a) Building holistic understanding of consumers

reviewing and absorbing existing consumer information; meeting and interacting with consumers face to face; entering the consumer’s world to appreciate their living conditions; understanding important social and cultural consumer drivers; seeing how the brand and product category fit consumers’ needs, experiences and expectations; observing and experiencing consumer product usage behaviour; appreciating the different need states of consumers across different locations, time and situations; understanding the consumer as a shopper; building relationships with consumers as individuals.

b) Planning market research

identifying knowledge gaps that can be addressed by market research; planning a portfolio of strategic and tactical market research projects; defining marketing problems and action standards as a basis for specific project briefing; writing market research briefs in partnership with other project team members; seeking innovative market research methodologies and analytical techniques; contributing towards design of market research studies ( e.g. methodology, sample); developing stimulus materials for market research activities; assessing agency market research proposals.

c) Interpreting market research

knowing how to get the most out of attending market research fieldwork; listening for unexpected findings in research debriefs; distilling market research findings into key learning points and actions; mining quantitative market research data for new insights; interpreting consumer mapping and segmentation studies; understanding the statistical significance of quantitative research results and how to get the most from the data; appreciating the role and limitations of market research techniques; using research findings to challenge management judgement.

d) Synthesising and sharing consumer learning

recording and cataloguing market research findings and insights; integrating findings from different studies to build a comprehensive overall picture; making consumer learning readily accessible; spreading and championing consumer learning throughout the business; arranging debrief sessions to capture insights following direct contact with consumers; applying lessons from past studies; ensuring brand activities remain true to their original consumer vision or rationale.

e) Generating inspiring consumer insights

understanding the meaning of consumer insight and how it links with other marketing and development processes; using ‘foresight’ to obtain future-relevant consumer insights; seeking unconventional perspectives on the consumer, the brand and the product category; opening many different windows to the world of the consumer; working with “out of the box” research techniques to challenge conventional wisdom; sharing stories and anecdotes with other team members about interesting ideas and experiences ; expressing consumer insights in exciting ways.

f) Anticipating current and future consumer opportunities

building a sense of emerging social and economic trends (i.e. ‘foresight’); identifying discontinuities that will affect consumer behaviour; working with expert and leading edge consumers to predict future mainstream needs; appreciating the implications of the internet revolution; comparing and combining consumer insights to find relevant common themes; identifying and anticipating consumer need gaps; defining opportunity areas to act as springboards for brand-building ideas.

Task:

  • Arrange visits to the homes of your brand's typical target consumers.
  • Watch consumers in retail outlets as they are shopping for your products.
  • Discover more about local culture and customers by talking to anthropologists, academic experts, etc.
  • Visit a consumer services centre dealing with consumer queries and complaints to interview staff about consumer attitudes and behaviour.
  • Ask your Market Research Manager to show you a good example of a Market Research Brief.
  • Sit in on a meeting when a Market Research Manager is briefing an agency about a project.
  • Attend a series of qualitative research groups with consumers.
  • Accompany a researcher carrying out quantitative fieldwork.
  • Read a selection of market research reports and summaries to search for interesting findings or insights.
  • Attend an agency's debrief presentation for a market research project.
  • Write a summary of the learning gained from a recent market research study.
  • Identify the key consumer insights which are driving a brand's current strategies and activities.
  • Read the magazines and newspapers your target consumers read to look for evidence of emerging trends.