I am sure the title may have gotten you a little interested, perhaps a little curious of what I would like to share. Over the past few years river sample has become very important in the research industry. Well in my opinion that river sample will need to move over for a new ocean called FATWIN!
Yes you heard it heard first – FATWIN!
IN FACT HERE IS THE LOGO I CREATED!
Ok so now I probably have your attention let’s take a closer look at these three social networking giants!
- Launched February 2004
- More than 500 million active users
- 800 million in revenue in 2009 (haven’t seen 2010 numbers)
- Since January 2009 most used social network
- Launched July 2006
- 190 million visitors monthly
- 4 million in revenue in 2009 (haven’t seen 2010 numbers)
- Since February 2009 third most used social network
- Launched May 2003
- 60 million members
- 17 million in revenue for 2008 (last number I could locate)
- Adds 1 million members every 12 days
In addition check out this activity level at a random amount of time!
- Shared links: 1,000,000
- Tagged photos: 1,323,000
- Event invites sent out: 1,484,000
- Wall posts: 1,587,000
- Status updates: 1,851,000
- Friend requests accepted: 1,972,000
- Photos uploaded: 2,716,000
- Comments: 10,208,000
- Messages: 4,632,000
- Likes: 7,657,000
ALL THIS HAPPENED OVER A 20 MINUTE PERIOD OF TIME ON FACEBOOK!
I truly believe these three social networking sites will be in the research world on the horizon. In some ways they will be a vendor and on a different day they will be a competitor.
Here are some things they have in common and I why I believe FATWIN is a reality!
- Access to millions of people
- They have an Opt in process
- They are TRUSTED by almost everyone
- Today/Tomorrow this will be the communication of choice
- All of these social networking sites will be looking for revenue
- They already took a swing at research and missed – rest assured they will again and BE successful!
- They all have Apps which will be huge for our industry!
What do you think?
- Am I crazy?
- Isn’t LINKEDIN perfect for business to business sample?
- Is this an area that the research community has struggled with for years?
- What can/will FACEBOOK/TWITTER/LINKEDIN do with respect with research?
I look forward to hearing from you and discussing this VERY important topic.
Stephenie Gordon says:
I agree Merrill. this is definitely a plethora of people just waiting to be tapped into. the question is HOW! It’s something we discuss a lot in our recruiting meetings. We use Facebook for advertising, finding small interest groups, etc. and we have had success; however, there has to be a way to reach out to more people at once. We definitely are not using these social networking sites to their full potential.
If only Facebook would sell a list of their subscribers… but that is AGAINST their privacy policy.
Maybe we should pull together a panel of data collection folks and have a brain storming session on this. There really are enough people to go around, so if we collectively came up with an idea, the industry as a whole would be stronger. Who’s in?
Ed Sugar says:
Stephenie -
You might want to go back to this blog’s October posting about new technologies. You will find a post from Marshall Toplansky there where he states that marketing research has more or less missed the train when it comes to using social media for research purposes.
We also saw this at the MRA First Outlook’s morning general session, this past November, where a panel of mainly non-marketing researchers (IT, consulting firms, public relations & ad agencies) spoke about topics such as text analytics and sentiment scoring that 3/4 of the audience had no clue what they were talking about.
Your brainstorming idea is a great idea, but I think it is probably 2 years late in coming.
Michael Halberstam says:
I’m in!
Ed Sugar says:
I would also add Google to your list.
Jayani says:
I agree to that idea. As a student, I can see my friends and me as young people who go to different places,eat at different places but if there is one thing common amongst us all its FB,Twitter,Linkedin(in that order).It kind of defines us as a generation.There are times when some of us have got bored of Fb,but because there are other peers in there ,you kind of hang in there.
I would not be able to point out at this time the techincal aspect of how to tap this crowd,but I can say its the media which connects span ethnicity,age and gender.
Jayani
Steve Gentile says:
Please see:
Steve Gentile says:
February 11, 2011 at 5:26 pm
Ed Sugar says:
Steve -
Great catch!
“I would not be able to point out at this time the techincal aspect of how to tap this crowd,but I can say its the media which connects span ethnicity,age and gender.”
Did the world not witness this in action today in Cairo?
Eric says:
For business to business sample/research use, etc. LinkedIn has the clear edge. As of now, you can post polls and target those polls to interest groups by function, specialty, etc. Also, it is just more useful. I have found new vendors on LinkedIn, learned about great webinars, webcasts, conferences, had an article published based on a contact, been invited to speak at a conference, met great MR professionals to share insights with, etc.
In comparison, facebook is where I can see inane posts from folks that I went to high school with, etc. Not very useful. That said, I recognize that the numbers of users is staggering and there are likely to be future business uses.
I cannot speak about Twitter, other than that it is amazing how it has been used to communicate world events in otherwise closed societies, etc.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Eric,
I totally agree with your point. When you think about B to B sample in the research industry most buyers shrug their shoulders and either don’t know where to find a great source OR don’t like the current choices. LinkedIn solves that problem very quickly. I truly believe they will be (if they aren’t doing it already in a test/quiet way) a force in selling B to B sample very soon.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Merrill
Jeremy Bromberg says:
Right on, Merrill. Yes, you are crazy, but not with respect to this topic.
I also don’t know you, Ed, but, intending no disrespect, I’m surprised at your statement that brainstorming two years late isn’t worth doing. This problem hasn’t been solved yet, and if it were, there’s still no reason version 2 can’t or won’t be more powerful than version 1 (and probably cheaper to develop)! We all used to concede a race to Microsoft. Not any more.
On the simplest level, I see FATWIN as a modern adaptation of mall intercepts. Why do research in malls? Because the people are there. Why do research on FATWIN? Same reason.
There’s incredible data already on these sites, available for mining and interpretation. Every demographic and I believe most countries are represented. There are status updates, tweets, etc about politics, movies, sports, music, religion, retail, and on and on.
As to your question, Merrill, about what can / will the FATWIN folks do, well, whatever they want. Present a compelling business vision to them and they will play. They can inform businesses, governments, groups, cabals like no other. They can provide fast feedback / input. They can contribute mightily to accelerated product development, marketing campaigns, behavior influence. I believe it’s called crowdsourcing. And the curtain has yet to come down on Act I.
Ed Sugar says:
Jeremy -
I believe you misconstrued what I wrote. It is a great idea, but the MR industry should have been done this in 2008 when Li & Bernoff came out with “Groundswell”.
Currently our brothers & sisters in public relations, advertising and management consulting are developing, testing and defining social media research. Also add in what the IT sector has been creating with text analytics and other automated tools and software.
In my mind, what would be even more effective than Stephenie’s brainstorming for the MR industry, is for us to turn to the half dozen or so folks in our industry who really “get it” and are conducting true marketing research within social media using proper sampling methodology and valid MR analytical techniques.
With that said, hey Merrill, that could be a fantastic future blog post. Between the two of us, we both know the half dozen or so folks I mentioned above. We should contact them and have them lead a forum/brainstorming session right here on this blog.
Jeremy Bromberg says:
Oh, Ed, you ignorant slut. (Just keeping the discourse lively and somewhat offbeat. Nothing personal.)
For MR to have been looking at this two years ago we would have had to stop both our discussions about declining participation rates (to notice where everyone was going) and ponderings on why our surveys were viewed as boring. And long. And boring.
I like your idea, but I’ll also point out we each have a choice between following the leaders or being the leaders. Entrepreneurship, innovation, and winning come from a willingness to move forward, to initially stick toes in water, to either fail fast and cheaply – or succeed (gasp!). My time in MR has been in Biopharma MR, where, I can assure you, little new is happening, and not surprisingly, budgets are shrinking.
Business is just the math word problems we hated in middle school. What do we know, what are we trying to solve for, and how can we link the two. We want to provide value to clients, we want our industry to grow, we want our careers to thrive, and our work is based on hearing from people. We know how people like to be talked to, because last I checked, we are people. Go where the people are and listen. (Oversimplified I know, but I’m a simple guy.)
Ed Sugar says:
“It is deja vu all over again”.
In the fall of 1995 people like Gordon Black, John Chisholm and Bill McElroy were telling a very skeptical MR industry of the power of the web and the idea of having panels of Internet respondents. Five years later no one doubted their visions.
In April 2008, two market researchers write a book, “Groundswell” and describe the potential social media has for marketing research. Three years later we are having this blog discussion. The only difference between then and now is that now other branches of marketing have taken the reins and are dictating the rules. You snooze, you lose.
Tom says:
I think there are terrific and ever-growing opportunities on the collective, FatWin. My only caveat would be the representivity of each one for a potential initiative; however, with time, that likelihood is only going to increase.
Jami Pulley says:
Great topic. Many know that Research Now recently purchased Peanut Labs for the very reasons mentioned in your intro. Peanut Labs provides Research Now with a different mode of communication that allows us to collect opinions and thoughts from consumers via social media networks, including FB. I agree that the social network members did not join because of survey opportunities, however if the questionnaires are well written, an average length (20 minutes or less) and a minimum of 15% qualification rate among gen pop- this can be a great survey tool. Like any methodology, it will not be a great fit for all research projects; however, it is an important tool that should be considered.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Jami,
Although I do agree somewhat with your point. We need to get up into the sky a little bit. I believe Peanut Labs is a solid company/platform but it clearly doesn’t have the reach as any of the FATWIN players. Once these companies figure out that a member of their “community” is worth thousands of dollars to them in research they will play and be a force.
Great conversation.
Merrill
Marshall Toplansky says:
I completely agree with you that the social media space will be a big, fat win, Merrill. But, not in the way people commenting in this blog are envisioning.
Social media is NOT a new methodology for conducting traditional research. The idea (promulgated by Mr. Bromberg) that somehow social media is akin to mall intercepts, just virtual, completely misses the point.
What FATWIN represents is a new, real-time flow of mass consumer attitude and intent data. What marketing research represents is a slow, expensive snap shot of selected consumer attitudes. Clients are faced with an ever-quickening pace of decision making that is being forced on them by a world where people’s opinions change minute-by-minute. Those opinions are being driven by communications technologies like social networks, smart phones and e-commerce.
Why would a marketer care that you can now do a slow survey from a new sample source? They don’t. They want a real-time data stream that classifies what people are saying so they can get a fast handle on changes.
Research companies that recognize this can work with real-time social media analysis firms (like my company Wise Window – shameless plug goes here) to supply it to their customers. Smart ones, like M/A/R/C already do (doubling down on the shameless plug).
The upside for traditional marketing research firms from FATWIN will be that this new real-time data will ALSO trigger new, traditional research projects to understand the emerging trends in depth. New segmentation schemas will be needed. Deeper dive ethnographic and qualitative projects will be needed. And new predictive models will be developed based on the new data sources.
However, the new real-time data will also mean that some traditional forms of marketing research will fade into the sunset. My feeling is that tracking studies will be replaced by faster, continuous tracking of consumer intent and attitudes from social media. They won’t be done using surveys. They will be done using newer, semantic and natural language technologies.
When you look at quantitative methods, there is one obvious truth. At the end of the day, no one wants to take a survey. Period. It doesn’t matter if the survey is served up on a website or on the telephone or in an e-mail solicitation. Or whether the sample cam from a social network. Survey participation is already under 3% of the US population. So, don’t look to social networks to change peoples’ preferences in this area.
It’s time to stop thinking that inventing a lighter horseshoe is going to stem the adoption of the automobile. Maybe you should try driving one of those new fangled things!
Merrill Dubrow says:
Marshall,
Some really solid points. I disagree with one of your opening points when you said “Social media is NOT a new methodology for conducting traditional research” – I believe it is and although your company is well versed, positioned in the market MOST research companies just aren’t. Many are scratching their heads, thinking about what to do or some have their head buried in the sand. I believe that FATWIN will be huge in so many ways that any of us can’t currently see – yes a merger between Facebook and Skype is a replacement or alternative platform for on line “friend” groups and frankly less expensive. The research community has a shortage of B to B sample most people would agree and LinkedIn solves that issues very quickly.
The list can go on and on. As Jeremy stated we need to find ways to partner with FATWIN, embrace the social networking concept as a real research methodology and platform. Research sample is big business and lots of revenue and soon FATWIN will be a major force.
Great discussion and thought on a very important topic.
Merrill
Jeremy Bromberg says:
Hi Marshall -
I completely agree with you that if MR sees FATWIN as merely a new means to conduct old research, then very little will have been gained, and end clients will not be well served.
I have friends working on text analytics software, which is but one approach with potentially powerful benefits. (Heck, IBM sent Watson to compete on Jeopardy – the non-technological me sees as probably relevant / related technology.) Artificial Intelligence applications are now reaching some maturity and will probably further add to the analytic power.
There is a nascent movement around the concept of co-creation (see “The Power of Co-Creation,” a book by Ramaswamy and Gouillart). In the overly simplistic terms I require, co-creation is a way to improve the real-time linkage and exchange between companies and their customers, all in the name of value creation. This concept / practice I believe will benefit mightily from coordination with FATWIN or other like technologies.
Incremental revenue comes from iteration and small steps. New plateaus of revenue – and a lot of fun – come from expansive thought and bold vision.
Joe Baldi says:
Merrill, once again you serve as a catalyst in moving ther marble forward. We, like many, do see the Social Media serving as another repository for respondents and in fact to be able to engage them more on their terms and thus make them more valuable to us.
Ed, who is it in the non research sector that has beaten us to the punch and what is it they are doing? Please share that with the group. Also who are these leading practictioners known only to you and Merrill that would preclude the suggestion of putting a group together to discuss this?
Marshall, I’m hard pressed to understand your points about this being just another slow way of providing the client with info. Real time data/info is not the be all and end all that you make it out to be.
Merrill, you have awakened us to the reality and need to pursue FATWIN and I would be happy to be part of any group you put together to advance it further.
Thanks again for your visionary leadership in advancing our industry.
Joe
Ed Sugar says:
Joe -
As I mentioned somewhere above our brothers and sisters in advertising, public relations and management consulting, as well as IT software development (SAS), are all currently monitoring and measuring customer sentiment on social media and are calling it marketing research.
The people in our industry who have embraced SM and are applying traditional MR techniques and analysis are: Ray Poynter, Annie Pettit, Ben Smithee, Marshall, Tom Anderson, to name a few (and apologies for those who I missed). Also in the last few months there have been acquisitions by major MR firms of SM shops (i.e. Maritz purchasing Evolve 24)
Merrill Dubrow says:
Ed,
You have mentioned a number and perhaps a large percentage of the people who have embraced social networking. I have found that most people in this great industry (market research) are not as up to speed and not up to embracing what is happening and that is one of the main reasons that this discussion is so important. I agree with your other point saying companies are buying SM shops – all of the big research companies (over 100 million revenue) will be buying or already have bought small SM companies. Isn’t the real question can they really find a way to integrate it in their company and really make the acquisition work? How big of a concern is that?
Great discussion.
Merrill
Annie Pettit says:
Hey all! If we’re talking Fatwin, then it’s right up my alley. I’m a market researcher who frequently presents at MRA, MRIA, and CASRO on the topic of social media research. My job involves collecting data from across the Fatwin network (plus the rest of the internet including blogs, microblogs, etc) and applying scientific marketing research principles to it – sampling, weighting, scoring, norms, variables, box scores.
So, what you’re dreaming of already exists! We are already gathering user generated opinions to feed back data that researchers can use addition to survey data or focus group data.
I know there are many IT firms and monitoring firms working in social media but there are other options.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Annie,
Appreciate your comments and I consider you one of the “guru’s” on this topic for sure. I assume you believe that the companies that make up FATWIN will be integrated (and in some ways already are) in research moving forward. Did you believe that those three companies will be selling sample for research projects in the future? Or perhaps they are doing it now on a small scale?
Thanks.
Merrill
Lorri says:
Wow! I think you have found the answer. And I love the name and logo too! It gives me hope for a good future in sampling.
Ben Smithee says:
Hey Everyone! (Late to the game, but I’m on a boat in the middle of an ocean, and connectivity is spotty, at best….and costs about a dollar a minute)
So, here’s my $3′s worth!
I’ve been talking about this stuff now for a while, and it’s interesting to see how interest, buy-in and understanding, ebbs and flows through the various MR groups and orgs. One of the things that I have been talking about, in terms of being broken, is sampling. I know I am not a quant guru, but I do understand people and how social media is affecting communication and relationships between consumers and companies (groups of consumers in suits). As we start moving more toward a P2P (person to person) focus instead of these B2B and B2C segmentations, we will see the opportunities and strategic capabilities for MR companies to utilize social media in sampling continue to flourish.
People are becoming more and more willing to share detailed information about their lives, preferences, likes and dislikes with brands and researchers, based on solid foundations of trust. The hard part for some to swallow is that the future model for sampling is not a currency-based model. Now, I’m not saying people will not expect to be compensated. But, the principle foundation of why a consumer will want to engage with sample provider X or brand Y is a mutual trust-based relationship, that provides value both in an informative and possibly monetary format.
To Merrill’s point, FB, LI, and Twitter, have developed the channels for those relationships to form. People do not have a “relationship” with FB, LI, or Twitter. If that was the case, all three would have come and gone long ago. Instead, FB, LI, and Twitter, allow people to have more meaningful relationships with their friends, family, brands they like, and celebrities/other people they are interested in. When things cause that trust to waver, you see the revolt, and FB/LI/Twitter is forced to regain that trust, or do something to make it right again. MR companies should be functioning in the same way as FB/LI/Twitter, in providing a channel for relationships, as relationships are the ultimate breeding grounds for insight.
I really believe the sample company that will buy-in to this shift will win the game. But, based on conversations I have had, I don’t quite feel they are there yet, and there is still a bit of hesitation to stray from what is traditional and comfortable. It’s about so much more than placing recruiting ads on a social media channel, or posting sample needs in a LI group. But, it is not even going as far as forming partnerships with the FATWIN groups, as their APIs allow quite a bit of integration of key info that sample providers can really utilize (and monetize). It’s just a bit shocking that I have not seen any real utilization of those APIs and advanced FB/LI/Twitter applications in terms of the MR realm. I would venture that many of our peers may not even know what APIs exist, or have examined what they can do with various FB page/group functionalities. There is a HUGE opportunity for sample providers out there to really change the game right now, and I think it will happen soon. But, first, there needs to be a tremendous amount of learning that occurs. Advanced learning, that goes beyond ad placement and status updates that say “we are looking for people X to X that eat chocolate”
.
Great post! I don’t know if it is really a new ocean, but we sure as heck have a boat that is now capable of taking us out a lot further into the sea!
See you in Phoenix!
Ben
Ray Poynter says:
I’d like to agree with Marshall as well. Traditional market research is dying, it has been dying for a while and it will take a bit longer yet, killed by changes in what people ware prepared to do, killed by the growth of faster/cheaper/better alternatives, and killed by horrible surveys.
As some others have said there are alternatives, and we need to make sure we are taking part in that process. Yes, as a palliative measure lets use SM to help prop up surveys for a little bit longer, but that is not the future, it is simply a sticking plaster that might help us bridge the gap.
Todd Biederman says:
Hi Merrill,
I totally agree with you on this topic. And that FATWIN might someday be the one stop shop for Qual and Quant. I have seen this coming for some time now and Advanced Focus is actually in the process of trying to reinvent the wheel so to speak. I have found that in my 21 years in market research you must adapt or die, innovate or fold your cards. In this ever rapidly changing world of technology we must embrace it, understand and utilize it for our own niche services and constantly evolve to keep offering the best innovative services that we can. While FATWIN might be the goliath in the making, I still believe that the David’s will still continue to thrive as long as we adapt. I look forward to unveiling some exciting concepts in the future!!
Gary Frieden says:
Todd — I certainly agree with you. Those who stubbornly hold onto the familiar, tried-and-true will find their phones ringing less.
Merrill Dubrow says:
I got an email yesterday from Amy Shields with links that were very interesting. Within the links I pulled out three Positions that Facebook is looking to hire right now……
Analyst, Monetization Analytics
Facebook is seeking an Analyst for our Monetization Analytics team to focus on the Marketplace advertising business. Our team partners with our Product and Engineering teams to provide analysis on product and customer usage that helps define our product strategy and roadmap. The ideal candidate will be passionate about Facebook, a fast learner with demonstrated intellectual curiosity, highly analytical, and able to move fast while keeping focused on the highest leverage projects. This is a full-time position in the Advertising and Global Operations team and is located in our Palo Alto, CA office.
Audience Researcher
Facebook is looking for an experienced market research professional to join the measurement solutions group. This position will partner with multiple parts of Facebook including our marketing and sales operations teams. This audience researcher will contribute to conducting and managing in-house and 3rd party research initiatives and must have a track record of inspiring and driving action. The ideal candidate will have solid media research and data analytics skills as well as experience running multi-country market research studies. Creativity, energy and a passion for delivering insights are also critical for this role. This position is full-time and will be located in Palo Alto.
Data Analyst, Platform
The Facebook Developer Network (FDN) team partners with some of the most exciting companies in the world to make the web more social. We are looking for an experienced data analyst with a passion for social media to help drive informed business decisions for Facebook and our partners. You will enjoy access to massive amounts of data, cutting edge technology, and the ability to see your insights make a direct impact on Facebook and its partners. The perfect candidate will be results-oriented, have strong analytical skills, and be experienced at developing and optimizing data analytics systems and processes at scale. Experience working cross-functionally is also essential. This is a full-time position based in our headquarters in Palo Alto, CA.
They will/are a player in the research industry for sure! In the future they will be a client/competitior and a vendor all on the same day to most research companies.
Merrill
Ed Sugar says:
How about yesterday’s WSJ front page article – “Twitter as Tech Bubble Barometer” ->
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703716904576134543029279426.html
It looks like the FATW of FATWIN is in process or at least being considered.
But scroll up to my initial post on Wednesday: Do not exclude the search engines, Google and Microsoft(Bing) from this discussion.
Merrill when you state “They will/are a player in the research industry for sure! In the future they will be a client/competitor and a vendor all on the same day to most research companies” you are right on brother.
I think once the dust has settled and TW & IN have been absorbed by FA, GO or MI, what we will see could be similar to what we witnessed in the middle of the last century with the major US newspapers.
FA, GO, MI will be major MR vendors as they will be the mainline source of MR data for their advertisers. This will be the focal point since all these SM sites & search engines are dependent on advertising to generate their bottomline revenue
What they will be able to provide will be not only measurement and analysis of consumer/business sentiment expressed on their SM sites (do not forget Youtube as the 4th major SM site), but in the case of GO & MI, they will be able to sync their findings with actual search engine metrics and analytics to boost their MR findings. They will be able to tell their clients/advertisers not only what people are saying, but what they are actually doing as well.
Obviously they, FA, GO, & MI will be in the lead. The question then is will/how this industry support and guide them or do we take a back seat to the other marketing segments that have fully embraced SM?
Steve Gentile says:
Great post Merrill and the deep thinking in each comment is quite profound – bravo to all.
Reading through the threads, I keep coming back to one in particular, which (for me as researcher and parttime anthropologist) offers so much – from Jayani, copied below – and I quote
“I agree to that idea. As a student, I can see my friends and me as young people who go to different places,eat at different places but if there is one thing common amongst us all its FB,Twitter,Linkedin(in that order).It kind of defines us as a generation.There are times when some of us have got bored of Fb,but because there are other peers in there ,you kind of hang in there.
I would not be able to point out at this time the techincal aspect of how to tap this crowd,but I can say its the media which connects span ethnicity,age and gender.”
We’re told that for this generation, there are differences in places and lifestyles but there is similarity in where that lifestyle is reflected back to us researchers (and in an order that would make Merrill happy). We’re also given a key insight of “it kind of defines us as a generation” as well as “sometimes got bored of FB” with a hanging in factor of other peer presence”
Then this diamond – “I can say its the media which connects span ethnicity,age and gender” a real gem of response, and very true.
I would venture to guess that this reply came via Smartphone vs. terrestrial keyboard and computer (am I correct Jayani) based on punctuation within the post, which is also very telling.
I’ll end by saying that, once again Merrill, you have stirred this fire successfully amongst professional peers and caused us all to investigate this brave (not so) new world, and examine it as researchers. I dare to say that there are other sites (the NING sites, specialty blogs, etc) which are key for the exploration and mining of insights, feelings, attitudes, opinions, etc that we and our clients desire.
Ultimately, it’s finding those avenues of communication that reveal themselves, and coming to them on THEIR terms, in THEIR space. Again, that’s probably the anthropologist in me, maybe the documentary filmmaker, or maybe it’s just the part of me that ignored his mother’s sage advice of “not talking to strangers” but instead finding those dialogs oh so very exciting!
Shout out to Ed Sugar, whose update on LinkedIn encouraged a faster visit to this blog, this blog’s a regular rest stop – Thanks Merrill. And thanks Jayani for turning things and keeping it fresh.
S
Jayani
Steve Gentile says:
PS – it’s “leading the horse to water” and “making it drink” – for us researchers, and the people who pique our interest.
Birju Jani says:
Love the moniker! Respect to all – good, vested, industry peer thoughts. And while many have thanked Merrill for the post (moi aussi), a tip o’ the hat to Ed for stirring the pot with invites for comments via – yep – Social Media(!)
Ray’s bang on the money with SM in MR being palliative – it’s flavor du jour (certainly not without reason/merit). Interesting, hence that the post origin was Fatwin re:sample, that segued quickly into SM in MR. Corroboration (IMO) that Fatwin possess the deadly dual combo of access to the right (& far ‘n wide) audiences as well as pulse on SM (in being players that are actually defining the SM space). So, succinctly: MR has reason to take notice – really well; & established thought leaders like Merrill, Ed & ilk are thankfully taking the baton. There isn’t a quick fix – & unless MR truly reinvents itself (beyond how to use SM today), value justification will remain an uphill battle. A think tank with that mandate would serve the industry well. As far as sample itself goes, personally, I think that ship has pretty much sailed with Fatwin. And Google/Microsoft while significant don’t fully possess the dual punch mentioned above that Fatwin do.
Phil Harriau says:
This does feel a lot like 1995, when everyone was questioning when a “representative sample” could be found on-line. Right now, I’d argue just about any group you’d like to find under age 25 is already on fatwin, and a very large number of professionals over that age are as well.
I don’t think the ship has sailed, but come up with the right app and it could be transformational for our industry. I predict in 10 years we all won’t think twice about using social media for research.
Melanie says:
Hi, all. Awesome discussion – sorry for the late entry. Merrill, the one point I would disagree with is the assumption that this will replace River. In its purest form, River is a generic term that includes FATWIN. River sampling’s core foundation is finding people wherever they are, and getting their opinions, without making them join your panel or make some sort of long term commitment to research your way. And some river samplers are already finding people on FB, Twitter, and LinkedIn. So this is about River evolution.
There are two aspects to using these resources. First, is listening to the things they are already saying, which seems to be a new blend of primary research (right from the respondents mouth) and secondary research (seeking out and combining existing data that doesn’t come from a survey). And the industry has is doing both of these, and really beginning to combine them into a holistic product. (I love the word holistic, even if it is 1990s business lingo!)
The key is, we are still going to need good researchers that understand design, sampling, engagement, and analysis to harness these resources. FATWIN don’t want to be involved in actual research. They want to monetize. They’ll need us to handle the details. And we’re good at details.
I’m generally seen as eternally optimistic – but I believe in our industry and its people. I believe we can do this, and in some instances, already are. We might not recognize ourselves in a few years – and that’s a good thing.