Jul 19, 2009 0
Jul 13, 2009 0
Wain’s World 2: Out-googling Google
This is the second part of our seven-part series on HR and talent.
This week, Danny Wain looks at how to draw inspiration from Google to innovate in HR and talent management.
Remember, each episode is a mere 2-3 mins long, short enough for the busiest managers or talent folks. And do drop us a line if you’re interested in sponsoring this series.
You can find out more about what Danny does here. Next episode goes up next week.
Jul 4, 2009 0
Wain’s World: A new series on nurturing talent
Two-and-half years ago we did this podcast with Danny Wain who, at the time, was in charge of learning and development at research firm RI.
Ever since then we’ve wanted to capture his considerable experience on how to get the most out of talent and share it with you in bite size chunks, something we can finally do today. We’ve filmed seven episodes which we’ll put out weekly (with a hiatus during August).
Each episode is a mere 2-3 mins long, short enough for even the busiest managers or talent folks out there (that’s right, these are aimed at anyone with line management responsibility or whose job spec involves nurturing talent). Moreover, the series will cover all sectors, not just research.
The series begins with a look at ways to make a business case for learning and development. Next week we look at how you can take advantage of Google’s approach to innovation. And then we’ll tackle some other challenges including persuasion, trust and measurement. All good stuff 
This initiative has involved a significant amount of our time which we’re bringing to you free. So if there’s any potential sponsors out there who’d like to support this effort plus get your name in front of a bunch of thought-leaders, drop us a line as we’d love to work with you.
By the way, Danny’s now set up his own talent and learning and development consultancy, do check it out.
As always, we hope you enjoy this. And do please share this with as many people as possible through twitter, Facebook, email etc.
Jun 11, 2009 0
Marketing: the search for fiscal discipline
Our article in the Jun ‘09 edition of ESOMAR’s Research World. Grab your copy here.
Professor Robert Shaw is Honorary Professor of Marketing Metrics at Cass Business School and the author of ten books including Marketing Payback, We talk to him about the current state of marketing effectiveness and his new initiative designed to improve it.
Q. What is your opinion on the effectiveness of marketing today?
A. Marketing is crucially important to all developed economies. Without marketing, price would be the main differentiator of products and services. The diversity of products and services in today’s economy owes its existence to marketing.
In the current recession, marketing is under extreme pressure, as cost cutting sweeps business. Luckily marketers have plenty of opportunity to improve their effectiveness, since in the boom years they had become very inefficient, and money was routinely wasted on marketing activities that did not deliver, and mistakes were ignored and often repeated.
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May 27, 2009 0
The Listening Posts
Our article in the Apr ‘09 edition of ESOMAR’s Research World. Grab your copy here.
Memes aren’t merely some abstract academic idea. They are real. And they’re becoming big business.
It’s arguably the next big thing in research. Or, perhaps, the next really big thing.
It’s the emergence of what Suresh Vittal, principal analyst at Forrester, calls the ‘listening platform’, something he defines in his recent report as: “A technology and analytics infrastructure that mines a wide variety of traditional, online, and social sources to extract and deliver insights that shape a firm’s marketing strategy.”
In a market dominated by firms that aren’t from the mainstream research community, Vittal anoints Nielsen BuzzMetrics and TNS Cymfony as the leaders in “a pack of strong performers.”
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Feb 16, 2009 0
How Retailers are Surviving the Downturn
Our article in the Feb ‘09 edition of ESOMAR’s Research World. Grab your copy here.
How a passionate focus on value along with other basic approaches are helping retailers to survive and thrive during the downturn.
My, oh my, how things have unravelled.
Back in September, Research World looked at the impact of the downturn and the focus was on the collapse of financial organisations.
But now the focus has shifted to collapsing retailers, among them household names such as Circuit City in the US and Woolworths in the UK, one of the world’s oldest retailers.
What’s more, “Ten chains ‘face closure’ in 2009” declares a headline from a UK consultancy as a dismal prelude of the carnage to come.
In this Darwinian environment, retailers need to adapt or face the real prospect of death.
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Jan 18, 2009 0
Buyology: Sound Science or Wishful Thinking?
Our article in the Jan ‘09 edition of ESOMAR’s Research World. Grab your copy here.
Martin Lindstrom’s new book and company, Buyology, hope to kick start the next wave of neuromarketing. Will they deliver?
We talk to Martin Lindstrom from his New York City hotel.
Just hours after Barack Obama is elected US President, Lindstrom is getting ready to leave the US for his European book tour, the US tour having generated over 700 articles, including many in the mainstream press and an appearance on the couch of TV’s The Today Show.
It’s his bid to popularise the business book: “I realised that no one reads business books any more…what people, including business people, really read is novels…that’s the style I’ve tried adopting in Buyology.”
And the book is indeed a pleasant, easy read. But that’s one of the criticisms levelled at it by the Bob Barocci, CEO of the Advertising Research Foundation, who apparently dismissed the book in an Advertising Age article by saying that the ARF did not review “pop” books.
Notwithstanding that, the book has received widespread praise and is a bestseller.
So, just what is Buyology all about?
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Dec 9, 2008 0
Just How Healthy is Brand Health Measurement?
Our article in the Dec ‘08 edition of ESOMAR’s Research World. Grab your copy here.
Brand health monitoring is an important tool, particularly during tough economic times when managing RoI becomes critical for CMOs. But what are some of the tools, and are they fit for purpose?
The Millward Brown Approach
Don’t say we didn’t try.
In the ceaseless search for simplicity, we ask Eileen Campbell, CEO of Millward Brown for a single measure to encapsulate brand health: “We aren’t really advocates of single number measures – the same way you wouldn’t monitor your personal health with a single number.” Sounds reasonable.
Instead, the philosophy behind BrandZ, their brand health tool/framework, is to measure the strength of the consumer bond, says global brand director Peter Walshe: “Consumers have relationships with brands, and the intent is to strengthen those relationships.”
Strength is derived from a couple of (exotic-sounding) metrics: ‘bonding’ and ‘voltage’.
Bonding refers to one of five levels that indicate the strength of the consumer bond. It is based on factors such as: spontaneous awareness, knowledge, relevance, performance, and perceived competitive advantage. For example, the lowest level (weakest bond) typifies a consumer who is simply familiar with a brand and nothing else. The highest level (strongest bond) reflects a consumer who regards the brand as relevant to them and way ahead of the competition.
And voltage? That, says Walshe, reflects how effectively consumers move up the bonding levels. Strong brands tend to have high conversation ratios between the levels.
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Dec 3, 2008 0
Giveaway: ‘Buyology’
And the winner of the Buyology giveaway is…Elizabeth Luke.
Elizabeth is a senior at the University of Southern California spending her final semester abroad at the University of Amsterdam. She is a communication major with an interest in persuasion and consumer behavior. She will be graduating magna cum laude in December 2008, and shortly after, she will begin her career as a research analyst for emerging consumer products at Nielsen BASES.
Elizabeth’s book is on the way, thanks again to Martin Lindstrom and publishers Random House.
Here are Martin’s responses to some of the questions you sent in (thanks for all the entries):
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Nov 17, 2008 0
Why Qual had to Change
Our article in the Nov ‘08 edition of ESOMAR’s Research World. Grab your copy here.
In an age where innovation is de rigeur, we look into how well qualitative is keeping up with the times.
“You must have mis-recruited me,” says Chris Forrest of qualitative house The Nursery, “I’m not sure there is lots of innovation in qualitative.”
Moreover, he feels there’s no need for innovation: “Qualitative research is quite evolved… a major tool for us is the good old focus group…it’s just a very good way to get people to interact with each other.”
But far from being a Luddite, Forrest is innovating, it just takes him a while to acknowledge this. And that’s not dissimilar from the initial reaction we get from others we spoke to.
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