ResearchTalk

Episode 3: Not even the volcanic ash could delay this episode, a clientside special in which two former senior clientside insights folks dish the dirt on agencies (well, sort of!).

We’re pleased to welcome Lisa Ohlin who recently headed up the global insights function at Cadbury, famous for its Gorilla campaign. A campaign that, interestingly, tested poorly in research but was greenlit nonetheless (something we discuss).

And then there’s Jaroslav Cir, a former key insights player in the Rexona (deodorants) division of Unilever. He became well known for favouring non-traditional methods and approaches, and the agencies that espoused them. Techniques such as semiotics, crowd sourcing and co-creation. He recently left the UK for his native Czech Republic, opening a research agency in a Prague cafe.

We chat about…

• Agency biz dev approaches they liked/didn’t like.
• Why larger agencies are a turn-off.
• Whether their views have changed in the switch to agency-side.
• Allowing new suppliers not already onto the supplier long list.
• Why Cadbury allowed the Gorilla ad. to run against negative research feedback.
• What research needs to be to support both emotional (intuition) and rational (hard data) decision-making.
• Whether FMCG companies are getting more comfortable with social media – the Wispa example.
• Activating research clientside – the Bournvita battle plan.
• Getting clients away from their desks and in front of people (consumers) – focus groups in a cafe.

• Lisa Ohlin, Royal Mail
• Jaroslav Cir, Perfect Crowd
• John Griffiths, Planning Above and Beyond, Cloud of Knowing, @johngriffiths7

Groove on.

Insight Course: On June 8th, John will be running an insight course for agency researchers with Pauline Williams, former head of insights for British Gas, Nationwide and ‘3′. John says that it’s an opportunity “to learn how to work better with client companies to deliver insights. This course is about how clients operationalise insights and how agencies can better support this – this course is a rare opportunity for suppliers to get an insider view.” Tweet John if you’d like to sign-up or know more.

Click here for previous episodes. Remember to tweet us feedback, suggestions and guest ideas (@johngriffiths7 / @surinder).

Music by Kevin Macleod.

References: Greg Rowland, John Kearon, Research International (RI), John Pawle, QiQ International, Conquest Research

Episode 2: In which we delve into the extremities of stakeholder research and discover how it’s being pulled towards a more cohesive, organic, inclusive model.

We chat with Peter Hutton, at one end of the supplier spectrum with a classic research background and who rose to deputy MD of a mid-sized UK agency before deciding to establish BrandEnergy Research which services the stakeholder research needs of large organisations. And, in complete contrast, we also chat with Kate Tribe who set up Sydney-based Tribe Research without any significant research background after university, and who uses a set of web-based tools to steer her small-to-medium sized business clients, traditionally under-served by the research community, towards success.

We chat about…

• Genesis of their respective businesses
• The fuzziness of ‘category’
• The fallacy of only using metrics that change
• The value of simple conversation
• The challenges of researching via social media
• Insider vs. outsider views
• Telling stories (engagement examples)
• Web tools
• Lessons for large corporates (from smaller businesses)
• Whether MR as a whole heading in this direction?
• The tribal movement
• Including suppliers in the audit
• ‘Avatar’ and whether MR needs to be invasive

 STARRING 

• Kate Tribe, Tribe Research / @katetribe
• Peter Hutton, BrandEnergy Research
• John Griffiths, Planning Above and Beyond / @johngriffiths7

Click here for previous episodes. Remember to tweet us feedback, suggestions and guest ideas (@johngriffiths7 / @surinder).

My oh my, it’s been a while since we updated the blog. But we have been busy in the meantime updating the @mrnews feed with news and, more importantly, our brand of inspiration and ideas. Twitter’s become our favourite way of sharing this goodness, and the feed’s also syndicated to our Facebook group.

So, given the short break, we thought it time to re-engage those podcasting muscles. And this time with friend and inspirateur John Griffiths.

We’re calling it The John Griffiths Show because it will focus on issues and people in the brave new world of market research that are of interest to John. To say he has eclectic interests is an understatement – just look at (one of his) websites.

I’d like to think that John and I will chat with what I refer to as ‘builders’, that is those at the thick end of building the new future rather than merely talking about it. We’ll cover their struggles and find out how effective what they’ve built really is.

The last bit is an important shift from the way things were in 2006 when I first started podcasting. That’s when I noticed the swirl of a renaissance of new ideas starting to sweep the sector. But that’s all they were: ideas. Now, in 2010, alot of those ideas have been built out, tested, confirmed or ditched in the fine tradition of the scientific method.

The other aspiration for the show is to focus on things that make research much better than it is now rather than being satisfied with incremental change: e.g. searching for something that replaces questionnaires rather than something that makes them a few minutes shorter.

In this debut episode – and remember this is a work in progress – John and I talk mobile apps with a couple folks who have recently built some of their own. Ethnographer Siamack Salari talks about his iPhone app – the inspiration, development issues and reactions and future deals and developments. And Confirmit’s Pat Molloy talks about giving iPhone users the ability to build speed boats around his supertanker.

John and I have lots of ideas for some of fine folks we’d like to invite on the show over the coming months. But we’d also welcome your suggestions. Probably best to send us a tweet (@johngriffiths7 and/or @surinder).

 STARRING 

• John Griffiths, Planning Above and Beyond
• Siamack Salari, Everyday Lives / blog
• Pat Molloy, CSO, Confirmit