For those of us who grew up in the industry, we are familiar with surveys that had a question that began with, ‘thinking about the last time you shopped at…’ With the technology that is available today, those questions could be asked while you are shopping at the store, just finished shopping or after you drove by the store.

With geo-targeting, smartphones, and thousands of different apps, all of this is pretty easy to set-up.

The question is, how quick should it happen? I want to share two quick experiences. The first one was when I purchased three televisions from Best Buy and I received an email from them thanking me for the order before I was out of the store. In fact, that thank you came before the sales associate had a chance to thank me. The second experience was when a colleague of mine checked-in through foursquare in a fast food restaurant and 5 minutes later got a link to a survey asking him about the experience.

In my mind, both of those interactions with customers were too quick. In fact, both of us were a little offended. I understand big brother but to get an interaction that quick using the latest technology is a little eerie. My colleague felt the same way. Actually, it really turned him off to the point that it left a bad taste (no pun intended) in his mouth regarding the fast food restaurant.

• How fast is too fast?

• How quick should a survey link be sent out?

• Take a second and think of yourself as a consumer and decide, what makes sense?

I think we should wait at least 24 hours. If not, it could really have a negative effect on this great industry.

• What are your thoughts?

I look forward to hearing from you.

I must admit I am on Google every day and sometimes every hour. Well Google has a new feature that is called Google+. Since I am not an expert on this and I know someone who knows 10 times more than I do about the social space and world I thought it would be a great time to tap into the brilliant, creative and big brain of Eric Swayne.

With that said, here are a few burning questions I had for Eric…

It’s been reported that Google+ has over 25 million users – is that significant compared to Facebook’s 750 million?

Of course Facebook has the larger total audience right now, but there are a few reasons why Google+’s numbers are captivating:

• Google+ is far and away the fastest growing social network ever, and could even be the fastest growing website in history: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-plus-growth-25-million-users-2011-8
• G+ is still in a beta testing phase – meaning Google is throttling the number of invites handed out and limiting new signups.  Meaning, this network isn’t yet growing at the rate it could be
• Right now, G+ is attracting almost all of the most socially active users on the web – practically everyone any measure would label as an “influencer” is on there.  Now is a great time to learn this platform and interact with these voices.

What’s the coolest feature of G+?

I’d say it’s a tie.  First, G+ is based around Circles, which are groups of friends you create.  If you include me in your “Friends” Circle, and then post content on G+ just for “Friends”, I’ll get to see it but others that aren’t in that circle won’t.  Moreover, you can include me in a Circle without me  doing the same – we can follow each other’s’ content at different levels.  It’s this understanding of the varying levels of friendship we all have that makes G+ really powerful. 

Hangouts is another feature just as fascinating – this enables real-time video chat between up to 10 G+ users at once.  This feature brings some high-end telepresence features to the masses, and all for free through a very light-weight browser plugin.  Facebook has video chat as well, but right now it’s only one-to-one – so there’s no way to invite others to join you.  With G+ you can announce to any of your Circles that you’re in a Hangout, and they can come join at any time.

Is G+ the next Facebook?

G+ has a lot of similarities to both Facebook and Twitter, but I don’t think you’ll see it completely supplant either of those.  I’ve heard many stories from other G+ users that they’ve started spending less time on Facebook or Twitter, but they still see the utility of each.  G+ also offers brands some very different opportunities from Facebook with Circles and Hangouts  – tools that will enable brands to become really effective Community Managers and interact with consumers at a very personal level.  I think you’ll see brand campaigns span multiple platforms, and smart social marketers will take advantage of the best capabilities within each.

I thought I heard that brands weren’t yet allowed on G+ – is that true?

As of this moment, G+ users must be actual people using their actual names – brands are not supposed to use G+ from a personal profile.  This hasn’t prevented some brands from doing it, and Google has left some of these profile/brand hybrids up as “test cases”, such as Breaking News (https://plus.google.com/109610954243983229925/posts), Mashable (https://plus.google.com/101849747879612982297/posts), and Ford Motor Company (https://plus.google.com/114277687548103339609/posts).  Google has said they are working feverishly on a “Brand Page” type of profile, and will release that soon.  In the meantime, Google has actually received some flack for deactivating accounts that appeared to be using pseudonyms or brand names.

How will you use G+ in Marketing Research?  What are the implications of this platform for Researchers?

As with every new social network, G+ offers us new ways to connect with consumers and find out what marketing actions will best influence their behavior.  G+ will allow us to have very intimate and insightful conversations  by letting us limit sample groups through Circles, and interact with them through real-time tools like Hangouts.  I can easily see G+ being a great tool for interacting with a Consumer Advisory Panel on a regular, long-term basis.  G+ is also going to let us see new ethnographic behaviors – since users are coming to the network with a “clean slate,” we can see how users are conducting social actions now that they’ve had some training from Facebook, Twitter, and even MySpace.  For example, photographers have quickly gravitated to G+ over Flickr, because it provides them new (and free) ways to share their art, where Flickr wasn’t innovating. 

I think anyone in the Research field should grab an invite (click here to get one while supplies last: https://plus.google.com/_/notifications/ngemlink?path=%2F%3Fgpinv%3DY916-Gq043E%3A7CIErYxx3ro) and start using this network – and not just because I’m “the social media guy.”  What we have here is a brand new social platform that has a genuine chance of taking off and becoming every bit as relevant as Facebook.  Learning the lessons of what works here before it gets huge is an invaluable education, and the kind you can only learn for yourself.

Thanks Eric – I really appreciate your time, insight and comments.

Now your turn:

• Have you registered for Google+?
• What do you think of Google+?
• Do you agree with what Eric said?
• Do you have a specific question for Eric?

We look forward to reading your comments.

PS – Eric is Director, Social Analytics and Insights for M/A/R/C® Research

Having grown up in the market research industry, there are a few things that I can predict will happen year after year. When you go to the MRA Fall Conference, you will see lots of people from the data collection end of the business, presenters would be from suppliers and the conference would be in November.

However, all those things appear to be in the past!

• The conference is now in September!
• The conference is now called The Corporate Researchers Conference!
• As of the last count, 40% of the attendees are from corporate America!
• The speaker lineup is a who’s who of big business with companies like: Taco Bell, Kraft, Madison Square Garden, T-Mobile, American Express, Microsoft and Motorola Mobility.

As I type away the MRA Corporate Researchers Conference has over 350 people registered to attend. NICE JOB! I am very impressed with the changes that the MRA has made and wish them only success. I look forward to experiencing firsthand the revamped conference when members of the M/A/R/C team attend next month.

• What do you think of the changes?
• Are you planning to attend?
• What do you think about the speaker lineup?
• Are you excited about the networking opportunities?

I look forward to reading your comments.

There are so many great things about the research industry. I feel strongly the research industry helps companies introduce new product and services. In some ways we also shape the future and minimize mistakes that companies would make if they didn’t have research to help set the direction of what they need to do.

With all that said, you can always make something a little bit better. If you could change one thing about the research industry, what would it be?

• Is it a maximum length of interview?
   
• Is it standard respondent incentives?
   
• Is it a worldwide guideline on training?

So I ask you – if you had the power to change one thing in the research industry, what would it be?

I look forward to reading your comments.

I used to play music professionally when I was in college. I played saxophone and had several jazz, funk and rock cover groups that I played with fairly regularly. One of the things you could always use as a general guide was to avoid the “gear-heads”, meaning those that spent so much time tweaking, talking about, and changing their gear, when they could have obtained much more out of spending that time in the practice room shedding on some new tunes.

This goes along with a ton of other industries or categories, as well. Think about the golfers you know that always have to have the latest and greatest, thinking that it is the magic cure to that dreadful slice or hook. Quit fooling yourself you shank-o-potamus, it’s the pilot, not the plane! I got that saying from one of my great jazz mentors and saxophone professors, Tim Ishii, who could probably pick up a PVC pipe, punch holes in it, add a reed and sound like a million bucks. His point was simple, and something I will never forget. Why do we spend so much time debating and talking about peripherals when the real thing we should focus on (and really the only thing we can truly control) is our own skills and knowledge?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t want to board the Wright brothers’ prototype for my next trip to Chicago. However, I feel that as researchers, we need to step our A-game up, and really be able to “bring-it” across the board.

Social Media, yes!

Focus groups, you bet!

Qual, quant, surveys, online,

One-on-one, ethnos, yes!

Have a commanding knowledge of each of the available methods, or partner up with someone or another brand that does, but then quit debating it. Let’s start thinking and talking about what really matters! ……By the way, did you hear about that cool new video tool??

• Do you agree with my position?
   
• What are you doing to step up your game?
   
• What cool new tools are you using?

I look forward to hearing your comments.

Ben is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Spych Market Analytics, LLC.

I was having a conversation with a few people and we were discussing the market research industry. For some reason during the discussion my mind wandered a little bit and I became very curious on what words people would use to describe market research and marketing. Quickly I emailed 12 of my contacts to ask them that exact question: Please email me the first three words that come into your mind regarding market research. I then emailed another 12 contacts and asked them to please email me the first three words that came into their mind regarding marketing.

To me the results were very interesting and compelling. There were some common themes and here are the results:

When I take a step back and look at the list a few things are clear.

• I like the marketing words BETTER than the words for market research!
   
• I believe the words for marketing create MORE value to the end user than the research words do!

And to me I WANT THE WORDS FOR MARKETING TO BE USED TO DESCRIBE MARKET RESEARCH!

• As a researcher how do you like our words?
   
• Which list do you like better?
   
• What can and should the research community do to differently moving forward?

I look forward to hearing from you!

A few years back it seemed everyone loved the word ethnography. It seemed that everyone was discussing it and trying to integrate it into research projects. Since then I am not sure there is a hotter, more used word in research than insight.

• We have lots of people who have the word in their title!
   
• We have lots of people who are responsible for their company’s insight!
   
• We have lots of people who use the word in presentations!
   
• We have lots of people who have that as one of their objectives in research studies!

The question is simply this:

• WHAT IS AN INSIGHT?

I look forward to reading your comments.

I hope the title of my posting got you to read on. Think about rock stars and movie stars who are known by a single name. Think about it for 30 seconds and see who you can come up with. Here is my list:

• Cher
   
• Madonna
   
• Sting
   
• Prince
   
• Beyonce
   
• Jewel

I am sure your list is much longer than mine. But the question is why can’t the research industry have people with only one name? To me this great industry has tons of superstars and perhaps some of them could go by only one name.

Ok before I give you some of my favorites I have discounted any of the common names. So names like Steve, Todd, Amy, Lisa and Tom just won’t work. Second I will not put my name on the list either – sorry Merrill Shugoll. Ok here are some of my choices:

• Fee Sepahi, Authentic Response……..becomes Fee – I think this is a PERFECT one name researcher!
   
• Chuck Miller, USAMP……………….becomes Chuck – a strong informative researcher!
   
• Lisa Joy Rosner, Netbase…………..becomes L-Joy – L-Joy as a researcher sounds great to me!
   
• Clay Dethloff, M/A/R/C Research…….becomes Clay – a researcher who molds innovation into every project
   
• Simon Chadwick, Cambiar……………becomes Simon – the researcher that knows all

Ok there are some of my choices.

Your turn:

• What do you think of my 5 new one name research superstars?
   
• Which one is your favorite?
   
• Do you have any to add to the list?

I look forward to hearing from you.

In the past 8 weeks, I have visited with more than 3 dozen marketing research departments across the United States. Every one of them has the same story. “2 years ago, there were 10 people in this department. Today, there are only two of us.”

When I ask them what areas of marketing are getting incremental funding, the answer is almost always this: “Data and analytics. Those departments have seen a lot of growth in people, data sources and technology spending.” When I probe on why this is, the typical response is, “Well, the business needs have changed. We are now focused on things that have a much faster rhythm to them than the old days. We can no longer afford to sit back and think about things that have happened in the past, and track long-term trends. We are now dealing with a “real time” world.”

What does this mean for the marketing research industry? These are the 2 important takeaways, from my perspective:

• Research is perceived as being “old and slow”, operating at a different pace than the business itself. As such, it is perceived as being “disconnected” to the operating rhythm of the core business.
   
• Here’s an interesting sidebar –- One of our marketing research partners was presenting a fabulous model they had created for forecasting the future penetration rate of new products. Years of work had gone into the model, and it was clearly a sound methodology. The prospective client responded by saying, “You look at the growth of a product over a 5 year life cycle. In OUR business, we are lucky if we get an 18 month life out of a new product concept. Your approach simply won’t work in today’s compressed time frames.”
   
• Research is no longer thought of as being “strategic”. It may be necessary, but it is “outsourceable” to suppliers. Marketing research has been “downgraded” in importance within companies. By contrast, if companies are increasing their analytics staffs in an era of overall downsizing, they consider analysis of data to be more strategic to them. Not something they would want to outsource to the same degree.

This is a potentially fatal problem for the marketing research industry. There is an obvious answer: Redefine ourselves to INCLUDE the analytics function. Sounds simple, right?

Wrong. The problem is that marketing researchers are generally unwilling to redefine their own existence. They look at data-driven analytics as having to conform to the conceptual framework of research. They apply the same evaluative criteria to the methods used by the real-time analytics world as they do for traditional marketing research. Think of it this way. Imagine you were alive at the dawn of the automobile. Would you hire a veterinarian to analyze whether a car is operating correctly? The vet was the expert in understanding transportation methods (the horse) of the day. But, does he really “get” cars? The only touch point between the two worlds was the metric of “horsepower”, to measure relative power. Nothing else was the same.

We are our own worst enemy. We have generally been in denial that companies are being forced, by competition and the technology environment to operate at a near-real-time pace. We long for the “good old days” when we could take our time to analyze the longer-term trends.

What is required here is a major attitude adjustment on OUR part. We need to learn an entirely new set of concepts . . . not just add a few new tricks to our current magic show. We need to do our own ethnographies and live inside of the shoes of the top management of our client companies, and grow beyond the marketing research department.

• Are you noticing the same trend?
   
• Are you hearing the same thing from your clients?
   
• What do think of my opinion?

I really look forward to reading your comments.

Marshall Toplansky is President of WiseWindow

Reality TV is huge. Yes I watched Survivor the other night and yes many of my friends won’t miss an episode of their favorite reality show. And yes it will probably be only a month before Charlie Sheen has his own reality show. I don’t to talk about that but I do want to talk about reality TV in the research industry.

Hey TV writers and producers what about these future reality TV hits:

• The Life of An Interviewer! Most of us are chuckling at this point because we started as an interviewer and most of us including myself did crazy things and interviewed some “crazy” people but you don’t think Hollywood can make The Life of An interviewer a hit!
   
• The Birth of A Product! This show could be a classic highlighting the importance of research and how much we have saved big business over the years by not moving forward with products.
   
• The Art of Mystery Shopping – I guess they sort of do this with Undercover Boss – so perhaps one of the networks borrowed my idea.

And of course the classic…….

• My Life As A Moderator! – This show would be an instant hit and we could incorporate all the travel woes, preparing to be a rock star, handling unruly respondents, the client debriefing and much, much more!

Ok your turn – after you stop laughing please let me know

• What do you think of my choices?
   
• What reality research shows would be a hit?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.