MRS/BIG Business-to-Business Research Award
The MRS/BIG Business Research Award is designed to recognise thought leadership among the B2B research community, and to promote the professionalism and specialism of B2B practitioners more generally to the wider market research world.
We continue to be impressed by the wide range of entries from a wide range of sources in 2008, including direct submissions, BIG conference papers and IJMR articles. Quality was high again in this - our fourth year of sponsoring this award - with examples of both academic thought pieces and practical applications supported by case studies, across a range of business audiences.
Winner:
 SME Immersion 2007, James Burckhardt (ICM) & Nick Bassett (Vodafone Enterprise Business Unit)
What the judges said
The paper provides a review of the 2007 Immersion Research project designed and delivered by ICM and Vodafone EBU, and illustrates how a close, collaborative working relationship between client, agency & respondent contributed directly to the success of the immersion research. The paper also demonstrated how innovative qualitative techniques can deliver highly actionable insight, how these techniques directly impacted on the outlook, behaviour and thinking of Vodafone stakeholders and how these tools ensured the research remained fresh & embedded in Vodafone EBU long after project completion.
“Excellent. A project which genuinely seems to have had all parties working together with mutual respect. Vodafone’s commitment to the project is great, as is the way in which ICM managed to select participants to take part in this high commitment project. The way in which the findings were embedded both at the time and ongoing is also impressive”.
Finalists:
The Business of Business Communities, Nia Emlyn-Jones (formerly of FreshMinds)
What the judges said
The recent surge in public online communities has been widely documented; but is this community usage just a social and consumer phenomenon? There is no doubt that B2B research can benefit from the online communities, but the challenge is how to manage the business of business communities.
This paper drew on desk research, case study examples, and FreshMind’s own communities venture, to deliver a practical guide to the business of business communities, considering both the client and agency perspective and outlining how and why the business community deserves its place in the information economy for B2B clients.
Royal Mail Joint Expectations Management Model, Laura Godfrey (Synovate) & Claire Rainey (Royal Mail Group)
What the judges said
Research can review a market – both consumer and B2B - quickly and provide information to aid the decision-making process. But can research really be used for something as complex as developing a B2B relationship? What if the relationship is long established, the products rarely change and are thought of as a commodity?
This paper explored Royal Mail partnership with Synovate in developing a market research tool – the Joint Expectations Management Model (JEMM) - to overcome this challenge. The definition of success in any B2B relationship is improved customer satisfaction and customer loyalty; JEMM has been successful in improving these areas.
BIG judging panel
- Ali Pugh (Chair)
- Sonya Graneek
- Vikki James
- Claire Labrum
- Gailynn Nicks
- Tom Smart
- Damon Thomas
- Nick Thomas
- Helen Wanford
- Trevor Wilkinson
- Jonathan Wood
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