as we do our bit to ensure that a new generation of lean, mean

Market Researchers are born!

It’s also been an incredible year for us at Face Facts as our team has grown

considerably with no less than eight new additions! As a result we relocated to a

larger office – affectionately termed ‘Face Facts Towers’, in order to accommodate

our new and improved team. Since then Face Facts has gone from strength to

strength.

I can’t thank you enough for your support over the last 12 months – it’s been such

an exciting time for Face Facts and you’ve helped make this Scottish lass an

incredibly proud member of the Market Research community.

With that, I hope you enjoy our industry round up of 2012 and predictions for 2013

and that you look forward to the coming year as much as we do!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

Best Wishes,

Alison White & The Face Facts Team

It would be very easy to believe all of the doom and gloom

news that “Market Research is dying” but I challenge each

and every one of you to attend a conference in 2012 and not

come away feeling inspired, motivated and excited for the evolution of this powerful industry ”

The View from the Top…

We asked some of Market Research’s most inspiring,

influential and downright interesting personalities what

their most important development of 2012 was.

Keep reading to discover their insightful answers, along

with their predictions for what we should all be paying

attention to in 2013.

Featuring | Angry MR Client, John Griffiths, Lenny Murphy, Ray Poynter,

Annie Pettit & Alison White

Plus | Something extra from Betty Adamou to the MR newbies out there!

Angry MR Client Woman, myth, legend…

4

John Griffiths Play maker, rule breaker…

The View from the Top

2012 |

2012 |

2013 |

2013 |

Having travelled what felt like the

length of what has been called a

bathtub shaped recession, there still seems no sign

of an upwards swoop of porcelain. But we need to

recognise what a fertile time it has been for MR with

more approaches than ever on offer. At the same

time the drive for cost cutting has deconstructed

processes to the extent that there is nothing left to

take. Small note to procurement - this doesn't

increase ROI; it weakens the quality of the output

as we strive to do more for less and quicker too.

I predict that a few suppliers are going to start from a new place. From

the value it is possible to create rather than the costs you can wring

out of the process. Research has never been more creative. All we lack is a punk

revolution: brutally simple conclusions on 3 sides of paper drawing on a whole

range of supporting methodologies but never seeking to justify itself by worrying a

single methodology to death.

2012 has been the year when the

Market Research industry realized

more than ever before, that it needs to be more

human. There's been a lot of talk about

gamification, MROCs and other NewMR tools,

which are all great ways to treat people who

participate in research with a little bit more

respect.

Which is great news for us as well, because it

means we will ultimately get better insights.

I think that in 2013 we will see a continuation of this, but also a bigger

focus on the implications of research. Too often, there is a clear split of

responsibilities between agencies and clients: agencies provide the insights, clients

decide on the actions. I feel that this will (and needs) to change going forward. Oh,

and one more prediction: maybe 2013 will be the year when Angry MR Client's

identity will finally be revealed.

Lenny Murphy The king of MR content…

Ray Poynter Quintessential MR man…

The Market Research | Year in Review

2012 |

2013 |

2013 & 2014 |

This year was typified by the rise of

the Twitter phenomenon

Angry_MR_Client – a year when market

research knew it needed to change, but wasn’t

sure how.

Social media and neuroscience underperformed,

Big Data and analytics beckoned but mystified,

communities joined the mainstream, and mobile

finally started to indicate it had reached its tipping

point.

In 2013 we will see a raft of new apps, new tools, and upgraded options, from

within and outside market research.

The big push in 2013 will be in the

development of communities, mobile,

and integration with big data, including social

media and tracking data – this is what SoLoMo

will mean for market research in 2013.

Will see the continuation of

a major trend that became

significant in 2012 the continued growth of non-

traditional disruptors to the MR value chain

exemplified by (but not limited to) Google Consumer

Surveys, SurveyMonkey, and Twitter. This trend will

be accelerated by client investment in “big data”

solutions, the continued adoption of text analytics

solutions for insight generation, and the desire of

brands to move past understanding to actively

predicting future behavior. The increased competition

for MR suppliers will result in a significant “shuffling of

the deck” through consolidation and offering shifts,

with those firms that can best aid in understanding

the drivers of human decision making as a lens

through which predictive analytics can be viewed

growing their businesses.

Annie Pettit This lady loves her stats…

Alison White ‘Sheer bloodyminded’ rebel…

The View from the Top

6

2012 |

2012 |

2013 |

2013 |

2012 was a grand year for innovation.

We really settled into mobile research,

got more familiar with social media research,

rediscovered mobile research for the tenth year in

a row, and discovered gamification and big data.

When infographics and storytelling are added to

that, a unified picture emerges for me. 2012 was a

year of seeking – something new, something

different, something better.

All of this seeking illustrates one

desire, a desire for better. We would

not seek our new methodologies if what we

already had was great. In 2013, let’s push for

more rigour in our existing methods. Let’s not

necessarily seek out new methodologies, but rather seek to improve our existing

methodologies. Let’s not seek to replace surveys, but rather improve surveys.

Improve validity, increase reliability, cultivate joy.

One word sums up 2012 –

innovation – it’s been the enduring

buzzword of the year. Whether we’ve been

discussing big data, commoditisation, mobile

research or gamification, innovation has been

the focus of countless articles and conferences,

from Leeds to Boca Raton and everywhere in

between. But what comes after this global battle

cry “innovation!”?

Innovation must spread throughout

the entire industry; top down,

bottom up; Qual AND Quant too. Expect Quant

agencies to push the boundaries in the way

that they interact with your projects; personalising their approach, going above

and beyond to contribute, presenting data in a more dynamic way than ever

before and perhaps even introducing a more Qual edge. The time has come for

progressive evolution, not just wanton revolution.

A Letter for the Newbies… by Betty Adamou

FF Note | When we reached out to Betty for her contribution to this review we envisioned her response

being like the others that we had received. Finding herself inspired upon being contacted by one of our

interns, Charlie, she sent us something equal parts unexpected and brilliant!

On the 10th December

an intern at Face Facts

Research was kind

enough to email me

asking me to write a

short bit about what we

think were the biggest

developments of last

(this 2012) year, and

what we envisage will

be the biggest development in the year to

come ‘slash’ what is: ‘THE NEXT BIG

THING’.

The intern, Charlotte, and I, have never met

face to face. But I see Charlotte is an intern

in the MarComms team from her email

signature so I imagine that her learning’s in

MR while at Face Facts are crucial to what

she wants to do in her career in Marketing

and Communications, or PR, or whatever it

may be.

Charlotte’s position made me re-think my

answer to her questions completely. If the

MR industry is set to wither and disappear,

as I and many others have predicted

already, then surely it’s my responsibility to

respond to Charlotte for people JUST LIKE

Charlotte, not just writing about what I think

is the next big thing.

And what happens if I predict the ‘next big

thing’ correctly? Will I gain kudos for getting

it right? Surely our industry being so

predictable, that people can confidently

forecast exactly what’s going to happen in 6,

9, 12 months’ time (and get it right!) is a

failing we have to address?

To be honest with you Charlotte, this

inherent predictability is part of the problem

our industry has, and why it’s increasingly

becoming obsolete and lagging behind tech

organizations who collect data and use it for

research.

As an industry, we see developing

technologies and harness them too late in

the day. For example, I could very well

predict Augmented Reality will be TNBT (the

next big thing) in Market Research but does

that make me a genius if that becomes true?

Or does that simply just make sense,

considering augmented reality has existed in

various forms for over a decade, with only

the last 2-3 years it being really harnessed

by marketeers?

The next big thing generally, and the next

big thing in market research, tend to be two

different things, whereby the next big thing in

research is often the last big thing

everywhere else.

I wouldn’t want to tempt fate and make a

prediction. I would love it if I were pleasantly

surprised by an UNFORSEEN ‘big thing’. I

would love it if a Market Research agency

headed up something NEW, rather than

borrowing from other industries. Marketing is

always pushing the envelope, innovating

new ways of communication, so it would be

great to see MR doing that too, no?

Charlotte I’d like to ask you and all other

interns, post-grads and people who are ‘new’

to MR: What kind of industry do you want

MR to be when your internship ends and

your full-time career begins? What kind of

manager/clients do you want to work with?

What kind of company do you want to work

for? What kind of technologies are you

interested in now and want to see being

used for research in 2013 and beyond?

So back to: what was a big

development for 2012 from my

point of view?

For me, it was the fact that around the

globe, market researchers were being

shown by myself and others, the benefits of

using games for research and being truly

INSPIRED by that, and by other possibilities

that the social and psychological

advantages of gaming and play can bring to

research and data gathering. It’s also good

to note that researchers were actively

seeking out this information; they wanted to

know about how games can help their

research. They recognized that the existing

surveys they were deploying were, on many

levels ‘broken’ and they were seeking one of

many solutions to fix the problems of low

respondent engagement and so forth.

What was also important for me is that (as I

mentioned in the News section of the RTG

website) a by-product of me talking on these

subjects showed that the MR industry are

opening up to:

• Business which are not ‘traditional’ Market

Research

• Business which are small to medium

sized but can/have/had an industry-

changing impact

• Businesses and methodologies which

have been headed up by women

• Businesses/methodologies/case

studies/conference talks which are

headed up by ‘under 30’s′ (whether male

or female)

• Willingness and interest to hear from

people who are not from a traditional

research background

Another development, although existed

since 2010, is the evolving NewMR website.

(newmr.org) I still think its wonderful that we

ALL have a platform to listen and learn,

which doesn’t cost the price of flight to

another country. While of course, face-to-

face conferences have huge benefits and I

will always love to go and learn from them,

the fact that NewMR can be available to

anyone, of any age, anywhere in the world

just by plugging your headphones into your

laptop is something that really pushed (and

still pushes) the envelope in my view, and I

hope that it continues to grow as it has.

I’ve also loved that, throughout 2012, we’ve

seen a variety of people, from different

countries and backgrounds, of different

ages, gain awards for outstanding research,

customer service, papers, data collection,

healthcare and so on. Awards for under 30’s

in MR have been a great way to inspire the

industry that we truly do have fresh-thinkers

coming in, like Charlotte and other interns,

who can work with the ‘older lot’ (which is

important) to create new ways of speaking

to people and creating solid research

studies. Face Facts and other organizations

that have internship schemes and

apprenticeships really are helping the entire

industry at large.

All in all, a good year!

Can’t wait to be pleasantly

surprised in 2013

Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for Business…

by The Face Facts Research Team

1 To respect the dominance of ‘Big Data’! Changes can be tough, and as Data Analysts, to

see the focus shift away from more concise methods is slightly unnerving. ‘Big Data’ is

here and it’s going to stay, so our first resolution is to welcome it with open arms and see

how it can help improve the industry.

As a company based in the North we fully advocate reminding Market Researchers to

avoid being London centric, we hope to encourage Researchers to step away from the

Capital and come see what our other big cities have to offer.

We resolve to keep the industry young! Our first Face Facts Grad School Semester starts

in January with the hope of bringing new enthusiastic youngsters into Market Research.

What are you doing to keep the industry alive?

We resolve to keep on growing! As a young business we have grown considerably over

the last year, and our team has doubled in size. We hope this continues in 2013!

We vow to do more as a team in the coming year. Our Face Facts Christmas Video

(coming soon to screens near you) has really inspired us to do more as a team!

As an industry we need to learn to step away from technology every once in a while and

TALK TO PEOPLE instead! It sounds simple, but recently we’ve found that a

conversation on the phone has become a rarity these days. So why not pick up the

phone and give someone a call?

We vow to make more new industry friends! This year sees our rebrand of the Research

Mafia and the return of our Industry conference. We foresee 2013 being a big year for

forging new relationships!

Without a doubt one of the buzzwords of the year has been INNOVATION (as Market

Researchers we are always talking about it!). However, this year we want all that to

change and we want to see some action instead! Let’s stop talking and start innovating!

To use Social Media more! As an industry we’re incredibly possessive of our ideas, it’s

about time we changed this and got sharing instead. So for 2013 let’s blog, Tweet, Pin

and Post!

Our tenth and final New Year’s Resolution is to make 2013 even bigger and better than

the last year! We hope it will be a big year for us and for all of our lovey clients too!

That’s all from the team here at Face Facts,

we hope you’ve enjoyed our Review!

10

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Meet our Contributors…

As Managing Director of not one but three companies which serve

the Market Research Community Alison is uniquely placed to offer

a multifaceted view of the industry. Face Facts Research, The

Face Facts Grad School and The Method (formerly The Research

Mafia) are all part of her master plan to transform MR into a

vibrant, enticing and downright fascinating place to be.

Betty Adamou @BettyAdamou

CEO & Founder of GRIT Top 50 company Research Through

Gaming (@RTG_Ltd). Author of The Future of Research Through Gaming. Writer, game designer, artist, researcher.

For more info head to: researchthroughgaming.com

|

John Griffiths @johngriffiths7

Creative Director of Spring Research. Twice winner of MRS best

new thinking award. Has spent more than 25 years as a

researcher and planner. In 2000 he set up one of the first planning

websites Planning Above and Beyond. He continues to consult as

a facilitator and planner and blog on planning and research issues.

For more info head to: furtherandfaster.paab.biz

Angry MR Client @Angry_MR_Client

So fed up with all the MRX agencies that fail to embrace

innovation, can’t connect the dots and most importantly, lack

common sense!

For more info head to: it’s a secret…

Lenny Murphy @Lennyism

CEO of Rockhopper Research, CEO of BrandScan360, and

Senior Partner of Gen2 Advisors. Editor-in-Chief of the

GreenBook Blog and GreenBook Research Industry Trends

Report, 2 of the most widely read and influential publications in

the global insights industry. Also involved with numerous

organizations including the Insight Innovation Exchange, The

ARF, NY AMA, NewMR & MRGA.

For more info head to: greenbookblog.org

|

|

|

Annie Pettit @LoveStats

Chief Research Officer, Conversition and VP Research Standards,

Research Now | For more info head to: lovestats.wordpress.com

Ray Poynter @RayPoynter

Director of Vision Critical University, author of The Handbook of

Online and Social Media Research and founder of NewMR.org | For more info head to: newmr.org

Alison White @alisonfacefacts

For more info head to: facefactsresearch.com

|