Substance over story?

Dan Kvistbo posted an interesting article on research-live recently debating the shift in research from knowledge and information to the telling of ‘inspiring’ and ‘compelling stories’ . In his opinion the dangers lie in the compromise this shift presents in the validity of the data.

Lets be honest the research industry isn’t doing badly, we are adopting and evolving new technologies and approaches. There are some great research practitioners out there but there are also a new breed of researchers coming from both sides. We have more real-data driven competitors thanks to the increasing influence of the digital world and at the other end we have the ‘story-tellers’.

The problem is that whilst there are some real gems at both end of the spectrum and some adept at bridging the gap between them, and lessons more traditional / mainstream (not sure they are the right descriptive words but heh-ho) researchers could adopt, there are also some who are there purely for the benefit of their deepening pockets.

Now I am as far from the world’s greatest presenter, so I rely heavily on good, quality data (that’s not to say I haven’t sold my soul to the ‘quick buck’ in the past) that stands up to rigour – the idea of being cut short in a debrief because of an oversight on behalf sends shivers down my spine a lot more than people walking out and saying I’m dull. Information has to underpin the insight, story, whatever output you want to adopt – maybe in the future we could adopt mime-debriefs, sing songs to make the information more ‘inspiring’?

I always think how interesting it would be to put researchers on the rack – an x-factor or Dragon’s Den style show – with some of our most experienced clients playing the role of Gazza B or that woman from 101 Dalmatians.

I back substance over aesthetics of delivery, but if delivery is that bad, which to be fair the research industry is often lamented for (and rightly so) then whats the point of substance. Fundamentally we are judged on results, not on how pretty we are but if we are really hideous then people won’t want to look at us.

What upsets me the most is that the research industry has failed to take advantage of what it does – we sit at the heart of business decisions, we should quite frankly attract the best graduates in the world as we offer the opportunity to learn and learn and learn and make a difference, that’s pretty cool. The reason we haven’t achieved this is because we haven’t quite managed to combine the knowledge we hold and combine that with making a difference consistently and visible.

Now research-live are doing there best with by publishing an introduction to recent graduates taking their first steps into research, but this is a trade magazine with limited reach outside of those with a vested interest.

Am I smart enough to make this happen – probably not, but I have met people in the industry that are and I would love to see them stand up and say let’s make this perfect.

There has to be a balance.

Mobile Research

When I started working in research everyone was talking SMS, now whilst vendors of this technique are still around and some relevant service providers still adopt, I for one am glad the research industry has moved on somewhat.

The idea of receiving text messages from an unknown irritates me, granted I do get irritated rather easily, but that’s my space and I want it to stay that way. The only way I could ever see SMS kicking off is through a dedicated panel “want to earn £3 a month, complete 10 short surveys”. At least then as with panels it limits reach to those who have genuinely opted in.

Anyway rant over…

…because thankfully things have moved on. Below are three of the most creative executions of mobile research or thinking that I am aware of:

1. Location based research, good article from Jason Buchanan at SSI (http://www.research-live.com/features/location-location/4005240.article)

2. Zokem measure audience mobile consumption, not the only folks to do this but demonstrate it nicely. Given the opportunity digital technology provides advertisers to tightly target, the more relevant the placement to the consumer the more accepting they will be of the intrusion.

3. Augmented reality, its cool (check out http://www.wikitude.org/en/ for a great example of that). It quite simply provides some beautiful interactivity and linked with GPS, coupons and public participation we are going to be seeing a lot more of it. So how can it be used in research, well Juniao develop augmented reality browsers for smart phones. This allows the user to quite simply point and click their surroundings. As a researcher you are able to embed surveys into the surroundings e.g. New Look could post a survey on the entrance to their shop, or perhaps recruit people off the high street. The advantage to the consumer, well its all about sharing – restaurant reviews are a classic example.

On a side note, check out ibutterfly, a beautiful interactive ap.

Creative Approaches

There is an over reliance in the research industry on the replication of existing methodologies, whether they suit the brief or not. Firstly, it is not a crime and secondly even if it was not everyone is guilty.

This attitude suits the client as it’s easy to understand and justify internally, because its been used before. It works for the researcher simply due to experience and by providing efficiencies – the scalable sale!

So what happens when a client sifts through 5 proposal responses to their brief and find an approach that is completely unique. I would be genuinely interested to know how many of ‘these’ proposals are taken forward.

It is difficult to communicate the benefits of a unique approach and hope the client is able to interpret those advantages.

Now I am not about to start bashing existing methodologies, they were created, tested and continue to be used by researchers far more informed than I. What I would like to see is an appreciation of creative approaches, whether these utilise advancing technology or offer a new or adapted methodology.

The increasing influence of social and digital marketing and mobile capabilities have offered the research world unique opportunities to not only reach new audiences but infiltrate the lives of those we are sent to explore.

Floored Research

As researchers we moan that the quality of the information we present are defined by two things:

–       Our clients, they brief us and for the most part are tasked with driving insight back into their business

–       Our colleagues, or perhaps more accurately the industry. By constantly failing to effectively promote itself the world of research is stunted by the people who work within it.

I have another excuse, in my current role my creativity – including my ability to attack a big set of data – is halted by my workload. I barely have enough time to sleep.

There is truth in these ‘blames’, but for an industry which should be critical in providing the world with solutions we don’t half like to find excuses.

Research websites and blogs are superb at raising issues, but rarely is there a resolution. No one wants to point fingers so comments are benign and politically aligned. As a result we fail to address some of the problems which prevent us from moving forward.

I don’t know the answers but I want to share my experiences, the good, the bad and the ugly. In doing so I want to investigate and challenge some of the outcomes.

Simply I want to pick research up off the floor, at least in my world…

…with a few deviations along the way.

First Post

Hello? Hello!!? It is going to be a while before anyone reads this post, so I can post what I want. That photo at the top looks professional (maybe), but it’s not. I took that 2 minutes after leaving my tent at 8am. Less than 4 hours later I was swimming across that lake after achieving the seemingly impossible accolade of tipping my kayak. It was cold.

Right I want to tell you who I am as quickly as possible. I work in research, in fact I have been in the heady heights of insight for over 10 years. That means that I’ve barely worked in research for 10 years but the statement helps further qualify my credentials.

I have specialised many times, without every really grasping the client’s business to a level that warrants my fee. But I now find myself sat in the evolving world of media and entertainment talking to kids, who are driving some really exciting innovations.

So I’ve embraced Twitter…

…I am using Facebook for non-personal reasons…

…Foursquare – tried, got bored…

…aps on my i/phone/pad/mac are generally free and I rarely upgrade to progress…

…I have entered virtual worlds and online games…

…and I understand the difference between cross-media and trans-media.

So what now? Well I am going to try writing a blog. It sounds simple, not least because so many already do with varying degrees of success. But I was a good writer at school and I always wanted to be a journalist, it sounded hard so I chose a career, well money. That makes this tricky because my writing skills aren’t actually that great. The odd sentence will flow, but for the most part there will be a lack of structure and bad grammar. Please accept my sincere apologies.

Its 22:46 on April the 20th 2011, place your bets on when the next blog will appear.

All good, let’s go.