FUTURE TALENT MEETS THE INDUSTRY

ESOMAR Online Research & WM3 2010

Jenny Raff Name: Ulrike Porepp
Nationality: German
University: Berlin School of Economics & Law, Berlin, Germany
Title of course/programme: International Marketing Management
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How do you see the market research industry evolving and how can you contribute to it?

From my point of view nowadays there are more opportunities for marketers to get a distinct picture of the today's customer, his buying behavior, his social network and his way of talking about the product and the brand. There has been taking place a major change in communication channels - including both sides. It's not only the customer who can benefit from social networks but also companies should leverage the potential which lies in the power of consumer's voices. We have to listen to them. Market research is all about the understanding of what is going on in the minds of our customers. It has become of utmost importance to be able to survive as a brand as it hasn't have been ever before.


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

This question leads to the answer to question one as well. Not only market researchers but also marketers have to be able to understand what facts and figures are telling us about the customer and carry them over to a realistic picture of how our customers are ticking. Only then we have a chance to develop an appropriate communication strategy for instance. The more we know about them the better we can target them. A market researcher therefore has to be sensitive for market changes and has to be able to uncover consumer trends. Of course, he or she should be familiar with social media platforms as I already mentioned. In addition to that, a market researcher should be tied to marketing in general and should be acquainted with the common market research instruments to be able to analyze the outcomes of studies and so forth.


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

As I mentioned in the interview I am not focussing a distinct job role in my future career because I am very open minded concerning all fields of marketing. But I think, no matter where I will work I will work together with the market researchers. From my perspective both are linked to each other and without market research the marketing department would not have a profound basis on which it can develop its strategies and therefore its operational activities. At the moment I am working as an intern in a very big company in the B-2-B industry and I had some other internships in the B-2-C area. I think both industries are special and need market research as an enabler to improve their fields of competence in order to remain a successful brand which strives for excellence in what it promise to its customers.

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