InterVIEW TIMES OF CHANGE LOOKING AT A NEW FUTURE
May 2014 InterVIEW 1
WORD FROM THE BOARD
InterVIEW The Research Association was incorporated late last year and officially kicked into action in the new year. As you can imagine there’s been a lot to do transitioning from “A merger is a good idea” to actually putting everything in place to take up the various responsibilities and activities previously carried out by MRSNZ and AMRO. Most important has been getting a functioning Board and Management Team in place and that has gone reasonably smoothly by merging the teams from the two organisations. In addition to that we’ve brought on two new board members to provide a client and non-researcher perspective to the various projects. We also launched the Executive Committee in the first quarter. The EC is made up of 20 or so enthusiastic individuals who have made themselves available to work in teams on the many projects that board members are heading up. This has started really well with a broad base of individuals who bring their talents, experience and energy to some worthwhile areas such as professional development, marketing communications and industry events among others. If you would be interested to get involved in the EC please put your hand up to Claire. There’s still plenty of opportunities to contribute.
2 InterVIEW Quarter 2 2014
Publisher Research Association. The dedicated team which produced this newsletter includes:
Rob Bree General Manager
The Board refer to 2014 as a transitional year reflecting the fact that we are still drawing on a number of MRSNZ and AMRO initiatives and practices for this year and preparing the way for elections at the end of this year. Rob Clark, Winifred Henderson, Spencer Willis and Karin Curran have led the two organisations for a number of years now and it is entirely appropriate that they consider taking a break from the end of this year and handing the reins over to other willing candidates. In the meantime they are bringing their skills to bear on building a new and better industry association than the two it replaced. The aim of this article is to provide you with some insights on what is already underway and what else will be worked on in the year ahead. Rob Bree General Manager
Sue Cardwell Anika Nafis Jane Mckeller Karin Curran Penelope Lim Rachel Prendergast Robyn Moore Ananda Sutjijoso Nick Campbell Claire Lloyd 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 RA. We welcome your input and your requests for advertising space. Visit us: www.researchassociation.org.nz
SPOILERALERT
S P O IL ER
“If you can visualise what your research really says, you’re likely to get a lot better buy in from clients. It turns the research that you’ve done into really usable and communicable outputs”.
ALERT
“For marketers, the ones that can help shape a digital sense of self for the better, will be the ones the consumer is willing to enter ongoing relationships with…. Stories are becoming more important….”
Vote for me! The world of political marketing - are they doing this effectively? One of the first public actions of the new Research Association was to make a stand on the quality and reporting of public opinion polls with a NZ political polling code.
Ethical Dilemmas to ponder - What if a company loves your proposal (RFP) content so much, they produce a brief from it word for word? What are your rights? What do you do?
“Market research is going through rapid change. Technology in market research is playing a major role in the rethink of this space.” Quarter 2 2014 InterVIEW 3
CONTENTS 2. 6. 8. 11. 13. 16. 18. 20.
WORD FROM THE BOARD
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMEN
T
committee
ilemmas
hy
ision
nation
ssential
4 InterVIEW Quarter 2 2014
24. 26. 29. 30. 32. 34. 36. 37.
date
THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT WHEN DEVELOPING SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS?
editor
ers
60 SECONDS WITH JONATHAN DODD
uesdays
esearchers
MASTER CLASS FEEDBACK
Teams
This issue is all about change. The Research Association will be going through some major changes. Your Research Association Transitional Board has set up Executive Committees to help out. These committees vary in size and each committee is overseen at a strategic level by at least one board member who represents the needs of that committee at the board level. In this issue, we introduce you to the faces behind two of these teams – Community Development and CrossIndustry Liaison. In the next issue, we will reveal two more so watch this space!
Quarter 2 2014 InterVIEW 5
TEAMS
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BRINGING THE INDUSTRY TOGETHER: THROUGH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL EVENTS. ORGANISING FOUNDATIONAL BI-ANNUAL EVENTS: RESEARCH EFFECTIVENESS AWARDS AND THE CONFERENCE DEVELOPING NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES IN COOPERATION WITH VARIOUS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES.
MARIA TYRRELL (FOCUS RESEARCH/ NEEDSCOPE INTERNATIONAL)
SONIA MCCONNACHIE (COMMANDO LTD)
Maria is Managing Director of Focus Research/NeedScope International which specialises in strategic brand consultancy and is the global centre of excellent for NeedScope development and training. She is a Fellow of the Research Association and as a former MRSNZ President has a long association with the industry, with a passion to ensure it is vibrant and growing.
As Owner and Director of Commando, an inde-agency working with FMCG brands to develop their consumer and shopper marketing campaign strategies, Sonia is well placed to bring a marketer’s perspective to the Board with her 20+ years of experience in the industry. As well as managing her team of consumer marketers, Sonia also represents the Advertising, Communications and Marketing industries as a member of the government initiated business advisory group, SBDG.
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TEAMS
DEBBIE SHEEHAN (REID
RESEARCH)
Debbie Sheehan has worked in the market research industry for more than twenty years, starting out as an interviewer and then as National Field Manager for Synovate. She is an experienced project manager and worked in a managerial position for Census 2013. Debbie has previously been on the MRSNZ Committee as Vice President, Treasurer and more recently Complaints Officer and Sugging Officer.
KATE EBORALL (PRIME RESEARCH) Kate is an Account Manager for Prime Research which specialises in Qualitative and Sensory recruitment. She is a member of the Research Association and is passionate about bringing the industry together by helping provide a social platform, fa cilitating connection.
ARIANE DALTON (PRIME RESEARCH) MELANIE EDMONDS (FOCUS RESEARCH/NEEDSCOPE INTERNATIONAL) Melanie Edmonds is a Research Manager at Focus Research/NeedScope International. She has three years’ experience as a quantitative researcher with a background in Marketing, Statistics and Psychology.
ELENA COUBRAY (THE RESEARCH AGENCY) Elena is a Consultant at The Research Agency. She joined the industry as quantitative researcher in 2010 with a background in Marketing, Statistics and Psychology. Elena also has a background in events and is looking forward to working with her fellow committee members on fantastic events for our industry community.
Ariane is the General Manager at Prime Research. She has 7 years’ experience in the market research industry. Before joining Prime, Ariane lived in Japan, Australia and the UK. She is a qualified photographer and has completed English and Anthropology papers at university. Being a past MRS Committee member (2011 and 2012), Ariane is excited to work with the Member Community Development committee to make this year’s Awards the best yet!
Quarter 2 2014 InterVIEW 7
TEAMS
CROSS-INDUSTRY LIAISON COMMITTEE INCREASE AWARENESS AND TOP OF MIND OF THE RESEARCH ASSOCIATION ●● FORMING RELATIONSHIPS WITH ORGANISATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS COMPARABLE TO THE RESEARCH ASSOCIATION SUCH AS ESOMAR, JIG, APRC AND GRNB ●● IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL INDUSTRIES THAT TRADITIONALLY DO NOT UNDERGO RESEARCH BUT COULD BENEFIT FROM IT ●● STRENGTHENING WITH UNIVERSITIES INSTITUTIONS
RELATIONSHIPS AND TERTIARY
●● BUILDING LINKS BEYOND RESEARCH TO PUBLIC RELATIONS, MARKETING AND ADVERTISING AGENCIES TAKING ADVANTAGE OF ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES ARISING FROM RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER INDUSTRIES: CONNECT NZ RESEARCH COMMUNITY WITH THE GLOBAL RESEARCH COMMUNITY, BUILD NETWORKS WITH LOCAL GROUPS AND OTHER INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS TO ENSURE A WIDER PRESENCE OF THE RESEARCH ASSOCIATION
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WINIFRED HENDERSON (PRIME RESEARCH) Born in Namibia, Winifred studied psychology in South Africa and worked in Marketing, PR and research before she was recruited for a large scale qualitative project in New Zealand. In 2006 Winifred acquired Prime Research and currently is the Managing Director, offering nationwide qual and sensory recruitment and a focus group facility. Winifred is a Fellow of the Research Association, Convenor of Judges and Judge for the Market Research Effectiveness Awards, past Deputy Chair of AMRO, Vice President and Treasurer of the Market Research Society. Winifred is passionate about the market research industry, is keen to see it grow from strength to strength.
TEAMS
ANDREA MITLAG (THINK RESEARCH)
CHRIS PESCOTT (PERCEPTIVE RESEARCH)
Andrea is the team leader and is passionate about working collaboratively with clients to achieve the same results in successful customer-centric strategies. Andrea strongly believes in a simple formula: customers’ needs met equal business success. Think Research specialises in building customer-centric strategies based on customer feedback and assisting its clients in the creation, development and implementation of such strategies.
Chris leads the team of passionate researchers at Perceptive Research, who since 2005, have been providing sound market research to hundreds of marketers throughout New Zealand. Chris spends his time working across a diverse range of projects, as well as maintaining strong links with the advertising and technology sector, ensuring that research continues to add value to the increasingly broader marketing mix.
RESEARCH ROOMS
RITESH BISOI (INFOTOOLS ) Ritesh is part of the client development team at Infotools and is passionate about enhancing the value clients get out of marketing data. In his time at Infotools, Ritesh has led innovation projects for global clients across multiple markets. More recently, he has been involved in the development of Infotools business based out of the Auckland head office. His expertise spans across diverse industries including FMCG, banking, technology, media, automotive, and the public sector.
INK Research Rooms is a serviced facility designed by researchers for researchers. Located in the hub of Wellington, New Zealand, INK is fully equipped and supported. Focus on your project and we will take care of the rest. We have hosted 100s of focus groups and interviews.
Level 9, iCentre, 50 Manners Street, Wellington New Zealand
Our place is your place. Walk in, feel welcome and at home. We adapt to your style.
janette@litmus.co.nz
Smooth and hassle-free. We expect the unexpected and work hard to make sure your project runs smoothly. State of the art viewing. Watch from the viewing room or anywhere in the world through live streaming and see the story unfold.
Litmus is the architect of the INK Research Rooms. For over a decade, Litmus has been working with government, business, the not-for-profit sector and their partners providing expert research, evaluation and strategy throughout New Zealand and Asia Pacific.
+64 4 473 3883 www.inkresearchrooms.co.nz
10 InterVIEW May 2014
ETHICAL DILEMMAS THIS IS A DILEMMA MORE THAN ONE RESEARCH HOUSE HAS APPROACHED ME WITH. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF THIS HAPPENED TO YOU? Nenux Ltd (a fictional company) have sent an RFP to your company. You respond with a hot proposal that has consumed 20 hours of your time. That was hard thinking. Your proposal is a work of art. Sheer genius. Nenux Ltd thinks so too. They love it so much they have taken your proposal and produced a brief from it… virtually word for word….and sent it to four other research agencies asking for these company’s proposal to this awesome brief. What are your rights? What do you do? Yes, you have stated at the end of the proposal that this proposal is not to be copied, etc. without permission. No, you don’t know if you have won the contract. What difference does that make if you do or do not win the contract? Does it matter if you are a sole trader or big research agency? Is this something Research Association NZ should protect researchers against?
JOIN THE DEBATE!
Quarter 2 2014 InterVIEW 11
Let’s get Political Any change requires strong leadership. Leadership is all about inspirational movements. We can all name some inspiring leaders who have brought people together for a cause - Martin Luther King, Barak Obama and our own David Lange. Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leaders. He explores how great leaders can inspire cooperation, trust and change. A leadership expert, Sinek challenges leaders to start with asking “why”. He uses Apple as a brand that epitomises this idea of starting with the “why” rather than the functional features of its products. See his TED talk on inspiring actions. So in the coming elections, how can Sinek’s ideas be applied to political changes? They say that the road to victory is paved with emotional intentions and in politics, when reason and emotion collide, emotion invariably wins. The next articles features thought pieces by Colin Ingram and Sophia Blair on their take on why political parties should start with “why”.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
VOTE WHY Imagine you are the brand manager of a widely known brand. Imagine that every 6 – 9 years you know that your brand will go from being widely respected to generally irrelevant by a large segment of the population apart from a small loyal group of followers. This will continue until you are back again to being a trusted, credible brand. Adding to this, is that throughout this cycle even more so, once you become popular again, your brand will be subjected to relentless dissection by the media, competitors brands, interest groups and the general public. Sounds like a nightmare! This is, of course, the reality of political parties and the challenges they face as brands – trying to connect with the voting population while batting away constant attacks on their integrity. This is quite a challenge that many commercial brands do not have to face every day. While some brands may find themselves in sticky situations from time to time, they are not subject to the constant debate over their value and worth on a day to day basis.
From how to why: Lessons political parties can learn from powerful brands
By Sophia Blair
Parties are unlikely to overcome this challenge in a democratic society. In a robust democracy, a political party should never stay in power indefinitely. A smooth transition between governments is a sign that a country’s democratic institutions are healthy and in good heart. Nevertheless, while most parties would accept this, it doesn’t stop them from attempting to address this challenge in attempt to maximise their time in government. To address this challenge, political parties should ‘start with the why’. Author Simon Sinek developed this concept to explain why some brands and organisations are more successful at connecting with people than others. His concept boils down to a simple three layer ‘golden circle’. This circle illustrates the different angles a brand or organisation can convince a person to buy their product or support their organisation. The outer layers are functional – the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of the brand or organisation. They are support layers but they don’t inspire or engage people. They connect to your rational, logical Quarter 2 2014 InterVIEW 13
FEATURE ARTICLE
PEOPLE DON’T VOTE FOR WHAT YOU DO, THEY VOTE FOR WHY YOU DO IT.
brain and help you rationally justify your decisions. At the inner layer is the ‘why’, this explains your brand or organisation’s reason for being, its purpose and beliefs. This layer is the most important – it connects with your emotional, intuitive brain. As research now suggests, it is this part of our brain that drives our decision making. Political parties can be very good at explaining the ‘why’ when they’re campaigning for government. Take US President Barack Obama for example – his speeches before he became president are loaded with rich metaphors, inspiring calls to action. His ‘hope’ message when he announced his presidential bid shows his simple yet effective ‘why’ message: “We all made this journey for a reason. It’s humbling, but in my heart I know you didn’t come here just for me, you came here because you believe in what this country can be. In the face of 14 InterVIEW Quarter 2 2014
war, you believe there can be peace. In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope. In the face of a politics that’s shut you out, that’s told you to settle, that’s divided us for too long, you believe we can be one people, reaching for what’s possible, building that more perfect union.” It appears that once you get into government, the ‘why’ seems to fade in prominence. It’s not surprising here – politicians must deliver once they get into government. Delivering on election platform is much harder than promising it in the first place – there is a much higher expectation now that the party is in government, and their brand is subject to intense scrutiny from all corners. Adding to this is that delivery at a first glance can be very functional – such as “we have built x number of new schools” or “we increased the number of police officers by x amount”. It’s easy to lapse into the ‘how’ and
FEATURE ARTICLE
the ‘what’ and forget to remind voters of the why. This is why parties can struggle with marketing in government because it’s so easy to lapse into a functional message. The way parties can address this challenge is to take a leaf from some of the most powerful brand’s play book. They don’t make functional promises to people – they sell values, beliefs and emotions. Sinek uses Apple as an example. People don’t buy Apple for its functional benefits – they buy into what Apple stands for “think different’. He argues that “people don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” People use functional benefits to self-rationalise their purchases after the fact.
Political parties wanting to maximise their time in government need to heed this message: People don’t vote for what you do, they vote for why you do it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sophia is a qualitative researcher at Focus who has a particular interest in politics and has completed a Master's Thesis in Political Studies
Quarter 2 2014 InterVIEW 15
FEATURE ARTICLE
THE MARKETING OF VISION One of the first public actions of the new Research Association was to make a stand on the quality and reporting of public opinion polls.
The aim was to help media and the public know a dodgy poll when they see one. The code is binding for RA members and advisory for media. It may be wishful thinking to expect journalists to let details of sampling and margins of error get in the way of a good story, but more astute commentators now have a code to refer to, and as an industry we will be more accountable. Apart from professional integrity, the issue of poll accuracy is about their potential to influence, rather than just reflect public opinion. Many countries ban the publication of polls in the run-up to the election for this reason. Winston Peters has pushed for such restrictions in the past, although perhaps not since the last election, when his last minute surge in the polls may have been boosted by the suspected ‘herd’ effect. POLLS AS A MARKETING TOOL The jury may be out on the influence on voter behaviour, but its true that polls are a guage of mood and reaction of voters to what the parties are saying and doing.
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“... the issue of poll accuracy is about their potential to influence, rather than just reflect public opinion. Many countries ban the publication of polls in the run-up to the election for this reason.”
At time of writing opposition parties are starting to position themselves as governments in waiting. They will be using media driven polls as well as their own research (professionally conducted or otherwise) to ‘test the water’ on various issues, and inform their policy development. Are they doing this effectively? You have to wonder. When market research was less sophisticated than it is today, focus groups were a quick and easy way to gauge reaction to new concepts or ideas. The client would sit behind a mirror and hear first-hand what people thought of them, whether they’d buy them, or what consumers suggested would make them more appealing.
FEATURE ARTICLE
That was when a frightening number of new product launches failed in a very short time, despite the input of research. What was missing was a proper analysis of the underlying needs of consumers, and a process of developing these ideas in line with an overall vision for the brand. Instead, what consumers said was translated directly into product development. Yet, in the world of political marketing, you get the impression that policies are an assortment of populist ideas straight out of the focus group – ‘stop foreigners buying our houses…, ban trucks from the fast lane…, make electricity cheaper..., free internet…, throw away the key’. Success or otherwise at the polls will likely come down to the same principles that apply to successful consumer brands. A strong brand stands for something – it does not attempt to be all things to all people. The consumer will instinctively understand what the brand stands for, and they will see this through consistency through every touch point. Politics is firstly about people, and the choice of people from the leader down, all have to consistently embody the core values of the party. Issues are important too, but people understand values more by what you support
than what you oppose. A strong brand is aspirational – it is pro-something, and doesn’t spend too much time focussing on what’s wrong with other brands. Standing for something is important, but where the brand analogy falls down is that parties somehow need to get a majority to govern. This in theory is where MMP comes in. Parties that have at least a degree of commonality can make strategic alliances and accomodations to enable different groups get a voice in government in proportion to their support. That’s the theory. In practice, cups of tea, ‘gifting’ seats, secret meetings, venal alliances, and the propect of the party no-one wants to play with determining who governs, is not condusive to the marketing of vision. Pap anyone? Pass the popcorn.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Colin applies a strong psychology background to FMCG and service markets. A fellow of Research Association NZ, he is one of the country's most experienced researchers.
Quarter 2 2014 InterVIEW 17
Views of the nation We take a look at our nation’s views on all things political, through the use of Research Now’s proprietary panels…
41%
87.8%
believe the next government will be a
plan to vote
National Led Coalition
60.2%
this election
won’t change
their party vote from the last election
44.3% John Key
is the most preferred Prime Minister
followed by
David Cunliffe
13.4%
55.4% think Prince William should be the next head of state
21.3%
NZ is divided over changing the flag
don’t know
which Prime Minister they prefer
55.5% 30.6%
the rest don’t care
Which party will most likely receive your vote?
37.5% National
22.8% Labour
11.2%
7.1%
Greens
NZ First
N= 1007 Valued Opinions consumer panel, Research Now May 2014 18 InterVIEW Quarter 2 2014
21.4% Other
FEATURE ARTICLE
EXPERIENCE ESSENTIAL How brands can help shape consumers’ ‘digital sense of self’ By Neville Doyle If you ever need reminding of how quickly styles change, I highly recommend a quick trawl of the op-shops on K-Road. Find any fashion annual or cook book from the 1980s and marvel at the furnishings and just how much beige it was possible to fit into a single photo.
are starting to suffer from material saturation. When we try to understand why that saturation point has been reached, the answer could change significantly based on your personal outlook. For some it could be a growing awareness of our carbon footprint and a desire to protect the planet. On a less conscious level, some would argue that today’s stable society has seen us climb through Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to achieve a post-materialistic state. Whilst, on a more practical level, others would point to advances in technology that are now affording us the sort of options that were simply unavailable five or ten years ago.
Some things, however, are immune to changes in fashion or design. The ingrained nature of human clannishness and status seeking is a constant; an innate desire that continues on and has been a pressure point for advertising since its inception. As advertisers, we know that if we can identify where people are increasingly looking for affirmation then we’ll have a much better idea of what we need to do While these are all factors in the shift, to sell to them. social media, and the immediacy of Looking for status, meaning or being able to reach your entire peer happiness in the possession of group in a single update, is arguably material goods was one of the defining the most important factor of them all. constructs of the 20th century. The Social media is no longer just another explosion of consumerism that took media channel; it is the stitching that place across the second half of the holds together the fabric of our social century was unprecedented. Today, lives and how we communicate has however, we find that consumers fundamentally altered how we choose to portray ourselves to others. People
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FEATURE ARTICLE
are increasingly under pressure to put forward the most interesting digital version of themselves, one that is worthy of their friends’ attention and jealousy (gone are the days when ‘Todd is drinking a soda’ is an acceptable life update). With this pressure to provide an interesting life narrative becoming ever present, the value of unique, engaging and inherently shareable experiences has skyrocketed. Social media is a better forum for documenting experiences than possessions and to share your creativity over your wealth. A trip to a unique eatery now confers more status than a new TV; a ticket to the gig that no one else knew about is more desirable than being the first one to own the latest, ever so slightly improved iteration of the iPhone. For marketers, brands that can facilitate and help shape this digital sense of self for the better will be the ones the consumer is willing to enter into ongoing relationships with. And they will become top of mind and beloved.
As with all emerging trends, those fastest to react have been able to establish themselves a niche to play to this new consumer need. Sam Bompas founded his food artistry company Bompas & Parr in 2007. He describes their work as ‘flavour-based experience design and contemporary food designs’. Each of their events is more than just a reimagining of food; it’s a visceral experience that demands to be shared with others (and I would highly recommend exploring his work, with the takeover of the Selfridges rooftop a great place to start). “Everyone is an autobiographer nowadays. It’s like everyone is actively writing their own biography all the time,” he says. “Stories are becoming more important. In the ‘80s everyone wanted a fast car. Now they want a good story to tell”. He has hit upon a realisation that others
Quarter 2 2014 InterVIEW 21
FEATURE ARTICLE
“in our time of overabundance, the real way to stand out is to seek out unique, unexpected experiences as you no longer have to wait to share them.”
are only just starting to cotton on, and unique, unexpected experiences as you we’re moving toward an experience no longer have to wait to share them. economy. In this always-connected world, you In recent years the idea of advertisers can skydive in sunny Queenstown while needing to act as storytellers has been your friends in frosty London look on in fashionable. The question to ask today, real time. however, is whether it is more valuable to tell consumers a story they can buy into, or provide them with the means to tell a story about the brand experiences we facilitated. Now, that the terms ‘viral’, ‘earned reach’ and ‘organic shares’ are on the tip of every client’s tongue, storytelling alone is no longer enough. In Stuffocation, James Wallman states that the best place to look for evidence of this trend is the “human question of how should you and the rest of society live to be happy?” In the 20th century, he argues the answer was materialism. “At that time people found happiness, status and meaning in material things.” But, in our time of over-abundance, the real way to stand out is to seek out 22 InterVIEW Quarter 2 2014
In short, the shift from ‘owning stuff’ to ‘living experiences’ could be one of the most important cultural trends of the 21st century, a trend that is powered by the immediacy of social media and one that us marketers need to take note of if we want to continue sitting at the forefront of consumers’ thoughts.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Neville Doyle is senior social and digital strategist at Colenso BBDO.
This article was originally published in the March/April edition of NZ Marketing.
May 2014 InterVIEW 23
SAVE THE DATE JUNE
13-15
2014 MRA INSIGHTS & STRATEGIES CONFERENCE
The mission of SERVSIG is to be the best full-service system for keeping in touch with the people, events, and knowledge of services marketing and management.
4-6
You along with hundreds of marketing research’s best and brightest can gather in a unique collegial environment to see and hear nearly 30 hours of competitively selected presentations covering MR’s state-of-the-art
AMA SERVSIG 2014 - International Service Research Conference
Thessaloniki, Greece www.servsig.org
Chicago, ILL, USA http://isc.marketingresearch.org/
SEPTEMBER
8-10
7
MRIA Annual Conference The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association will hold its annual conference, themed ‘Dig Deep and Discover’. Saskatoon, SA, Canada
10 uckland
FIVE KNOTS, AUCKLAND
24 InterVIEW Quarter 2 2014
ESOMAR Congress 2014 Nice, France
17
Corporate Researchers Conference
Chicago, ILL
SAVE THE DATE
JULY
OCTOBER
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR UPCOMING SOCIAL EVENTS FOR MEMBERS Venue to be confirmed
TRAINING TUESDAY
SEPTEMBER 26
2014 RESEARCH EFFECTIVENESS AWARDS Are the Market Research Effectiveness Awards happening now that the MRSNZ and AMRO have become Research Association NZ? They sure are! And they’ll be bigger than ever. The Hilton, Auckland, NZ www.researchassociation.org.nz
ESOMAR Congress 2014 26 September 2014 (provisional) Nice, France
7
Help grow your research knowledge, network, and enjoy! Topic: TBA TBA, Auckland
15-17
QRCA Annual Conference The Qualitative Research Consultants Association will hold its annual conference on October 15-17 at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. New Orleans, LA, USA
20-22
The Market Research Event
The #1 Insights Event in the World xml
NOVEMBER 4
TRAINING TUESDAY Help grow your research knowledge, network, and enjoy! Topic: TBA TBA, Auckland
Research Association NZ New Members FULL: Alexey Kravchenko Aardwolf Research Consulting | Carol Ferguson Qualitative Research Specialist | Claudia Mosimann IMS Health | Joanne Chang (Yen Wai) Auckland Transport | Judith Rutherford Independent Market Researcher | Kate Eborall Prime Research | Lamia Lee SSI | Laura Mallon Research Now | Olga Hoxha Infotools | Paula de Moor Touchpoll NZ ASSOCIATE: Dan Smith NZ Racing Board | Philippe Boulanger NeedScope International | Terence Priggen Colmar Brunton AFFILIATE: Peter Alexander WINTEC
Quarter 2 2014 InterVIEW 25
FEATURE ARTICLE
THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT WHEN DEVELOPING SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS?
People!
WE CAUGHT UP WITH JOHAN VAN KUYK, PRODUCT CHAMPION AT INFOTOOLS AND A SELF-CONFESSED TECHNOLOGY ADDICT. HERE HE SHARES HIS THOUGHTS ON INNOVATION IN MARKET RESEARCH, THE IMPORTANCE OF ACKNOWLEDGING THE HUMAN ELEMENT, AND A LITTLE OF WHAT HE HAS LEARNT ON HIS JOURNEY THUS FAR.
Infotools: You’ve headed up software platform development at Infotools for two years now. What are the advantages of delivering products from a platform, as opposed to bespoke developments? JvK: In developing a platform, we are able to take on the collective input, feedback and contributions from many different facets. These include our customers, people using our software, internal staff and subject matter experts. Ideas that have an intrinsic value to an individual or organisation can be groomed and evolved into super ideas that then get introduced to the platform. This builds a collective and collaborative wealth of features and functions, as many people have worked together on the purpose throughout the journey, to the point of delivery. Centralising our intellectual property into our platform means that our products share the common benefits of our collective expertise in market research data visualization. Our speciality in this space is then consistently reflected in both our reporting and analysis products. 26 InterVIEW Quarter 2 2014
Infotools: You’re a software developer making tools for market researchers. How does the target audience affect your approach? JvK: Market research is going through rapid change. Technology in market research is playing a major role in the rethink of this space. In market research we see growing changes in the collection methods, cadence and purpose of survey-based data. New mediums for accessing the ‘voice’ of the consumer are also becoming more prominent through channels like social media. This has meant that those interested in the results of all this activity, are
who will inevitably be the ones with the greatest vested interest in these outcomes. We want our technology to meet the ‘table stakes of engagement’, using industry standards (plus our own innovation) to provide products that are fast, accessible in many ways and easily shared and collaborated with. Infotools: New Zealand is known as an innovative country. Would you agree and where do you see innovation happening in your field?
also growing. The expectations of this audience are also very closely aligned to the ‘benchmarks of technology’, and our platform development ethos is hugely cognisant of this. People are mobile, people are time-poor, people rely on smart phones and tablets, people share and connect 24/7. The target audience is a major driver of our design, function and experience decisions, so we work closely with those
JvK: New Zealand is hugely innovative and I am heartened each week as I read or hear about ‘another start-up’ moving from humble beginnings and looking to conquer the world on a global level. Recently Booktrack and Animation Research both made their own respective global headlines with innovative software. Innovation in the market research field is strongly driven by technology. The days of someone knocking on doors and asking you 10 questions about your favourite products are diminishing. The reach, cost effectiveness and accessibility to people through other mediums means that the quality, volume and cadence of this type of collection is growing more robust by the day. The challenge for us on the innovation side is to make good use of this in valuable ways. Some of the approaches we are exploring include building simplicity. With this concept, we hope to enhance the interest and value of these results by tailoring their display to our audiences. We do not want to scare off potential benefactors of the insight with large, scary, one-size-fits-all Excel spreadsheets or behemoth PowerPoint decks. Rather, let’s strip back the results to the basic purpose and make the complex seem simple, with elegant and beautiful visuals and analysis apps. Quarter 2 2014 InterVIEW 27
Infotools: Which trends or technologies are changing the landscape for consumer insight tools? How will end users of Infotools’ software feel the difference in 18 months? JvK: Trends are leaning to fast, ondemand, cloud-based apps that give people what they want, when they want it. We see and hear this loud and clear, and are focusing on ensuring the audience connects and engages with our products. In 18 months’ time we could see users accessing our products via tablet, mobile, laptop or desktop with a seamless user experience to match the access method. We see ‘tailored simplicity’ and ‘targeted flexibility’ as driving concepts to ensure that those people who do not need the clutter of data overload, will have an experience that is personalised to their needs. And those who have the skills and aspirations to dive deep into the data and begin to discover the ‘why’ of results, will have the flexibility of function and source to be able to gain valuable insight to ideally share with others.
with the best market research software solutions in the world, and then deliver those to the target audience. Now we are working with this target audience to create the innovation very early on, and get their input throughout development. Testing the ‘dip stick’ of commercial reality, purpose and success criteria throughout the iterative cycles means we are now building software products that have the user’s stamp of approval throughout. What advice would you give software developers starting out today? JvK: Do not try to be everything to everyone. Pick simple but valuable ideas that have benefit to many, and focus on getting those right. Listen to the people who will be the beneficiaries of the idea and allow them to work with you to make it a super idea. Focus your intellectual property into central streams of development and build collective value that can be made available to many. Love what you do and always strive to make the next thing better.
Infotools: Who inspires you to create great work? JvK: I love to see technology helping to create a positive impact on everyday life. I love to see a simple concept give joy, wealth or benefit to many. We consistently look to work within both these concepts to make a difference in our area of expertise. Infotools: If there were one thing you wish you’d known three years earlier in developing Infotools’ software, what would it be? JvK: It would have been nice to know that Silverlight was going to end its development lifecycle, as our earlier software was based on this! On a more serious note, let those who mean the most, say the most. In the early days we thought that through lab-based innovation we could collectively come up
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Johan van Kuyk is a product champion at Infotools, responsible for data visualization and interactive analysis tools. He has developed apps for over 14 years, and has a passion for ensuring that software keeps people in mind. A self-confessed technology addict, he continually looks for innovation in this space and how new ideas can be applied to create an amazing user experience.
This article was originally published by Infotools and is reprinted here with permission.
As a keen InterVIEW reader, I missed it last quarter. Will Research Association be keeping on the magazine? Andy Gunn, Wellington
Ed: Great to hear you like InterVIEW Andy! We took a pause last quarter while we reviewed the best format for delivering news to our members. We love InterVIEW, but it’s a lot of work to produce, and not the most modern, practical format for reading on devices. We’d also like to be more timely with our delivery - perhaps moving to something monthly rather than quarterly. However, there was such an outcry at the idea of losing InterVIEW that we agreed to continue to produce the magazine, whilst looking at ways to make it even better. Ideas on a postcard to sue.cardwell@ infotools.com!
THIS ISSUE’S STAR LETTER PRIzE, A BOTTLE OF BUBBLY GOES TO PENELOPE. DROP US YOUR NOTES AND POSTCARDS, COULD BE YOU NEXT TIME!
SPAM BOX?
WHAT’S THE STORY?
Dear Ed,
GETTING SMARTER?
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dear Ed,
I’ve noticed a change in how market researchers use technology. I wonder if it makes us better researchers? These days, it’s rare to see a pen and paper in meetings, and it’s no longer rude to keep our phones in front of us. A loss of manners? I don’t think so. I’d love to see market researchers being as cutting edge as people at social media events - constantly trying out new things. I think it helps us see the opportunities for tech in market research. Could we see a feature on this in the next issue? Sarah McKellen, Auckland Ed: Great idea!
Dear Ed,
Just wanting to air an thought with you.. I look forward to hearing from the Research Association, so naturally was a little concerned when I hadn’t heard from them in a wee while. So I spoke to our IT team inhouse and it turns out RA emails are going direct to our spam box! Our IT wizard changed the settings in an instant and voila the RA are now friendly senders to everyone in our company and messages are coming through beautifully! … I wonder if others are experiencing the same thing? Has your company checked your email settings recently? Cheers Penelope Quarter 2 2014 InterVIEW 29
MOVERS AND SHAKERS NINE REWARDS Nine Rewards welcomes Darren Ring to the growing team as an Insights & Analytics Manager. Darren brings with him 7 years of marketing and quantitative research skills from a diverse range of industries including financial services, FMCG and sports sponsorship. Infotools Infotools has seen a number of new staff members join their ranks. Firstly, we introduce: Yan Ma, a recent Stats and Applied Mathematics graduate joins us in a Quality Control role. During Yan’s spare time she likes to bake cakes and socialise with friends. We also welcome Beibei Qi who joins Infotools as an Intermediate Database Specialist. Previously she was at Colmar Brunton, working as a Senior Data Analyst. In her spare time Beibei loves singing at church, playing with her cat and hanging out with friends. William Liu joins Infotools as a 30 InterVIEW Quarter 2 2014
Quality Controller. Previously a dashboard consultant at E-Tabs, his hobbies are building model cars, fishing and photography. Gerard Montgomery joins Infotools as our first ever finance director (CFO). As a chartered accountant, Gerard recently held senior finance positions within large Kiwi-owned global exporting companies such as Fletcher Building and Methven. In his spare time Gerard loves surfing to escape the day-to-day pressures of work and family, and likes to play social soccer for the Zamantix Rovers Football Club. We are also pleased to welcome Ravi Naidu who recently joined Infotools as a Quality Controller. He previously worked in India with IMRB International as the executive in charge. When not at work, Ravi likes to spend time with his wife and travel around NZ. Yoganath Shamsundar, previously employed by Blue Ocean Market Intelligence in Bangalore, is now working at Infotools as a Senior Data Analyst. Yogi has a passion for cricket
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
which he has played for the last 15 years, travelling across the country and representing his state. He also finds learning about new people and travelling exciting. Dion Day recently joined Infotools and will be looking after program registrations. He spent two years at Waikato University undertaking a Computer Science and
important role supporting the team and have responsibility for the daily management of Ink Research Rooms. In mid 2013, Liz Smith, Litmus Partner had the privilege of becoming the Vice President of the Australasian Evaluation Society http://www.aes. asn.au/. Liz is hoping to catch up with market researchers from across New Zealand who will attend the AES conference in September later this year http://conference2014.aes.asn. au/ Janette Brocklesby is excited about the opportunity to present at the 2014 Qualitative Research Consultants Association conference - themed ‘ Learn , Connect and Let the Good Times Roll!’ in New Orleans. Janette’s topic: ‘Does the practice of qualitative research transcend culture?’ has recently been accepted.
Mathematical Sciences degree. Further to this, Dion has also completed a diploma In information and Communication Technology. Dion enjoys playing video games and hanging out with friends in his spare Our colleagues Sally Duckworth and time. Lisa Gregg have returned from Tokelau after ten day immersion visit to review And, finally, we welcome Clara their health system. Venturing on a Zhao who recently joined Infotools twenty four hour boat trip to get to as a Database Specialist. She was Tokelau gave first-hand experience of previously working as a Database its uniqueness. This was Lisa’s first Analyst at Ipsos (and before that, encounter with research on a remote Research Solutions) where she used island community. She did not escape our tools. In Clara’s spare time she sea sickness but was compensated by enjoys doing yoga, baking delicious the warm and welcoming reception of cakes and playing with her little boy. the Tokelauan community. Litmus Research Litmus Research welcomes Amelia Jones who is graduating from Victoria University in May and has recently returned from a holiday in South Korea. She will play an
Quarter 2 2014 InterVIEW 31
60 SECONDS
32 InterVIEW Quarter 2 2014
... WITH JONATHAN DODD
60 SECONDS WITH...
Jonathan Dodd is a piece of the furniture at Ipsos, where he’s worked for almost 20 years, going back to the Research Solutions days in Highland Park. In that time he’s won several research awards, published 100’s of research and marketing related thinkpieces everywhere that will take him, become a Fellow of the Research Association, pissed off clients, made others happy, and generally managed to do more good than harm. Six years ago he announced to his boss Ian Mills that he wanted to escape the city and move to Rotorua where he’d work from home. Ian’s first words in reply were “you’re going to go mountain-biking everyday aren’t you?” Never wanting to disappoint his boss, Jonathan’s trying his best to do just that. Luckily he loves his job and still does the necessary hours at the desk. FRIDAY NIGHT DRINKS? MEET ME AT: You should be in bed. Big day’s riding tomorrow. Chilled out weekend brunch? Meet me at: Wherever there’s a break in the trail to re-gather, grab a muesli bar and get some breath back before hitting the next piece of singletrack. Failing that, Rotorua’s famous Fat Dog Café of course. I get stressed out by: Seeing poor quality market research; global wrongs, social injustice and pubs that purport to serve craft beer but get it all so woefully wrong. Chilled porter? Puh-lease! InterVIEW is coming to dinner. I’m cooking: I do the meanest guacamole. Not the easiest cycling food though. Gets messy in the pockets. The music I’m listening to right now is: Cornershop, Skeewiff, Unkle Ho and Lily Allen’s latest. Lily beats Lorde hands down. Follow me on Spotify for some good leads. My dream holiday is: With the family, mountain-biking at Whistler. Without the whanau, road cycling in France and Spain.
@ResearchRanter
The MR innovation I’m most excited about: Automated funky stuff like automated facial coding, big data analysis and crowdsourcing. When I win the jackpot, you’ll find me: Cycle-touring the world with my family. My worst job was: Although I have had jobs getting stung while shifting beehives and have even done phone interviewing,, my worst job was working for a certain search engine optimisation company. I know four others who had my role too and all reported a similarly horrible experience. Lesson one – don’t have a boss who fundamentally has no empathy. Other researchers contact me if: They want a trail guide.
should
I love my life because: I get to have a great job with awesome colleagues and get to do it in New Zealand’s adventure sports capital. Quarter 2 2014 InterVIEW 33
TRAINING TUESDAYS Learn, Grow, Share
TRAINING TUESDAYS: THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR ONGOING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. AT A VERY COMPETITIVE PRICE POINT, THESE TUESDAY EVENING EVENTS COVER A WIDE RANGE OF TRAINING TOPICS. THIS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIES IS HELD BY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION NZ ON THE FIRST TUESDAY OF EVERY MONTH IN AUCKLAND. Got an idea for a training session you’d like to see or run? Email us at secretary@researchassociation.org.nz
Training Tuesday #1
Mobile Research Review by Robyn Moore, Research Collective The inaugural Training Tuesday in April involved a few presentations all rolled into a two hour brain train. The main presentation was the ESOMAR Congress paper on Multimode scale usage, which looked at a variety of web surveys and the different types of scales employed. Research Now and Peanut Labs (overseas offices) investigated different scales used in surveys (and how they were answered with respect to: ●● Extreme Response Styles (consistently responding at either end of the scale) ●● Midpoint Response Styles (consistently
34 InterVIEW Quarter 2 2014
giving a score in the middle of the scale) ●● Acquiescence Response Styles (a subset of the Extreme Response Style but with responses consistently at the positive end of the scale) Gender was not a big determinant of response style although woman are generally more positive in online surveys, while older people are more positive online as well. There were some indications for cultural differences (this was a global study so we not talking about the effects of ethnicity differences within New Zealand culture, but the country the surveys took place in). Apparently, Australians are more positive online in their
TRAINING TUESDAYS
Training Tuesday #2
James Littlewood & Ross Cunningham on Storytelling We are often told death by PowerPoint, but rare is a training session that provides practical ideas to help you break out of your presentation comfort zone. May’s Training Tuesday delivered just this – presented by James Littlewood and Ross Cunningham of Zoomslide, an inspiring session on telling a great story. Like any great story the session started with a bang and had us hooked with the opening clip from Trainspotting. We learnt how it is often better and more powerful to start with a great narrative and then paint that story with pictures. responses compared with Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom, and United States. It is worth reading the article if rating scales are your thing. The takeaway findings from this presentation included: ●● Use seven- or ten-point scales to minimize Midpoint Response Style biases ●● Unlabelled five point scales are more likely to suffer Extreme Responses so label each of the points to reduce this bias. Labelling can reduce Midpoint Responses as well ●● On mobile surveys, slider responses when compared with grid questions produce slightly higher levels of Extreme Responses and lower levels of Midpoint Responses. Some things to think about next time you decide on the type of scale to use in your survey.
The best stories are those that keep us engaged and James presented a number of narrative templates to help do this. Essentially it is about creating conflict or an interruption and writing the journey to resolve that conflict. Finally we discussed how to communicate the story and to consider video. Whether you go to a professional or DIY it is a powerful medium. We were given some great tips for using a smartphone, including lighting, sound and editing. There isn’t really an excuse to not give it a go, perhaps you could start with some of your respondents? To sum it up, stories are so powerful and as researchers our job is not only to tell the consumer story in the most compelling way, but to also inspire our clients to pick up the pen and write their own brand story.
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TRENDING
5
1.
TOP TRENDS FOR RESEARCHERS Sue Cardwell’s view on top 5 marketing trends we should watch out for. Sue is the marketing manager at Infotools.
EMBRACE THE POSTTELEVISION
Those working with advertising have got to the point where they can’t ignore it any longer: we live in a posttelevision world. Read more in Randall Rothenburg’s AdWeek article.
4.
2.
THE DECLINE OF THE INFOGRAPHIC We’ve moved past the stage where ‘data visualisation’ brings to mind big call-out numbers and meaningless diagrams on an impractically large poster. I discuss how data visualisation has come of age in this Infotools article.
5.
TECH TRANSFORMATION MILLENNIAL OF QUAL OBSESSION
Has online qual reached tipping point? Plenty of researchers will tell you that there’s no substitute for face-to-face, but many more are embracing increasingly sophisticated technologies. See Qual360’s quick review of qual apps for more.
36 InterVIEW Quarter 2 2014
“It don’t run in our blood, / That kind of luxe just ain’t for us. / We crave a different kind of buzz.” As Lorde explains, traditional marketing won’t work on millennials and it’s driving us insane. We’re studying millennials with all the fascination of a scientist who has discovered a new species. Read more about why millennials are different in Pew’s Social Trends.
3.
LOOKING INWARD RATHER THAN OUTWARD Where the last decade was about the explicit, stimulating and external, this decade we’ve kicked back and opted for the internal, implicit, selffocussed mindful living. With major corporations getting on board, this trend will affect how many of us work, and how our research participants interpret their world. Read more about mindfulness at the Huffington Post.
MASTER CLASS FEEDBACK By Selina Knapp
When asked by my boss if I wanted to attend the Research Association Master Class I jumped at the chance. Despite being aimed at a researcher with a couple of years’ experience, I felt that two days out of the office with a bunch of fellow researchers sharing experience and knowledge was definitely something to look forward to. And I wasn’t disappointed. When the course pre-reading arrived I thought it was a bit heavy but there’s nothing like skim reading! There was also the creative homework where we had to draw pictures - this was so removed from my regular work and a real challenge, but a fun one. So what were the best bits? It was great to have a trainer who is also a researcher, rather than just ‘a trainer’. Getting an international perspective from Ruth was great as we got a flavour of what else is up and coming in the wider research world. I was impressed by the researchers who came to share their experiences with us. The pace of the speakers and the content was all good stuff and it allowed for plenty of time to reflect about where in my normal research life I can accommodate new ways of doing things.
The case study and the group work really helped to break up the more traditional ‘presentation’ training of the Master Class. Working with the same team over the course of the two days allowed for group bonding and made it easier when pulling together the presentation on the final day. But there are some things I think could have been done differently. As I mentioned during our feedback time at the end of the Master Class session, it would’ve been nice to have speakers from a mix of major industries or companies. There were also few client researchers in the Master Class – so to have more of a mix between agency and client researchers also, would have been beneficial. I know it’s a challenge for the Research Association to get a variety of speakers, so I would like to make a plea on their behalf to please put yourself forward and share your knowledge and experience in the Master Class next time. Overall I found it to be a very enjoyable two days of training with the opportunity to sharpen the tools in my research toolbox.
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Learn, grow, share.
TRAININGTUESDAYS First tuesday oF the Month | auckland
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Research is supposed to be fun. How many times do your reports go beyond bars, pies and cross tabs?
JUNE 2014
10 Download Outlook appointment
38 InterVIEW May 2014
Photo credit: Kathryn Abrahams
Duncan Stuart’s Up the Value Ladder to the Roof @duncan_stuart
Book my place now!