THE ESOMAR EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR STANDARDS OF PERFORMANCE IN MARKET RESEARCH - THE JOHN DOWNHAM AWARD

Kim Dedeker

Kantar Group, Chair, The Americas, USA

‘Helped the research industry and its clients understand and agree factors which impact quality in online samples’

Professional Achievements

By raising the level of debate on online research data quality she launched a salvo in September 2008 with the statement that “without transforming our capabilities into approaches that are more in touch with the lifestyles of consumers we seek to understand, the consumer-research industry as we know it today will be on life support by 2012”. This started a serious and much needed discussion about the business models of the industry and its failure to adapt its method to keep up with changes in technology. As a result of the concerns by Kim, the Online Research Quality Council (ORQC) was established by the ARF in 2007 with Kim as Chair. The results were achieved by industry-wide collaboration in the US, stimulated by Kim and facilitated by the ARF.

What the Industry said

“Lack of data quality is the single biggest threat to the market research industry and used to be the biggest taboo as well. This only changed when more and more clients started to openly share their concerns at market research industry gatherings. Kim Dedeker even went a step further by taking responsibility for improvement when she chaired the Online Research Quality Council established by the ARF.”

“Her impact on helping the industry and its clients understand and agree factors which impact quality in online samples cannot be overestimated and should encourage everyone to strive for excellence and improvement.”

“The work Kim stimulated helps users to buy better quality online sample by using the right quality metrics to define the sample.”

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