Innovative Market Research using latest techniques.

1. Be Different.
Be Faster.
Think QuestBack
whitepaper:
Key Market Research Challenges &
the power of the right technology platform

2. 2Be Different. Be Faster. Think QuestBack: Key Market Research Challenges & the power of the right technology platform
whitepaper:
www.think-questback.com
The power of the right platform:
Faster, more cost-effective market research without
compromising on quality and innovation
Within the context of widespread corporate cost
reduction initiatives, proving the validity and value of
market research is increasingly important, in order to
protect its status as an essential strategic business tool.
For more than a decade, QuestBack has been at the
forefront of helping market research agencies and
corporate research teams do just that. This white paper
provides QuestBack’s perspective on the challenges
facing the market research industry as it strives to deliver
high quality and actionable insight under increasing
cost and time pressures. It then explains how the right
technology tools and partnerships can help research
organizations meet these challenges and help them
differerentiate, while accelerating and increasing the
cost-effectiveness of the research process.
Be Different. Be Faster.
Think QuestBack

3. 3Be Different. Be Faster. Think QuestBack: Key Market Research Challenges & the power of the right technology platform
whitepaper:
www.think-questback.com
Delivering actionable insight, quickly:
Today, opinions change, and new products and services appear almost overnight. Waiting weeks or
months for survey results and analysis that influence business decisions is not an option. The Research
Industry Trends report (GRIT, 2014) confirms that timely results are now even more important
than cost when selecting research methodologies.
Reducing operational costs
and eliminating manual tasks
Managing research projects manually using multiple disconnected platforms, data sources and
partners is expensive and time-consuming for the researcher, and delivers results too slowly for the
client. The training required to ensure proficiency in multiple research systems and methodologies
only exacerbates the problem. Streamlined research project processes and execution are therefore
essential to ensure research budgets can be aligned with the widespread cost-cutting programs being
implemented by many organizations.
Differentiation against competitors
The market research industry has seen a significant degree of consolidation in recent years. At the
same time, the number and variety of organizations outside of the traditional market research sector,
including management consultancies and other ‘insight’ providers, has expanded significantly. Both
of these factors make differentiation for research suppliers more of a priority. This reality has been
validated recently by the work of Ron Sellers of Grey Matter Research. Commenting on his survey of
client perceptions about market research vendors, published in ESOMAR’s 2013 annual report, Sellers
says, “There is very little feeling that research vendors have differentiated brands. Some clients tended
to differentiate a few vendors by size, methodology or specialty, but the brands themselves generally
had little real meaning to clients.”
Making sense of multiple types of data,
generated from a growing number of
increasingly diverse sources
According to Sintef, a Scandinavian research center, 90% of all the data ever produced by humans
was generated in the last 2 years, driven by the dramatic rise in popularity of smart mobile devices
and social media. And, unlike the data generated by traditional surveys, much of it is unstructured and
therefore more difficult to process. As a result, Big Data has not yet produced a representative volume
of ‘Big Insight’. To deliver maximum value to clients, market researchers must decide how to address
that imbalance while continuing to harness the potential of new data sources.
THE KEY CHALLENGES
facing market research agencies & professionals

4. 4Be Different. Be Faster. Think QuestBack: Key Market Research Challenges & the power of the right technology platform
whitepaper:
www.think-questback.com
Harmonizing a fragmented research
software landscape
Whether bought, developed or inherited through mergers and acquisitions, many research agencies
and corporate research departments have multiple software-based survey tools. In addition to the
expense of purchasing or developing them, they create additional ongoing support, maintenance
and training costs. Integrating the data held in them is also time-consuming and expensive, and the
manual tasks involved create multiple opportunities for error, reducing data quality. Moreover, the
speed of technological change means that tools developed in-house are particularly vulnerable to
obsolescence, because companies lack the resources to update them.
All of these factors significantly increase research-reporting complexity and make it harder to
automate. This hinders the ability of researchers to deliver the insight and speed of service that
client organizations demand.
Ensuring data security
The number and sophistication of threats to data security within businesses increases daily.
Furthermore, the introduction of laws such as the US Patriot Act, which allows data stored in
the US to be accessed without the consent of the data owner, creates additional risk. As a result,
market research agencies and corporate researchers must have verifiable answers when clients or
respondents ask them how and where their data is being used and stored - otherwise they must fear
for their credibility.
Expansion into new/emerging markets
In 2013, ESOMAR reported that the European research market, which accounts for 40% of global
market research revenues, declined by 1.2% from 2011 to 2012. By contrast, market revenue grew
by 6.9% in Asia Pacific, 11.7% in Latin America, and 11.8% in Africa over the same period. This makes
it essential for market agencies to expand into these high-growth markets, as their clients do the
same. But it also presents them with new challenges as they seek to ensure consistent research
methodologies, data quality and insight value across borders.
THE KEY CHALLENGES
facing market research agencies & professionals
“For clients,...competitive pricing, unique insights and even the novelty factor mean that their range
of suppliers has expanded. To them, it doesn’t matter what you call it (research). What matters is
how much it achieves and at what price.”
ESOMAR report 2013
»

5. 5Be Different. Be Faster. Think QuestBack: Key Market Research Challenges & the power of the right technology platform
whitepaper:
www.think-questback.com
Select an integrated, automated
“one-stop shop” platform for all online
data collection methodologies
One way of enabling researchers to integrate data from multiple sources more easily and interpret it
more quickly, is the replacement of research tool-, process- and data siloes with a single, integrated
research technology platform. An effective solution should allow survey generation, analysis and
insight distribution via a single system, as well as additional functionality such as survey panel setup. It
should also be modular, to allow different components to be combined and switched. In other words,
the platform should still be flexible enough to fit specific survey requirements, such as the inclusion of
different question types or quota steering. A consolidated, automated platform also enables faster, less
expensive survey execution and results delivery, as well as lower training, maintenance and support
costs. But perhaps most importantly, integrating different types of structured and unstructured data
from a wide range of customer touch-points and channels, including websites, social media, mobile
devices and CRM or ERP systems, also becomes easier, faster and cheaper. This can drive research
service innovation in the voice of the customer and customer experience segments in particular, by
providing a more complete picture of respondents’ behavior.
Create a unique offering
to differentiate your agency
Processing a variety of data from a range of different sources on a single platform generates
opportunities to provide new insights through the analysis of data combined reliably and in new
ways. For example, it becomes possible to manage and combine the responses from many different
types of survey based on different question types, including multimedia, in the same place –
regardless of whether the feedback is generated through a survey, a chat engine, a forum or other
channels. This kind of flexible technology platform enables the development of new, standardized
research instruments that require virtually no manual intervention, and which can help research
agencies build truly innovative product and service portfolios.
Combine international data consistency
with local data security
Today’s most advanced research technology platforms support multiple languages, helping to
ensure process and data generation consistency across borders. They also make it easy to analyze
data quantitative and qualitative data from different countries and markets, that may reveal new
and meaningful insights. The ability to stagger the execution of multinational surveys according
to different time zones also helps generate directly comparable responses. However, international
expansion can also expose data to attack or misuse by criminals, or to unauthorized access by
foreign governments. It’s therefore vital for researchers that partners holding or processing data on
their behalf operate to the highest security standards, and store data outside the reach of foreign
legislation. Built-in data access rights management provides additional protection.
SMART SOLUTIONS for
high-quality, cost-effective research innovation

6. 6Be Different. Be Faster. Think QuestBack: Key Market Research Challenges & the power of the right technology platform
whitepaper:
www.think-questback.com
Establish strategic partnerships to free
up resources, while reducing outsourcing
complexity
Leading platform providers can offer the technology, training and professional services required
to create an optimal partnership with research agencies and corporate research teams. This gives
them the flexibility to decide how much of the research process they want to outsource, without
increasing supplier network complexity.
A close partnership with a single partner also makes it easier to work with them to develop the
platform according to specific agency and client needs. This helps to future-proof the solution within
the context of constantly evolving technology.
Demand responsive design that accommodates
effective, OS-agnostic mobile research
Increasing mobile web usage makes effective mobile research essential. Many platform providers
offer surveys that are pre-programmed to function on a specific browser. However, a more efficient
solution is to use a survey platform that optimizes surveys for different devices, operating systems
and browsers automatically. This maximizes usability, response rates, and the immediacy of response,
especially among categories of respondents that are otherwise hard to reach. These can include
frequent travellers and mobile Internet users in emerging economies where fixed line broadband
connections are less available, and laptop or desktop computers are too expensive.
Enable real-time analysis and reports
As highlighted elsewhere in this document, generating results quickly is an increasingly important
priority for all market researchers. The best research tools facilitate this by enabling results to be
processed as they come in, rather than after the completion of the survey. This allows the survey to
be continuously optimized, based on the latest information.
Rapid interpretation of results can be further enabled and enhanced through access to easy-to-use
dashboards. They make it easy to absorb and distribute the most important information in the most
relevant format for the intended audience, such as research colleagues or business decision makers.
SMART SOLUTIONS for
high-quality, cost-effective research innovation
“Technology providers that serve both market research agencies and final research users….design,
create and apply technological processes that help companies to gather information from which they
can extract insights. Their platforms are also being used by research agencies, which can then focus on
what they do best – analyzing the information and extracting valuable insights for their clients. Thus,
their innovation is being applied at many points along the research “production” process.”
Global Market Research 2013 report, ESOMAR
»

7. 7Be Different. Be Faster. Think QuestBack: Key Market Research Challenges & the power of the right technology platform
whitepaper:
www.think-questback.com
Key attributes of an innovation-ready
market research platform
For research agencies For Corporate Insight Teams
An innovative, competitive service portfolio based on
the ability to combine data sets from multiple sources in
new ways.
Lower Total Cost of Ownership with a single automated
system for data collection, alerting, panel management,
community management, data analysis and dashboard
distribution.
Reduced Total Cost of Ownership through a high degree of
automation and a reduction in training, support, maintenance
and error correction costs compared with using multiple
platforms.
Elimination of data and system siloes creating easier, better
quality surveys that provide more reliable results.
Increased speed of execution through process automation,
the ability to start analyzing data as soon as it comes in
and adjust the survey accordingly, and access to real-time
reporting.
A simplified supplier landscape, improving data
compatibility, increasing data quality and streamlining
processes.
High quality, consistent results thanks to the elimination
of manual processing errors and consolidation of data
and processes within a single system.
Higher quality, more innovative research completed more
quickly and with less effort using web-based interfaces.
Increased profitability through a reduced cost base and
new revenues generated by portfolio innovation.
Increased internal stakeholder satisfaction and better
business decisions based on faster delivery of more accurate
results.
Easier expansion into new markets through standardization,
and support for multiple languages and time zones.
Greater control over projects with optional local professional
services and support from the platform provider.
More resources for adding value through the elimination
of manual processing tasks and outsourcing of as much or
as little of the survey process as required.
Simplified compliance fulfillment through the local storage
of data to the highest security standards.
Offering customers the highest security standards through
local data storage.
Deeper customer understanding through the ‘joined up’
analysis of data from multiple sources that provides a
broader, deeper and more rounded view of respondent
behavior/opinion.
A higher return on research budgets through lower costs
and better decision making, based on higher quality, more
complete and more reliable data.
Increased customer satisfaction through service
improvements implemented more quickly as the result
of accelerated survey execution.
Enhanced employee satisfaction through the elimination
of tedious manual tasks, freeing more time for innovation,
analysis and value adding.
A VISION OF SUCCESS

8. Be Different. Be Faster.
Think QuestBack
COMPANY PROFILE
Founded in 2000, QuestBack is headquartered in Oslo, Norway. With 19 offices
worldwide and more than 300 employees representing 40 different nationalities
and languages, QuestBack is the biggest feedback and market research vendor
in Europe with annual turnover of 50M USD.
www.questback.de
QuestBack Central Europe
Gustav-Heinemann-Ufer 72a
50968 Köln
Germany
Tel: +49 221 271690
E-mail: feedback@questback.de
www.questback.de
QuestBack USA
1000 Lafayette Boulevard, Suite 207
Bridgeport, CT 06604
USA
Phone: +1 203 690 1052
E-mail: post.us@questback.com
www.questback.com
QuestBack UK
19-21 Great Tower Street
London, EC3R 5AR
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 (0) 207 403 3900
E-mail: post.uk@questback.com
www.questback.co.uk