Where is the Puck?

In his recent presentation before Capilano College School of Business students (Vancouver, BC), John Jensen, VP Technology of GMI, one of the world’s leading online marketing research firms, identified a number of important marketing research related trends:

MACRO TRENDS (AFFECTING MARKETING RESEARCH)

a) From OFFLINE to ONLINE: More and more business done via the Net
b) From ON-SHORE to OFF-SHORE: Off shoring of fulfillment and production-oriented work
c)From DOMESTIC to GLOBAL: Use of panel-based research goes global
d)From DISTRIBUTED to CENTRALIZED: Mainstreaming of software as a hosted solution

INDUSTRY TRENDS

a) Consolidation of market research companies
b) Online research is mainstream
c) Research panels are coming to the fore
d) Enterprise research software is becoming a necessity

HOW ARE THESE TRENDS AFFECTING MARKETING RESEARCH BUSINESS?

a) Just collecting data online is not enough
b) Customers want
- More accurate results, faster and cheaper
- Integration with CRM, SFA, audience measurement, customer satisfaction, BI tools, etc
c) MR firms need to become technology-driven

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Obviously people from GMI got it! No wonder, of the world’s 25 largest research firms, 21 use GMI market research software and services… GMI has experienced over 100% annual revenue growth for the last seven years…