Market research in an agile world

DEVELOPING INSIGHTS IN AN AGILE WORKING ENVIRONMENT

Review of RANZ’s latest Professional Development event, 30 October at The Flagship - By Horst Feldhaeuser

“Agile” is one of those buzzwords that many businesses and their leaders are focused on right now. So, it was no surprise that most of the 44 attendees had at least some understanding of what it means and what it doesn’t. Steph talked us through the general agile process, while Coralee explained how agile works in her day-to-day job and Seb confirmed that as market researchers and insights specialists we often work in an agile environment already, whether we are aware of it or not.

Either way, there’s no denying that our industry is constantly changing and that we need to embrace this change to remain relevant. RANZ events like this one encourage exchange of ideas, showcase practical implementation and stimulate continuous learning and development. If you’ve missed this particular event, you should definitely come and join us for the next one.

NEEDSCOPE’S TRANSFORMATION IN AN AGILE WORLD

To understand how NeedScope has changed, we need to look at their history. NeedScope International (known as Focus Research in New Zealand for many years), began as a strategic and diagnostic market research company in 1994, with the proprietary NeedScope motivation system created here in New Zealand and exported worldwide. Kantar fully acquired NeedScope International in 2016.

As Managing Director, Maria Tyrrell has led NeedScope through these changes with a tireless appetite for adaptation and flying the Kiwi flag.

Maria explains her drive, saying “Kantar globally has been transforming with many new ways of working. We are always ahead of everyone else in adapting to the new processes. Global teams come to us for advice on how to adapt to the new technologies.

“Our philosophy is very much to dive in, boots and all. We’re adopting agile processes where we can, for example Myles George, one of our Directors, contributed to an Agile Sprint in London to drive the development of Kantar’s brand strategy platform. We adapt to whatever a big global organisation throws at us! NeedScope International is an adaptable business which can turn on the head of a pin - we’re maintaining the Kiwi reputation for innovation!”

HAVING A POINT OF VIEW

What’s it like being a small and remote part of a huge organisation like Kantar?

“You have to ensure your voice is always heard. NeedScope is Kantar Insights’ best practice brand strategy tool. We now report into London and are involved with all the global decision making around how Kantar Insights can grow the brand strategy business.

Maria explains that as well as the changes to ways of working which have come with the Kantar integration, Need- Scope itself has been changing too: “The NeedScope product has also been transforming – and fast. We had to adapt to a market demanding everything smarter and faster, and where 80% is good enough. Yes, you can do a full NeedScope segmentation and positioning study in a 15 minute questionnaire!

About the NeedScope product

NeedScope is a qualitative and quantitative research approach to help clients build irresistible brands. NeedScope understands the unique needs driving brand choice in a client’s category, sizes growth opportunities and develops a strategy to optimise brand positioning.

A UNITED TEAM

How do you guide an organisation through this level of change, and build a culture of adaptability? Is it possible to do so and keep the bottom line looking healthy?

For Maria, the secret is in the leadership team. “Leadership is driven from the top. A company’s leaders have to be the ones to lead transformation and we are lucky at NeedScope to have a very strong and stable management team. I don’t underestimate the importance of that, we’re united and incredibly supportive.