Webinar: An unfiltered perspective of the consumer insight interactions part 1

expect great answers

Part 1 - April 2013 (presented at TMRE 2012)

An unfiltered perspective of the roles and interactions between stakeholders of the consumer insight process

2

A consultant, researcher and client walk into a bar…

1998 2012

3

It all started with a conversation, but evolved quickly

Initial hypothesis generation

Review of recent collective experiences

Qualitative ResearchInterviews with 25 practitioners

Quantitative validationBCG on going insights benchmarkingAdditional worldwide survey in progress

"Call to action" packets

• Management Consulting• Specialized Research

firms• Corporate insights

organizations

4

Our motivation: what can we learn from each other to become an increasingly relevant function?

Climbing the ladder not easy, specially alone...

Source: BCG benchmarking study; Press searches; Company web sites; Analyst reports

1

2

3

4

• Stronger consumer focus mandate by senior execs

• Mix has strategic focus• Influence encouraged to

extend outside marketing• Focused on individual

insights

• Senior execs consumer-focused

• Influence extendingoutside marketing

• Growing knowledge base• Focused on synthesized

insights across sources

• Little access to senior execs• Mix skewed toward tactical• Little involvement

outside marketing• Focused on hindsight

• Strategic research priority• Involved across functions• Able to build knowledge base

to become a learning organization

• Focused on foresight/ prediction across source

Traditional market research

Strategic insights

organization

Insights as a competitive advantage

Business contributors

90% of benchmarked companies in

levels 1-2

Evolution requires more than just skills improvement, it demands better interaction with industry players

6

Improving together requires celebrating and reinforcing what each of us do well...

ConsultingBusiness driven

insights

Corporate Insights

Institutional knowledge

Research Firm

Managing the intricacies of

research

7

... while finding the areas that will make our interactions increasingly successful

Research Firm

Managing the intricacies of

research

... and no one best than a friend to speak honestly

ConsultingBusiness driven

insights

Corporate Insights

Institutional knowledge

Visualization

Coordination

Busin

ess

lens

Enabl

emen

t

"Less" black boxes

Engage experts

8

What we learned Consulting

Selected findings

9

Structurally, consulting firms can influence key decision makers ...

Typical Influence

Focus oninsights

Insightsorganization

Core insight customers

e.g., Mktg, R&D

Extended brand team

e.g., Finance, sales

Executive suite

Consulting

Research firm

Corporate Insights

organization

Illustrative organization

10

... so insights are directly tied to the business Thinking how the insight will be used is as important (or more) than the process to get it

• ...• ...• ...• ...

Size of the opportunity

Ability to differentiate

Starting position

Ease of execution

• ...• ...• ...

• ...• ...• ...

Several options to reposition

the brand...

Which one to

choose? Brand indexed share of visits

Brand association

The client need...

The criteria... The questions to answer... What the research tool must be able to do...

• Is it a white space for brand?– Concentrated vs. Fragmented– Presence of major competitors

• Is there value of differentiation ?

Source: BCG project experience (sanitized)

11

What we've learned is that we are not always infallible in assessing complexity of the tools

Sometimes we are too optimistic....

Day 1 Day 14

Brand 1 - MBC

Brand 1 - MBC

Brand 1 - MBC

Brand 1 – MBCBrand 2 – MBC

Brand 1 – MBCBrand 3 – MBC

Brand 1 – MBCBrand 4 – MBC

Brand 1 – CBC + MaxDiffBrand 2 – CBC + MaxDiffBrand 5 – BYO + MaxDiffBrand 6 – BYO + MaxDiff

Brand 1 – CBC + MaxDiffBrand 3 – CBC + MaxDiffBrand 6 – BYO + MaxDiffBrand 7 – BYO + MaxDiff

Brand 1 – CBC + MaxDiffBrand 4 – CBC + MaxDiffBrand 6 – BYO + MaxDiffBrand 8 – BYO + MaxDiff

Brand 1 – CBC + MaxDiffBrand 2 – CBC + MaxDiff

Brand 1 – CBC + MaxDiffBrand 3 – CBC + MaxDiff

Brand 1 – CBC + MaxDiffBrand 4 – CBC + MaxDiff

3 Models 24 Models6 Models 12 Models

4X Cost

Source: BCG/SKIM project experience (sanitized)

12

What we've learned is that we are not always infallible in assessing complexity of the tools

Sometimes we don't want to tradeoff....

Original design"We need to test everything, on everyone"

Original design"We need to test everything, on everyone"

Final design"What we need as burden of proof"

Final design"What we need as burden of proof"

Screener

Brand experience funnels

Last purchase map

Price optimization (CBC)

Emotional claims

Brand perception

Purchase drivers

Category attitudes

Screener

Brand experience funnels

Last purchase map

Price optimization (CBC) Emotional claims

Brand perception

üüüüü

ûüû

Source: BCG/SKIM project experience (sanitized)

13

Key to bring in experts early to save the team (and our research partners) from heartache

Who helped evolve the thinking?Who helped evolve the thinking?

2 weeks before turnaround by Insights expert team + vendor

Complete reprogram of survey and field delays before turnaround by

insights team

14

We've also learned that sometimes our insights counterparts are left in the dark

Given our usual stakeholders...Given our usual stakeholders...... there isn't a obvious process to

close the loop with the insights team ... there isn't a obvious process to

close the loop with the insights team

"Your team left us with an enormous piece of research ... but nobody in the team had any idea how to replicate, let alone how to use going forward and explain to the organization"-Senior Director of insights, Retail

"We need to understand how this will impact our brand tracking studies, our syndicated data requests and our metrics for success" -Insights Director, CPG

"We need to learn to be able to replicate this, otherwise it will die very quickly. We need to be able to respond to the organization when they ask us to understand"-Insights VP, CPG

Typical Influence

Executive suite

Extended brand team

Core insight customers

Insights group

Source: Qualitative interviews; BCG analysis

Consulting

Research firm

Corporate Insights

organization

Fo

cus

on

in

sig

hts

15

Need to formalize a process to leave our corporate counterparts to carry the torch

2. Capability build

1. Joint project team

3. Coaching4. Process facilitation

Strategy / planning Implementation

Project Scope

Corporate team

leads

BCG team

leads

ProjectStructure

Source: BCG Enablement center

16

What we learned Research firm

Selected findings

17

Agency as a center of research expertise for the client, help navigate complexity

Capabilities• Quantitative/Qualitative

skills• Insight extraction• Analytical mindset• Ability to translate

business question into appropriate methodology and analysis plan

Proven Methods• In market validation

(case studies)• Body of academic

research (back up)• Proven expertise (in

house)• Identifying potential

pitfalls

Standards• Project roadmap• Database

/benchmarking• Templates• Mock-up outputs

Quality Assurance• Data quality• Checklists (design,

programming, fielding, data prep, analysis)

• Manuals

Reassurance research firm competency

Reassurance reliability of

answers

Peace of mind

18

Choice-based conjoint roadmap to guide client

Survey design & inputs

Conjoint experimental design

Programming Fieldwork

Choice file output Choice file recoding

Utility estimation (HB)

Simulator building Analysis of simulator outputs

Optimization algorithm

Reporting

Set up / Design

Processing

Analysis / simulation

1 2 3 4

5 6 7

8 9 10

Key interactions with client

11

19

What we are not

20

Wh

at w

e ar

e n

ot

21

More integration is required in the industry, become a learning organization

• Meta analysis of results across studies

• Develop frameworks for more effective research & marketing

• Improve inputs before testing / decide without testing

22

Meta-analysis examples

*Examples courtesy of SKIM

23

Old ways of presenting data giving way to new generation of storytellers/iconographers

New recruitment needs and profiles within the function

24

More of… Less of…

*Examples courtesy of SKIM

25

*Examples courtesy of BuzzBack, Hypothesis, CognitiveMedia, and SKIM

26

Consultant Client enablement + Manage research complexity

Action: Design enablement scheme to work with insight organizations

More discipline involving experts early in the process

Research Firm Powerful data visualization + Knowledge Integration

Action: Broaden recruitment profile (graphic designers, media)

Improve client engagement: discuss possibility and feasibility

For our next round of webinars:

Corporate Institutionalize knowledge + Stakeholder involvement

What did we learn?

27

• An ongoing honest conversation needs to take place between key players and stakeholders of the insight process, in order for the function to evolve and avoid perpetuation of counter-productive behaviors

• Realization and leverage of what every part brings to the table is a necessary condition to collectively enable Insights as a source of competitive advantage in the organization

Where do we go from here?