Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of edited interviews conducted by Quirk’s with industry conference organizers, published by special arrangement.
ESOMAR will hold its Congress on September 10-13 in Amsterdam at Beurs van Berlage. For a preview of the event, we spoke with Finn Raben, ESOMAR director general, and Alfonso Regalado and Rhiannon Bryant, ESOMAR Congress program managers.
What are some of the current topics or trends in marketing research in the Netherlands and/or the rest of Europe?
Raben: Mobile is a pre-occupation for everyone, and Europe is no different. What is different is the emphasis – and obligation – on data privacy, which makes the conduct of all market intelligence work far more challenging. With the impending activation of the General Data Protection Regulation in March 2018, the bar has been set very high!
What are some of the major trends or forces affecting the marketing research industry globally?
Regalado and Bryant: Where to start? The big data revolution? Among others: social data; faster and cheaper with less budgets; machine learning; artificial intelligence; automation; virtual reality; new mobile developments; and data privacy.
Are the forces affecting client-side researchers different from those affecting research vendors?
Raben: Speed and cost efficiency are the foremost requirements on the client-side; the mechanisms to achieve this – such as DIY approaches or automation – are innately counter-intuitive to a traditional research philosophy and thus a tension is created. Ironically, the client-side need for trust in the data and the agency tradition of rigor are far more comfortable bedfellows and can represent a mutually beneficial solution to the post-truth element of today’s consumer feedback.
Why do you think there is so much interest in staging new marketing research conferences?
Regalado and Bryant: Event attendees are evolving and becoming more tech-savvy and extremely active on social media. However, that doesn’t replace the need for human contact. In fact, the data, research and marketing intelligence industry is curious by nature therefore very receptive to new formats/new events, but very selective on those “must attend” vs. “nice to visit.”
For client-side researchers, what are some of the benefits of attending a marketing research conference?
Raben: There are quite a few: seeing the relevance/application of solutions to business problems; the return on certain techniques; getting exposed to new methodologies; understanding global best practices, etc.
For research vendors, what are some of the benefits of attending a marketing research conference?
Raben: At the risk of oversimplifying, the most unique benefit is the opportunity to gain global learnings and expand connections. Too often, the value of research is inadequately communicated or expounded upon.
What makes you the most afraid for the future of marketing research?
Raben: A loss of rigor and provenance. This is not a desire to regress to the “good ‘ol days,” but rather a need to be able to understand and knowledgeably apply a fit-for-purpose criteria on all market intelligence projects.
What makes you the most optimistic for the future of marketing research?
Raben: The exponentially increasing need to understand the “why” behind the exponentially increasing databases of “what!”