Despite access to so much research, not all data is collectable

At Newark airport, about 10 minutes before boarding recently, I was asked to fill in a written questionnaire.  The woman who recruited me was nice enough.  The ideal respondent had to speak French.  I fit the bill.  Only, the questionnaire was 8 PAGES LONG!  The questions took ages to read, much less to answer.

Why the research?

A few thoughts came of the experience that I’d like to share for marketers embarking on research:

• Refine the objective of the survey.  Allow the survey to get to the point.  Eight pages is just farcically too long – conceptually, it sounds like an organization that didn’t really know what they were looking for.
• Marketing should provide an explanation about the purpose of the questionnaire to the people doing the field work to help stimulate motivation — which might have helped me want to wade through the questionnaire.
• Find the right setting for the respondents.  Is 10 minutes before embarking the right time/place?  Hardly!  There is a time and a place for everything.

This type of effort just smacks of old fashioned marketing – and bureaucratic at that.  The money and effort to put this research into place was surely highly ineffective.  And, to add more misery to woe, the nature of the questions required far too much consideration.  Ex: One single question asked: how much money did I spend on food / lodging / clothing / electronics / gifts in your journey?

What does your brand stand for?

What was the purpose of the questionnaire?  I will never know, as I managed to fill in just the first four pages before I was unceremoniously saved by the bell in the form of the final boarding call.  The objectives were not clear on the paper, much less to the people distributing the survey.  To the extent the brand was attempting to collect information, that is to be applauded.  However, the questionnaire is not a shortcut, especially in long form, to know what you should be doing.  The brand marketer must do some work in advance, consider who/what the brand stands for, take a position and pare down the questions to the essentials.  In short, market research needs more SEARCH and self-analysis prior to the survey. A rushed passenger at an airport gate surely doesn’t have the answer.

Market research is an investment

With all the data that is now available, marketers need absolutely to be checking, probing and researching the material.  There are so many wonderful ways to collaborate with customers in R&D, evaluate immediately the success or failure, and ask for feedback.  At the same time, a brand marketer also needs to have vision.  A customer does not always know what he/she is missing if the item never before existed.  It takes a combination of vision and daring, with a healthy dose of research, which is a valuable investment.  But, when research is executed with such a wayward/backward mindset, it is a nonsense and a waste of money, likely only to reinforce out-of-whack preconceptions at head office.

Get the right data

What is the takeaway?  There is a lot of data already out there that needs to be exploited.  If classic paper questionnaires (as opposed to online surveys) may yet have their place, they must get to the point and be carried out in a well thought-out context.  And, if the deliverers of the survey know the WHY, the chances are the efforts can be optimized.  The more you know your customer, the easier it becomes to optimize the questionnaire and to make the questions sharp and effective.  A little bit the chicken and the egg, but a mindset focused on the customer will know to create a palatable questionnaire.