Lessons from the recession 

Jeff Hunter, director of consumer insights at General Mills, looks at what we have learned about customer preferences and future business strategy. 

We are moving towards a more stable economy, but there are still concerns about the impact of high unemployment levels and the availability of cash to invest in business growth. Jeff presents eight observations: 

1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is still relevant
2. Traditional values still have value
3. We need to source ideas broadly and adapt quickly
4. Innovate
5. Always stay very close to the consumer/customer
6. Be creatively efficient
7. Understand the value proposition and its consequence for the business model
8. Religiously assess what works and does not

Read the full article…

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 Survival of the fittest

Carlos Harding of Ipsos, Eric Salama of Kantar, Robert Philpott of Synovate, Klaus Wübbenhorst of GfK and John Freeland of IRI, discuss the year ahead.

2009 showed that market research isn’t recession-proof with falling budgets, shrinking departments and clients desperate to do more while spending less. Despite this, industry leaders remain positive about the future, but also say that we can continue to expect big changes to come.

Read the full article…

Tags: ESOMAR, Research World

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