Each year we publish the results of Quirk’s corporate researcher salary survey, specifically looking at the responses from full-time client-side insights professionals. One question we ask each respondent, “What is the highest level of education you have completed?” Unsurprisingly, the 2018 breakdown was consistent with previous years:
- 2 percent high school graduate
- 34 percent college graduate
- 60 percent master’s program graduate
- 4 percent Ph.D. graduate
While the responses to this question clearly show researchers are a well-educated group, it doesn’t speak to the varied backgrounds and non-traditional paths that often lead individuals to the industry. In several of my interviews with client-side marketing researchers, I’ve had the chance to discuss the unique educational paths to MR. One question I often pose is, “How did you get into the MR industry?” I’m consistently surprised by the responses.
In 2018 I interviewed Victor Chia, Verizon, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He believes his degree has played a critical role in the way he looks at his current work within marketing research. Another client-sider who took a non-traditional path to MR, Sara Shain, shopper insights analyst, Red Bull, says she was always interested in human behavior but market research wasn’t really on her mind when she graduated from college. One thing is for sure, from economics to librarianship and political science, today’s marketing researchers are becoming vital players in organizations, expanding the idea of what is possible.
The following Q&A tidbits highlight the wide variety of skill sets:
“I started my career in the marketing department for a PGA Tour-run golf course developing programs to engage golfers where I met a member who had his own boutique research firm. I joined him and stayed on that side of the business for about five years, having the opportunity to work for some of the biggest brands and spanning most industries. I made the familiar jump to the client-side 10 years ago and have been able to work for some amazing brands.” Brooks Deaton, senior director, consumer insights, NASCAR
“Most know the basics of economics – supply and demand – and in research you truly begin to understand demand. Learning about the consumer demand of a product is essential to a lot of the research that we do and also helps shape the path our business takes in trying to market and sell a product. Also within economics are things like utility and elasticity which are all used in a lot of research, particularly things like conjoint and pricing studies.” Victor Chia, manager, consumer and marketplace insights, Verizon
“My undergraduate major was in political science and I started my career working in politics in Washington, D.C. After shifting to marketing at a cosmetics company I became interested in consumer psychology. This led me to my master’s program at USC, which was a unique blend of data analytics coursework layered with psychological theory and research methods. While at USC I worked in shopper insights at Mattel. I learned the basics of what it means to be a retail-focused researcher on a lean team at a massive CPG company. Right after I received my master’s degree, I was recruited by Red Bull to join the shopper insights team.” Sara Shain, shopper insights analyst, Red Bull
“Much of my background and training [librarianship] is to help others find the answers to their questions which allows me to better understand a client’s research needs and identify a path to get there. Library and information sciences is quite a diverse field that focuses on not only research but facilitating research by providing diverse resources to fit everyone’s unique information-seeking behaviors. The coursework reflects just that with classes on user experience research, data management, reference services and evaluation.” Araceli Hintermeister, research assistant, consumer insights, America’s Test Kitchen
“When taking a marketing research class in college I was always looking forward to the next lecture and assignment because I was genuinely curious to learn more about the consumers, products or services that comprised our case study each week and enjoyed analyzing data to uncover those insights. A year later I took a consumer behavior course which further supported my passion in the area while helping narrow my interest to really understanding consumers and how they make decisions.” Carolyn Brooks, senior manager of consumer insight, Disney
“In the account planner role, I was responsible for representing the voice of the consumer and generating insights needed to develop the strategic and creative direction of a campaign and ensuring it effectively resonated with the target audience. Marketing research played a large part in helping to understand the target audience – focus groups and phone surveys were quite popular back then. I always thought it was fascinating to hear feedback directly from customers and observe their reactions in real-time.” Irene Lin, senior manager, CRM and insights, Smart & Final
“I’m not a traditionally trained market researcher but given my education and work experience, I can provide a business perspective to my internal clients about our industry and the markets we serve. My team delivers market and customer insights for product, marketing, strategy and operations decisions. For example, when conducting research for the marketing team to evaluate new marketing messages, I can provide actionable insights because in previous jobs I have created market plans including identifying target markets and how to reach them. I’ve also been a product manager and can relate to the challenges the product teams face when creating and validating new product ideas. I can help them ask the right questions to get answers that are actionable.” Sharon Brant, head of market intelligence, Worldpay
Experience on the front line
And while it’s fun to see the array of backgrounds, there’s nothing more satisfying to me than seeing the American Dream in action – the story of starting at the bottom of a company and working your way up. Chris Jesurun, manager, consumer and brand insights at Potbelly Sandwich Shop, did just that. He started at the company as a sandwich maker and says his perspective has positively impacted his work.
“Having worked as a sandwich maker has provided invaluable insight into our customers. I’ve met so many types of customers and I’ve seen their unique behaviors and need-states firsthand,” says Jesurun. “It’s an exceptional source of context that I apply when writing survey questions, understanding qualitative feedback and interpreting consumer data.”