748 Votes Later: The Top 10 Market Research Industry Predictions for 2011 & Beyond

A total of 35 market research industry predictions were posted during the last two weeks of 2010. For each one, people could vote for or against the item, resulting in a net score.

Free Market Research Training, Via Twitter

The first ever market research Twitterversity will be held January 11th, 2011. Indeed, this may be the first Twitterversity ever. While some companies have held events to teach people how to use Twitter, I can find no examples of anyone actually using Twitter itself as the instructional medium for a day of learning.

Social Media Research As An Early Warning System

…the premise is simple: through early detection, events or patterns can be escalated as needed, thus preventing, or at least minimizing, problems.

Social media research is a powerful tool that can be used as an early warning system by many types of businesses. Consider the following four applications.

Market Research Holiday Fun

I’d like to share a little market research fun. And what’s more fun than a crossword puzzle? I have crafted a market research crossword puzzle; it was fun to make, and I hope you enjoy it.

Social Media Research to Capture 25% or more of MR budgets by 2012. Or Not.

-3. Social Media Research to Capture 25% or more of MR budgets by 2012. It had actually been hovering around positive 3 and 4, then came down! Does this mean more people really think SMR will not take off? Or that clients will use free/low-cost tools such that it won’t take up much budget?

Vote on the Best & Worst Market Research Industry Predictions

To support this, I have set up an IdeaScale voting site titled, “Market Research Predictions Site.”

I have started by posting 9 of my predictions (though I confess, one is there to stimulate debate, and not because I actually believe it myself). You can vote on mine, and add your own (which others can then vote on).

My Totally Unofficial, Brutally Honest 2010 TMRE Awards

Best Speaker: Dawn Lacallade from ComBlu. For content, delivery style and just being so refreshingly honest.

Most (delightfully) unexpected content: Kelley Styring’s presentation on the One-armed Dove Hunt, which is a core piece of research for her current project, “The One-handed World.”

Most amusing: This award goes to the Shopping Track. Apparently, research on shoppers is a rather slippery topic; I heard contradictory data from 3 Shopper Track speakers. I won’t name names. But I sat in on 3 sessions…

Market Research Budget Planning Tip 2: Conduct a Market Research Audit

If you really want to get the most from your market research investments, the first step is to do a brutally honest audit of your current research resources. Yes, it takes time. But with a structured approach, I have seen it completed in as little as ten business days.

Does Market Research Jargon Create Negative Perceptions?

“Marketing” versus “Market.” Why is “marketing research” 30% more popular as a Google search term than is “market research”?……

A New Type of Research Agency, Inspired by Stan Sthanunathan, Coca Cola VP of Global Insights

While Stan was presenting at the AMA’s Marketing Research Conference this week, he shared his view that for market research agencies to make the leap to being truly valuable to clients, they need to do more synthesis and make proactive recommendations. OK, coming from the guy who buys market research for Coca Cola, that sounds great. But is there broader demand for market researcers who can synthesize and be proactive?