Market Connections has been awarded a General Services Administration (GSA) contract.   As of October 1, we’ll be on the GSA AIMS schedule under SIN 541-4A – Market Research & Analysis Services.  We look forward to providing our deep government market expertise and full-service research services to federal agencies.

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When checking out market research firms, it can be a good idea to find out how many of their employees are professionally certified.  The Marketing Research Association established the Professional Researcher Certification (PRC) program to validate industry knowledge, dedication, and professionalism among market researchers.  A PRC designation assures the credentials of market researchers and underscores their commitment to continuing their professional education.  Similar to certifications in other fields, it sets an industry standard for excellence in research. Read the rest of this entry »

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Is your marketing budget shrinking faster than you can blink an eye?  You’re not alone.  In this economy, many organizations are looking for ways to both reduce their research investments and get a greater return from them.  Right now, it’s more important than ever to ensure a research project will maximize the learnings you need to enhance the performance of your marketing or operations.  But don’t worry, because with a little effort, you can get more bang from your research buck.  We’ll show you how.  Click here. 

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Happy Holidays from all of us at Market Connections!

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As you may know, the MRA held its Annual Conference and Research Forum earlier this month. Three of our attendees have written a bit about their favorite program from the event.

John:
One of the sessions I found most interesting from this year’s MRA conference was a team-based, case-study exercise where we were broken up into six groups of 8-10 participants. Each group was given the same background information about a research project for a fictional company, “Bunny Burgers”. That’s when things got interestingââ?¬â?each team was tasked with creating a research project that would help Bunny Burgers understand the market, and guide their marketing investments, but each was assigned a different budget and timeline. About halfway through the exercise, each team was thrown a curveball that affected their research window, budget, or overall ability to complete the project (as so often happens in the real world!). It was fascinating to watch the teams, with people from all sides of the research spectrum offer their expertise and experience to address the challenges, and to develop a solution. The teams who were most successful teams treated the exercise as a collaborative project, worked closely with our “client”, and were capable of rolling with the punches and adapting when the process didn’t go exactly as planned.

Laurie:
One of my favorite sessions at the 2008 MRA conference, was the 4pm keynote speaker on Wed June 4. The session was titled: “Quality,?? What’s Love Got to Do With It.” The presenter was Robin Pearl,?? VP Market Research, The Estee Lauder Companies. In a very amusing way, she spoke of quality issues that can plague research projects from sample design and survey content to simple typos in reports. Her speech was entertaining as well as a good reminder that all research professionals need to pay more attention to details, both as a client and a vendor. She noted a great line,?? that when it comes to research we all need a “PHD (passion, heart and drive)”,?? you must love what you do! And the best part –free Estee Lauder Lip Gloss for all!

Cynthia:
A very interesting session I attended during the 2008 MRA Conference was titled “Mindreading & Measuring Emotion in Quali-Quant Research: It is NOT Smoke and Mirrors!”,?? presented by Brent Snider, a Client Director with BrainJuicer.
This presentation offered a peek under the tent at one of the emerging research techniques that attempt to measure emotions and validate insights,?? going a step beyond offering open-ends in an online survey. In other words, exploring another approach to getting the qualitative “whys” behind quantitative “whats”. Check out the website demo and “juice your brain“.

Sounds like the MRA conference was a great success!

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Market Connections is gearing up for something brand new. Starting in July, we will be presenting a series of free webinars. Held every other month, each webinar will present a fresh look at topics relating to marketing research methods, using research effectively, the state of the market, and more!

Our first webinar of the series is entitled Create a Competitive Advantage with Market Research and will be held on July 21 at 2pm. Click here to register for our webcast.

We want to hear from you! What topics would you like covered in our webinar series? Leave a comment to let us know.

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2007 was an incredible year for new and progressing technologies.  Web 2.0 applications, such as wikis, blogs, and podcasts were used by more corporate and government entities than ever before.  Multiple “green” technologies, such as blade servers, power throttling, and virtualization were discussed and developed.  And, as always, technologies relating to security were of top importance. 

As I was wondering what was in store for 2008, I stumbled upon an article in the January 7th edition of e-Week that mentioned the most influential technologies in the upcoming year.  They are as follows:

1. Access control apps
2. Server virtualization
3. Solid-state storage
4. Message security
5. Virtual infrastructure management
6. Encryption
7. Semantic Web
8. Wireless LAN
9. Next-generation web applications
10. Mobile devices

Is there anything on here that surprises you?  Do you think e-Week listed the most important technologies or are they missing some?  Leave a comment and let the entire Market Connections community know what you think!

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Don’t you hate getting calls from pushy, untrustworthy telemarketers?  If you’re like me, you put your home and cell phone numbers on the National Do Not Call List the day you receive them.  In this age of savvy consumers who know how to dodge calls, telemarketers have gotten sneaky and now mask sales calls as surveys.  Beware: these “surveys” are not valid research! 

Just the other day, as I was fixing my dinner, I got one of these calls.  The woman on the line was very friendly, and asked if I had a few minutes to complete a survey.  I was happy to help; as a market research professional, I know how hard it is to get respondents!  After a few questions, however, it became clear that this call wasn’t about gathering informationââ?¬â?she was trying to sell me a magazine subscription.  I quickly pointed out that this “survey” was bogus and she disconnected the call.  But the incident had me thinking: If I fall prey to this scam, I bet others do too!

Here are some tips to keep you free from telemarketing survey scams.

1. Be cautious about giving personal information over the phone!

If a caller asks for your name, address, or any personally identifying information, ask for clarification about the use of the data they are gathering.  Most survey studies are blind, and do not need this data.  A real survey will never ask you for your credit card number.

2. You don’t have to put up with leading questions, or questions that make you uncomfortable.

These types of questions are popular in push polls, surveys taken near election time that are designed to spread negative information about a candidate.  Feel free to decline to answer ANY survey question when you feel uncomfortable.  If you think the survey is a sham, ask for information about your caller, and the nature of the survey.  If it is not a valid study, they will likely hang up instead of answering your question.

3. Listen to your gut.

If you feel uncomfortable about the caller, the questions, or anything at all related to the survey, either ask for more information or feel free to decline.  Surveys are completely voluntaryââ?¬â?you should never feel pressured into making decisions or giving out information that you don’t wish to share.

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With holiday air travelers expected in record numbers this year, airlines are running extra flights, stocking additional personnel, and with the help of President Bush, using  military airspace along the east coast as an “express lane” for holiday travelers.  With Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) complete ban of carry-on liquids lifted, and other restrictions relaxed, security checkpoints are running a little more smoothly than they have in recent months.  

I know that many of us travel extensively throughout the year.  We’re all too familiar with the rules and regulations that accompany air travel; walking barefoot through security, ensuring our laptops are out of their cases, and when necessary, enduring the one-on-one personal search.   Although these measures may make our lives uncomfortable for a moment, the safety and security they provide are well worth the additional hassle. 

TSA currently requires that all airline-checked luggage remain unlocked.  Many travelers cringe at the thought of keeping their luggage unlocked through the duration of their air travels.  Some keep their bags locked only to find the locks cut when their bags reach their final destination.  Recognizing this concern, TSA developed a lock that ensures necessary access to a traveler’s suitcase, but also provides the security of a locked bag.  These locks have a user-created combination code for the luggage owner.  TSA keeps a universal master key on-hand to safely unlock and re-lock the luggage when necessary.   These combination locks are available at luggage and travel stores worldwide.  I found this device to be reassuring and I am appreciative of TSA’s solution to air traveler’s concerns about the safety of their bags.

For more information, check out TSA’s website http://www.tsa.gov.  Not only will you find information about the locks, but you can also view helpful travel tips provided by the Department of Homeland Security.

All of us at Market Connections wish you a happy, healthy holiday season.  No matter how you travel, travel safely during this busy time of year.

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Watch for our August e-newsletter, scheduled to go out next week.  The featured articles are on first time research tips and online focus groups.  So, be sure to check out www.marketconnectionsinc.com next week to read about these topics and to sign up to automatically receive every monthly e-newsletter!

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