What’s behind the numbers?
June 12, 2009
Always start with an inquisitive and intelligent questioning session before you decide what is to be researched and why.
There’s a very good article in the Guardian today that further illustrates this point I have made often. Overdependance on research as a starting point leads to the kind of facts that distort the truth.
The article questions if illegal downloads are really killing the record industry as frequently alleged. The article starts and ends with some numbers, so I am not against facts or research. Marketing and advertising will soon be like the record companies who keep deluding themselves with irrelevant facts because they couldn’t be bothered to dig deeper, or more importantly start with an intelligent/inquisitive question.
So hopefully clients and agencies who spend a lot on research understand that the motive for it matters more than the scale of it. They would do well to remember that GM for one, spent a lot more on R&D than Toyota.
Entry Filed under: Uncategorized. .
3 Comments Add your own
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed
1.
Rob | July 13, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Isn’t it better to understand why you want to do research before you even start thinking of questions?
2.
Rob | July 14, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Too many companies care more about the process than what the process delivers. That’s what’s wrong with research half the time.
3.
onesmallvoice | August 19, 2009 at 11:56 am
I honestly doubt that mate. Most of them only care for it to be done as insurance against making a decision. I have seen so many who don’t even look at the process as long as it meets a budget. And as for understanding why you want to do research, completely agree and I think an intensive question session will reveal to all involved if there are any knowledge vacuums and if at all research can fill them.