I realized today that I think my biggest complaint with companies and especially the market research industry, is the lack of effort to "push the envelope" and be on the leading edge of innovation.  Caveat: This does not apply to everyone, as I know there are many firms and individuals who are, but I feel they are the exception.

Example 1 - Up until a year or a year and a half ago, I truly believe the MR facilities were the sole supporters and buyers for the audio cassette and VHS tape companies.  Really!  I could not count how many e-mails I have received over the past year from places touting their advancement to digital audio and video in the forms of mp3s and DVDs... Something is wrong here!  In all fairness, the facilities would not have continued for so long if the MR firms and moderators would have pushed them to upgrade long ago, so the fault is  with both parties.

Example 2 - The buzz at a recent MR conference revolved around online methodologies e.g. online video conferencing, online chat and online bulletin boards...again this is a platform I feel we should have been comfortable with as an industry many moons ago. 

Maybe it is the Gen Y in me, or maybe it is because I tend to be an early adopter, and most likely it is both, but I feel like these technologies are well-into the mass markets and as market researcher we should have become comfortable with them many moons ago.  People tend to use the phrase "no need to reinvent the wheel," which is true only to a certain extent.  definitely no way to "reinvent" the wheel, but if the wheel did not adapt with changes and evolve with technology and we as a people did not accept those enhancements, we would have one heck of a bumpy ride to work every morning!

I had a really great lunch with my colleagues and a moderator friend of mine today, and our discussion was the impetus behind this blog.  She has been in the market research industry for around 27 years and as much as she values the "time-tested" approaches, she is very open to applying new innovative and technology driven solutions to her business.  We started talking about "web 2.0" and social media and it was evident the companies who are utilizing the capabilities of these tools will be successful and most will see them as the market leaders.  I will say I am happy our firm's culture is one that is constantly innovating and incorporating the latest and greatest.

My view is economic shifts similar to the one we are going through currently tend to weed-out the ones who cannot keep up with the changing climates.  Look at the past economic churns such as the great depression and the dot.com bust.  So, I think it will be interesting to see how this economic climate shapes those who make it through to the other side.  Who knows, maybe the social media bubble will bust before we think??

Just to clarify, this is not a put down to the MR industry but more of a call to action.  I love that I see more and more companies starting to adopt change quicker, and in turn they will require the firms they hire for MR to do the same.  I do believe on the MR side, we can be more active in changing the culture and industry, rather than reactive to the mass migration.  As researchers it should be natural for us to seek the new and improved and share those findings with our clients.  To me, that is a true value and that is the reason companies hire MR consultants.

One of my favorite things is looking at the media lists of the "most innovative" companies.  It is always neat to see who is pushing the limits and sometimes it is not the companies you would expect.  Perhaps the coolest part is that it is not always your biggest and most heavily invested in companies, though they tend to turn out that way after a period of time, and rightfully so.

In summary, My challenge to you as a reader is this, no matter what industry you are in, discover and learn about something new and innovative and try to implement it into whatever it is you do.  It doesn't have to be on a large scale or company wide.  Realistically it wont be, and it is hard to change a large company's culture if you are not in a position to do so.  But, it CAN be something seemingly small that can catch on and grow on a large long term basis.  Obviously, the common sense rule applies here...for instance I am definitely NOT suggesting you write a new program and start installing it on your company's computers around the office without approval! 

Good Luck!

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