2017 is fast approaching — we have a little over three weeks until the New Year, which means it’s time to look ahead, refocus and plan for the upcoming months.
At FlexMR we are dedicated to pushing the boundaries of online research, enhancing our clients’ insight generation capabilities in everything we do. This is achieved through a flexible service structure that puts you in control, expert researcher collaboration and, our world leading qual and quant market research platform.
Throughout 2016 we have grown in many ways, continually developing our software and tools including the launch of our brand new Question BoardMR tool as well as expanding the research, sales and development teams.
While it may be easy to look at how far we have come, it is more important to look to the future. What do we want to achieve over the coming months? How is the industry going to change, and what will our role in that be? But perhaps most crucially of all: how do we better ourselves, to ensure research excellence throughout the year? The answer to these questions has helped us form our 2017 market research resolutions.
1. Plan For Continuous Disruption/Innovation
Technology is changing fast as are the Marketing and Market Research industries. Every business has to fight to stay relevant in this fast-moving world. Every brand and agency has a duty to keep pace with change and the opportunities and threats that it brings. We are no different. Our mission through 2017 is to stay up to date with technological change and chart its impact on us, our industry and our clients.
We will plan for disruption; and embrace it. We will be a part of the debate, listen to and understand our client’s needs and concerns and help them to capitalise on advancements. We have many exciting developments planned for our platform including new designs, functions and tools and we look forward to an exciting period of change for the industry.
New Year’s Resolution: Plan for technological disruption. and embrace it.
2. Lead The Future of Qualitative Research
One of the most exciting and fast changing areas of market research is qual. With everyone having a mobile phone in their pocket, getting feedback continuously and ‘in the moment’ remains a hot topic. It’s time to truly unlock the value of this, which is why one of our content themes this year is ‘The Contextual Revolution’.
‘The Rise of Mass Qual’ is the theme of the Qual 360 conference in Amsterdam in February, which we are proud to be participating in again for the second year running. Qual is being redefined, with organisations trying to ‘scale’ and automate qual feedback from hundreds of participants. The rise of Artificial Intelligence bots are set to be discussed too. Whilst these are exciting developments we also remain a strong believer in the value of ‘true’ qual, the value of moderation, discussion and collaboration which can be so easily missed in an automated world.
As the customer continues to demand an ever more interactive, instantaneous experience, FlexMR will ensure that our clients can capture instant and interactive feedback on those experiences, ultimately bringing client and customer closer than ever before.
3. Create a Feedback Loop
Online long-term communities are packed full of insight as members constantly feedback in one form or another. However, it is important for members to see that their feedback is being used. With such busy schedules, it can be challenging for organisations to make full use of the opportunities arising from community data and there is real risk is of big cyberspace black hole. We will bridge the gap between member feedback and client action to drive businesses forward and enhance community engagement.
New Year’s Resolution — Bridge the gap between community feedback and client action.
4. Pushing The Boundaries Further
In 2017 we have another program of informative content; we will focus on four key areas throughout the year, examining digital developments in research and marketing.
In particular will be turning our attention to:
- The Contextual Revolution
- Automating Efficient Insight
- An Experiential Economy
- Nurturing Research Talent
Each quarter, we will tackle one of these topics, analysing it in detail and bringing to the fore new ideas that could change the way we think about research. Not only will we be challenging our own beliefs about market research, but we hope we will challenge you too — paving the way for innovative new concepts and positive change in the research industry.
We are also speaking at Qual360 in Amsterdam in February, discussing how Artificial Intelligence can bring ‘Big Qual’ to life. Join us for a fascinating look at the future of qual research by registering at Qual360 Europe 2017.
The countdown has begun. We can’t wait until 2017 and the fresh challenges to come. We look forward to sharing a whole new way of looking at research with you. Until then, we wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Do share your 2017 market research resolutions with us. What do you want to see more of in the New Year? What wishes do you have for the industry? And most of all, what changes do you want to make?
