Surveys are one of the staples of market research. Insight professionals have been designing surveys since market research first began, with the aim to get the best data possible. Surveys, along with focus groups, are one of the most discussed and most taught practices in market research, as such there are many guides out there on the internet on how to design surveys. What there isn’t a guide for, is how to make sure the survey you design is effective and impactful, capable of generating the right data at the right time.

So how do we know whether we’re asking…

I have to confess I’ve recently found myself getting to that age where I sometimes think to myself ‘ooh young people today, with their bubble tea in a jam jar and ‘Tik Toking’. Especially when you realise that Millennials aren’t even the youngsters now and it’s all about Gen-Z… This, I suspect is how Market Research must feel about User Experience research, its younger, cooler, freer associate.

Market Research: The Super Tanker

Market research was traditionally about commissioned projects, planning, scale, analysis and reporting. You could see a project coming over the horizon a few weeks ahead, there would be a design phase, a recruitment…

Measuring the success of anything in market research can be tricky: the success of a project, the success of a particular decision within the research process, the success of a task, and but in particular, the success of the insights the insight team generate on a daily basis.

There are insight teams across the world trying hard to work out how to measure this success as we speak in order to correct strategic directions, prove the use of research tools, and justify future research projects all at the very least. …

Playbooks are a great educational tools present in all industries for a variety of different audiences. Sports playbooks are most likely the most well-known example of a playbook, containing key information on different strategies, players, locations, equipment, policies, ethos, future season scheduling, and so much more. But there are also sales playbooks and business playbooks that contain similar, but more specific business-orientated information and tactics.

These business playbooks help departments and teams stay aligned within the objectives and strategies playing out across an organisation, so all efforts ultimately aid in elevating the business and achieving those goals. …

After more than 10 years working in online and mobile market research I have worked with many insight, product and marketing professionals to set-up insight platforms to guide the business to success.

In order to deliver success from your insight tools it takes careful consideration of what you want to achieve, there are a wide array of options on the market and we have written about important considerations in the process before. But today, I want to share a few potential pitfalls and how to avoid them. If you have an appetite for innovation and trying out new things then…

The challenges insight professionals face today are significant, some new, and some we have carried with us since the very start. Investment, education, redesigning research strategies for the changing times, proving the value of insights, and more are constantly discussed in articles, podcasts, networking and conference events, and social media.

Progress to move past them is tough, but achievable if we work together. Last week, FlexMR’s Research Director, Maria Twigge, hosted a roundtable event with eight prominent insight professionals from a variety of different industries:

• Rachel Binks, Senior Consumer Insight and Experience Manager at Cancer Research UK
• Ajay Mistry, Customer…

Important decisions happen every minute of every day. As normal people, we take the information apparent in that moment to make the best decision possible; as insight professionals we are responsible for producing as much information as possible for stakeholders to make decisions with. Understanding both sides of the coin helps insight teams know exactly what insight is needed at each moment in time.

We in the insights industry are constantly searching for ways to deliver insights at the speed of business, capturing customer reactions as soon as possible, while minimising bias and increasing the impact and reach. …

Building a strong client-agency relationship in the insights industry can be tough, mainly due to a perception gap about the other party on both sides of the relationship.

One of our whitepapers tackles this very topic; FlexMR North American Client Development Manager Heather Wendlandt conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with a series of senior insight professionals on both sides of the equation. What Heather discovered was a number of miscommunications taken on both sides driven by the lack of understanding without knowing how to bridge the gap.

We explore this concept further in the new video in our Casual Conversation series…