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Do Traditional Research Methods Still Have a Place in Market Research?

Posted by on 24 March 2016
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At TMRE 2015, we caught up with some attendees to discuss
the topic of traditional research methods and their place in the industry.
Today, when it comes to market research, there are
traditional methods and new methods and they must work together to be successful.
Traditional methods aren't as static as people believe they are ' they are
actually very fluid if it's a good agency.
'If you are not moving and changing even within a traditional
method, you might not survive, so you have to be fluid,' explained Nancy Cox of
Hallmark Cards Inc.
Cox still likes talking one on one to consumers. She will
talk to people who love to talk about Hallmark Cards, and she will ask about
your story about Hallmark Cards or the Hallmark Channel or Crayola. She will listen and tell you she's doing
research, which is a very traditional method that will never go away in market
research.

According to Michael Lewis of PepisCo, the fundamentals are
always going to be really important. Understanding how to compliment what we've
always done with new techniques is important because is the evolution of the industry.
More importantly, you have to think about what makes sense for the business question
you are trying to answer. It's key to figure out what methods are going to make
the most sense for the questions you have, the budget you have, and the time
frame you have to answer it.
'There will always be a road for customers providing input
directly,' said Kumar Mehta of Blueocean Market Intelligence. 'Maybe the way we
do it, the speed in which we do it, and the other stuff around it may change.'
There are 'hallmarks' of traditional methods like
understanding the consumer's story, building empathy for what a consumer wants,
and understanding what a consumer needs will always have a place. 'But how we
get there has to change because the market's changed and consumers have
changed,' added Anne Thompson of The Garage Group.

Check out the below
video for more:


To hear more on this
topic, download The Future of Insights Study.
This groundbreaking initiative by TMRE & GfK assessed the evolving role of
the researcher, future skillsets and capabilities, current and future resource
allocation and more. This video series gives you a snippet of insights from key
questions the survey asked participants. Download the study here: http://bit.ly/1QjyJ2a
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