ODYSSEY 2010
THE CHANGING FACE OF MARKET RESEARCH
ATHENS / 12 – 15 SEPTEMBER

TOPICS

Call for speakers closed

2010 and beyond

As we enter a new decade in the spirit of responsible and ethical behaviour, ESOMAR asks the industry to explore the dynamics and conflicts between traditional research and new thinking.

CHALLENGES

1. What is the current state of research – what is working and what isn’t as we move forward?
2. What traditional methodologies are outdated and no longer meet the needs of today’s clients?
3. Reflecting upon our recent research history; is everything as was predicted or has the experience of the last 5 years led to a change in opinion on approaches and solutions?
4. What are the fledgling ideas from 5 years ago that have now become mainstream and how do we advance upon that?
5. How as an industry do we trim our “fat” to be leaner and healthier in the long term?
6. Considering the advancement of technologies, where do you see the future of research taking us in the next decade?

The Conversation Revolution – The Digital Advantage

Consumer Trends

Today’s consumer has become more ‘digipolitan’ – integrating offline media with online and mobile technology. As part of the global social web, consumers are always on the go, creating their own realities by mixing media like never before. The consumers of today are guided strongly by emotions and by a search for meaning, readily sharing their thoughts and opinions on everyday matters of life. We want to understand this mindset – the trends and activities of consumers and how research is affected by this and can benefit from it.

CHALLENGES

1. How can (traditional) research benefit from current social media networks (i.e Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, tagging, life caching…)?
2. How can these technologies and activities make research more appealing for participants, field researchers and clients?
3. How do we as an industry manage the conversation revolution?
4. The conversation revolution has meant that ‘traditional’ respondents are now participants - playing on equal terms with researchers. This dictates a different value equation in the relationship. What is the impact and how do you see this affecting the overall future of the industry?

New Models

Digitisation helps make research and opinion polling faster and more flexible while opening the way to new research models and unknown challenges. ESOMAR is seeking examples of applications in areas such as:

• Social Networking: crowdsourcing, co-creation, open innovation, branded online communities; communities that help co-create; new thinking about sampling
• Mass and multi-media ethnography: Traditional ethnography adapted to the study of communities and cultures: E-ethnography, webnography, netnography
• Web analytics and behavioral targeting: as massive data becomes more pervasive, will behavioural data usage increase? What are the continuing challenges to behavioural data? How are/ have these been overcome?
• On- the-go research: how do we reach young consumers and time-strapped business respondents? How do we integrate mobiles into ethnography studies alongside media measurement? What are your perspectives on the development of device-based research using smart phones, eye and head cams and portable devices?

CHALLENGES

1. Facebook has become an insight provider to the world. What do you predict to be the challenges for agencies and clients and the consequences for the future of market research?
2. As an industry, are we currently developing the right skill sets to meet these evolutionary demands? Do university curricula prepare young researchers for the challenges of the future?
3. Will passive observational techniques become the predominant method of collecting data?
4. Should we put processes and protocols in place for the social media era (YouTube/Twitter)?
5. Where is the borderline between active listening and eavesdropping when conducting research? Where does one draw the line ethically to avoid exploitation and to use listening as a legitimate marketing/research tool?

Representativeness

One of the “traditional” pillars of market research is the provision of meaningful data and results which represent specific target groups. Is this approach still relevant for us as an industry?

CHALLENGES

1. Are we still looking for representative data or is it enough just to produce results?
2. How do we know how representative online, social network and twitter surveys are?

Connecting the Dots…An Integrated Research Approach

Client Focus

Each year clients spend a significant amount of their budgets on research to assist with the management of key business issues. However, it is rare that a client uses this research in a strategic holistic approach – combining research from various sources (consumer panels, internet, retail, etc…) to maximize full potential for the category or brand.

All too often, technology is seen as a panacea rather than a means to an end. Although it is becoming easier to acquire information, the formation of new data gathering approaches is creating enormous challenges for the industry. Without a doubt there is a need for clients to transform and integrate this information into insights and a proper business process.

CHALLENGES

1. In what way are the “new” research approaches enabling clients to answer old and new questions about consumers?
2. How are the changes in the research industry’s capabilities affecting the client’s role and standing within their organisations?
3. With limited time and resources more end users are accessing the consumer directly – what will become the role of the researcher? Innovator? Strategist? Creative Consultant?
4. How are clients allocating their budgets now versus 5 years ago and do you see this changing further in the coming 5 years?
5. How are new and traditional research being incorporated inside client companies? Are methodologies morphing…and is there a pattern in the mix?
6. How can clients achieve successful partnerships with their providers and stakeholders (business, government, non-profit partnerships) to reach the desired outcome?
7. Are we succeeding in integrating and fusing all different research types and if so how?
8. What is the right structure (agencies and client companies) to deliver against the challenges of the future?
9. It has been said that in the next 10 years fieldwork and analysis will be a commodity and the real value will be in strategy definition and execution. Do you agree?

Between global and national approaches

The conflict between global and national approaches may increase in the future posing a dilemma to global organizations when looking at an integrated and standardized solution.

CHALLENGES

1. What are the trends in major companies? Is there a movement towards more standardised market research packages for international use in the future?
2. How do these companies negotiate with their national subsidiaries?
3. How can the different regional views (European, North American, Asian, Latin American and Middle East/African) of the world be respected in modern market research tools and procedures?

Digital Divide

The have nots

In an age of changing technologies and readily available information, it is often forgotten that the effects of the global digital divide have all but silenced a large portion of the population. While a number of citizens and consumers have instant access to a world of information, there are many who are not connecting with researchers due to lack of access to technology or the inability to embrace the new digital challenges. We want to know how we can effectively include these marginalised groups into research and whether they are relevant to societies and business.

CHALLENGES

1. Should the industry be looking at the BOP (bottom of pyramid) through a business lens of “maximizing our profits” when the recession has affected this sector the most?
2. How do we demonstrate the impact of “traditional” research approaches when there is limited access to internet or mobile coverage? How do we move forward when “only the old will do”?
3. In what ways can technology help or hinder doing research in harsh or less developed circumstances?

Social Inequality

The rising social inequalities in many countries/cities of the world have led to an increase in social turmoil and stratification, extending beyond the digital divide. This presents new and far reaching challenges for the industry.

CHALLENGES

1. How should market and social research react to these developments?
2. How are these various social groups being accounted for?
3. The congress will take place in Athens, the origin of democracy. How can market and social research improve democratic participation?

Data Protection – between Scylla (a rock) and Charibdys (a hard place)

Different expectations of multinational companies and different national solutions in handling data protection issues can be regarded as one example for the drive between Scylla & Charibdys. How do we as an industry navigate between this rock and a hard place?

How is data protection handled in different countries and how do we ensure a proper level of data protection?