That answer remains elusive as each industry is fighting to come up with the best answer under the pressure that the immediacy of social media brings. I want to look at the market research industry in particular and explore its recent enthusiasm toward tracking social media conversations.
To be fair, I'm not a trained marketing research professional. I don't belong to ARF (the Advertising Research Foundation). I think it's funny to say ARF to my 5 year old. I feel a smug kinship with Bernard Loomis, the iconic American toy developer and marketer who helped market toys including Barbie, Hot Wheels and Strawberry Shortcake when he said, "The trouble with research is that it tells you what people were thinking about yesterday, not tomorrow. It's like driving a car using a rearview mirror.”
I’ve initiated informal research surveys in my day. Often times, my surveys are a lighthearted and fun way to extend a PR campaign. What do Americans think about cell phone etiquette? What celebrities are listed the most in open source code? My experience is that media eats this stuff up and resulting media coverage is off the charts.
Outside of my examples, market research is a serious activity. In 2005, American businesses spent more than $7 billion a year on market research – worldwide it was closer to $20 billion.
This past Monday on September 22, the best of the best of the market research industry gathered in New York City at the Advertising Research Foundation's half-day event on the role of social media as it relates to market research.
Panel members included Jonathan Carson, president, international, Nielsen Online; Jeff Flemings, SVP/director of renaissance planning at Publicis' new account planning shop, VivaKi; and Jim Nail, chief strategy and marketing officer, TNS Cymfony.
Joel Research, the Chief Research Officer at ARF excitedly wrote in his blog leading up to the conference that social media was making researchers “the new rock stars” of the business world.
Why the enthusiasm?
- Research is showing that consumers trust other consumers (friends, colleagues, etc) more than any other source.
- Consumer postings online are the 3rd most powerful influencer
- Marketers' marketing and research has traditionally been limited to the "brand backyard"--forums like customer care and the brand's Web site. It is now shifting to the "consumer backyard": Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Tweet, Twitter and the like.
So it is no surprise that the market research industry is all abuzz about the monitoring of social media. And the big prize is like Cold Fusion at this point – we’ll see who figures out the best strategy, but as of yet, the race is simply on.
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