Are Smartphones the Modern Cigarette?

Recently I observed a group of friends in their 20's standing outside a restaurant. In perfect unison they stood staring at their smartphones. Nearby, another group of friends in their 50's were also standing outside a restaurant. In perfect unison they stood smoking cigarettes.

Both groups looked awkward and appeared to be filling time with a pointless activity, which made we wonder, are smartphones becoming the modern cigarette? 

The Control of Time       

For many smokers, the act of smoking can provide a mechanism for regulating and controlling time. Time is a complex and overwhelming concept - studies have found that when people are confronted by time, it can lead to reflection on mortality and changes in daily behavior. Smoking can provide a way to control time, by allowing people to segment their day into smaller sections and avoid moments of emptiness. 

In the same way, smartphones may have become the modern mechanism for regulating and controlling time. People use their phone to start the day, take a break from work, prepare for bed, and fill any moments of emptiness with action. Could it be that we consume a 'data packet a day' to help control time?

The Control of Emotion

For many smokers, the act of smoking can provide a mechanism for regulating and controlling their anxiety and emotion. Studies have found that many obsessive behaviors (like smoking, drinking and over-eating) are actually coping mechanisms for dealing with difficult emotions - allowing people to suppress their feelings with habitual activity.

In the same way, smartphones may have become the modern mechanism for controlling anxiety and emotion. When people feel awkward in a social situation, or frustrated at work, or lonely at home, they can use their smartphone to suppress their feelings with facts and updates. Could it be that we 'chain check' to help control emotion?      

The Modern Cigarette

Realizing the potential parallels between smoking and smartphone use can be uncomfortable. Smartphones have many benefits - I couldn't imagine living without mine - but I also suspect that using any product to control time and suppress emotion isn't healthy.

So what do you think, are smartphones the modern cigarette? 

Milking Memories: Five Steps from Insight to Campaign

This month I co-authored an article for the Market Research & Intelligence Association titled, 'Milking Memories.' Appearing in VUE Magazine, the article shared findings from two years of research we conducted on behalf of the Canadian dairy industry. If you'd like to read the original article you can view it here, alternatively a transcribed version is available below. 

To start this article, let’s go back – way back into your childhood. What are your earliest memories of milk? What do you remember doing, seeing and experiencing in relation to milk? How do these memories make you feel? If you’re feeling warm and fuzzy, you may be experiencing nostalgia, a physiological state that’s been shown to make people feel loved, protected and physically warmer (Zhou et al., 2012).

High School: A Teenage Stage of Change

For many North American teenagers, the transition into high school represents a period of transformation and change. A social environment with new rules, structures and social experiences, high school can have a profound influence on teen motivations and behavior.

“When you first go to high school you’re more careful. You don’t want older kids making fun of you. You’re entering a new place. It’s different. I have shirts I wear in public but not in school. I don’t want people to think I’m weird.” – Teen Girl (2012)

The Science of Environmental Change

Research has found that environments can have a major bearing on human behavior. When living in a known environment, human actions have a tendency to become habitual (i.e. repeated without awareness). However, when an environment change occurs it can create a 'window of opportunity' in which habits are more likely to be considered.

"I started feeling insecure because it was a new school. You pay attention to those things that you can change; like what you eat, the clothes you wear, you can even change your personality. In elementary school everything was perfect. I'd wear sweatpants, but in high school I wear skirts.” – Teen Girl (2012)

The High School Stage of Change

The teenage transition into high school provides an excellent example of how environmental change can impact behavior. From food to fashion, entering high school can cause teens to re-evaluate many of their behaviors - which is what makes it an important stage of change.

Standard Deviations: Where Market Trends Emerge

In business a lot of effort is spent exploring the middle of the market - whether it's understanding what the average person wants, or the mid-point of customer behavior, we search in the middle because it appears to offer the greatest marketing opportunity.

The middle has size, the middle has scale, and focusing on the middle fulfills a deep human desire for safety and security.

Like many other animals, human beings often gravitate to the middle of a pack during times of danger because in the middle they feel less vulnerable to predators and external threats.

This same pattern of behavior can be observed in organizations when executives focus their attention on the middle of a market whilst ignoring patterns of behavior on the edges. Being in the middle seems safer.

However, when it comes to discovering trends and opportunities the middle of the market is the worst place for companies to focus.

It's not from the middle of the market that trends emerge but rather on the edges, as standard deviations in behavior that eventually become the average. The edges are dynamic and niche but make no mistake, it's from the edges that trends emerge.

So if businesses want to become more innovative, they need to move away from the safety of the middle and invest more time exploring the edges. Because hidden in standard deviations are future market trends and opportunities waiting to emerge.

PS. Thanks Pacific Planning for bouncing these idea around with me last month.

Cultural Appropriation: Why People Hate Hipsters

“Hipsters adopt the styles and affects of many cultures; cultures which aren't theirs. Cultures which they don’t actually belong to… Other sub-cultures enjoy what they enjoy, and that is the end of the story… People see hipsters as devaluing cultural fashions by cashing in on their capitol without embodying their meaning.” - Mike Rugnetta

This is an interesting video posted by Mike Rugnetta on the PBS Idea Channel. It suggests that the social disdain for hipsters may stem from their blatant and condescending appropriation of sub-culture. If you have a spare six minutes, this video is worth a watch:

Instacode: A New Language for Digital Youth

“People show more of themselves on Tumblr. They don’t use their real names, or write personal stuff, but they blog pictures. I don’t do any written stuff because I don’t want people from school to read it… I wouldn't want them to read about my feelings and tell other people what I've been thinking… Depending on my day and how I’m feeling, I might post a dramatic picture of rain on glass.” - Digital Youth (2012)

For digital youth, participating online is a social necessity. While previous generations have the luxury of keeping their digital and physical lives separated, digital youth must stay continuously connected in order to remain informed and in-touch with their friendship groups. Digital disconnection = social death. 

However this continuous connection also means that any private conversation, comment or personal interaction, could easily be shared through their entire social network. Social success, or social distress, is only a click away.

Hence the rise of instacodes. The deep human need to express thoughts and feelings, without fear or social judgement, has given rise to a system of codes and visual metaphors that digital youth are using to express themselves secretly on platforms like Instagram and Tumblr. Instacodes let digital youth communicate private things in public places.

The Evolution of Self-Esteem

A few weeks ago while sitting in a cafe, I overheard two mothers discussing different ways to build self-esteem. Turning to her friend one mother remarked, "I'm trying to limit the amount of disappointment my daughter experiences, because it may be bad for her self-esteem."  

This conversation got me thinking about our modern approach to self-esteem: avoiding disappointment and criticism, providing only positive feedback, focusing on individual affirmation and positive self-talk.

Does this really build strong self-esteem, or can it result in a fragile form of self-deception? I thought this could be a controversial but interesting topic for discussion.

The Social Evolution of Self-Esteem

In contrast to popular definitions of self-esteem, evolutionary psychology views self-esteem as an objective assessment of social standing. In his book 'Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind,' Prof. David Buss states that:

"Humans evolved in groups and needed others to survive and reproduce. This prompted the evolution of motivations to seek the company of others, form social bonds, and [gain] the favor of others in the group. Failure to be accepted by others would have resulted in isolation and premature death... Given that social acceptance would have been critical to survival, selection would have favored a mechanism that enabled an individual to track their degree of acceptance by others. This mechanism, according to sociometer theory, is self-esteem."

While popular culture suggests that self-esteem is individual, evolutionary psychology has explored the idea that self-esteem may be a 'barometer of social standing.' You could think of self-esteem like the warning gauge on your fuel tank, when your social standing gets low, your self-esteem should start to warn you.

According to sociometer theory, for an individual to build their self-esteem they must learn the behaviors that promote social acceptance. For example, when an individual undertakes actions that are socially valued (i.e. volunteering), they increase their standing in society (i.e. gain status), which can lead to higher levels of self-esteem.

The Challenges of Building Self-Esteem

In everyday life, sociometer theory provides some significant challenges and implications for building self-esteem.

Challenge 1: Learning which actions lead to social acceptance.

It's essential for people to learn which actions and behaviors contribute to higher levels of social acceptance. By learning the social skills necessary to make close friends (like reciprocity), or the behaviors that contribute to workplace success (like discipline) individuals can improve their self-esteem through social bonding.

Challenge 2: Learning when to fight and when to give in.

It's essential for people to learn when they are capable of beating an opponent, and when they should consider making an alliance or playing a subordinate role. By learning how to accurately judge their skill sets, intelligence and power, individuals can avoid unnecessary social conflict and play a more meaningful role in social groups.

Challenge 3: Learning how appealing your personality really is.

It's essential for people to learn which aspects of their personality are appealing to others, and which aspects should be managed or modified (i.e. learning to control neurotic behavior). Building self-esteem that is out of touch with social reality, can disrupt social bonds and may actually lead to disappointment and depression. 

Learning to Build Social-Esteem

If the sociometer theory is correct, it's possible that the concept of self-esteem championed by our modern culture may be counter-productive. In fact according to Prof. David Funder, building self-esteem "requires something more complex than simply trying to make everybody feel better about themselves."

Based on findings from evolutionary psychology, one of the most effective ways to build an individual's self-esteem may be teaching them how to build stronger social bonds. So instead of trying to build self-esteem, perhaps we should try to build social-esteem? Would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

Why Everyone Knows a Healthy [Insert Unhealthy Behavior]

When talking about the topic of health, young people's opinions can be surprising irrational. What constitutes healthy behavior, will often have more to do with subjective experience and bias than objective evidence. So how can cognitive bias influence the topic of human health?

The Availability Heuristic

According to researchers, the Availability Heuristic is a cognitive bias in the interpretation of information whereby 'people use the ease with which examples can be brought to mind as a cue for estimating their probability.'

The Availability Heuristic can be observed in many every day health opinions, in particular those opinions based on personal associations instead of probable evidence. For example, when discussing smoking, a young person may use one strong family memory as probable evidence to justify an unhealthy choice (see tweet above).

Why Everyone Seems to Know a Healthy [Insert Unhealthy Behavior]

By applying the Availability Heuristic to the health opinions of young people, you can begin to understand how unhealthy behavior can become irrationally associated with positive health outcomes despite more probable evidence to the contrary (see tweet below).

1. Young people are less likely to have known those who have died from unhealthy behavior. As a result, memories associating unhealthy behavior with negative outcomes may be less easily available and judged as less probable.

2. Young people are more likely to have known those who have survived unhealthy behavior. As a result, memories associating unhealthy behavior with positive outcomes may be more easily available and judged as more probable.

Hence the reason why everyone seems to know a healthy [insert unhealthy behavior].

The Future of Digital is Mobile

Occasionally, whilst foraging for knowledge berries on the internet, you stumble upon a patch of tasty information. This was the case on Sunday when I read an article by John Naughton titled, "Real cost of the smartphone revolution: The smartphone market is expanding at an astonishing rate, but is it damaging creativity and innovation on the web?"

The article referenced a May 2012 conference presentation written by the industry analyst Mary Meeker from venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Drawing from a range on secondary sources, the presentation puts forward a compelling view of current and future digital activity.

While there are numerous insights and trends from Meeker in the deck, I've pulled out two highlights that I found of particular interest.  

Insight One: The Future of Digital is Mobile

At present mobile traffic represents 10% of global internet traffic, but according to Meeker while "internet growth remains robust, rapid mobile adoption is still in [its] early stages" and will likely impact global desktop internet usage (see recent data from India below).

Insight Two: Companies Need to Think Mobile

The opportunity for mobile innovation to 're-imagine,' or disrupt, stable categories like finance, energy and retail is immense. Industries and companies that fail to proactively develop strategies for dealing with the shift to mobile are likely to lose market share.    

For those that are interested in the full presentation, a copy can be found below:  

KPCB Internet Trends 2012

Why Do People Photograph Their Food?

Have you ever been at a restaurant and noticed someone taking a photograph of their food? I have. In fact, having observed many instances of food photography I decided to discuss the topic with some friends and colleagues.

A great deal of work already exists on the complexity and underlying motivations of meals. In general the findings from studies on food and meal behavior have shown that, "although seemingly simple, [eating is] in fact very complex behavior in which many physiological and psychological factors interact."

So building on some of that existing research, here are a few fun theories about 'why people photograph their food.' If you have any additional ideas on the topic, I'd love to hear them.

Theory One: Social Ritual

Sharing and enjoying a meal is a part of social ritual.  Historically, meals have often been used as a medium for passing on important cultural and religious rituals.

Perhaps people photograph their food together as part of a new social sharing ritual?

Theory Two: Collaborative Process

Preparing and enjoying a meal is a part of collaborative process. The process of contributing to a meal can be an important part of bringing together nutrition and emotion.

Perhaps people photograph their food to feel like they have contributed to the process?

Theory Three: Personal Pleasure Arousal

Anticipating and enjoying a meal enhances personal pleasure. The process of delaying gratification has been shown to increase the enjoyment associated with consumption of pleasurable products or services.    

Perhaps people photograph their food as a form of pleasure arousal and gratification delay?

Theory Four:  Experience Objectification

Eating and enjoying a meal is an ephemeral experience. Although the memories and emotions associated with eating can last a lifetime, the food itself does not.

Perhaps people photograph their food in an attempt to make the meal experience last?

How to Harness Nostalgia in Marketing

"I'm thinking about when I was a child and there were no cares and no worries... You didn't worry about the calories in a cookie, you'd just go for it.” - Respondent (2012)

There's something special about hearing people re-connect with their childhood. Like unearthing a treasure chest of emotion, the first years of life can represent a source of comfort and nostalgia.

While the realities of adulthood can bury childhood memories under layers of parental, work and social responsibility - uncovering and harnessing nostalgia can represent a major opportunity for marketing.

The Benefits of Nostalgia

According to research, eliciting a feeling of nostalgia in human beings can, "serve a homeostatic function, allowing the mind to return to previously enjoyed states, including states of bodily comfort." From a practical perspective, this means that nostalgic thoughts are able to make you feel comforted and physically warm.

For any brand that wants to be associated with comfort and warmth, whether they're a restaurant like Johnny Rockets, a food product like Kraft Mac & Cheese, or a technology manufacturer like John's Phone, uncovering and harnessing nostalgia can be important.

The Sources of Nostalgia

There are two types of memories that are often associated with nostalgia: social interactions and momentous life events. Researchers have found that these "areas seem to be most frequently.. associated with the recall of [nostalgic] experiences," and may provide a fertile starting point for branding.

Social interaction memories are often focused on interactions with close friends and family. In research, exploring memories and metaphors from childhood can help to uncover these types of associations, for example:

"It's milk and cookies, warm feelings, and the glass bottles that used to come to the door… My mom would always say, don’t worry if you drop the milk, it’s okay. My favorite memory was her telling me not to worry about the spilled milk.” - Respondent (2012)

Momentous life event memories are often focused on periods of birth, death and transition. In research, exploring the memories of major life changes and evolution can help to uncover these types of associations, for example:

"I had a blog when my grandfather was sick and dying. I wrote it for the extended family, so everybody had a place to check in and get updated on what was happening with him… A friend of mine suggested this type of blog, because their child had died. They couldn’t field the phone calls and the emails... it was too emotional.” - Respondent (2011)

Harnessing Nostalgia in Marketing

So how can you harness nostalgia in your marketing? Here are a couple of examples.

When research manages to uncover existing nostalgic associations with a brand, building a marketing strategy around those memories can be an option. One example of a brand that used this technique was McDonald's in their 'feed your inner child' campaign:

   

Alternatively, linking a new brand with an existing nostalgic memory may also provide a marketing opportunity if the aim is to reduce feelings of risk. This can be effective when marketing innovative products that need to make people feel comfortable, for example:

          

Creating Physical Experiences for Digital Brands

Back in February we were lucky enough to participate in the Transmission Summit - a global creative content and technology conference held in British Columbia. During the conference, one of the sessions I found most interesting involved Nora Young (CBC technology journalist) interviewing Angel Gambino (Wired Top 100) on her experiences building physical and digital spaces. 

During the interview Gambino stated that, "the physical retail space is now the marketing window for the online purchase experience." 

That got me thinking about the future of digital branding. While digital brands have become an essential part of life, we remain physical creatures in a physical world. To bridge this divide, could the next big trend in digital branding involve physical experience?

Digital Brands creating Physical Experiences

According to a recent article published in Forbes, the online giants Amazon, eBay, Google and PayPal are all in the process of creating concept stores that would help them extend their reach into the physical world.

While all these brands have built strength through digital delivery, there's a growing belief that "establishing a physical presence may well be the last frontier... engaging all the senses in ways that sophisticated algorithms can’t."

The recent opening of Angry Birds Land is another example of a digital brand attempting to create a physical experience. Whether this marks a serious diversification from online gaming is yet to be determined, but it has been suggested in the media "that Rovio is planning a series of Angry Birds parks around the globe."

Physical Brands creating Digital Experiences

Alternatively, an emerging trend amongst traditional retailers involves creating hybrid digital experiences. According to the BBC, the retail giant Tesco has been experimenting with virtual subway stores as a way of overcoming the need for retail space (see below).    

Bridging the Digital-Physical Divide

Bridging the digital-physical divide is an interesting opportunity for those in branding. A lot of money has been invested in improving physical experiences with digital innovation; like the way UrbanSpoon improves dining, or Expensify improves expenses. 

Could improving digital experiences with physical innovation be the next frontier? 

Foraging for Social Facts: How humans forage for information like animals forage for food

Last week I spent some time chatting with marketing students at a university networking event. Watching the students slowly consume advice from marketing professionals was a lot like watching cattle graze in a pasture; when one student found a tasty source of information, others would follow and cluster around the source.

This observation reminded me of some great research on how human beings forage for facts. Consuming information online may seem 'socially revolutionary,' but the underlying human motivations are far more 'evolutionary.' In fact, according to research, we forage for digital information in much the same way that animals forage for food.

How People Forage for Social Facts

In 1999, the psychologist Peter Pirolli published a study that looked at the human motivations behind information consumption. The study titled 'Information Foraging,' established a theory that "modern-day information foraging mechanisms may [parallel] food foraging mechanisms that evolved in our ancestors." In summary, the research provided three key findings on how we consume information:

Human beings hunt for information patches. Just like animals seek out an ideal patch of food, humans seek out ideal patches of information. For example, we use Facebook, LinkedIn or Google, because they help us to aggregate information into a valuable patch.

Human beings follow information scents. Just like animals use scent to find ideal patches of food, humans use social clues to find ideal patches of information. For example, we use Tweets, Likes or Links, because they help to signal the potential value of information.

Human beings are on an information diet. Just like animals are driven to find the maximum amount of food with the minimal output of energy, humans are motivated to find information whilst conserving time. For example, we prefer concise information sources that provide quick facts and data.

Planting your Information Patch

So how can you use this research to help ensure that people cluster and consume your content? Well in the same way my recent networking experience created an information patch for students, you need to plant  an information patch for consumers. To help you get started, here are three things worth considering:

1. Plant your information in a patch. Good information grows together, so you need to plant your information in online groups and communities that share your content interest.

2. Create information scent. Valuable content has a social scent, by highlighting brand affiliations, social credentials and content links, you can build information credibility.

3. Provide information on a diet. Informavores are fast-fact-eaters, so provide content summaries, data points and information implications to keep them grazing.

Defining Community Trust at TEDx

Back in November 2011, I had the opportunity to present on the topic of community trust at TEDxSFU. Community is an abstract concept, and as an audience member I found it interesting to observe the way in which different speakers attempted to define it. 

The Definition of Community 

During the event, some speakers expressed a more traditional perspective on community; while others described community from a more progressive perspective. Some focused on the importance of control and structure in community; while others emphasized individuality and freedom. Below are a few quotes to help illustrate how different some of the community perspectives were: 

"Governments at all levels are now legislating consultation and need more accurate tools to validate their decision making... We've had some online consultation thus far, but it's met with varying degrees of success... because consultation has been largely anonymous and does not stand up to scrutiny." - Speaker 1 (Structure Oriented) 

"Social media is revolutionary in velocity and scale. It's being used as a tool for revolutions and the effect it's going to have on Government is going to be massive... Like we've seen in Egypt, in London and in Occupy, geeks are resourceful and they'll find ways to get information out." - Speaker 2 (Individuality Oriented) 

In my opinion, community isn't defined by any one of these perspectives - community is defined by all of them. Like any human concept, community is full of paradoxes and contradictions. Only by embracing these contradictions can you begin to understand what truly creates a community. 

The Topic of Community Trust 

For those of you that are interested, below is a video from my presentation at TEDxSFU. Like all research we conduct, it attempts to unify and explain contradictions in human motivation. In this case, it looks at the topic of community trust among leaders and public institutions.

The Five Stages of Travel

Heading into the annual holiday and travel season, I thought you may appreciate a study undertaken by Google on 'The Five Stages of Travel.' While the data itself is relatively bland, the use of infographics managed to engage me in the experience. Happy Holidays.

Stage One - Dreaming:

Stage Two - Planning:

Stage Three - Booking:

Stage Four - Experiencing:

Stage Five - Sharing:

Digital Moms: The Drivers of Digital E-motion

Back in March 2011, I was involved in a proactive study that explored the online motivations and drivers of digital mothers (mothers who spent a period of time online).

The market psychology study involved in-depth morphological interviews and online surveys with 500 North American Moms. The outcomes from the study were designed to coincide with a keynote presentation we made at the 2nd Annual Marketing to Digital Moms Conference.

While there’s no shortage of metrics and statistics on the digital environment, the data can often fail to capture the personal human experience of online activity. As our study found, the digital actions of mothers are often influenced and impacted by a range of deeper motivations and feelings. Posting a photo can be a form of self-expression. Online shopping can reflect a desire for change. A status update may be driven by the desire for connection.

“For me it’s about getting the box, opening the box, and looking at all the stuff I bought. But as soon as I open it and look at it, it doesn’t appeal to me anymore. I don’t really know why… There’s something about me that likes the process of ordering, and looking and clicking, and getting, and opening, and then it’s like, okay I’m done.” - Digital Mom (2011)

Digital e-motion is the term we used to describe this deeper combination of action and motivation, and below is a presentation that contains some of the results from our research on the digital e-motions of mothers.

Digital Moms: The Drivers of E-motion from Nick Black

Think Quarterly: Dedicated to Data

Thought you may appreciate a new online magazine launched by Google, called Think Quarterly. Designed to communicate with Google's partners and advertisers, this first issue has been, “dedicated to data – amongst a morass of information, how can you find the magic metrics that will help transform your business?”

Masculinity in American Culture

Over the past few months I've been spending quite a bit of time in the United States – both for business and pleasure. In contrast to many European and Asian countries, one aspect of American culture that always surprises me is the degree to which they embrace ‘masculinity’ in their everyday lives. 

From the way that meetings are conducted, to the car brands that people prefer, masculinity seems to play an important role in mainstream American culture.

Defining Cultural Masculinity

For almost half a century, the famous social psychologist Prof. Geert Hofstede has been conducting research based on six dimensions of culture. One of those six dimensions is masculinity, a cultural dimension in which “social gender roles are clearly distinct: Men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success; women are supposed to be more modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life.”

Below is a table outlining the social norms frequently found in masculine cultures:

Bigger, Faster, Harder, Stronger

According to the research, America is considered a higher masculinity country, meaning that many of the masculinity attributes listed above also reflect mainstream American culture. To wrap up this post, I thought I’d provide a few practical examples of how masculinity can influence everyday American behavior.

Muscle cars are defined by Merrium Webster as, “American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines.” These powerful cars are an icon of American masculinity, with research showing that “engine power of a car is more important in masculine cultures. In feminine cultures, people may not even know their car engines power.”

Madison Avenue is arguably the home of global advertising, located in New York City, the home of American corporate culture. According to research, “masculine cultures show more confidence in the advertising industry… [it’s believed that] the skepticism of feminine cultures toward advertising is based on their markets having been relatively swamped by advertising reflecting US masculine values.”

In America, information is often presented rationally. According to research, “across cultures it appears that feminine cultures read more fiction and masculine cultures more non-fiction… Members of masculine cultures seem to be more concerned with data and facts: members of feminine cultures are more interested in the stories behind the facts.”

Three interesting things on the interweb

In this edition of interesting things on the interweb, you’ll find three different forms of thinking from one source - Strawberry Frog. For those of you who don’t keep up-to-date with the advertising industry, Strawberry Frog is an independent agency which has been described as “waging war against the dinosaurs of advertising - monolithic global networks and their holding companies.”

Interesting interweb one:

In a five minute interview conducted by Heidu Ehlers, the founder of Strawberry Frog, Scott Goodson, discusses some of the challenges and priorities involved in running a global agency. According to Goodson, “when I founded Strawberry Frog, the challenge was always about fearlessness. You know, am I fearless enough to do it, do I have what it takes. And that question is there every single day.”

Interesting interweb two:

In the Planner Survey 2010, Heather LeFevre reports on the working life of 1578 strategic planners from around the world. Covering topics such as salary, job satisfaction and digital activity, the Planner Survey 2010 delivers some great data in a visually engaging format.

The Planner Survey 2010 from Heather LeFevre

Interesting interweb three:

In an insightful Adweek article titled, ‘Whither Millennial Men,’ Chip Walker shares his insights on the emerging nature of millennial men. According to Walker, “millennial men are taking matters into their own hands and inventing a new version of American male success… a new male success archetype I call the indie guy.” Walker goes on to say that, “maybe the future of marketing to these young men is about giving them hope that a new version of American male success is possible, in a world where the odds sometimes seem stacked against them.”

The NGMR Top-5-Hot vs. Top-5-Not

As part of the Next Gen Market Research group, bloggers from around the world were invited to participate in a group post on the ‘Top 5-Hot vs. Top-5-Not’ topics in market research. The following is a collection of topics and trends that I feel are important to our industry; it may not add up to ten, but that’s what happens when you ask a qualitative researcher to count.

Hot topic 1: Research re-integration
At one time, the market research industry was unified with the marketing world. The purpose of market research, and the insights it garnered, was to inform the development of useful ideas (like the work of Ernest Dichter on Madison Avenue). However, over time, the market research industry separated from the marketing mainland and came to operate as an island.

Recently, I heard an MRIA colleague state that “the definition of useless research is research that isn’t used; and a lot of our research isn’t used.” Isolated on our industry island, a great deal of market research has become boring, habitual, resistant to change and disconnected from the needs of the marketing mainland.

Hence my first hot trend for 2011 is the re-integration of research into the marketing industry, and the re-connection of research and creativity. In order for our insights to be useful, we need to work more closely with those who actually use them.

Hot topic 2: Neuroscience
One of the highest profile research techniques of late has been neuroscience (shout out to my friend and former colleague Dr. Shane Moon, whose company is helping to pioneer this approach in Australasia). While neuroscience has attracted no shortage of public attention, it still faces some significant challenges including high start-up costs, a lack of qualified principals, risk adverse clients, and ambiguity surrounding the insights it provides.

Assuming it can sort out the business model, my second hot trend for 2011 is Neuroscience.

Hot topic 3: Metric Messaging
Back in 1964, Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase, ‘the medium is the message.’ Today, with the advent of social media, it may be worth considering if ‘the metrics are the message.’ In the same way that marketers use research to understand customers, customers use research to understand themselves. As a result, statistics and studies are some of the most viral content available to social media marketers.Expanding our industry offering, my third hot trend for 2011 is metric messaging, or research companies using findings to stimulate brand conversations in social media.

Hot topic 4: Qualitative with Qualia
The broad definition for the term qualia is ‘the study of feelings and qualities of mental states.’ In today’s highly competitive, increasingly commoditized markets, there has never been more need to properly understand and harness customer’s mental states.

According to Prof. Gerald Zaltman, “95% of thinking happens in our unconscious. Therefore, unearthing your customers’ desires requires you to understand the mind of the market.” This is very much the objective behind the use of deeper qualitative methodologies, like those employed by companies including Olson Zaltman Associates, Censydiam, Psyma, Sinus Institute and Intensions Consulting.


Moving beyond the focus group, my fourth hot trend for 2011 is qualitative with qualia, or the use of qualitative methodologies that are designed to understand and explore the feelings and qualities of mental states.

Hot topic 5: Social Media
To be honest, no blog post on hot topics would be complete without a reference to social media - and the market research industry is no exception.

From a measurement perspective, social media may offer our industry an unparalleled opportunity to understand and explore human behavior. While most research practitioners appear to be behind the eight-ball in terms of social media expertise, clients still have high demand for tools and techniques that can understand human motivations in this medium.

From a management perspective, social media may also end up challenging many of the revenue and business models in our industry. Social media sites make most of their money from marketing - not market research. For them, market research, both sample and analysis, could be given away for free if it leads to more marketing revenue.

Irrespective of whether it ends up becoming a gift or a grenade, my fifth hot trend for 2011 is social media, and the impact it will have on the research industry.
Not topic 1: Online Panels
For the past few years, the reliability and validity of online panels has been one of the most over-exposed topics in market research. Every industry conference and publication seems to perpetuate this ongoing exercise in naval-gazing.
Whilst critiquing the effectiveness of online panels is important, the problem with our continuing focus on this topic is that it distracts us from far greater industry challenges - like how to retain custodianship of customer insights in the future. To quote from a recent blog post:

“The debate over data collection methods (i.e. telephone vs. online) is at the end of the day an old one, to be argued by academics. It is, at best, a sidebar to the greater issue facing the market research industry today: that of relevance and innovation... So much of market research today is merely a dump of data, with no meaning behind the numbers: templated reporting of tables and charts. Data collection, however, is a commodity and market researchers who continue to provide commodity services run the risk of becoming extinct.”