“I believe that research is the bridge between the marketer, the investor, the finance community and the bosses. Without that research quite frankly – and quite rightly – finance directors are going to say, .“Prove it.”..”
Jane Frost CBE, interviewed by Research Editor Brian Tarran, Research-live (29 November 2011)
“Research is vital in terms of making the right decisions at the right time and business are very much looking at where they are going next after the current economic phase, and that makes a career in market, social or opinion research very bright.”
Debrah Harding, MRS Chief Operating Officer, quoted in a careers feature in the Evening Standard (20 October 2011)
“ROI is a nebulous concept unless its set against specific objectives, and the research business needs to get much clearer about helping clients with what they want to achieve … better quality advice at the front end is where clients will feel the value.”
Vanella Jackson, MRS Chairman and Global CEO of Hall & Partners quoted in research magazine (October 2011)
“…The research has helped us identify the key areas where we need to change direction, areas of success and areas where we could add value with our schools. It has been a highly valuable process and I believe our new strategy is stronger and has greater clarity of purpose thanks to the research….”
Mags Bradbury, National Projects Manager, The Co-operative quoted in Education Business (August 2011)
“The end game for us with research is to ensure policy development is based on fact, that initiatives are targeted to the right people and there is minimal wastage, and that in this era of localism, people get involved in a debate about our services without it costing us the earth.”
Neil Wholey, MRS Member at Westminster City Council, quoted in Government Business, 21 July 2011
“Looking to the immediate future we remain cautious as the effects of cuts in UK public sector research will become even more evident over the next few months. Although 2010 has given some cause for optimism, 2011 will remain challenging.”
David Barr, Research magazine, 16 June 2011 on the release of the latest MRS industry statistics
“…research rather than elections, gives the loudest, most enduring voice to the widest range of people.”
Penny Young, Chief Executive of the National Centre for Research, speaking at the MRS Debate at the House of Commons in May 2011
“…Many marcommns procurement professionals now charged with managing MR agency rosters, had little knowledge of, or experience in the market research world.”
Traci Dunn, Consultancy Manager at ISBA, Newsline, 12 April 2011
“In the last few years there has been a lot of excitement around new technological approaches to research – social media, mobile, neuromarketing. It seemed to me that at this conference the emphasis was a lot more on people and their behaviour – and technology was of interest only inasmuch as it enabled or disabled that.”
Tom Ewing, Kantar Operations, Blackbeard Blog, 24 March 2011
“…Eye tracking helps researchers ask ‘better questions’. Even trivial details lead to insights when caught on film and played back.”
Nick Williams, Ipsos MORI, Financial Times, 17 February 2011
“With its innovative and effective ways of working set against the backdrop of a decrease in year on year budgets, GNM has completely aced it on influencing the business. Research has been built into the development of every product and a huge amount has been achieved by a dedicated and driven team.”
The Guardian, 23 December 2010 – reporting on Guardian News & Media, Winner of Research magazine’s Best In-house Research Team 2010
“If students – and in particular their parents – are paying more, they will expect more, and therefore universities have some tough decisions to make, wherever they are located. Commissioning effective research can provide real insights into the likely demands of future student bodies and those funding them, allowing an institution time to prepare and react.”
Steve King, Head of Customer Experience at SPA Future Thinking, Education Business, 23 December 2010
“Good research will deliver what the client really needs – accurate insights that policy and decisions can be reliably based on. Often findings can change strategies dramatically for the better when research is at the heart of decision-making. In this way, research can ensure excellent outcomes.”
Steve Lowery, Group head of Custom Healthcare at Synovate, Health Business, 29 November 2010
“The most difficult part of quantitative research, the large surveys, is being done online. This has meant that we’ve had to redeploy the people on the street to other locations. We’ve moved rapidly from face-to-face and pen and paper to online.”
Vincent Nolan, Managing Director of 2CV, The Times, 19 October 2010
“New techniques for achieving quantitative data and online methodologies have made disciplines much more cost-effective and, with the growth of social media tracking requirements, brands are having to evaluate new objectives and ask themselves what insights these new channels can provide.”
Christy Stewart-Smith, Head of Marketing and Communications Strategy at Aviva, Marketing, 15 September 2010
“Market research is essential. It informs business strategy and reduces risk in decision-making. Without research there is a lack of evidence on which to make appropriate decisions. Public and private services need to adapt quickly and effectively to the needs of the public and reliable research findings are at the centre of that process.”
MRS Vice-President Rowland Lloyd, Director, September 2010
“Research has to have a justification – a return on investment. Justifying the investment in research has become a big challenge for the industry over the past decade.”
Paul Hague, Founder, B2B International, Marketing, 28 July 2010
“In the preamble to the World Cup people don’t yet have a clue about who are the sponsors and a lot of the challenger brands benefit by association. It tends to clarify itself when the event gets under way and they can talk up their accreditations in advertising breaks.”
Jon Priest, MRS Company Partner SPA, The Grocer, 22 May 2010
“Most of the time, customers are looking for evolution, not revolution. Their expectations are always changing and you have to keep up with them. We are changing all the time, for example in ways of serving or new types of cuisine.”
Lauren Cody, McDonalds, Retail Research conference speaker, Marketing Week, 20 May 2010
“In the run up to an election we stand centre stage and have the chance to show the true value of what we do. Research is fundamental to Government decisions and to reporting on how the public feel.”
Rowland Lloyd, Vice President, MRS, Government Business, April 2010
“Companies tend to be led by what they want and their business concerns. However, you miss so much if you don’t look at what customers want and what the burning issues are for them.”
Sinead Jefferies, Head of Business Intelligence, Royal Mail, and a spokesperson for the MRS Company Partner Service, Marketing, 17 March 2010
“Research has many uses within the health sector. It can help identify the potential for new products or services, it can help to ensure appropriate allocation of budgets and resources and it can be fundamental in helping to develop effective social marketing campaigns amongst the general public or specific patient groups.”
Steve Lowery, Head of Custom Healthcare Research, Synovate UK, Health Business, Spring 2010
“In recent years we have seen a dramatic increase in the reliance of research from the Board, so much so that insight is now at the heart of our decision making processes.”
Greg Deadman, Sector Research Manager, Compass Group UK & Ireland and an MRS Company Partner spokesperson, Marketing Week, 28 January 2010
“Data collection is the essence of what we do, and if a manager has done the real job of interviewing, they amass knowledge they will draw on throughout their career…It’s a real asset.”
Rowland Lloyd, Operations Director, MRS Company Partner Ipsos MORI, Human Resources, 20 October 2009
“Market research is the enabler, the conduit through which education providers can find out the skills and attributes that employers want from those entering the jobs market, and businesses can voice their requirements.”
David Vivian, Director, Company Partner IFF Research, Education Business, August 2009
“Deliberative research has been hotly debated for some time…[Our proposed] guidelines intend to ensure that all deliberative and public engagement research is undertaken to the highest standards, protecting research practitioners, users and respondents alike.”
Geoff Gosling, Chair, MRSB, ResearchLive, 21 August 2009
“A good questionnaire isn’t just a series of good questions. The people using [DIY survey] tools have no idea about the tenets of good research. We know that just one word can make a difference to the result you get.”
Sue Brooker, Deputy Chair, MRSB, Research, July 2009
“In the current climate, training becomes far more widespread; experienced researchers may be looking to step into independent consultancy roles [and] mid-level managers see the need to build their CVs with ‘official' core skills development...For businesses, the key is to make smart purchasing decisions - to spend on the training and qualifications that will set you apart from your competitors when the business starts to flow again.”
Debrah Harding, MRS Deputy Director General, HR magazine online, 3 July 2009
“It’s crucial to select a research supplier who understands your specific market…when dealing with sensitive issues or minority audiences, as is often the case in education, it’s critical that the researcher understands the environment and knows how to manage the research process with due care.”
David Vivian, Director at Company Partner IFF Research, Education Business, June 2009
“Currently the [market research] sector’s graduate recruitment remains at the same level as prior to the recession.”
Debrah Harding, MRS Deputy Director General, The Evening Standard, 18 June 2009
“Understanding the sector and measuring supply and demand are crucial to making informed choices on future development. Decision-makers at all levels must be confident that the actions they take will stand up to scrutiny in a sector increasingly in the public eye.”
Rowland Lloyd, MRS Chair, Education Business, May 2009
“While media organisations have positively embraced and integrated citizen journalism into their offering, often reinventing themselves to do so, researchers have continued to simply expect people to answer their questions.”
MRS Conference speakers Krishan Lathigra, COI Research, and Amrita Sood, of Company Partner GfK NOP
Research World, May 2009
"Brands can really use the online space to connect with people in bigger and better ways. [But] there are different rules online. Rather than interrupting people in the same way that TV advertising interrupts us while we're watching programmes, online lets people opt it."
Joe Webb, Research Executive at MRS Company Partner TNS
The Grocer, 2 May 2009
“[The wind of free data is blowing across Europe.] There's no doubt that in five years' time many barriers will be broken down, but it's going to be a long haul."
Keith Dugmore, Demographic Decisions
The Guardian online, April 2009
“If the research is cheap, people need to ask about the reliability of the results and whether the design is the best solution.”
Rowland Lloyd, MRS Chair, Marketing 18 March 2009
“While a few brands are maximising the potential of the web-generated customer brand dynamic, many more are wasting large budgets trying and failing to engage through the social media space.”
Joseph Webb, Research Executive at Company Partner TNS, Admap March 2009
“The research sector is in a permanent state of development, as methodologies evolve and new opportunities and challenges arise.”
Geoff Gosling, Chair, MRS Market Research Standards Board, February 2009, Brand Republic
“Research is often used as a PR tool – and where research is undertaken accurately and in line with the requirements of the MRS Code of Conduct, the results can work to help profile an organisation’s expertise.”
Debrah Harding, director of policy & standards, MRS
B2B Marketing January 2009
“While the speed and accuracy of insight available has undergone a step change in recent years, many planning processes have hardly changed at all…a lot of companies haven’t caught up.”
Martin Hayward, Director of Strategy & Futures, dunnhumby
The Grocer, November 2008
“The market research industry must raise its game and move beyond churning out surveys.”
Professor Paul Wiles, chief scientific advisor to the Home Office
WARC.com, December 2008
“Professional networks and information sharing are important to develop research and insight opportunities in charities. My small team gains a considerable amount of value from…online or email networking where client research users from a wide range of sectors share knowledge and experience, as well as MRS networks, events and training.” - Leslie Sopp, Age Concern Research Services and MRS spokesperson, The Charity Funding Report October 2008
“In tough times it is more important to know what your customers are thinking. [For market researchers] the ad hoc work changes but it doesn’t go away.” David Barr, Reuters, September 2008
“The internet has made carrying out your own research more tempting. People often have the impression they can do it on the cheap, but they need to remember that a piece of research that is poorly constructed will led to amateur results.” David Barr, B2B Marketing, September 2008
“Research is not only about a quick Q&A – it is about the entire process, from developing tailored questions to analysing the answers…Getting it wrong can result in serious problems and may lead your organisation down the wrong path.” Rowland Lloyd, Health Business, September 2008
“Frugging is widely regarding as extremely poor practice…quite apart from badly constructed questionnaires, it confuses the public. Survey should mean ‘research’ and not ‘sales’. Unfortunately some of our members working in insight or research departments of charities are unable to stop their findings being used inappropriately by fundraising departments.” Debrah Harding, The Charity Funding Report, August 2008
“You can conduct cost-effective research online or by telephone or using qualitative techniques, which will give you feedback that won’t cost you a fortune”, Simon Lidington, MRS Vice President, IT Wales, June 2008
“As we head into a period of tougher economic conditions, market research is expected to demonstrate the resilience which has been evident in previous downturns….making it an attractive sector to invest in and work in.” Rowland Lloyd, MRS Chairman, on Research Live, June 2008
“If data is identifiable to an individual, we need to be careful that consent has been given…there needs to be proper investment in the secure movement of files to ensure that we don’t end up with data getting lost.” Rowland Lloyd, MRS Chairman, in Marketing Week 5.6.08
“Local authorities need to deliver robust, ethical and properly conducted research studies to inform decision-making.” Rowland Lloyd, MRS Chairman, in Government Business, June 2008
“Businesses are realising just how valuable market research can be….the industry now has global scale and it’s being taken seriously.” Simon Lidington, MRS Vice President, Daily Telegraph, 18 June 2008
“People jump into research because they are good at it. But they are not always so good at the nuts and bolts of running a business.”
Paul Smith, CSR, in Marketing Week 1.5.08
“[Winning is down to] a combination of factors – obviously demonstrating your creativity, innovation, passion, enthusiasm and investment in the business – but also having commercial thinking behind it.”
Jeannie Arthur, FreshMinds, in Research, May 2008
“Market research has always been the handmaiden to marketing, but there are strong arguments for saying that market researchers should have clients throughout the organisation.”
Simon Lidington, Marketing Week, March 2008
“We have to make sure that we don’t put young people in a vulnerable position…Nevertheless, clients are realising that they can engage with young people and get strong results”.
Rachel Lopata, Campaign, April 2008
“Virtual worlds are on the brink of becoming valuable…marketers, advertisers and market researchers can be at the forefront of this new frontier by taking advantage of available technology today”.
Mario Menti, Admap, April 2008
“Anonymity online can make people more candid. But it may also tempt them to put on a performance which can mean exaggerating the truth”
Tom Ewing, Campaign, April 2008
Site Map
