In this issue we look at the Latin America and Asia Pacific regions, and how research deals with diversity.
The mobile revolution continues apace and this has huge implications for the way we think about and design surveys. Are we ready to take up the challenge?
In this issue we look at the huge changes that are impacting Latin America, one of the fastest growing regions worldwide. Vibrant economies, a rapid uptake of market research and a new generation going online are creating new ideas, new experiences and exciting new opportunities.
In this issue we look at research effectiveness and the skills needed by researchers now and in the future.
This issue focuses on the latest developments in Latin America, and also featuring an exclusive interview with best-selling author Jim Collins.
Research for social and political purposes is a fundamental building block in the making and sustenance of a successful democracy. The return on research in the social and political domain far outweighs its cost. Research is indeed a fundamental plank of democracy, allowing the governed to speak to those in power in between elections, ensuring that those who rule are kept close to the realities of their peoples' needs and helping them inform their electorates and engage them in rational conversation. In todays world of utilitarian politics, it is perhaps the most important tool that we have.
To be a media planner today must be one of the most stressful jobs in the business world. Confronted with a tsunami of change in the ways in which people consume media - and indeed live their lives wrapped up in different and new media environments -it is their job to make crucial multimillion-dollar decisions on media spending allocation. To be able to do this effectively, you would have to be a world-class anthropologist, understanding just how each new generation interacts with a media landscape that is constantly changing in different parts of the world. How do you leverage a MySpace or a Second Life? How do you understand the role of mobile web in India or China where it is now the first screen? And how can you possibly calculate the return on your investment when the measurement currencies differ wildly in their estimates and something as banal as cookie deletion completely throws your numbers for a loop? Our second area of focus in this issue centres on the deliberations at WIN (the World Industry Network) in Paris.
All sorts of consumer-generated media have come into being in the last couple of years, including blogs, forums, podcasts, online social networks and communities. Here, we are talking about a collective name that is applied to different forms of digital communications whereby millions of consumers openly share their opinions and experiences, often about their reactions to products and services, sometimes providing very valuable insights. Some companies try to give this platform a key role and even refer to co-creation and co-production. Tests are also being conducted with narrowcasting. And experiments with infrared sensors are being carried out on the shop floor, in the search for in-store metrics. Is the market research industry, just like the communications industry, continuing in its search for up-to-date respondent-generated input? And will this give rise to new and innovative activities? How do we deal with the fascinating opportunities of digital connection and interactivity? We take a first look at developments in this issue of Research World.
The football World Cup this summer in Germany is, together with the preceding qualifying games, one ofthe largest competitions in the world. Its importance is enormous -it has a huge impact on productivity and media behaviour, as well as consumption, eating habits and how the day is divided. This means that substantial amounts of money are spent on TV rights, media coverage, advertising, promotion, sponsoring and merchandising. But what do these investments generate? Well resist the temptation to discuss who will win, although there is of course the well-known saying that football is a game with two teams of eleven players which lasts 90 minutes, at the end of which the Germans are the winners. Instead, we will immerse ourselves in identifying the role of research surrounding leisure and this tournament. What is happening? What do the advertisers want? We will look more closely at the activities of a few agencies specialising in sports and sponsorship research. What are their identifying features? And we will discuss what can we learn from research: will the twelfth man be reached and with what result?
There are numerous anecdotes demonstrating how inventors and entrepreneurs had no clear vision of how new products would be adopted or used. Because of the lack of growth in a lot of markets, efforts are being stepped up to identify successful new products in companies. To what extent can modern intelligence contribute? Traditionally MR plays a role in reducing uncertainty. Nobody will deny this. But can MR also properly predict and accurately pronounce upon the success of new concepts in the long term? It is claimed that state-of-the-art research generates insight as well as hindsight. But does modern MR also generate foresight? Foresight should not be confused with fantasy. Hamel and Prahalad claimed that foresight means seeing the future before it arrives. And they said that the challenge in competing for industry foresight is to create hindsight in advance. How do you develop foresight? According to them, the answer is to obtain deep insight into trends in lifestyles, technology, demographics, regulations and politics. They refer to the importance of imagination, deep and boundless curiosity and of creating cultures in which contrarians can play a role. If you look in the literature, you will find other suggestions. It is important that we escape from the myopia of internal tradition. Look for metaphors and analogies and learn from others. Put yourself in the shoes of your competitors. The profession, as no other, can obtain and present deep insight into lifestyles, demographics, technology and regulations and can play an active role in business creation and in supporting research in the different phases of development of an idea or product.
With the Olympics returning to their cradle, Greece will be the centre of the world's media-attention this summer. It is hoped for, and cautiously expected, that the enormous event will give the country's industries - including market research - a much needed boost.