The seminar was intended to deal with research management both in manufacturing companies and in research agencies but almost inevitably a bias crept in because of the nature of the people who chose to attend and a greater emphasis tended to be placed on the structure, management financing and development of the research company of the future.
This brief paper is only intended as an introduction to my part of the seminar, giving the reasons for my philosophy and thinking concerning the marketing of market research. By so doing, I hope this will enable more time to be spent at the Seminar discussing and illustrating some of the more detailed aspects of the marketing of market research.
The market research industry in the U.K. has not only grown appreciably over the last two decades, but it has also changed considerably in character and the way in which it is structured. The purpose of this paper is to look at what changes have taken place, why they have taken place in the industry and to see how a typical research company has coped and adapted itself (for better or for worse) to these changing conditions.
Conclusion of the seminar "Managing market research as a business" by J. A. Burdus.
How much should be spent on Market Research? This is a common question for which there is no simple answer. The Market Research expenditure should reflect the plans and objectives of the Company. Consequently, the Market Research budget should be prepared in conjunction with, and as part of, the Marketing plans for the following year. This must be done thoroughly, and in considerable detail. The preparation of such a budget can only be done if the Market Research Manager has a full and detailed discussion with each Brand Manager, or his equivalent, when the annual Marketing plans for each brand have been completed, and approved by the Company.
When reflecting on organising an opinion and market research company, the first difficulty is the necessity not to find a good organisation but to find a good organisation convenient for the men who put it into practice. The problem is that of being able to adapt the structure not only to problems resulting from size, market or nature of survey launched but at the same time to men who work together in the company: this relation between organisation and men appears clearly through the past evolution of SOFRES: During the fifteen years of the company's life, its organisation has evolved considerably and each step is coincidental with arrival or departure of the level of their competence and consequently of their demands. The best way to introduce the description of this solution we put in practice to solve this problem, is to give a summary of the evolution of SOFRES organisation with a brief description of the various solutions used one after the other, their advantages, their drawbacks and their consequences.
It is often said that pharmaceutical market research is "different". I would prefer to look at it the other way round and say that as an industry we have certain needs and that certain types of agencies cater for those needs. We require, basically, two types of research. The first is what might be called syndicated continuous audit data based on panels and the second, ad hoc field surveys based primarily on interviews with members of the medical profession, but occasionally also with pharmacists and even on occasions with members of the public. This paper looks at the problem of choosing an agency and the importance of establishing a continuous working relationship, the level of expertise of the agency in relation specifically to pharmaceutical market research and finally the ability of the agency to conduct research internationally.
In this paper a model will be described which is simple in essence, but which will allow to demonstrate the mutual relationship between a number of variables of a financial and cost-technical nature. As will be shown some of the variables may be used as adequate instruments in order to define certain changes in the company policy. First a summary of the most important cost-technical variables will be given.
During the Luxembourg Seminar on "Managing Market Research as a Business" I carried out a brief survey on some aspects of the management of research institutes. The questionnaire was set up in haste and the sample is the only representative of agency people present in Luxembourg. Nevertheless, it may be worthwhile to have a look at the results, which must be of interest to everybody engaged in market research. From the 34 bureaus that were represented 25 are managed by a professional researcher and 9 by a non-professional. Mainly social psychological research is carried out by 15 bureaus, quantitative research by 25, continuous research (panel/audit/omnibus) by 16. In 13 cases the manager is a shareholder and not so in 21 cases. A profit sharing scheme for senior staff exists with 14 out of the 34.
Downham's comment on the paper "The organisation of market research within manufacturing and marketing companies" by G. Rüping.
Roughton's comment on the paper "The shoemaker's children always have the poorest shoes" by A. Leighton.