Big Data at CRC:

Point-Counterpoint: What’s the Big Deal with Big Data?

I am biased. Having taught the predictive analytics class in the pre-conference workshops, I have some ideas about the role of market researchers, data scientists and the messy intersections between them. I mean us. Wait… OK, well, that’s why it is messy.

Here are a few points made by each speaker at the MRA’s Corporate Researchers Conference, followed by my take away.

Meet Me in St. Louis

I’ll be attending the MRA’s Corporate Researchers Conference. If you have never attended CRC before, I encourage you to check out the agenda and speakers. This event is high on content and low on sales pitches. In my totally biased opinion, it is a great event for professional market researchers and market research managers.

12 Actionable Tips from the 2014 MRA Corporate Researcher’s Conference

The MRA’s Corporate Researcher’s Conference (CRC) was full of great sessions and first-class attendees. And I came home with a pile of business cards that are covered with scribbled down notes for follow-up. If you didn’t make it to CRC this year, here is a sampling of my notes from this 2.5 day event.

1. Sally Hogshead: High performers tend to specialize & tend to over-deliver in one area. I find this to be true, though she said it more articulately than I ever have.
2. Sally Hogshead: Successful brands know how they are different and what they do best. They avoid the “all things to all people” trap…

Market Research as a Profit Center? It May be Closer than You Think

Consider these two questions: Can market research departments be profit centers (either by “selling” internally or externally)? Should market research departments be profit centers? I first wrote about this controversial… Continue reading Market Research as a Profit Center? It May be Closer than You Think