Diverse Consultancy - facilitating generation, understanding and implementation of consumer insights (inc. evaluation)

Time out to spring clean my career aspirations

 

Time for some spring cleaning

 Every once in awhile, I like to take time out to reflect on my career, doing an audit of my a long skills, experience and interests in order to set out my career apsirations for 2012 onwards. And now is such a time. So, I ask you to please bear with me, while I go through this much needed excercise. In the meantime, you will still be able to ...

1) find out more about me - who I am and my experience

2) find out the ways we can work together, and

3) contact me if you have any questions.

Remember, in the words of Paul Cook, head of data planning at Hicklin Slade & Partners, it is

"the use of analysis and research to produce actionable knowledge". But he adds: "If you can't do anything strategically or tactically off the back of it, then customer insight is simply information for information's sake." Source: Brand Republic, June 2005.

Market research look back and predictions for 2012

Picture source:  http://www.research-live.com

Current reading these five articles on Market Research, curtesy of my favourite digital tool, my RSS book marker, Google Reader. The first article looks back at some of the best social media research studies of 2011, while the others glimpse into their crystal ball and reveal their take on this already challenging year:

• The 10 Most Interesting Social Media Studies of 2011 – Briana Kerensky for OhMyGov! sums up last year’s best social-media research initiatives.

• Words to live by in 2012 – Research magazine asked 10 industry luminaries for a single word that sums up “their hopes and expectations for the year ahead”.

• Research in 2012: new methods, stronger structures and less PowerPoint - Forrester Research’s Reineke Reitsma looks back on 2011 and sets out what research professionals should watch out for in 2012.

• 2012 Research Predictions (The NGMR Twiteratti) – Tom H.C. Anderson crowdsourced over 50 predictions for the coming year, with the first 20 listed here.

• 2012 Market Research Crystal Ball – Dana Stanley addresses Tom Anderson’s call for predictions with five quite specific predictions in this post.

What do you think of the above? Please share, in the comments box below, the Market Research and Consumer Insight articles, blogs and website you have bookmarked. Let's learn together!

Consumer Insight or Market research - time to jump off the fence!

Picture: Consumer insight pulling all the market and customer information together, to generate penetrating discoveries about consumer motivations

Scanning through the 1000+ news links in my Google Reader, I came across an article posted on one of my favourite research blogs, Greenbook, about the ongoing debate on the difference between market research and customer insight - What’s the difference between Consumer Insights and Market Research? – Edward Appleton teases out some of the differences between describing our industry as “market(ing) research” vs. “consumer insights” in Europe and the U.S.

This debate has been around for years now, and each time I am contacted by a potential client asking for consumer insight, (don't get me started on whether it should be customer insight), or sent a job specification, it doesn't take me long to realise that many don't know what consumer insight is.But the issue is more that one of definition, most of the contention I have found is amongst those of us in the market research industry.

Picture: The headache that is the consumer insght vs. market research debate

As a market researcher who has evolved, through working with companies that use consumer insights throughout their business, mainly FMCG companies, into a consumer Insight specialist, I quickly grow tired of the disdain I frequently get, when I start with a new client, particularly if it's a Government department or agency. The patronising tone of some of the social / academic researchers I have met, have made me glad I am not a permanent employee. I have been told that the research projects I have managed were ‘robust’, or ’reliable.’ But results soon prove them wrong, plus I also apply my consumer insight knowledge to these consumers / customers. 

Another refrain, that I still hear too often from other research colleagues, is it is not my job to deliver insights. Yes, even though that's exactly what I am employed to do, I am told in no uncertain terms that insight development and delivery is the sole remit of the research agency. Where I can, I show these people that working closely with agencies will result in insights that are relevant to the organisation and more important are applicable. Doesn't always work, but I keep trying.

I have worked in many organisations who have both a market research team and a consumer insight team. What is the difference. Well the Market research team tends to all the ‘research’ needs, surveys, groups, market trends. And once they have put together their reports, the  insight teams, take that information and combine with other relevant customer, consumer / shopper and market information, and wa la! insights the rest of the business can trust. After all,  the CI team are seen as the "eyes and ears" of the customer, brimming with understanding not only the customer but the business and it’s place in the marketplace.

Whatever, we call ourselves, and whatever our motives, I agree with much of Mr Appleton's views, especially his statement: “I suspect that our preoccupation with titles and descriptors stems less from an identity crisis, and more from an underlying resentment that we don’t feel that we get the respect and recognition we feel we deserve."

Picture: Market research, often seen as producers of reams of data and information but not usable insights

As I said, the market research industry has been debating what we call ourselves for over a decade now, and still there is a divide. But, no matter what we call ourselves, we have a perception problem. Often seen as dull as the Volvo, and to be honest, I do think the same of some of my colleagues. I do resent the percetion of us all, as librarians, analysts or worst still nerds, who are good at mining information, but useless when it comes to understanding and applying to the rest of  arketing, never to talk of strategy. Thus often the contributions we could make to the success of an organisation is often over-looked.

It is time for my research colleagues to shout and scream that they are the true "eyes and ears" of the customer within an organisation, but many will need to lift their much scrateched heads out of their 1000 page data tables and power-point slides, and keep up-to-date with new techniques, technologies and thinking. Plus ppolish up their presentation and influencing skills.

For me hiding in the market reasearch cubby hole, is not an option. In the words of Mr Appleton, I have evolved from being a mere market researcher, into an insight specialist. As a freelancer, if I want to keep working, I can't afford to stay in the dark or the past.

But I haven't given up hope that those stil in the dark will move towards the light and beef up their insight knowledge and skills.

So, like Edward Appleton, I'm off the fence, and I "... think Insights is where we need to be as a body – consultative partners, without denying our crucial empirical, unbiased credentials as researchers." I do think that insights professional are evolved researchers, because to succeed in the new world, we need to be.

You can read Edward Appleton's full article - What’s the difference between Consumer Insights and Market Research? on http://www.greenbookblog.org

Now that's off my chest, what do you think? Are you fed up with all the talk about the difference between market research and customer insight, or has the debate passed you by?

Understand, engage and grow your customers (thus your business)

Research shows that effective identification and use of customer insight will lead to efficient and profitable customer solutions. 

Use my 15 years of customer insight knowledge and experience to guide your organisation to a better understanding of your customer needs.   

Call now for a free* telephone consultation.    

No matter the size or age of your business, I (Ola Fagbohun) via Diverse Consultancy, can help you uncover and implement penetrating customer insights.

Let me guide you on a journey to effective customer understanding, that will result in the provision of insightful and profitable customer solutions.   

 A promise not a sound bit

I make this claim, confident in my 15 years of customer insight knowledge and experience, gained from working with organisations large and small, private and public sectors.

My role is to work with you, guiding your organisation to an improved understanding of your customer wants and how you can satisfy them. Working with me you will tap into my abundance of commercial awareness, flexibility and tenacity, delivered with charm, even if I say so myself, and diplomacy.

But, don’t take my word for it.

Contact or call me now, no enquiry to small, and let's get to know each other over a free* telephone consultation.    

Telephone: 0114 342 0402

Twitter: DiverseConsult1 

* 30 minutes only

 

Over billion people on Social Networks

If as a customer-focused organisation, you are still burying your head in the sand with regards to understanding how you can use social media networks in your marketing strategy, it's time to wake up.

Research by comScore, in October 2011, revealed that social networking sites now reach 82 percent of the world’s on-line population, representing 1.2 billion users around the world. To give you context, there are more than 1.3 billion people in China.

Now, before you get on your business soapbox and tell me that these people are using social media networks for personal use, so you're not interested in them or this report. I tell you to think again. Yes, personal activities dominate social media network usage, but what grabbed my attention is the number who are now on-line and the amount of time they spend on-line.

In October 2011, Social Networking ranked as the most popular content category in worldwide engagement, accounting for 19 percent of all time spent on-line. That is nearly one in every five minutes spent on-line is now spent on social networking sites, such as Facebook (the category accounted for only six percent of time spent online in March 2007).

Now is the time to start thinking of a digital strategy, or updating your existing one, but before you jump on the Facebook bandwagon, think about who your customers are, which sites they use, what they are doing on-line, and then what your organise can do in the social media network space to enhance their experience.

These findings are part of a recent comScore report, It’s a Social World: Top 10 Need-to-Knows About Social Networking and Where It’s Headed.

This report analyzes the current state of social networking activity around the globe, providing key insights into how social networking has influenced the digital landscape and implications for marketers operating in this social world.

• How extensive is consumer usage of social networking and how does it vary by country?
• What is the current rate of social networking adoption in different parts of the world?
• Which sites are driving this adoption in different markets?
• How are these consumer usage dynamics changing over time?
• Where do these trends appear to be headed in the future?

To download the report, please click here.

Have you read this report, what do you think? Has it given you food for thought regarding your digital marketing strategy?

Editors Share Twitter Best Practices - Editorial @ FolioMag.com

Being in effect a one woman band, with little money for marketing, 'free' social media is a major tool in my promotional armoury.

I was late in joining Twitter, waiting until 2009. I was one of the nay-sayers, often heard saying with much disdain to early Twitter users, "I have better things to do with my life."

However, I was finally convinced to give Twitter a try. So I embarked on a 12 month experiment, setting up two accounts DiverseConsult, for my insight consultancy and DiverseTraveler, for the Diverse Traveller website.

However last year, I had had enough of the insight world, the recession getting the better of me, and I was tired of pitching and writing proposals that were deemed, "Good but we have little of no budget"; I closed my DiverseConsult Twitter account.

After three months away from the business, in January, I somehow got my insight mojo back, and set up a new Twitter account DiverseConsult1. I had lost the over 200 followers from my previous account, so any tips to help me rebuild followers, is eagerly devoured.  

With theat in mind, I am currently reading, digesting and evaluating the following tips from "... four different editors, including three members of the top 50 (TIME, number 2 with 2.8 million followers; Print at number 26 with 378,931 followers,Writer's Digest at #48 with 207,000 followers) and one from a small b-to-b publisher on how to effectively use Twitter to build awareness and interest."

According to the article by Foliomag.com:

Twitter has become part of the daily routine for almost every editor, but are you using it as effectively as you can? Here, four different editors, including three members of the top 50(TIME, number 2 with 2.8 million followers; Print at number 26 with 378,931 followers,Writer's Digest at #48 with 207,000 followers) and one from a small b-to-b publisher that's seen explosive growth in its market offer their advice for engaging and growing readership via Twitter.

Allie Townsend, Social Media Producer, TIME (Twitter followers: 2,870,423)
Just as we focus on giving each story the best headline for SEO, we're also giving attention to social optimization. You've only got a few seconds of someone's attention (at best) on Twitter, so what you're writing needs to earn their click. Don't be afraid to be urgent, funny, maybe even a little sarcastic if the story calls for it.

It's all about humanizing your digital presence. We want readers to glance at a TIME social account on any platform and know automatically that it is not run by robots. Instead of traditional headlines, I'm digging into the story for the right fact, joke or quote to tweet. My name is attached to the account because we want people to know that this was handpicked.

The exciting thing about social media is that it's still largely a testing ground. Our social curation is about the human experience. We'll joke when it's appropriate, but we're also not afraid to call an African famine ‘heartbreaking.' It may break a few traditional rules of journalism, but it's also one of the reasons TIME has adapted to Twitter so well. Because Twitter journalism is only a few years old, it's too soon to rule ideas out entirely. 

 We've tried things that maybe weren't a success for us, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't work elsewhere.

Jessica Lillian, editor, Solar Industry Magazine (Twitter followers: 11,598) Solar Industry doesn'tonly promote its own content, but ... 

To read the rest of this article visit http:// www.foliomag.com Editors Share Twitter Best Practices - Editorial @ FolioMag.com. 

I'm sure you have your very own Twitter wisedom, and other socila media marketing tools, so please share and help people like me build business awareness.