The Landmark Blog

Market Research Educational Forum 2010 - What I Learned in Texas

Those of you who know me, realize that I love Chuck Norris jokes.  I have a sixteen year old son and the enjoyment I get from a good Chuck Norris joke probably came from him and his friends.  To lighten the stress and tension before their soccer games they often crack themselves up with facts about Chuck Norris that are frequently passed my way.  It's bled into my work life.  When I'm not really too sure how to start something (a speech or an article for instance) or to lighten the mood in tense situations, I'll fire off with a fact about Chuck.  It's amazing the number of times he can be randomly slipped into a conversation.  And, in this instance, it seems fitting, as he is The Texas Ranger and the conference I'm writing about was in Dallas, Texas.  For those of you who don't know him as well as I do, here are five lesser known facts about Chuck Norris:

1.  Chuck Norris sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparalleled martial arts ability.  Shortly after the transaction was finalized, Chuck roundhouse kicked the devil in the face and took his soul back.  The devil, who always appreciates irony, couldn't stay mad at Chuck and admitted that he should have seen it coming.  They now play poker every second Wednesday of the month.

2. The Great Wall of China was originally created to keep Chuck Norris out.  It failed miserably.

3.  There is no "ctrl" button on Chuck Norris' computer.  Chuck Norris is always in control.

4.  Along with his black belt, Chuck Norris often chooses to wear brown shoes. No one has EVER dared call him on it.

5.  Chuck Norris and Mr.T walked into a bar.  The bar was instantly destroyed because that complete level of awesomeness cannot be contained in one building.

And a bonus Chuck Norris bit:

Take a look at this Google search on Chuck Norris (click here!)

What's the point?  I recently attended the Southwest Chapter's (Marketing Research Association) 2010 Educational Forum in Dallas, Texas (thus the Chuck Norris reference).  In this meeting, I learned a few things, some basic facts that I thought I'd pass along.

1.  I'm allergic to Texas.  It's a sad but true fact.  I love my friends and associates from Texas, but, not to get all PHI on you, every time I enter the state, I break out in allergic hives.  It's CRAZY!  While we were in Dallas, it was hot and humid...could be the source of the reaction...but it happens with regular frequency...only in Texas.  In the last five years, I've probably been to Texas five times and had an allergic hive reaction on four of them (Austin was the exception).  Live Large, Think Big...large, big hives that is.

2.  I've been actively participating in the market research industry and attending market research conferences for over fifteen years, and there's still a lot to learn.  There always seems to be someone smarter than me, everywhere I go.  Don't get me wrong, I'm no dummy, but I find it absolutely fascinating listening to people talk about their niche and expertise of knowledge, what they are passionate about.  This conference had four AWESOME speakers (They may not be as cool as Chuck Norris, but they're awfully close).  There wasn't a let-down in the mix (which is unusual for conference programming).  If you didn't attend this conference, you missed (names are withheld to protect the innocent...and to avoid the 9 Million sales calls that would result):

• The retired CMO of Mary Kay.  I'm no make-up wearer and not particularly into women's products, but this session provided some excellent insight into the synergies between research and marketing, and product launch and sales projections.  It was interesting to hear the former CMO speak of how her organization, in some cases, would just have to go with their guts, in spite of the research or the projection...and rely on the AHHHH...IT'S SO CUTE...The SQUEELfactor.
• The President and CEO of M/A/R/C Research.  Though I'm always nervous when this guy speaks (he calls on you by name in his presentations...and sometimes brings you to the front of the room for public humiliation), I never seem to tire of listening to what he brings to the table.  I ALWAYS seem to come away with some nugget of information on business management that I take back to my own organization.  He often encourages you to "Make a Difference" to your company, to your clients, to your industry, and especially to yourself and has lived this mantra himself.  His presentation provided some real-world ways you can do just that.
• The VP of Shopper Insights at PepsiCo.  Provided information on the way that market research is evolving for large organizations like hers.  It made me wonder...are some of us in the MR world, "stuck in a rut"...a methodological rut?  In addition to the insight into their research process, we saw some interesting sound (Twitter) bytes such as: 
  
  • Innovation can develop by observing current habits and the "work arounds" for solving daily challenges. 
  • Provide the why behind the numbers. Without the why...the motivation and emotion...all you have are numbers.
  • Research needs to connect to the business and drive the business.
  • And, the most controversial of statements..."Our organization has forbidden focus group - we've invested in neurolabs with that money." WOOAAH...That's kind of a game changer.
• The Managing Partner of Spych Analytics.  If you ever get a chance to listen to this guy talk about social media research, take the opportunity.  It's a passion for him and it's obvious that he really enjoys what he's doing.  His presentation brought Social Media research home and made it more accessible to everyone (not so confusing, not so untethered, not so unavailable).  He provided information on how companies can get started in this arena, some of the tools you can use, and why social media research even matters.  The summation of his presentation can be found in this one statement he made "N=1 has more social value than ever before. Especially if it's the right person."  Excellent insight.
  

3.  Smaller conferences are sometimes better than bigger conferences.  The attendees and speakers are more accessible.  It's easier to get to know more people in a shorter amount of time and the groups of people seem to be less "cliquish" if I can use that word in a non-negative, non-editorial commenting, kind of way.  It's the same cocktail party, in a different hotel, maybe with the likelihood of meeting and getting to know a few more people.  If the education is great (which it was) and it's easier to get to know more people (which it was) than what's not to like?

4.  Twitter is worth it.  This may seem like an odd statement of learning.  In conference settings, there's a whole other, completely open, completely accessible, completely inclusive, conversation that you are completely missing if you don't participate in conferences via Twitter.  There's conference scuttlebutt going on in the background that you are only aware of if you are paying attention or contributing to the conference Twitter Hashtag.  If for no other reason but to increase the value of your conference attendance, I'd recommend you open yourself up to Twitter.  You may only use it at conferences to gain the insight of your peers and to see what they are paying attention to while speakers are presenting.  That in and of itself is enough value to join the conversation.  The Hastag for this conference was #EF10.  Industry wide, people were paying attention to it because of the content contribution from the attendees. 

5.  I'm more of a hugger than I originally thought.  We have A LOT of huggers in the market research industry.  Contrary to what you may believe, the tradition of hugging coworkers and industry associates does not pervade every country, culture, state, region, etc.  It's an interesting observation to watch the "non-huggers" interact with the "huggers".  Rigid, stiff, men and women, from conservative Western areas of the country, being hugged by their louder, more open, affectionate counterparts from the South and the East crack me up.  As one of the rigid, stiff, men from the meccas of Western conservatism (Utah), I'm adapting and evolving with time.  I no longer run from the room when a "hugger" or heaven forbid a "cheek kisser" enters the room.  I'm learning, much like I did at this conference.

Know of any good Chuck Norris facts?  Did you learn anything from the Educational Forum in Dallas that I missed?  Give me your thoughts...

Don't Lose Your Patients: Healthcare and Patient Satisfaction Surveys

My first real career goal, the first one I really worked at, the first... "When I grow up I want to be..." was a stunt man.  I had a fascination with Evel Knievel (had his action figure and motorcycle...it's not a doll), as a teenager I loved Super Dave Osborne, and in my youth, I idolized Lee Majors in "The Fall Guy."  If a kid in elementary school could really work toward a career, it was me, I was serious about it.

I had a best friend who egged me on as frequently as he could.  He was my "Agent and PR man" (we were in grade school).  We spent many a day on his Idaho farm practicing for my stunt man career.  I'd dive headfirst off his fifteen foot high haystack to the ground and land in a small pile of loose hay.  Under his watchful eye, I learned how to gracefully "roll out" of falls from high places, backflip out of swings, fall out of trees, and ride pigs.  I even crashed his motorcycle and lived to tell the tale (it was the first time I had ever ridden one.)  Stuntmen need to be able to ride horses, motorcycles, and snowmobiles.  I learned how to do those things from my "Agent".

We often got into trouble, but along with the trouble came plenty of crashes, burns, scrapes, sprains, bruises, and at one time, a broken bone (or two).  The home I lived in while growing up was in the country and had a revolving outside laundry line.  You'd place your wet laundry on the lines, as the wind blew (the wind always blows in Idaho), the lines would spin around in circles, and your clothes would dry faster...ingenious.  My parents had a clothes dryer so the revolving laundry line was unnecessary for its original intent.  As youth looking for an adrenalin rush, my friends and I took down the long extensions (keeping the stronger short "arm" that spun) and tied a rope to the apparatus.  We also tied an old inner-tube to the rope and would sit in the contraption.  Someone would push, while the rider sat in the inner-tube and spun.  You'd swing around in circles a million miles an hour horizontal to the ground and get dizzier than you could imagine.  I'm sure you see where this is going.

One morning while waiting for the school bus, a friend and I were messing around on the "swing".  My friend was a year older than me and kind of a big guy.  He was able to really get that thing rotating very quickly.  In the corner of my yard was an old tractor tire that my mom had converted into a plant box to grow strawberries.  That morning, we swung especially fast, the rope broke, I went airborne, and when I landed my arm slammed into the tractor tire.  My arm hurt pretty badly so I went in the house to tell my mom what happened and that my arm hurt.  When she took off my coat, you could tell my arm was broken because it was shaped like the tread on the tractor tire.  We headed to the doctor's office and found it was broken in two places through both bones.

Each year, hundreds of thousands (millions) of healthcare patient satisfaction surveys are completed ranging from patients that have broken bones or been to the doctor for a cough, to long-term home health and hospital stays.  Patients with terminal illnesses are surveyed and in some cases surveys are done with the families of those that have passed.  Discovery Research Group conducts a large number of these healthcare related satisfaction surveys, health services satisfaction, or patient satisfaction surveys each year.  We work with some of the largest healthcare research organizations to conduct this work for hospitals and health plans, and work directly with some of the small or middle sized clinics and local companies who do not have the research budgets to implement the full scale healthcare research initiatives that these large healthcare research organizations provide.

I was in a conference session several months back with a number of researchers who were interested in healthcare research.  When the speaker surveyed the audience about how many were doing healthcare work on a large scale there were very few of us.  I was a little surprised that our expertise in this patient satisfaction survey arena was as unique as it was.  Along those lines, here are ten suggestions for surveying healthcare respondents (especially patients and participants) the next time your research calls for it:

• Be sensitive to the patient being surveyed.  But, focus on being unbiased in the process.  It's a fine line.
• Be painfully aware of HIPAA and privacy related issues.  And, monitor the entire process from front to back (interviewers, online methods, IVR, etc.) for compliance to law, rules, and training agendas.  Include the sponsor of the survey in the compliance plan.
• Find an effective way to juggle the need for good response rates with the need to be sensitive to respondent’s ailments.  It can be difficult.
• Consider multiple methods of collection. Multiple survey methods will help maximize response rates and provides the patient with different ways to vocalize their experience.
• Avoid barriers in survey programming that cause a choppy interviewing process (too many screens before "actual interview", surveys that are too long, survey process that doesn’t make sense, not enough information, too much information, etc.).
• Track your patient sample closely, down to the respondent level.  Healthcare research is very rigorous and a reporting at the patient level should be available for every sample record, without compromising the patient's personal information.
• Provide detailed instruction to technical and interviewing staff on the information that can and cannot be disclosed to the household while getting patient on the phone, while speaking with family members, while interview is completed, etc.
• Clear answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) are very important.  Provide information on how to answer the difficult questions that will inevitably come up (Where did you get my name?  How do I reach someone at the hospital?  Who should I talk to about…? Why are you interviewing me when I’m sick?  I'm feeling like...should I go to the doctor?).  There is a lot of sensitivity surrounding healthcare related issues and the probability of escalation increases when staff is unable to answer patient questions clearly and concisely.
• Help lines should be established for verifying the legitimacy of survey calls.  Also, make a decision in advance on how to approach the "feedback" you’re provided that is directed to the practitioner, the survey sponsor, the research company, etc.
• A lot of patient and healthcare survey work is done using telephone methodologies for privacy related issues.  Be careful of the dialing times.  Don't dial too late or too early in case the respondent is still recovering.  Also, try dialing at different times during the day and on weekends.  With recovering patients this is critical as they are often in appointments, home during the day, and sleeping earlier and longer.

This is NOT an inclusive list for interviewing patients.  Feel free to add additional recommendations to this post.

What Makes You Different?

My teenage years were in the 1980's.  The era of odd synthetic fashion and tight pants, extreme hair styles, hair bands, punk, new-wave, breakdancing and early hip-hop music, MTV, VCR and the cassette tape, neon and uninhibited materialism, Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the end to the Berlin Wall. 

I was actually in high school in the late 1980's when new wave and hair bands had a strangle hold on American culture.  I grew up in a rural city in the West.  My town was filled with tight pants, waffle-stompers (also called Keg Boots), tight t-shirts and feathered mullets (guys) or REALLY REALLY REALLY big feathery hair (girls).  Big trucks with even bigger lifts reigned and a European car was unheard of.  Local radio stations gave you the choice of hair bands, hair bands, more hair bands, or country western.  In my neck of the woods, big ballads ruled the airwaves and new wave was looked down upon with radical distaste and unstopped disdain.

My pack of friends (shout out to those of you who read this), from three different schools, were...well...different.  We were punks, skaters, preppies, mods, and wavers in a sea of butt-rockers and hair.  It was easy to point us out and easy to identify us.  We were the pre-generation of, and evolved into, the Grunge movement of the 1990's that was so well accepted with its long hair and flannel.  We listened to bands like U2, The Police, Depeche Mode, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Big Audio Dynamite, The Cure, The Ramones, Social Distortion, The Violent Femmes, Jane's Addiction, and saw Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam before they ever played stadiums but could only be found on the local music circuit.  We identified with bands that are very mainstream today, but were misunderstood in the 1980's.   

This identification that my friends and I had with something "different" often lead to consistent trouble for us.  I distinctly remember a moment in high school when my younger brother was surrounded by a group of butt rockers (about 15 of them), dog piled, and duct taped upside down to a pole in the middle of the school.  At the time, the group felt justified in this action, because he was different than them.  His career path has been in law enforcement.  I'm sure this experience was a turning point.  It's interesting how most of our life experiences and differences lead us down pretty specific paths.  We were chased, egged, tripped, spit on, threatened, and asked to leave public places.  In spite of this, we were a proud group, proud of ourselves and proud for standing out in a crowd.

Maybe I'm an optimist at heart, but I believe that things, and people, change for the better (most times).  History shows that things that are "different" are often frowned upon at first, but often produce long-term acceptance or a positive impact on culture.  It's an interesting evolutionary cycle as you watch "different" become mainstream, acceptable, and eventually embraced...much like the music transition from punk, new-wave, and the hair bands of the 1980's, to the 1990's grunge movement.

When is "different" ok?  When is "different" encouraged?  When is "different" necessary for your survival?

For your business to have value it must provide something that is better, cheaper, faster, more technical, simpler, easier, innovative...something...different.  What makes you or your organization different...really different?  I liked a recent blog post by ActusMR titled "Stand Out".  It focused on the reasons that you want to stand out for sales purposes, but there's more to it than just sales...right?  Businesses exist to make money...to sell...we all know that.  It's the underlying approach to our economy.  But they also do something more.  They become a part of the culture, the social landscape.  They become part of who we are.  They support families, support individuals, alter the view, change communities, change countries, and in some instances change the world.  Different...can change a lot of things.

Here are some simple tips to identify how your business is really different.

• Survey or simply ask your employees, your team, your department, what makes your group different.  Do you believe what they say?
• Survey or simply ask your customers, your clients, your patients what makes your company different.  This is risky business, maybe they won't know.  Hopefully they do.  In either case you'll learn something.
• Conduct a litmus test.  Do the differences your staff identify align with the differences your clients identify?  How do these two things align with the goals of your organization, your mission statement?  If they don't align, work at bringing these two views together.
• When you speak to potential clients, are the characteristics you talk about unique to you, or are they industry rhetoric?  If you talk about quality, what do you do differently than your competitors to ensure that quality exists?  Rhetoric isn't the actual difference; it is an outcome.  The different steps you take to achieve the outcome are the real difference.

It's important that you know how you are different.  Now that you know how you are different, be prepared to talk about your differences and, more importantly, be prepared to show why they are a benefit to your customers, your clients, your patients, or your employees.  Your organizations success and survival, either now or in the future, will depend on your ability to characterize why you or your products and services are different and why "different" matters.

• Are the other steps you take to identify what makes you different?
• How do you get the word out on your differences?
• What makes you different?

Robots and the Uses for IVR in Market Research Surveys

Did you ever used to watch the TV show "Mystery Science Theater 3000"?  The show was extremely funny and very creative.  The basic premise was to take a bunch of old, corny, black and white science fiction and horror movies, play them in the background on a large screen while a couple of "robots" and a human make fun of them.  Sounds like a strange premise, but it works.  If you've never seen it, make the jump (after you read this blog) to their website and check it out.  Very funny stuff.  

The thing that every person knows about robots is that, like Mystery Science Theater 3000, all good robots should have the ability to speak.  Market Research has speaking robots of their own.  If you're involved in doing telephone market research, you've heard of "robo-dialing" or "auto-dialing" and "interactive voice response - IVR".  Take a look at this picture...now you know who's making these automated research calls.

It's been a while since I really geeked out and posted an article that was extremely focused on methods of collecting market research data.  This one has been rolling around in my brain for some time.  For awhile now, I've wondered why more people don't use IVR with more regularity as a method for data collection.  I've come to the conclusion that researchers may be less familiar with the process, probably don't completely understand how it operates, and don't really make the connection to its benefits.

IVR or Interactive Voice Response has been around for quite some time.  About once a week, I receive a phone call from one of my children's schools telling me that they were absent from a class (most times we knew about it).  Candidates in the political arena often use the technology for "Get out the Vote" campaigns. Though it can't be used for research purposes, basic IVR phone technology is built into the structure of most company's telephone systems (ex. when the "phone tree" asks for the extension, your voicemail, etc.)  

The 2009 version of Rockhopper's "Research Industry Trends" report shows us that only 11% of companies actually use this market research data collection method.  I really wonder why the technology is used so infrequently, especially given that it has many of the same advantages as online research, and overcomes some of the barriers.  Here are some advantages to using IVR as a method of collection: 

• IVR deals very effectively with the self selected sampling methods comparable to what you see online (inbound calls from "current customers").  This is the IVR use that most people are familiar with. 
• Most IVR systems have the ability to make outbound calls.  IVR is a capable method for Random Digit Dialed (RDD) or client listed outbound studies.
• Because IVR is automated, the labor associated with the job is minimized.  The net result is a cost per interview that is much less expensive than "typical" phone studies and similar to online costs.
• Similar to online research, the turnaround time on IVR studies can be much faster for outbound dialed projects, with many of the same benefits of phone dialing and fewer of the "risks" associated with online research.
• IVR is particularly capable of generating qualified responses on low incidence studies.  Most systems can be set up to dial through the records and giving the respondent the choice between being transferred to a telephone interviewer (called a Warm Transfer) or completing the interview with the automated system.
• Many IVR systems store data in databases which are easily plugged in to data or research dashboards.

What are your thoughts.  Why don't more people use IVR in their arsenal of market research methods of collecting market research data?  Are there uses for IVR that I've missed?  What about barriers I've overlooked?  I look forward to your responses.

Mountains, Trail Markers, and Feedback

A few years back my brothers and I climbed the Grand Teton, a mountain peak in the Grand Teton National Park.  The Grand Teton is one of the highest points in Wyoming and reaches a daunting 13,770 feet in elevation.  The approach to the peak and back is about a 14 mile roundtrip hike that spans two days.  The first day is spent hiking to the base of the Teton and resting for the second day's activities.  The second day is spent scaling the Grand, and hiking all the way back to your car.  Scaling the peak itself requires climbing gear and a 2,700 foot elevation gain.  

At one point along the climb, the trail requires you scale a cliff where you are suspended by climbing gear, butt facing out on about 12,000 feet of air.  For me, this entire trip was a grueling, but once in a lifetime experience with many adventures, excitement, and tense moments.

Among the many interesting experiences we had on this trip, there's one that I'll never forget.  As we reached the summit of the Grand, it began to rain...and lightening.  I'm not sure if you've ever stood on a peak that high in the air but you quickly realize how miniscule you are.  When lightening begins to drop, it becomes extremely scary and beautiful all at once.  You can feel the electricity in the air, the hair on your arms stand on end, but you are taken aback by the setting.  As the rain and lightening began to drop around us, it became quickly apparent that we were at significant risk of being hit.  As much as we wanted to stay and enjoy the scenery, it was imperative that get off the mountain very quickly.  

Cairns, as they relate to back-country hiking, are trail markers made from piled-together rocks that mark the trail when the trail itself isn't obvious, for instance through rock beds, rivers, etc.  They help hikers avoid getting lost, are extremely important for navigation, and are sometimes very difficult to find.  An Epic, in the climbing world, is a very dangerous experience...one that should happen infrequently...but that you live to tell about.  

Our start on the second day was a little later than we would have liked and we moved more slowly than we'd have expected.  As we sped down the Grand Teton, with rain and lightening falling all around us and the sky darkening, we realized that this Epic was nowhere close to being over.  When the series of long repels were completed and we were able to get to a safer area, we had a seven mile hike in the rain ahead of us...in the dark.  The Cairns that seemed so obvious in the daylight, were much more difficult to find with only a headlamp to guide the way.  The trail was eerily difficult to follow and we were exhausted by the days epic events.

I learned something about human nature...and myself...on that trip.  We, as humans, are capable of doing difficult things.  We're capable of overcoming obstacles that we'd never imagine in our way.  I believe these traits apply to not only our personal lives, but our businesses, employment, and work lives.

What are the Epics that you face in your business or your employment.  Is the recent recession one?  What about other events?  What are the Cairns that you use to help you guide the way to business success?  Here are some suggestions for guiding you through epic events...some business Cairns:

• Constantly collect feedback from your customers, your patients, your constituents, or your employees on what you are doing well and what you can improve on.  Feedback surveys are a good way of collecting information to ensure you have a trail to follow.
• Provide yourself with immediate access to this feedback information so that you are aware of issues quickly.  This access could be in a data or business intelligence dashboard format, or something as simple as dropping all feedback responses into your e-mail.  Your customers, patients, constituents, employees, etc. will appreciate you for gathering this information and they'll be more likely to stick with the trail as a result.  
• Make sure you act on the feedback information as quickly as you can.  There's no reason to gather feedback if you have no intention to do anything with it.  Waiting for months or years to address issues are as problematic as not knowing the issues to begin with.  If the trail doesn't have a clear path with constant improvements, it becomes much harder to follow.

Questions, Bands, Musicians and Market Research

I love questions, especially the unique ones.  It's probably one of the reasons I enjoy market research so much.  When I was young and working myself through college and graduate school I worked a series of menial jobs that ranged from fast food worker, pizza delivery guy, big box store associate (that was quite the promotion from fast food worker), and wound up with a job chasing a developmentally disabled individual around a learning facility, primarily to "discourage" him from touching people.  My "college enlightened" brain was BORED.  To entertain myself, I'd ask questions that not only entertained me but made the folks I worked with think...and passed the time more quickly.  I loved to ask questions like: 

• If you HAD to live the life of a Brady Bunch character...who would it be?  Why?
• If you could only drive one TV car for the rest of your life, what car would it be?  Why?
• If you woke up in the morning morphed into a superhero, who would you want it to be?  Why?
• If you had to marry a cartoon character, who would it be (this was prior to "adult cartoons"...other than Heavy Metal or parts of The Wall.) And, Why?
• If you were going to work in a job, that wasn't "White Collar" and wasn't for the money, what would it be?  Why? 

I would entertain myself for hours thinking about and engaged in conversations surrounding topics like this...not exactly saving the world...but at least my brain wasn't turning to Lime Green Jello.

I was listening to some music this morning as I was going about my work.  I love placing my Ipod on shuffle and seeing what comes out.  Music has a fascinating way of putting you in a place, a time, an event, a frame of mind.  One song can flash you to different events in your life...and you're there...for better or for worse...only for a moment.  Music has meaning.  For instance, if you ever walk into my office and I'm listening to show tunes...bust your butt to get out of there as quickly as you can...Don't get me wrong, I like show tunes and it could be one of those really upbeat songs that may sound really happy...it's still not a good sign.

This morning, due to some music I was listening to, I started thinking about this time in my life.  The time when I had much less to do and much less responsibility...and I ran across one of THOSE questions...so I mandatarily asked my staff (no opt-in). 

• If (Insert Your Company Here) were a band, a musician, or a musical group, who would it be and why.  

If you've never asked a question like this of your staff, you should try it.  In fact, I'd encourage you to ask this specific question of your staff.  The answers are insightful.  Is your company like: 

• A Reggae Band - Doesn't get worked up over much, everything is always peaceful, and very little conflict exists?
• A Country Western Band - Down on your luck, always running into trouble...lost your wife, your horse, and your money.
• A Speed Metal Band - Loud, frantic, unorganized.
• A Lounge Singer - Solid for years, but struggling as the world outgrows you.
• A Classic Rock Band - The band that continues to evolve over time to meet the needs of the current listeners, but really has to work at it.
• An Alternative Band - New products, new ideas, new ways of delivering your message.
• A Pop Band - Smack in the center, not really trying to make any waves, but trying to continue as long as the song/group/market will hold out.
• A Hip-Hop Group - New and exciting, pushing the envelope, trying to make people think, maybe in it for the money...and the creativity...and the money.
• A Choir or Symphony - regimented but organized, inadequate as an individual, but brilliant when placed together. 

The list can go on and on...but every answer has an underlying meaning.  These types of organizational personality tests can say a lot without saying a lot.  In a non-confrontational way, you can better understand your staff, the macro view of your company, and the view of what you spend most of your time doing.  Take the following market research litmus test.  The results may surprise you. 

• Call your shot - If your company were a band, a musician, or a musical group, who would it be and why.  Give me your company, the musician or group, and why it describes you.  ENTER IT ON THIS BLOG...RECORD IT!
• Now ask - Ask this same question to those that report to you, your staff, your department, your company.  TELL THEM WHAT THEY SAID...THEY'LL ENJOY IT!
• Evaluate the results - Does it match?  Does the view of those in your organization align with what you've recorded here?  Is it better or worse?  Do you have work to do to improve your organization so that your view of the company matches the view of those that report to you (don't answer this question here).

Social Media Market Research Methods are REALLY Unevolved

Sometimes you just run out of things to say.  We've all experienced it.  When you're engaged in conversation with a group of people, it's the lull in conversation between the end of one topic and the beginning of another.  The quieting of the chatter.  Then something happens, it's a little bit difficult to define what it is, but a stimulus occurs that shoots the conversation down a whole new track, a micro conversation that invigorates the macro conversation.  I believe that this happens in social media, and I experienced it recently with this blog. 

For the first time since starting this blog, for the past couple of weeks, I've frankly had very little to say.  It was a very interesting experience for me.  I'm not a rabid talker to begin with, but I typically have some thought...some idea...some topic for this blog...gestating in my head.  I had nothing.  A lapse in the conversation...

Until last night...

Last night I was given a very simple illustration of the impact social media can have on the conversation.  I've mentioned this before, but I have teens in my household.  Two of them began to argue last night about whether cheerleading is actually a sport.  One of them is a cheerleader, the other a soccer player.  The soccer player posted this simple question to his 300 friends on Facebook..."Who agrees that cheerleading isn't a sport? Sorry Sis."  Incidentally, the cheerleader had just returned from a two-hour tumbling session, was tired, sore, and feisty.  Chaos ensued.  The simple question resulted in 42 Facebook comments (not to mention the internal "conversation" going on in my household).  Both sides of the controversy chimed in with blistering frequency (over an hour and a half) and then the conversation stopped very abruptly when the parents of these teens sent them all to bed around 10:30pm.  

In the process of the conversation, I Googled whether cheerleading was a sport and didn't really come to a definitive answer.  When I didn't get a resolution to the question from Google, I consulted the mother of all immediate answers...ChaCha.

If you've never heard or used this service, it's very unique (and for the most part free).  The teens I know use this service A LOT.  You text ChaCha a question (242242 - spells "ChaCha")...any question...and ChaCha will text you the answer.  You can send some N number of questions per month (data & txt messages apply) without being charged (I don't text them often enough to know what the limit is).  The slogan on their website is "Real people answering your questions!  Crazy Huh?"

I texted this simple question to ChaCha.  "Is cheerleading a sport".  As always, ChaCha came back with a reply in less than 30 seconds.  "ESPN Court rules cheerleading is contact sport, yet many states for high school sports are not ruling it a sport, it depends who you ask.  I would say Cheerleading is a sport."  An ESPN Court ruled that cheerleading is not only a sport but a contact sport.  If you've seen many cheerleading competitions, you'll understand.  In the past several years that I've attended these competitions with my daughter, I've seen more people fall out of "stunts", more girls kicked or inadvertently punched in the face, fallen or dropped from 15-20 feet in the air, and/or hurt than I've seen in most other "sport" activities.  At one point I actually tried to start videoing when these athletes "took a whipper."  I agree with ChaCha.  Cheerleading, at least competitive cheerleading, is a sport.

In connecting the dots from this experience to the market research that many of us provide, something occurred to me.  Social media market research methods are REALLY UNDERDEVELOPED and VERY UNSTANDARDIZED.  As I've followed the #MarketResearch hash tag on Twitter, I realized something.  The way that most of us operating in the market research industry define market research, and the way that a lot of "other" businesses often define market research are very different.

You'll often see this post pop up on Twitter "Conducting #MarketResearch on...".  The interesting point here is that this person is typically not doing any kind of Qualitative or Quantitative research as the market research industry has defined it.  No focus group, no ethnography, no MROC, no survey, no statistical analysis, but is simply "looking stuff up".  They're "looking stuff up" using Google, and Facebook, and Twitter, and article sites, and possibly...when they just can't get the answer, they're shooting the question over to ChaCha...all in the name of market research.  Not exactly our market research methods...or are they?  Are these our evolved research methods for conducting social media market research?

A few years ago I ran across an article in Quirks by Tim Macer.  He was doing an evaluation of a number of industry software packages.  Since then, when I run across his published articles, I try to take a look at them.  Recently, he and an associate published their "Globalpark Annual Market Research Software Survey 2009".  This was their sixth annual survey and well worth a look.  Pertaining to this post, a small part of this study was an evaluation of the online communities being managed by his sample.  The results were a little surprising given the amount of "chatter" that goes on regarding social media and research methods.  He found:

• "Communities are still very rare."
• "Early adopters are still operating very few communities."
• "Over half of companies have no plans to operate an online community."
• Of the companies that were running communities most were using the same software to run their communities that they were using to run their panels.

This recent "cheerleading" experience and the lack of established and solid social media based research tools, leads me to the conclusion that I stated earlier.  Social media research methods, and their accompanying technologies, are REALLY UNDERDEVELOPED and VERY UNSTANDARDIZED.  In fact, I'm not even sure that they are completely defined yet or even exist with any level of sophistication...they are EXTREMELY UNEVOLVED.  I appreciate the efforts by a few early adopters in our industry who have started writing about how to do this work more effectively.  If you've seen or written one of these articles, please post the link to your article here as a reference for the readers.  

Before we face the challenges of the unrepresentative online panel, we as a market research industry, should define what social media research is to begin with (even though the definition will evolve...much like the conversation evolves), and establish best practices for doing good, quality, social media market research that can be analyzed and/or evaluated in reportable ways that represent the opinions of engaged participants willing to add to the conversation. 

• Are you aware of a great article on how to conduct social media research?  If so, please link to it on this post.  For the good of the market research community. 

Hanging With The Locals - Regional Tastes and Market Research

Actionable Market Research: How's your marriage?

As I was driving into work this morning, a story came on the radio that I found very interesting.  A group of Sociologists in Switzerland had conducted a study of a "representative and longitudinal sample of 1074 cohabiting and married couples living in Switzerland" to identify traits that would predict success in marriage.  I tracked down an abstract of the research article "Optimizing the marriage market: An application of the linear assignment model" scheduled to be released April 16 in the European Journal of Operational Research.  The title sounds pretty...

 boring...really...academic, but the results will surprise you.  Though the authors of the study would never have intended it, the results of the study were pretty humorous, may have some merit, would require a fundamental change to "dating", and don't reflect very well on those of us who are male.  For example: 

• It was recommended that women marry men that are five years older than they are.  My take on this is that maybe it would give those of us who are male a chance to "GROW UP!" before we hear it repeatedly from our wives.

• They recommended that men marry women who are 27% smarter than they are.  You always hear about men trying to "MARRY UP", now there is statistical evidence that validates why men should do this.  Women...find someone who is clearly less intelligent than you are and your success in marriage will increase.  I'm assuming this is because of the ongoing need to have someone smart enough in the marriage to compensate for the stupid things men do, their reluctance to ever ask for directions, and their inability to use a map.

• The researchers also recommend cultural similarity...aka a cultural "MATCH UP".  Specifically, they recommended that the Swiss marry other Swiss.  I find this somewhat insensitive, but do the statistics lie?  Can this be applied to the US...if you are looking for a marriage partner, should you avoid the Swiss entirely?  What about locally, should a Utahan marry a Mississippian?  It's probably a good idea for Utahan's to marry other Utahan's, no one else understands them anyway (I'm actually from Utah so I have every right to say that).  Does this mean that my Utahan sons have no shot at successfully marrying (and hanging on to) amorous French women because their potential for a successful marriage is statistically unlikely to succeed (even if they could find one to court to begin with)? 

Social Research: Brand Evolution and Meaning through Horchata

Etymology is the study of the history of words.  Words, just like everything else, have a history.  They evolve, they change and they come to mean different things to different people.  Take the word "Thong" for instance.  Not many people would like to see me in a thong...let alone borrow a thong from me.  But, in the 80's, thong meant something else entirely.  It referred to a "flip-flop".  The idea of me in an '80's defined thong is much less repulsive.  Borrowing someone's thong to run to the store wasn't socially frowned on and it was perfectly acceptable to run out your front door...to your mailbox...in your mother's thongs.

More years ago than I'd like to admit, I had a professor in graduate school who was an expert in the history of meaning and how meanings come to be defined.  His name was James Aho and he's written a number of books on varying topics ranging from politics, accounting, enemies, health, how we experience our bodies, how we experience the world, etc.  I learned an important thing from him...that the way we experience our world and the meaning we assign to things in our world differ according to our culture, our family, our past life experiences, our politics, our country, our religion, the list goes on and on.  Even systematic professions like the medical industry and accounting have relevant social meanings that are different for different people.  What is considered "healthy" and "acceptable practice" has changed over time, differs according to current trends, and can be impacted by marketing.  

The food pyramid is a prime example.  In the first three minutes of a search on the food pyramid I found a pyramid for Vegans, Native Americans, Vegetarians, Low Carbians (All you can eat meat), and Diabetics.  My son has a t-shirt that includes the food pyramid and only includes types of pizza.  I even found a zombie food pyramid.  

The simple food pyramid of the  '90's evolved out of the notion of "food groups" (carbohydrates, protein, dairy, fats, vitamins, fiber, and minerals) and into the "new food pyramid" published in 2005 with an expectation of a re-release of an even "newer" food pyramid in 2010.  To complicate things, many different countries have their own version of the food pyramid...you may be healthy in one area of the world, but not in another.  Isn't it just food?  Is there JUST food?

Brands operate the same way and evolve over time.  What's the meaning of a brand?  You come to define who you are as a person by the brands you consume...or is it the other way around...the brands you consume come to define you as a person.  We've all seen (or written) the market research survey that asks what a specific consumer product means to you in characteristics that make very little sense to the physical make-up of the product but get to the bottom of the meaning of the brand.  What product comes to mind when you hear these trigger words?  Different products and meanings come to mind for different people.

• Rugged
• Refreshing
• Fresh
• IT
• Accountant
• Religious
• Socially Conscious

Brands invoke feelings and meanings...feelings of nostalgia for the past and anticipation for the future.  I may drink Coca Cola because I want to feel happy all year round.  I purchase Go-Daddy domains so that I can hang around attractive women and look cool (even if I'm a disheveled IT guy).  I drive a Subaru so people will see me as active.  If I feel like I'm doing these things than, in essence, am I not these things.  Who wouldn't want to be happy, active and attractive?  

Finally, my fourteen year old son had a recent experience that really illustrated this point to me.  The other day at a restaurant he filled his drink cup with Horchata.  It was the first time he'd ever done that and seemed like a simple act.  Many of you have probably consumed Horchata and may do it with some regularity.  The meaning of the act, for him, was much different than the meaning you apply to drinking Horchata.  You may like how it tastes, you may come from a culture who has a background in Horchata consumption, you may drink it to offset spicy food.  My son does not.      

My son identifies with all things alternative.  We are from the US, but my father lived in Wales through his young adult years.  My son has grown up watching EPL (English Premier League) football (soccer for those in the US) and particularly identifies with the Chelsea Football Club/Brand instead of an American football, basketball, or baseball team.  He plays soccer instead of American football, and is submerged in the soccer culture.  He has long hair (instead of the typical "short" cut typical of Salt Lake City) and listens to alternative music.  So, how does he make the connection to his identification with all things alternative and Horchata?  He listens to a New York originating band called Vampire Weekend.  They sing a song called Horchata.  Through some meaning that he's defined to his limited life experience, consuming Horchata connects him to what he likes best...all things alternative.  He now consumes Horchata because that is who he is.

What does your brand say about you?  Whether you provide consumer products, business to business services, or you're a market research company, your company brand says something and means something to those around you.  Do you know what your company...what your brand means, what your customers experience is, what they view themselves to be when they use your products and services? If you don't know, I would suggest that you ask.

• What brands do you identify with...and what meaning do they take on for you?