Wanted for an integrated insights industry: Youth

As we grow older, the capacity for some of us to assimilate and absorb new technology diminishes. This is not just because have we fewer working brain cells but is mainly because new technology often disrupts established patterns and habits. I know that this does not fully explain my visceral hatred of Alexa (who I am convinced is sending every word uttered in our household back to Amazon) but it does begin to throw light on why I struggle with “advances” such as Blockchain and attribution modeling. My immersion into, and understanding of, the world of market research was formed when my brain was young. As a practitioner, I put into practice all that I had been taught and had observed along the way. Just as with doctors, lawyers and car mechanics, much of this became implicit or tacit knowledge, baked into my DNA. Fast forward 40 years and I am being asked not only to understand new things but also, in some cases, to unlearn some of that tacit knowledge. And that’s not easy.

Which is why we desperately need to engage the youth of today in the new world of insights generation and to enable them to absorb it in all its integrated glory into their own tacit knowledge systems. Yet I fear we are not doing as good a job at this as we might and that this poses a danger to the profession as a whole. In too many MBA programs, the subject of consumer insights (market research, decision intelligence, whatever we want to call it) is treated in a very shallow and fleeting manner. All too often, what is taught is still the old process of research with a nod to data analytics. The issue of data literacy is scarcely touched upon. What’s worse, this also applies to some of the Masters programs in MR, where process (e.g. questionnaire design and data collection) is still king.

…we desperately need to engage the youth of today in the new world of insights generation and to enable them to absorb it in all its integrated glory into their own tacit knowledge systems.

At this point, I should give a shout out to some of the programs in the United States (Michigan State, University of Georgia) and Europe (Spain, IE University & UK, Queen Mary University) who really are propelling their MSMR curricula into the new reality. They should be applauded and supported. But even here, there is another worrying trend, which is the establishment of entirely separate masters degrees in business analytics – as if this is somehow a different discipline. To rub salt in the wound, applications for these newcomer courses far outstrip those majoring in market research. Could it be that the lure of a starting salary 80% higher has anything to do with this?

So here is the conundrum: the new world of integrated insights generation really needs bright new blood to take it into the future. Such new talent needs to be able to embrace not just the process of MR, not just data analytics, but also all the other sciences that are starting to have real relevance to what we do – behavioral economics, neuroscience, anthropology and many others. Yet, despite this need, our academic progress toward teaching research in this manner is slow and others are filling in the gaps with separate courses and the promises of riches at the end of the day. How to solve this dilemma?

As a conversation starter, here is a rough manifesto for change:

1. In major geographies, establish joint councils of academics and practitioners to agree on curricula and the marketing of the profession in universities and high schools;
2. Encourage corporate departments and agencies alike to measure their return on investment so that we can make and prove the case for more investment in the area. Use some of this to raise salaries – in both the U.S. and U.K., researcher salaries are no higher today than they were ten years ago;
3. Develop marketing programs within universities to promote the wonder and sexiness of research and consumer insights;
4. Fund concerted campaigns involving practitioners becoming involved in their local universities and high school career programs;
5. Support key initiatives by the trade and professional associations to strengthen the links between academia (students and staff) and commercial research – here, let’s give a big shout-out to ESOMAR and MRS for what they are already doing;
6. Publish career success stories in all aspects of insights generation – MR, analytics, tech start-ups, video, qualitative, BE and so on.

In short, market the excitement of the profession and the function – and pay accordingly. And, please, teach it as it is, not as it was.