Archive for June, 2008
Is very, very quiet.
There seem to be quite a few marketing blogs around. There are a few (albeit not many) mostly quantitative market research blogs too, eg the lovely Kate from Tribe, and the Hitwise blog (thank you to JC for the link). But there aren’t any other Australian qualitative market research blogs that I’m aware of.
How come? [...]
Filed under: Australian qualitative research, blogs, hitwise, marketing blogs, quantitative research, tribe | 2 Comments
Both really. I came across this the other day, which made me think.
What I find most interesting is not the idea that qualitative research is ‘science’ too, but the idea of science itself, as (just) a set of epistemological principles. A theory of knowledge. An approach.
Filed under: approach, epistemology, qualitative research, science, theory | Leave a Comment
Distortion
The issue here isn’t the frameworks per se. Most are probably grounded in sound theory and I’ve no doubt that some high quality thinking goes into developing them. All good. In theory.
But real life just doesn’t work to a framework. When we’re actually in the field, or doing analysis, how can these products be anything but a hindrance?
This [...]
Filed under: blinkered thinking, frameworks, qualitative research, research buyers | Leave a Comment
Blinkered thinking – not good
And so back to qualitative research: What’s good? What’s not?
I recently had a letter published in B&T magazine about qualitative frameworks. In case you missed it, here’s the gist of it:
I’m not a fan of proprietary qualitative products. You know, those neatly packaged, pre-defined frameworks with the little TM (trademark) symbol tipping its hat, top right. [...]
Filed under: frameworks, proprietary products, qualitative research | Leave a Comment
How to sell it
Getting people to ‘do’ green is not just about selling environmentally-friendly products. It’s also, fundamentally, about selling (buying into) a state of mind.
So I think the best use of market research in the green space will be around communications. Here we can help with the biggest question of all: how to sell green (vs what to sell).
Filed under: green, qualitative research | Leave a Comment
More on brilliant qualitative research later in the week.
But right now, some sustainable food for thought.
There’s an event called The Green Awards For Creativity in Sustainability in the UK. High time we had the same in Australia (think I might get onto the case).
Anyway, I’m looking forward to the 2008 UK awards. It’ll be very interesting to see if/how the [...]
Filed under: green | Leave a Comment
But, ahem…
Following on from my last post, what are the implications here for research buyers and research suppliers?
For research buyers
Beware the travelling junior. If, for example, you commission an 8 group project and 4 of those groups are run by JRs, you’ve just paid half of your research budget in training.
Unless you’re happy to subsidise these [...]
Filed under: good qualitative research | Leave a Comment
Not really best practice
So why shouldn’t junior researchers (JRs) be allowed to moderate client-paid focus groups?
Two main reasons:
1. They’re often still learning the mechanics of facilitating a group. The cognitive effort they need to master this art will be at the expense of the greater commercial purpose of the research.
2. JRs are relatively new to the actual marketing business (vs [...]
Filed under: good qualitative research | Leave a Comment
I’ve poked a few sticks at quantitative market research practices recently. And why not? Sitting pretty from the observation deck, it’s always easy, and so much fun, to see what someone else could be doing better.
But fair is fair and now it’s time to look at qualitative research. And let’s pick on focus group moderation.
Before I go [...]
Filed under: focus groups, good qualitative research, moderation | Leave a Comment
A good sample
So if you’re reading this, I’m assuming you didn’t go for the Sony Bravia.
Following on from the last post, good, useful qualitative research output is sample dependent.
If you aren’t talking to the right people, then even the cleverest, most innovative techniques in the world won’t help.
So how do you make sure your sample [...]
Filed under: good qualitative research, sample | Leave a Comment
Qualitative research.
Love it? Hate it? Not quite sure?
Without doubt, qualitative research output is hugely variable.
On the one hand, it can deliver quite stunning output: pragmatic insight that inspires brilliant marketing strategies.
On the other hand, the output can be a waste of time and investment. Possibly colourful and possibly entertaining, but nevertheless, quite useless.
If you want colourful and [...]
Filed under: good qualitative research | Leave a Comment
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Zebra Bites by Katie Harris is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia License. -
