FUTURE TALENT MEETS THE INDUSTRY

ESOMAR WM3 2009

Jessica M. Falk Name: Jessica M. Falk
Nationality: Swedish
University: Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden
Title of course/programme: MSc. in Economics and Business Administration, major in Marketing
CONTACT ME

How do you see the market research industry evolving and how can you contribute to it?

Well, over the last ten years, the world of advertising and marketing communication has seen significant and continuing change. There has been a reorientation in the way business is handled by agencies and media companies, and now a rapidly changing media environment. The traditional forms of media still account for the bulk of media spending. However, we are seeing an impeccable growth of “new media”.

Media use changes, digital becomes increasingly important, and consumers take control of the research process. Because of this change I think that the market research industry is facing substantial challenges. Society is also changing. People are getting older and the society is more culturally diverse. I have also noticed a growing reluctance on the part of consumers to be interviewed. This all greatly impacts on response rates, which affects efficiency and the cost of research.

Due to this development; as consumers find multiple ways to consume media, the industry needs to find multiple solutions to measure them, and this measurement needs to be on their own terms. This will all be possible thanks to the new media and technology that is evolving.

How I can contribute to the industry: My interest in market research accelerated this past fall when we did a number of customer surveys and competitor analysis. I was probably the one who was most serious about it as I sat there in the computer room eager to find out the best way to get the consumers’ true opinions about the company’s offering, and what they value with that kind of offering. I went from room to room to ask my fellow students, test different questions on them, gathering their opinions – and then I conducted my survey by going out on the field and asked people in different areas of Stockholm – in order to get a result as accurate as possible. The results I got where very interesting and it highlighted very important issues for the company to work with. I think that my efforts prove that I am very thorough and stubborn – skills that are highly necessary when doing market research.

Both thanks to my personal qualities and my previous experience I am very good at adapting to different settings, and especially different kinds of people. This is something I believe is very useful within the industry. Moreover, I simply love numbers. Marketing - and especially market research which is a great part of marketing – is a lot about numbers.

What are in your opinion the necessary skills for market researchers in the present environment?

To connect to the precious question; a market researcher really needs to love and understand numbers. Moreover, market researchers need to be able to pay attention to detail, this since they are spending a lot of their time performing thorough data analysis. According to my point of view, also patience and persistence are necessary qualities since market researchers oftentimes spend a lot of hours working with independent studies and problem solving. But of course, they must also work well with others, since a large part of their job is interacting with consumers in order to understand their needs and requirements. Furthermore, communication skills are important, since researchers need to be able to present their findings well both orally and in writing.

Finally, creativity is indeed an important quality – especially in a downturn. A downturn is a good opportunity for companies with capital to take market share – but in order to do that, they need creative help from market researchers in order to understand the best ways to reach consumers and to meet their requirements.

How do you see your career unfolding and what are your aspirations?

When I graduate, I want to go out in the industry to learn as much as possible and thereby be able to identify issues with the need of more thorough investigation. In order to get this kind of insight within different businesses, a market research consultant or a management consultant within consumer marketing and other industries would be professions of interest to me. Working for a client to help them identify a consumer-related problem, conducting surveys, come up with ideas of how the client could better reach their target audience – this is what I want to do - to help clients implement my team’s ideas and recommendations. If I will identify issues and areas that are not yet fully explored I would want to investigate them on a deeper level and hopefully contribute to a new concept development in order to ease future work within this area.

Besides my studies at Stockholm School of Economics, my most recent work within market research was as a consultant for a mobile marketing company. I was responsible for setting strategic directions for the company – which resulted in a development process going from a consultancy company to a company with a platform of products – enabling a huge scalability and a way for the developers to invest their time in what they really enjoyed. Their inventiveness could thereby be used as a growth generator for the company. My work as a consultant for this company has involved research both among consumers and their requirements, but also competitor analysis and analyzing the market. My aim with my future career is that I want to continue being a part of a team helping a company to perform better. Market research will therefore hopefully indeed become a great part of my future profession.

< BACK

Share |