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DIY is not only here to stay in the MR industry, but it’s a growing resource for

researchers and especially for “end users”, the companies who need the

answers that MR brings. Like the berry bushes we see all across the Pacific

NW, DIY tools are proliferating, and once rooted, will not be going away.

Innovation as a disruptive force historically - any industry that sees significant

change occur rapidly has at the heart of that change some “new thing”, an

advancement that is different than what’s come before. Look at what

revolutionized some previously huge industries in the US into boom or bust,

seemingly overnight:

Cotton pickers – the mechanization of spinning in England created a great

surge in demand for American cotton, and a need to remove cotton seeds from

the raw fibre, which was a manual process of combing them out, incredibly

time-consuming. This need led to…..

The cotton gin (1794) – the processing of cotton was increased many times

over vs. the previous method to meet rapidly growing demand.

The buggy whip industry as a major economic entity ceased to exist with the

introduction of…….

……the introduction of the automobile; brothers Charles and Frank Duryea

founded the Duryea Motor Wagon Company in 1893, becoming the first

American automobile manufacturing company, and there was no looking back

for buggy whips.

Every home in the US needed one of these – an icebox, which required ice to

be delivered weekly (or more) to keep food from spoiling. But innovation

brought about…

…..the invention of the self-contained refrigerator, with a compressor on the

bottom of the cabinet and no need for ice to come to the home anymore.

Invented by Alfred Mellowes in 1916, was bought out by William C. Durant in

1918, who started the Frigidaire Company in order to begin the first mass-

production of refrigerators, and where do you ever see an icebox today?

What’s the point of these disruptions for us? Our industry has seen similar

shifts in the existing paradigm that have turned research on its head a few

times. The latest, as I see it, are DIY tools – definitely a new direction from

what’s been done in the US historically, first with in-person and mail surveys,

then phone, to online, into social media and now DIY. More/better/faster, and

the pace of change accelerates all the time!

To the “professional MR provider”, the growing wave of DIY tools can be a

benefit, or a threat, to their way of life, to the “traditional” methods by which

research has been developed and delivered. I view myself, and my colleagues

in the industry, you here in this room, as professionals in our industry who offer

expertise to companies facing risk, where we act as partners to employ our

hard-learned and practiced skills to the benefit of our clients and their

objectives in working with us. Pick your analogy, but I like to think of my role as

part detective, and some of cowboy, while occasionally being a traffic cop. But

if clients can use the type of tools I use, and achieve the results I achieve,

what am I to do? How will my role change?

Not all doom and gloom, I think. In my previous examples, industries were

transformed with the advent and adoption of new methods, new technologies,

and the inevitable evolution of how they delivered value to their customers,

and as many “winners” as “losers” emerged. Whether you think the coming

wave will threaten to wash over you…..

…..or move you faster toward your goals, I want to explore some of the latest

developments and directions in this landscape.

Let’s take a look, before we think about how the trend will affect people like us,

the professional MR folks at supplier companies of all types or within an

organization, at what some of the very recent developments are. Start with

categories, and some key points to keep in mind about what’s being offered in

each relevant to the thought of clients using these tools:

Survey authoring tools – SurveyMonkey, the first really recognized DIY

survey authoring system, and its descendants (nod to Beacon,

SurveyBuilder, zoomerang, Qualtrics, SurveyGizmo).

Considerations: different capabilities and offerings, from true

simple DIY to much more complex pseudo-programming.

User-friendly interface

Backup customer service for users

How quickly can surveys be developed and launched

Basic design questions – everything from appropriate scale and

wording to flow and structure

Self-serve/DIY sampling solutions – flip side of the survey-building

experience, where you have the survey ready, but just need the

audience.

Two solutions on the market today for DIY sampling and they

depend on your sampling preferences.

SampleMarket by uSamp provides a professional grade

solution for market research professionals to gain on-

demand access to uSamp survey panelists.

Cint offers a solution that allows you to log on and

purchase access to panel databases owned by 3rd parties

who are looking to monetize the database asset.

Find out what types of controls you have for quota

managements, exclusion rules, targeting, international

support, and customer service --and how easy the

software is to use.

Integrating survey building and access to on-demand respondents –

fairly new, and adding the capability to take a client-built survey, and

move directly to a sampling system to provide respondents.

Look for the ability to build surveys easily, find the right audience

for your study and obtain real-time results that can be

manipulated and output in a variety of ways and formats.

Some of the solutions allow you to reach out to your followers

directly to survey from social media or your own lists, in addition

to accessing on-demand targeted audiences from the software.

The solutions here include SurveyBuilder by uSamp (tied to a

system called SampleMarket, QuickSurveys by Toluna,

Crowdvi.be by ResearchNow, QuickTake by SSI

Further out there from just online surveys and build-your-own panels:

qualitative DIY solutions that allow you to communicate with

respondents both via online chat or online video recorded sessions

One on one – GutCheck, only player in the DIY qualitative

market that allows for you to do synchronous, one-on-one, chat-

based interviews in real time. They utilize SampleMarket API

technology to drive participants into these studies. Because of

the deep integration, they can typically get them a qualified

respondent in a matter of minutes

Focus groups – For video-based solutions, QualVu has a

platform in this area, and have some DIY capabilities. For

bulletin-board based solutions, there are several including 20/20

Research and iTracks.

Usability – Loop 11– just got wind of this from a large client,

looking to replace geo-based focus groups for in-development

work where they want a diversity of comment very quickly from a

small group of consumers, then “back to the dev engineers); also

Solidify (Steve Krug’s book available through this app)

Google Consumer Surveys – a special case, given the sheer size of the

company and its ability, it seems, to do anything it wants related to data.

But it has a lot of limits now, despite the appearance (discussion of

features, costs, recent IIR Tech mtg in Vegas where next developments

were announced). In its infancy, but definitely something to watch.

Directions and impact – so, as you can see, there are a variety of solutions.

How any client selects a specific provider is naturally dependent on their

needs. But the purpose of outlining each of these specific and diverse

solutions is not only my attempt to sketch out the landscape of DIY, but to

illustrate how powerful these solutions are for customers.

Against this landscape, how are we, professional researchers, to view where

all this is headed? Are we going to surf, or drown? What are the outcomes of

further growth, adoption, and penetration of DIY tools into “our” space?

Disintermediation – the elephant in the room; MR professionals no

longer as the gatekeepers of research information and insights between

the audience (B2C or B2B) and those using the information (end

clients). The earthquake that we fear can crumble our business.

Decrease in the services needed by clients – if they can “do it

themselves”, why do they need us?

Lack of “proper” expertise being applied to research issues and

problems – aren’t we the experts, and that’s why we do what we do?

That’s the scary, uncertain part for us, with loss of clients, loss of revenue, and

maybe loss of our livelihoods at stake. Can you get a taste of those fears?

But what about the benefits this change could bring? We’re not just buggy

whips and iceboxes today, thank you very much. What benefits could this shift

provide for the professional market researcher?

Greater transparency in communications with clients – they demand to

see what’s happening, not content with the periodic updates through

email. But they can also get information much more readily and gain

efficiencies in the research process with increasing independence.

Which of us needs more emails and calls over time?

Greater involvement in the research process by clients – if they do more of the

research themselves, they’ll see more of the real value we’ve been bringing to

the table all along.

A re-focusing of MR professionals on more-value-added, expert services – this

is my personal prediction, and it will cause some fallout in the marketplace.

But compare the emerging DIY MR landscape to automotive repair. Do you

need to pay a mechanic his hourly rates to change your oil, and replace your

windshield wipers? Many people do, out of convenience. But isn’t the real

value of a good mechanic in his being able to diagnose, explain, and then fix

what I need done for my car when the experience level and tools needed are

well beyond what I know how, or care to learn? I value him for the tough stuff,

and trust his judgment to get done what’s needed. That partnership will never

Although these solutions have challenged the foundation of Market Research,

I believe that the availability of such tools has changed it for the better. DIY

has empowered clients to participate in the process, which has in turn

solidified the relationship between MR professionals and their clients. DIY

adoption rates will rise with education and application. Are you going to drown

in this latest wave of change…..

…or surf?

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