Change is the only constant, and who knows it better than us.

Since internet and mobile is changing every industry so I decided to have a look at the impact of these two game-changing factors on MR and summed up my thoughts in the attached presentation.

Here is a summary of what I think will happen in Marketing research:-

1. Traditional MR will be replaced by Social Media Listening and Integrated data solutions

2. Revenues of marketing research will mostly come from emerging economies and hence more understanding of local languages and cultures will be required to interpret data meaningfully

3. Integrated data mining tools that will integrate social media data, sales data/ retail data and with customer profile will be used in predictive models to forecast behaviors and trends.

4. Impact of each data based decision will be assessed through financial value i.e. cost of analysis and revenue generated

5. A Research manager will be required to understand the complete value chain of client and how the data is flowing in the value chain. Plus, he will be required to understand strategic planning, forecasting models, data integration methodologies

Additional Readings

In Jan, I wrote about the Sally in Dubai Blog which was at that time covered by Gulf News.The first question I had in my mind, was about the authenticity of the blog

Today I somehow landed on this youtube video of Sally, have a look.

“Sally is a hoax and so could be multiple other bloggers who are shaping consumers’ opinion. Will this effect consumers more than marketers or vice versa”

What does this video tells you as a marketer.”

1. Sally is a hoax and so could be the reality of multiple of bloggers that are shaping the opinions of multiple audience groups.  
2. What is the rule of Social Media Law in such cases
3. After multiple such cases, Consumers will be confused or will they continue to trust the social media as almost 70% – 80% audience form their opinion through social media platforms

 Additional Readings

1. Review of UAE Social Media Law: http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/uae-cyber-law-is-full-of-surprises
2. Blog of Sally: http://dubaisally.blogspot.com/
3. Previous Post about Sally

Demographics

At the end, it is all about numbers.  Enjoy the rich repository of the usage data of customers based in UAE.

Dont forget to run a search for the indicator that you are looking for in the search box placed at the right corner of the following table.

I stumbled upon a poem recently (jawab-e-shikwa  by Allama Iqbal) while listening to Shirely Bassey’s playlist on youtube. It struck me, and it struck me bad…how come they managed to spot the right insight and were able to touch hearts and why me (a regular consumer insight manager) can’t?

Here is my take onto this.

1. As a consumer insight manager/research manager: I seek data & data alone. Quantitative, statistically significant, thoroughly predictable data oozing out of the SPSS generated tables.
2. When I picture the consumer, I see him/her through the eyes of numb numbers – numbers that are indicating what he/she has been doing after asking him countless interrogating questions.
3. While I write presentations: I follow best practices available – I struggle with infographics and juggle with icons. I try to be authentic in findings; I picture the tough questions & skepticism and avoid anything that might spark a conflict of opinion.

And so I bring forward – Insights that are genuine, authentic and somewhat predictable. But insights that are not timeless. Insights that are compelling and clear but insights that are not big, hair and scary. Insights that doesn’t challenge the norms, that doesn’t throw anyone out of the comfort zones.

Fine this is the problem; here is a solution that I might think will help us in presenting & touching the consumer better. I want to be a magician, I urge consumer insight managers to become magicians by understanding the consumers better than anyone else.

We need to humanize research; human brain takes information from all senses and merges it to form perception and so should we as consumer insight users.

Consumer Insight Manager or a Magician

Social media has revolutionized everything around us including the way we get hired. A recent surveyby Eurocom worldwide reveals that 38% of companies check social media profiles of potential employees

I got a chance to discuss this issue with a leading international recruiter.Following are his thoughts on the subject.

It takes talent to find talents…

“I think what is more important to realize is how it can be used to review a potential candidate and gain insight into the person, their personality/style and potential as a candidate.” Victor Asanbe

This involves the following:

1. Review of Contact Lists: A review of their (candidate’s) contact list is it made up of peers, professionally relevant people, contacts that show an ability to grow a network throughout organizations, the industry, complementary fields etc at different levels. This is often a core competency required for many positions now, and using blogs to do just that, is an indication that a candidate can execute that effectively in a new role/company. An indication that someone is not building a professional network is disparate titles, industries etc, this could just be a social activity for them.

2. Review of involvement and contribution to groups – Involvement & contribution in groups; assess the relevance and contribution frequency. Often this is an indication of two areas – networking ability but also how readily they are likely to contribute to business areas outside their own within a team environment, do they contribute for the general good, or have a level of awareness that would translate into organizational awareness etc. This also helps a recruiter gain insight into management styles, knowledge and expertise – which is never a bad thing, it helps a great deal when it comes to considering a candidate and a match to the culture of a company

3. References - a review of references to see how they (candidate) fit with the roles. Do they come from clients (and these can be internal clients as well as external) – a third party client reference is of value – and perhaps a conversation that can be extended to gain even further understanding of the person concerned. For leadership roles, it’s also interesting to see references from team members that express what it was like to be part of the team lead by the individual. Of course, direct supervisor or references from “the boss” also fit nicely into this review. Colleague/peer references are easier to get and not as indicative to performance of the person.

5.Profile: Lastly, generally how are they using their profile to communicate who they are, their roles and areas of interest – the underlying structure – it used to be that we looked at a messy resume and assumed, messy person, now, we look at the on line profiles and do the same.

“ I am not saying that every recruiter uses social media like this but what I can say is that I do, and although I don’t make all of my decisions on someone from this, these areas are all part of the process of assessing a potential candidate. I can also speak from experience in terms of being a recruiter, I know I certainly increased the number of contacts I had from people when I work, when I followed this sort of thought process myself.” Victor

A little about the author:

Victor Asanbe: A leading International recruiter.  Based in London, he is handling recruitment in United Kingdom & EMEA (including Abu Dhabi). He specifically manages and recruits into the IT, Telecoms, Media, Research, MoD, Hedge fund, Sales and Marketing industries across UK & EMEA.

What is Prince2?

PRINCE2 is a process-based approach for project management, providing an easily tailored and scalable project management methodology for the management of all types of projects. The method is the de-facto standard for project management in the UK and is practiced worldwide.

What are the lessons Prince 2 can teach MR:

 After managing a lot of projects in MR quantitative field and managing a few projects using Prince 2, I realized there are a couple of best practices which MR (marketing research) can learn from Prince 2. I will discuss one best practice per post, this post is dedicated to risk management.

Risk management: Prince2 follows a very robust risk management methodology. In which a risk is not only identified through a methodological approach but it is also mitigated through regular monitoring and reviewing process.

Marketing research project managers usually follow an informal approach of tackling risks. 

Learning for Marketing Research Projects: Marketing research project managers usually follow an informal approach of tackling risks. But MR Managers handles large-scale and complicated projects, especially the syndicated projects, where MR Managers face huge pressure primarily in terms of quality and accuracy of data. Such projects will not only impact current clients but can also affect the organization’s repute at the large scale. And hence, these projects demand a robust risk management system in place.

Why apply risk management in marketing research?

• Continuous learning: A good risk management system identifies potential loopholes in all areas of MR projects i.e. proposal development, field work, data management, report writing. And by mitigation actions eventually organizations manage to put effective controls in place to avoid such threats in future.
• Reality of negative news: By putting in place a method to ensure an open communication environment, MR Managers ensure that all foreseeable risks/threats are brought forth on the table and are being discussed openly. Nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news, but a systematic approach helps people bring forward the probable but unwanted points
• Ensure Responsibility: Having identified possible risks, a team can then assign the most relevant party (internal staff or external experts as appropriate) to deal with them. And once a problem is owned by someone, only then it can be resolved
• Stakeholder involvement: The biggest danger to a marketing research project is lack of communication about the potential threats with stakeholders (it applies to internal MR depts. as well) Open communication helps to have clients’ buy-in for possible delays and will also helps the team to enhance their reputation by being transparent.

Practical application of Risk management in Marketing Research

Identification of risk requires you to understand the categories of risk. Following Risk Matrix identifies key categories and the key risks in those categories for MR projects. [Recommended tool – Brainstorming session amongst project team]

A good risk statement should highlight the risks (variables that can go wrong) and how they will impact the project.  Attached file highlights major MR risk categories and most common risks; these can serve as a starting point for internal brainstorming session.

Analyze the risks: Provide an input to decisions on whether risks need to be treated and the most appropriate and cost-effective risk treatment strategies. [Recommended tool – checklist of categories of risks]

Once you decided a starting point for risk register, next step is to treat the risks by deciding upon steps that will help the team to Avoid, Reduce or Transfer the risks. [Recommended tool – Risk Register]

After all that, team leader/project manager should decide how the risks and mitigation actions will be communicated. Usually, risk registers are shared with the whole team at least once a week.

In case you are convinced that this is something you would like to undertake then download the sample risk register. You might find it useful.   Download the sample risk register for MR projects: Basic MR Risk Register Template v1.0

Download Toolkit:Basic MR Risk Register Template v1.0For more details about Prince2 in Dubai

For more details about prince 2

The world is full of global brands. Which were never designed to be global brands? How to dominate the world is about how to beat them.

This presentation adds insights from United Arab Emirates to the points raised by Simon Silvester

Rule 1: Think Zeitgest  - UAE has startled the world through its development and growth, brands should capitalize that

Rule 2: Think Trial – UAE is a paradise of retail outlets, think trial to all the young audience and the expats that have recently arrived

Rule 3: Think Visual – When 208 nationalities combine speaking multiple languages, the language of your brand should be visual

Rule 4: Think Youthquake – UAE population has an average age of 27, you should connect to the young & rising.

Rule 5: Think Small – UAE is getting green, your brand should be saving on paper and all avoidable wastes because you love environment

Rule 6: Think Print – The media in UAE is print, followed by digital. Think visual, body copy and go crazy

Rule 7: Think Fast – People are on the move, fads are coming and going and where the hell is your brand? Move fast because if you will not your competition will

Rule 8: Think Cultural Neutrality – So many cultures, so many languages but one dream — Dubai Dream

Rule 9: Think Kiasu – Ambition charges UAE population & your brand should fuel it

Rule 10: Think Mobile 200% penetration rate of mobiles asks brand to evolve through modern technology

Brand Mantra: In UAE brand should capture human imagination, and should capture it faster than human imagination

Reading: How to dominate the world by Simon Silvester

TGI 2011 product book aims at providing percentage penetration of multiple product categories in different countries.

What I have done in the following table is that I have compared penetration of food products in UAE with countries that have scored high in that category. 

Now this data set poses following questions  

1. Is UAE market of Colas smaller than the market of Fizzy drink/energy drinks?
2. Cola market is smaller than ready to drink fruit and vegetable juices? If yes, then Almarai, Al Ain juices and other such brands have done a good job
3. Obesity in UAE is rising, maybe because of 83% penetration of potato crisps?
4.  Why Chewing Gum penetration is only 63%?
5. If South Koreans are not using oil for cooking than what are they using, because that might lead to low level of obesity?
6. Is there a room for expansion in Mayonnaise or soup market in UAE, considering the eating habits of majority?  

The sampling details for TGI-UAE market are as follow

• UAE 15+
•  8 urban cities
• Sample Size  5,000
• Jul 2009 – Dec 2009

If you have more questions and want to contact TGI group directly, you can drop them an email at enquiries@globaltgi.com