By Chris Hayes, EVP Brand Strategy
One trillion dollars.
That’s how much marketers will spend to sell their products globally in 2016, this according to a recent article by Jonathan Gordon and Jesko Perrey of McKinsey & Company. How much is $1 trillion? That’s 12 zeros, in case you’re wondering.
I did a little number crunching for fun and found that $1 trillion will buy 282 billion Big Macs. One trillion seconds equals 31,688 years. And my favorite – to spend $1 trillion, you would have to spend $10 million every day for 273 years!
Where do those trillions go? The article cites four key factors to marketing success in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace: data analytics, targeted content, management responsiveness, and smart use of communication media.
I would argue that the success of any marketing effort starts and ultimately rests with a relatively small budget line item: customer research.
There’s no question that technology has made consumers smarter and more aware of their many options. It’s completely changed the way they think and shop. The days when marketers could dictate to consumers are gone forever.
Technology has also provided marketers with more effective and cost-efficient ways to divine the whims and will of the consumer. One of the most important ways technology has changed consumer research is the speed at which we are now able to gather, process and evaluate great amounts of information.
Marketers no longer have to sit through hours of focus group tapes or wait for weeks to gather enough one-on-one interviews to generate statistically valid consumer insights. Technology has blurred the lines between qualitative and quantitative research.
Today, a well-designed online survey can elicit actionable consumer insights in projectable numbers in a fraction of the time it took less than a decade ago.
It’s never been a more exciting time for folks in the consumer research field. New technologies are being developed and new disciplines are being tapped to provide marketers with the deeper and more powerful insights that can help ensure that their marketing dollars, whether they are tens or trillions, are being well spent.
Need help getting to know your customer through online surveys or customer research, and finding actionable insights? Get in touch – we can help! Call our CEO, Lois Brayfield at 913-236-2402 or email at loisb@jschmid.com.
Tags: customer research, data analytics, online survey, qualitative research, quantitative research