Editor’s note: Carol Shea is president of marketing research professional development firm InsightsCentral, Cincinnati, Ohio.

InsightsCentral has been conducting interviews with leaders within the marketing research industry to better understand the problems in generating and using insights. As a part of the series, I sat down with Gayle Lloyd to get her perspective. Lloyd is a marketing research consultant with experience managing and leading the research function in major corporations. Most recently, Lloyd was head of the marketing research function at Batesville, and held previous marketing research positions at Sears Holding, FedEx, Roadway and GE.  Lloyd now has her own firm focusing on both qualitative and quantitative research.

Shea: What are some of the issues faced by an insights director in generating and using insights to shape marketing practice?

Lloyd: One of the major factors that impact the ability of the marketing research and insights team to generate usable insights is the communication culture of the organization. Insights professionals will perform better in organizations where a culture of top-to-bottom information sharing exists. At Batesville, I met every quarter with senior leadership where we discussed current trends and issues affecting the business and I provided updates on research initiatives and findings. The organization also holds monthly company-wide town hall meetings where strategies and goals are shared with all employees.

This helps the research team better understand the challenges and opportunities facing the company when brought in on projects. In organizations where employees are not kept in the loop, it’s likely that the insights director and the insights team are not being kept informed to the degree necessary to most effectively conduct research studies.

Are there any other ways that communication issues can impact marketing research?

Over my career in research I have had instances where my internal clients could not communicate their needs properly. I use a five-question objective defining approach at the start of every project that includes:

  1. What is the business issue?
  2. What decision needs to be made?
  3. What are the key questions that the respondents need to be asked?
  4. How will the information that we learn add value?
  5. How are you going to use the results?

But in a few instances the responses have been vague and don’t generate a clearly described business issue and study objectives. Proper alignment can’t happen when the client hasn’t really thought through the business issue. If a client can’t articulate the problem properly the research will be a disappointment to everybody.

Research can lessen the uncertainty around an issue and refine management’s thinking, leading to insights that solve a problem – but it isn’t a silver bullet.