InterVIEW
Raising the standards Market research’s Grumpy Old Man reminds us what we’re here for.
Quarter 4 / 2014 InterVIEW 1
WORD FROM THE BOARD
InterVIEW Publisher Research Association. The dedicated team which produced this newsletter includes: Rob Bree General Manager
Welcome to this year’s final InterVIEW and the mad rush to the summer (fingers crossed) holidays. As usual the InterVIEW team have pulled together some excellent, inspiring and challenging articles. Not the least of which comes from our resident Grumpy Old Man (he said it!) Jonathan Dodd who is challenging all of us to raise our game with respect to research design and execution. I won’t spoil your read for you by giving away too much but I will say that I agree with most of what JD intends. Quality is one of the big industry drivers. When our quality slips, the client relationship goes backwards and public confidence in what we do is damaged. Without a willing audience and public, our industry cannot succeed. As an association, promoting and supporting industry quality (and thus reputation) is paramount. How can our association do that even better? Maybe you have some thoughts you’d like to send in via a letter to the editor. 2 InterVIEW Quarter 4 / 2014
Last week I was fortunate to attend a conference of other association directors. And it was really interesting to hear about the issues that other associations are facing and how they are dealing with them. One particular speaker talked about the grinding wheels of change and how change can seem slow but is actually precipitous and in some cases calamitous. The example that springs to mind is Uber. Taxi companies have been dealing with technology challenges and opportunities for years and then, almost suddenly, disruption hit their industry globally thanks to a game changing app and some willing drivers and consumers. What disruptive forces are you facing in your businesses? How are you evolving to meet those? How can the association support the industry through those challenges? What ‘quality’ changes should we be considering to prepare us all for the markets of the future?
Anika Nafis Sue Cardwell Penelope Lim Rachel Prendergast Karin Curran Robyn Moore Nick Campbell Jane McKellar
Images are copyright to their owners and should not be copied without permission. Copyright (c) Stock.XCHNG Photos, 123RF Stock Photos, RA. InterVIEW is published four times a year by an enthusiastic sub-committee of the Research Association committee. The views expressed are not those of the Research Association. We welcome your input and your requests for advertising space. Visit us: www.researchassociation.org.nz
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S P O IL A EL E RR T
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Meet the winner of NZ’s DIVAs award – shall we shine a spotlight or illuminate the canvas? “Research projects are designed to answer specific business or marketing issues and as such they shine a beam on the specific and relevant questions that need to be answered’. Come with us to hear how NZ’s first DIVAs winner illuminates the canvas on the winning research piece!
RANZ Awards with Horst, read on and get the lowdown the awards night….there was a certain buzz at the foyer when everyone came together, realised how fabulous we all looked and mingled before the entrance to the dining / events area. My highlight was being jumped on and kissed by Spence..ah yes! The bro-mance.
Common mistakes found in market research and how to mitigate them. Watch Jonathan Dodd’s video .
60 seconds with …..Laura the 2014 Rookie of the year winner! Who is she?....well let’s start with your ‘typical’ 20 something Wellingtonian who would love to traipse around Inca ruins in South American or volunteer at a Lemur Sanctuary in Madagascar.
What are your thoughts on this ethical dilemma or err big question!…. What do we have to gain by screening out market researchers from surveys? Is this because we are too clever, or because we fear the lucky draws might be rigged… join in our conversation on linkedin.
The last of the training Tuesdays – see how they went!
CONTENTS 2. 6. 8. 10. 11. 19. 21. 23.
WORD FROM THE BOARD
Letters to the editor
Ethical Dilemmas
standard of research
RANZ AWARDS
BRANDED FILM
S
5 Trends for Researchers
25. 29. 31. 35. 36. 38. 40.
Marrying big data with real life consumers
STORYTELLING: Leigha Selby
A feast for the eyes
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Stephen Conway
60 SECONDS WITH
...
SAVE THE DATE
THE ART OF WAR
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S R E TT LE E TH TO
ED ITOR
Dear Ed, Congratulations on a wonderful newsletter. Ticks all the boxes for me, informative, entertaining, current, and relevant beyond just MR. Keep up the great work.
Dear Ed, Just wanted to make mention of Massey University’s new Master of Analytics qualification. I met with the professors involved with the post-graduate qualification last month and was very impressed with what is on offer. Anyone wanting a career in analytics or just wanting to strengthen their analytical skills should seriously consider it. It kicks off in February 2015 with one-year full-time or two-years part-time options and is particularly ideal to researchers with a strong analytical bent. The part-time course has been specially developed for people already well into their working careers. They are keen to have industry involvement and the association is working with them on what form that might take. Rob Bree GM RANZ @Rob_bree
Jamie Hall Life Member
Ed
Dear Jamie, Thank you for the feedback. This year we wanted a bit of a change to make it more interesting to read and also be relevant beyond just research. So your feedback is a great reassurance for us. We’re delighted InterVIEW is a good read for you! Ed
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Ed Dear Rob, Many thanks for letting us know about Massey. We can probably all benefit from learning an analytical approach and applying some rigour in our research methods. It’s also great to have academic institutions be involved and interested in what we do . Ed
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dear Ed,
Coming to New Zealand from Australia it is great to see and experience that the Research Association is going from strength to strength. Compliments in particular to those who have made professional development a continual focus this year. It’s impressive to see how active our market research community in New Zealand is, and the opportunities RANZ brings us with initiatives like Training Tuesdays, Masterclass and the screening of the AMSRS webinars. Going forward, I’d love to see a focus on rebuilding the basics in parts of our industry. For that we need easy to access, low cost “fundamentals of research” courses, probably split by quant & qual. Easy to access and low cost so that everyone including clients, students and market researchers can attend without any excuses. Cheers - Horst Horst Feldhaeuser, Group Client Director, Infotools | @NZFeldi
Ed Dear Horst, We’re glad you’ve enjoy this year with us. Professional development is a big focus of Research Association and we certainly see the opportunity to raise the standards of the industry by offering more opportunities such as Masterclass and Training Tuesdays. In addition to this, we believe there is an opportunity for people to refresh basic fundamentals of research in order to produce better quality, more reliable business recommendations. We will take your advice on board and explore these in the coming year. On another note, if you would like to pick up and run the professional development area next year, we’d love to have you on board . Spencer Willis on behalf of the Professional Development Executive Committee.
Dear Ed, Dear Ed, I’m trying to move into Market Research work, after completing my Marketing Degree. I also have Sales and Marketing work experience. Would this be a good group to network with? Anon
Ed Hi Anon, Yes, absolutely! You will meet lots of people working in different kinds of market research at our events. The events are run by Research Association NZ - the industry body for market research in NZ - so it’s where everyone in the industry gets together. Look forward to seeing you at an event soon!
Dear Ed, I’ve previously been involved in many CATI (telephone) based projects. However, I’m becoming increasingly concerned that the research landscape has changed so much that any random sample CATI survey will yield a significantly skewed sample (i.e. low tech, older). What are your thought on this? Should I bite the bullet and go online? Long Live the Landline Cheers Anon
Ed
Dear Anon, Yes, I think it might be time :) - I myself haven’t had a landline for a few years. Ed
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ETHICS
ETHICAL DILEMMAS
Not so much an ethical dilemma as a question... What do we have to gain by screening out Market Researchers from surveys? More and more questionnaires do not screen out researchers or advertisers or marketers. Some still do. Did this practice of screening out researchers start from us being far too clever to fill in questionnaires? Is it that we don’t want other researchers stealing our clever questions? Isn’t our omission from the potential sample skewing the results? Are we dumbing down our profession because of our questionnaire “secrets”? Do we fear that we will rig the lucky draws for our fellow researchers to win? So why do we do this to ourselves? How would you respond? Join our conversation on LinkedIn
JOIN THE DEBATE!
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standard of research by Jonathan Dodd
As we often have deadlines looming, it’s easy to get a little complacent about standards in maintaining validity and rigour in our methods. As a result, some things go under our quality radars. Jonathan Dodd speaks of some #fail moments in research and how to overcome these.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
watch it here
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RANZ AWARDS A SUCCESSFUL NIGHT
By Horst Feldhaeuser When it comes to promoting our industry, we might not be as glamorous as our Marketing and Advertising colleagues, but boy do we know how to celebrate NZ’s amazing Market Research talent. So when asked whether I wanted to go to the biennial Research Association NZ effectiveness awards night, did I need to think twice – certainly not. There is something to be said about dressing up, going all glam and celebrating our most successful work with friends, colleagues and clients alike. And what a change this event has gone through over the last 5 years or so. Gone are the days when we only had 20-odd submissions from a handful of agencies.
It was still nice to win and be acknowledged, but what’s the point when there is hardly anyone to compete with. Now the Awards are truly alive and kicking with 44 entries from a huge variety of agencies and clients. I said this before - there are no losers, as taking part and working closely with our clients and peers to put the entries together automatically creates better thinking and relationships. Winning of course is the icing on the cake, but as my dear friend (and awards winner) Spencer Willis pointed out, changing the internal culture to one that’s truly focused on the effectiveness of our work and the relationship to our clients is a far bigger and better goal.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
The results speak for themselves with a number of different companies with great client relationships taking home Gold, Platinum or even Supreme awards. So let’s talk about the actual event’s night. Ever since we moved from the forgetful Rendezvous Hotel to the Hilton, the venue is truly first class. I really liked the green carpet theme, the welcoming by RANZ committee members, the welcome photos and the walk up the stairs. Well coming down a set of stairs and being announced by a Herald would have been even better, but I guess we will park that for some other time. 12 InterVIEW Quarter 4 / 2014
There was a certain buzz at the foyer when everyone came together, realised how fabulous we all looked and mingled before the entrance to the dining / events area. My highlight was being jumped on and kissed by Spence (yes, there is a bit of a bro’mance happening), who clearly was surprised to see me there. Also just being able to see so many familiar and even more new faces was a great way to start the night. As the evening progressed we’ve been introduced to the many worthy entries, successful projects and many different winners. Again this is something our industry should be proud of, although it
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FEATURE ARTICLE
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FEATURE ARTICLE
was a bit disappointing that none of the entries have been judged innovative enough to be considered for the Innovation Award – there you go peeps, here’s our challenge for 2016. Personally, I was a bit disappointed by both our MC ‘That Guy’ Leigh Hartand and Hilton’s culinary offerings. Apart from the sausage ads, I haven’t seen Leigh before and while Leigh did his best to be funny, I thought it was a bit of a hit and miss. It almost felt that he didn’t wanted to be there – maybe he just had an odd night. And no, it wasn’t because his wife just gave birth (actually one of his better jokes). As far as the Hilton’s dinner goes, again I don’t think that the kitchen was at its best, in particular the main course was letting the event down a bit – maybe Leigh should have brought his BBQ sizzle. Given that we’ve celebrated there many times before and always had good experiences, I would suggest the conference committee might want to follow up with them. As the evening progressed we moved from the awards ceremonies to party time. The DJ managed to keep many of us occupied on the dance floor with a great mix of old and new favourites. In the tradition of previous events, the majority moved on to the next venue in the Viaduct for the after party. I left the crowd at Snap Dragon at around 2.30am, but close sources told me that the die-hards celebrated until the wee hours on K-Road – beware of the ‘homo-researchicus’ when they have been let loose.
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Overall it was a great success and as a number of people independently told me, maybe we should have one of these every year. I’m not convinced that the awards would be sustainable in terms of entry levels, but clearly we need a good excuse once a year to frock up and celebrate. Something to bear in mind when we organise the next conference (which currently alternates with the awards) to have a more formal or themed evening event rather than a ‘tagged’ on dinner. Last not least, special thanks go to the RANZ board, committees and representatives for making this memorable event happening.
Branded films: What’s the story?
By Anika Nafis The rise of internet piracy once gave cinematography a reason to incorporate marketing philosophies of adding value in paid content. The tables have now turned where brands are embracing principles of storytelling from cinematography.
there is a brand behind it or not. It’s storytelling at its finest. Unlike a commercial, films are not about selling a product, it’s about selling an idea. We think that Chipotle and Intel have captured this idea quite well.
So what is a branded film? It’s not a commercial nor it is a viral video. A branded film is a cinematic expression of a brand’s core idea. It’s supported by a brand but not ABOUT the brand. In fact any functional aspect such as the product or services has little presence in these films.
The stunning animated film by Chipotles features a scarecrow protagonist rediscovering the joys of fresh food in a world of factory produce. This branded content is great not because it effectively targets an emotive proposition but because it integrates all of Chipotles marketing efforts in communicating the brand’s core values. It implies that Chipotle is a fast food company valuing purity of ingredients.
Making a branded film first requires making enticing content. Cinematography is entertainment regardless of whether
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FEATURE ARTICLE
Intel’s series of short films on the other hand has an interesting take. Intel is a clever business to business brand in the sense that they have a pull strategy where their aim is to get the end user to demand ‘Intel insides’. The unique series of short films by Intel and Toshiba titled ‘Beauty Inside’ features protagonist Alex waking up every day as a different person yet, being the same person on the inside. This a great series of short films capturing Intel’s proposition without placing much focus on branded products. But this is old news. Check out Intel’s latest Visual Life documentaries. Kitty and Lala, 80’s impression features the story of a team of photographers in China taking a modern twist in wedding
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photography. This is a beautiful film telling the story of young, passionate, creative and playful individuals contributing vibrant ideas and colour in traditional culture. The tie into Intel’s core processors is just a small afterthought. They say that great stories change the world. The brilliance of these short films is that not only do they communicate brand differentiation but they make the audience care about a particular issue or goal. They somehow empower the audience to be a part of something. The resonance of great branded films comes from the audience buying into a vision. After all, isn’t that one of the principle of building great brands? What do you think? Post us your thoughts.
5
TRENDS FOR RESEARCHERS By Sue Cardwell, Marketing Manager, Infotools
1.
Seasonal campaigns.
Not a new thing but fun to observe the clever marketers and advertisers doing their thing at this time of year. I loved the Morton Salt Girl Costume Contest for a clever centenary / Halloween campaign.
2.
Age of Now.
When Kevin Roberts, global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, keynoted at ESOMAR, he reminded market researchers that you can’t be backward looking, or even forward looking. His sentiment was, if you know what the plan is for more than 100 days you’re delusional. What does that mean for us? Real time analytics, and acting on them instantly. “Fail fast” is another great mantra in this philosophy.
What are the trends you’ve spotted recently? Send an email to sue.cardwell@infotools.com with what you’d like to see featured in this section.
3.
Text analytics comes of age.
Natural language processing has come a long way in the past couple of years, well beyond sentiment picked up from commonly used words. As it gets better, text analytics also goes wider: offerings seem to be cropping up everywhere, including social listening add-ons to the big CRM packages. In her AMSRS webinar screened by RANZ in October, Julie Schlack of Communispace made a sound case for us still needing qualitative research skills “Metaphor is how we make meaning. Even the most sophisticated text analytics tool struggles”. While I think she’s right, text analytics is getting Quarter 4 / 2014 InterVIEW 21
TRENDING
more and more impressive, and my prediction is that it will soon encroach on traditional research’s turf.
4.
We’re seeing the wider potential of 3D printers.
We’ve known 3D printers were going to change our world for a while. But it was hard to envisage how that would take shape. Some of the fascinating projects we’re starting to see delight and excite me, especially when they show how 3D printing is going to save the world! Check out these two sustainability-focused uses - they will bring a smile to your face! • Edible Growth. • 10 full-sized houses in a day.
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5. Open Government. Open Government is the movement to make data more readily available and useful - and it’s making progress, both locally and globally. The US government has over 130 thousand open datasets including household brands, consumer complaints and more. New Zealand rates highly on open data too, ranked 9th out of 70 countries in 2013 by the Open Knowledge Foundation. Auckland Transport recently got 300 developers together for a weekend to create solutions on open government data – including Blunder: Tinder for trains. The New Zealand Government’s open data site is at data.govt.nz.
TRAINING TUESDAYS
THE
ART
OF
WAR
By Philippe Boulanger
Sun Tzu’s Art of War is a book known by a vast majority of professionals, yet only a small fraction will have read it in its entirety and of those, only a minority will have grasped its full meaning. It was then a combination of intrigue and desire for understanding that met Scott Graham at last week’s Training Tuesday. Scott Graham – Australasia’s leading authority on The Art of War – was charged with the task of whetting the appetite of RA members on Sun Tzu and how to use his principles in what we do. Not surprisingly the audience was one of the largest seen for Training Tuesdays. The subject of Sun Tzu is met with equal parts of curiosity and ignorance. For yours truly, such a literal explanation of War was not expected. The book was not as analogous as one might have thought. In fact, it covers all the components and factors leading into war a general/military leader must know.
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What made Graham’s talk worthwhile then was that it was a purely metaphoric discussion. The concept of War was used to describe the act of business and the strategic principles and considerations of Sun Tzu the corporate artillery. The point that drove home the most was that to know yourself and the enemy will result in victory. That point in isolation is quite juvenile, it was the implicit conclusion that made it all resonate - that if you know a victory before the fight itself, than war is not needed. Moreover, if you know a defeat prior to combat then a pointless loss can be avoided. Why then did it matter to us researchers? The key word stated above; ‘knowledge’. To know one’s internal and external environment, they need research – or in Sun Tzu’s language, spies. What is truly inspiring of The Art of War, is how over two millennia have passed and it remains an undisputed strategic bible. Scott Graham very concisely but clearly outlined key themes from each 24 InterVIEW Quarter 4 / 2014
chapter and applied it to the commercial battlefield. All points were exemplified using both examples we all knew and some from his work experience. To some he may have spoken fairly hurriedly but given the amount of content covered, that was forgivable! The subject of strategy has been given another lens and a greater sense of clarity. As for the subject of Sun Tzu; that is contingent on the level of exposure to the book one had prior to this talk. For those with a full understanding they will have gotten the satisfaction of hearing the principles applied to business spoken by a true aficionado. For those who have read some or all without proper understanding they would now have a greater appreciation of the text’s application and its meaning in the 21st century. As for the rest of us,‘The Art of War’ is no longer reserved for intellectual discussions where one must sit on the side-line. December 2014 InterVIEW 24
TRAINING TUESDAYS
Marrying big data with real life consumers:
Fiona Blades
By David Sakey Quarter 4 / 2014 InterVIEW  25
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Fiona recently presented at the AMSRS 2014 conference and we were lucky enough to catch Fiona on her way home to New York to hear the highlights of her talk. Fiona’s presentation was very much set in the context of change – how mega trends like new technologies, big data, media fragmentation and social media are impacting the consumer and by association, the market research industry. These are exponential times that we’re living in – a rallying call for the market research industry which in the past may have been perceived as conservative or resistant to change. Social Media now offers researchers new ways of connecting with consumers. Fiona cited the brilliant example of Oreo releasing a clever social campaign during the power cut at the 2013 Superbowl based on the premise that you 26 InterVIEW Quarter 4 / 2014
can still dunk an Oreo cookie in the dark. Or her favourite online furniture store using retargeting digital marketing to tempt her into buying a coffee table to go with the furniture she had just purchased from them. We are moving to a time where the media landscape is rapidly changing and consumers have more control over what media they consume. The market research industry needs to continue to evolve to be better at listening and utilising new data streams for insights rather than just relying on traditional survey methodologies. Fiona is currently the CEO of an agency called Mesh based in the US. Mesh was created out of a desire to go beyond traditional research methodologies and tap into the growing preference for the mobile phone. The agency was founded in 2005 on an idea based
TRAINING TUESDAYS
around real-time experience tracking and the potential this could offer. Fast forward to 2012 and Mesh were featured in The Harvard Business Review as introducing “A new tool that radically improves marketing research” (Harvard Business Review, September 2012). The idea of real-time experience tracking involves using a combination of survey data to understand people’s perceptions of the brand, realtime experience data to get an ‘in the moment’ understanding of the consumers experiences and some heavy hitting analytics to directly correlate the consumer experience to brand impacts. An enabler to this approach is the mobile phone which provides real time access to the consumer. Fiona used the case study of her agency’s work with Gatorade in their battle against rival sport drinks brands to explain her approach. Pre-recruited consumers after completing a survey were asked to act as real time reporters. Following any interaction with Gatorade or one of its competitors, they were to text in and answer 4 simple questions on the interaction – what the experience was, who the brand was, how the experience made them feel and how likely they were to choose this brand next time. This research approach was used to allow Gatorade to understand the impact of their media strategy and identify the most engaging experiences for consumers. Gatorade could learn quickly and in realtime how to most positively change consumer perceptions of their brand. Gatorade identified experiential touch points that were twice as likely to positively change perceptions of Gatorade – and by focusing on these
“The idea of real-time experience tracking involves using a combination of survey data to understand people’s perceptions of the brand, to get an ‘in the moment’ understanding of the consumers experiences.” touch points, Gatorade optimised their media mix and managed to re-position itself from a sports drink to sports nutrition in the Mexican market. The case study illustrated how real-time experience tracking led to faster and more effective decision making and increased ROI on marketing spend. The next evolution of Fiona’s real-time experience tracking was as a predictive tool. Mesh had found that in many cases, real-time experience metrics can be more effective than traditional survey measures at predicting the future. Fiona talked about working with T-Mobile to use behavioural data tracked in real-time to predict major periods of churn. They identified a strong correlation in a Persuasion metric (measuring consumer-brand interactions that lead to increased inclination to try this brand) with churn activity occurring via their call centre. So by tapping into the predictive nature of this real-time metric they were able to implement appropriate retention strategies to counter the threat of rival Quarter 4 / 2014 InterVIEW 27
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competitive acquisition activity. Pretty neat eh! The most recent stage of Fiona’s journey at Mesh has been to incorporate Social Media data into the mix alongside survey and real time experience data. Fiona reflected on the abundance of data now available from social media streams. There is no questioning the ubiquitous nature of key social media platforms. Facebook claims to have over a billion users worldwide while Twitter users produce 5,700 tweets per second. But it’s also safe to say there are a number of challenges in this space - some of this data can be insightful but a lot of it is rubbish. From Fiona’s experience they have found social analytics can add
RESEARCH ROOMS
richness to the story-telling around a brand. It can also be used to identify core drivers for a category. And in other cases it is being used to fill gaps in knowledge and bring down the costs over time of developing insight into specific markets and products. However the key message to come out of the presentation is that with new data streams now available researchers need new skillsets and new approaches to solving age-old business problems to be effective in today’s world. Whichever way you look at it, there seems to be an abundance of opportunity for the industry and for those researchers who rise to the challenge. They will be the ones who will go far.
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TRAINING TUESDAYS
STORYTELLING: LeighA SElby By Anika Nafis No matter how it begins, we all love a good story. Storytelling appeals to the natural way we absorb information. They close the gap between our rational, linear brain and our more emotional and unconscious mind. So why is it so hard for researchers to tell stories? Mainly because we see it as something for Keynote speeches rather than for business presentations, as well as a perception of disconnect between hard evidence and telling a story. Leigha’s workshop did a great job at inspiring us to embrace concepts of storytelling in our work: from brand
consulting to strategy to tactics. The idea comes from method acting which encourages actors to ‘do things’ to the audience. Traditionally, theatre was all about being something particular, e.g. being sophisticated or being edgy, while method acting embraces transitive verbs, doing something particular such as provoking the audience or alluring them. The power of transitive verbs is that they are better able to provide guidance for brand differentiation. Moreover, the senses of action in them challenges thoughts on tactical implications for Quarter 4 / 2014 InterVIEW 29
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once upon a time...
brand strategy – what will the brand literally do to achieve its objectives. Case study example - Cinderella: her overall strategy is to live happily ever after with the prince. In order to achieve this she had to charm him by putting on her best attire and her rather differentiating glass slippers. The workshop style session was a refreshing change to the traditional speaker sessions of Training Tuesdays. We had the opportunity to put Leigha’s ideas to practice using the city of Auckland as a brand example. If the overall strategy of Auckland is to be 30 InterVIEW Quarter 4 / 2014
recognised as a destination city then what does Auckland need to do to its target market? Branding theory focuses on a brand putting on a personality, like being sophisticated or vivacious. Looking at this from a transitive verb approach provides a fresh take on creating brands. Delighting and inspiring an audience provides a sense of momentum and action rather than passively putting on a personality, i.e. being vivacious.
A feast for the eyes Market research data visualization award winner interview Infotools and Auckland Council held New Zealand’s first DIVAs – an award for data visualization in market research – as part of the 2014 Research Effectiveness Awards. Here, Infotools’ Sue Cardwell speaks to Colleen Ryan from the team at TRA who won the New Zealand DIVA.
By Sue Cardwell
THE biennial awards of Research Association NZ have a single-minded focus which has always impressed me: the one factor that matters is how effective your research was in meeting the business needs.
This made the Research Effectiveness Awards the perfect New Zealand setting for the DIVAs or Data Insight Visualization Awards. When we helped create the DIVAs in 2013, Infotools’ goal was to celebrate what great data visualization does to help consumer insights be understood and used within organisations. In our view, strong data
visualization is a key component in market research effectiveness. That was a vision that the market research publishers and gurus of innovation, GreenBook, shared. They partnered with us to create the DIVAs, now on its fourth round. The first DIVA trophy was presented to Francesco d’Orazio of FACE group in February 2014 at the Insight Innovation eXchange conference in Amsterdam. FACE’s entry was a fascinating artwork of how video spreads on Twitter – the bold design revealing patterns which wouldn’t be immediately obvious. The session included a vibrant panel discussion on the role of visualization, chaired by Infotools’ Quarter 4 / 2014 InterVIEW 31
INNOVATIONS
image to be added
Patricio Pagani, who is a strong advocate of Research Association NZ and former president of its predecessor Market Research Society NZ. We knew we had done the right thing in creating the DIVAs when we saw the energy in the auditorium both in Amsterdam and then again in the second DIVAs in Atlanta in June 2014. This is a topic market researchers care about!
From dashboards to video to infographics In the New Zealand DIVAs, we received a wonderful range of entries, from classic and impactful infographic work, like that of Tourism New Zealand, to innovative video deliverables, such as Colmar Brunton’s “Pasta sauces: finding the path to success” entry. The subject matter ranged from political polls to segmentations of customers to understand what motivates them. Judges Kenneth Aiolupotea (Auckland Council), Patricio Pagani (Infotools) and Gareth 32 InterVIEW Quarter 4 / 2014
Parry (Optimal Experience) had a tough job, with one describing the New Zealand standard of entry as the best he had seen. I recommend a browse through the gallery of entries. One entry stood out above the others. The Listening Project by market research agency TRA is an e-zine, designed to immerse marketers in the rich and disorderly lives of consumers. The judges described it as “outstanding. It is pithy, compelling and concise. I can imagine recipients sitting up and taking notice.” I spoke to Colleen Ryan, TRA’s consumer strategist and one of the team who produced the winning entry. She describes The Listening Project with gusto: “You can see and feel the real lives of this group, moving from passions to concerns, from grumbles to wish lists, letting the irrational speak as loudly as the prosaic grind of the daily business of life.
INNOVATIONS
“This authentic and rich material generates inspiring stimulus. Because a life is not a series of orderly and consecutive decisions and actions, the material in The Listening Project is presented in an interactive way.” Colleen has a prominent profile. A doyenne of the UK qualitative market research scene, I enjoyed her paper at the MRSNZ 2013 conference “You Like Me But Are We Going Out?”
Shine a spotlight, or illuminate the canvas? Deep and broad immersion is the overriding theme of TRA’s approach to data visualization. Colleen feels research projects can be too narrow in their focus. The remarkable thing, which will strike anyone looking at The Listening Project, is the way we get to know real people living real lives when we explore it. Colleen describes it as illuminating the wider canvas, rather than shining a light on isolated behaviours or decision making.
“Research projects are designed to answer specific business or marketing issues and as such they shine a beam on the specific and relevant questions that need to be answered. “But a beam of light casts a shadow across the surroundings, so we don’t see the big picture. And if we do look at the broader context, we are still doing so through the distorted lens of our business problem. “The Listening Project illuminates the whole canvas of people’s lives. It is the context of their lives that determines how they weigh up their actions and behaviours. This gives us insight and inspiration and a level of understanding that can guide how we talk to them and what we talk to them about.”
The listening philosophy Colleen maintains that The Listening Project is not a one-off for TRA, but the kind of result all clients get from working with the agency. Quarter 4 / 2014 InterVIEW 33
INNOVATIONS
“Listening gives you a front row seat to browse, graze, and immerse yourself in their world, bringing not just data but whole, fully-formed people to life. It is very typical of how we work.” She is an outspoken critic of getting carried away with new tools in market research. They have their place, but that place is secondary to the goals market research has always had. For her, insight is the driver and technique is firmly in the back seat. “Good market research has always been about using consumer insight to answer business problems and goals. And that hasn’t changed. The danger is that new techniques – platforms, data collection, etc. – are seen as an end in themselves instead of a means to an end.” “So where does data visualization fit in?” I ask. “It is the quality of the insights that matter, but we have to be able to communicate those insights in a way that end users can easily assimilate. This is where good design plays its part.” 34 InterVIEW Quarter 4 / 2014
In favour of good design “It isn’t about making it look good. It is about crafting a piece of communication to maximize its impact, clarity and usability. Good design is far from a fad. Who would want to go back to fat decks of endless squiggly lines that even the most observant audience would struggle to remember an hour later?” And that is a sentiment to which we can all relate. Hearty congratulations to Colleen and team-mates Leigha Selby, Alister Hitchcock, and for their inspiring work, and thanks to their partners that helped make The Listening Project happen: Pfi on recruitment and VisionsLive on the online board. Find out more about the DIVAs and how you can enter here See also my interview with Danica Atkins, the talented designer from TRA who put The Listening Project together.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS FOCUS RESEARCH/ NEEDSCOPE
INFOTOOLS
Focus Research/NeedScope International would like to congratulate Robert Gaston, who has been promoted to Research Manager.
Congratulations to Satoko Mowbray, Ann Petersson and Michelle Kun who have now been with Infotools 10 years. Happy Anniversary!
SUPPLEJACK
Congratulations to Gabriel and Leanne Deza on their recent wedding! The newlyweds were married on the 28th June at the Brigham Functions Centre.
Stephen McKernon is leaving from Supplejack to take up the position of Customer Experience Lead at Auckland Council. GLASSHOUSE CONSULTING Has just employed Vanessa Clark as our Digital Champion at Glasshouse Consulting. As you know, she was National Qualitative Director at Colmar Brunton from 2002 to 2008. She then moved to Millward Brown Hong Kong as Regional Qualitative Director and came back to Colmar Brunton NZ in 2010 as Innovation and Development Director. Vanessa will be charge of launching our OnePoint Global mobile offering.
Congratulations to Darren Horne and his wife Hayley, whose baby boy arrived on 23 July. Joshua (Josh) David Alexander Horne and mum have been enjoying their time together. Infotools is pleased to announce that Russell Gribble has been appointed to the role of operations training manager. He has been with Infotools in a set-up role for the last year Congratulations to Chris Spence on his appointment as director of sales and marketing! We wish him well as he continues to grow Infotools’ global footprint. Quarter 4 / 2014 InterVIEW  35
S t ep h e n Conway It's with immense sadness that I say goodbye to a loyal and very hard working, and quirky employee and colleague and dare I say, friend, Stephen Conway, who very unexpectedly passed away due to a heart attack. Stephen shared his life with us at Prime Research for nearly 8 years. Reliable and honest to a fault, with his very own brand of humour he added a special dimension to the atmosphere at Prime. He will be sorely missed! My thoughts and prayers are with his mum Lyn and brother Richard at this sad time. RIP Stephen. You were one of a kind! Winifred Henderson MD Prime Research
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Quarter 4 / 2014 InterVIEW 37
60 SECONDS
38 InterVIEW Quarter 4 / 2014
... WITH Laura Dowdall-Masters
60 SECONDS WITH...
Laura Dowdall-Masters is a ‘typical’ twenty-something Wellingtonian, who enjoy strong coffee, loud music, sci-fi, and a good pun or two. Having found a good use for her Arts degree in Media Studies and Psychology straight from University, Laura Dowdall-Masters joined Ipsos and the market research industry around 2.5 years ago. She is the winner of the 2014 Rookie of the Year award, and looks forwards to continuing to contribute to the industry.
FRIDAY NIGHT DRINKS? MEET ME AT: At Moon for a gig and some whisky, or Motel for a chat (and some whisky). Chilled out weekend brunch? Meet me at: Deluxe. Lets grab a takeaway coffee and pinwheel and go for a walk around the waterfront. Special night out? We’re going to: Hawthorne lounge. Put on your glad rags! I get stressed out by: Early morning starts, and Wellington wind above 140km p/h. To relax, I: Weather permitting, lie on the grass in the sun and listen to music. Weather not permitting, binge watch Stargate SG-1 or Firefly. The music I’m listening to right now is: Brody Dalle’s new solo album ‘Diploid Love’. Such a kick-ass woman. If I wasn’t a market researcher I would be: An archaeologist or a shady private detective.
Last good book / article podcast: I love a good biography, and am currently cycling through some old favourites. Would highly recommend ‘Femme Fatale: A Biography of Mata Hari’ by Pat Shipman, or ‘Heavier than Heaven: A biography of Kurt Cobain’ by Charles R. Cross. My dream holiday is: Traipsing around the various Incan ruins in South America or volunteering at a lemur sanctuary in Madagascar. People who have inspired me recently: John Oliver, and Dave Grohl. Both have a refreshing outlook and take on life and contemporary culture. The best thing I’ve learnt in my career is: You can never ask too many questions… Seriously, never! Christmas is coming. I can’t wait to: Road trip around the South Island, stopping into visit friends and family, and attend a few sneaky festivals. Followed by an obligatory trip to see the Grandparents (no Christmas break would be complete without that!).
Quarter 4 / 2014 InterVIEW 39
SAVE THE DATE
DECEMBER 2
TRAINING TUESDAY
Help grow your research knowledge, network, and enjoy! Topic: TBA TBA, Auckland
2
AMSRS Webinar Series: Nonprobability sampling Reg Baker (USA)
Costs TBD Online http://www.amsrs.com.au/
4
Insight Innovation eXchange - Asia Pacific
IIeX is the connection point between the market research industry, clientside leaders, and the disruptive technologies that are changing the world. Two full days, packed with content. The agenda for IIeX AsiaPacific covers the entire spectrum of major topics in the industry while being laser-focused on harnessing them for business impact. Sydney, australia http://www.iiex-apac.org/
40 InterVIEW Quarter 4 / 2014
JANUARY
20
AMSRS Webinar Series: Storytelling Gerard Loosschilder (Netherlands) Costs TBD
Online http://www.amsrs.com.au/
FEBRUARY 8-10
MRA 2015 CEO Summit
Napa, USA http://summit.marketingresearch.org/
11-12
CASRO Digital Research Conference
Nashville, TN (USA) http://www.casro.org
24
AMSRS Webinar Series: Real time vs Traditional Research Andries Noeth (South Africa)
Costs TBD Online http://www.amsrs.com.au/
SAVE THE DATE
MARCH 10
AMSRS Webinar Series: Insight Simplicity Andrew Vincent (UK)
Costs TBD Online http://www.amsrs.com.au/
APRIL 14
AMSRS Webinar Series: Online communities Diane Hessan (USA)
Costs TBD Online http://www.amsrs.com.au/
MAY 17-19
ESOMAR Asia-Pacific Singapore http://www.esomar.org/
19
AMSRS Webinar Series: Micro-simulation in research Don Perugini (Australia)
Costs TBD Online http://www.amsrs.com.au/
JUNE 3-5
2015 MRA Insights & Strategies Conference
San Diego, CA (USA) http://www.marketingresearch.org
16
AMSRS Webinar Series: Conjoint Analysis Ken Deal (Canada) Costs TBD
Online h t t p://www.a m s r s.com.
16
AMSRS Webinar Series: Conjoint Analysis Ken Deal (Canada) Costs TBD
Online h t t p://www.a m s r s.com.
SEPTEMBER 7-8
RANZ / APRC CONFERENCE AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
OCTOBER 21-23
CASRO 40th Annual Conference Costs TBD Miami, FLA (USA) http://www.casro.org/
Quarter 4 / 2014 InterVIEW  41
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42 InterVIEW Quarter 4 / 2014