Voices: the CMB Blog

One of the most enjoyable things about managing the Voices of CMB Blog is the wide range of perspectives on market research (and more), from the CMB team. Their expertise, insight, and creativity make editing this blog a real pleasure. But before we embark on 2014, here are a few of our favorites from the past year:

• Nick Pangallo's good advice for whether you're tackling those New Year's resolutions or your next New Product Development engagement. Nick explains what diet techniques like Weight Watchers' PointsPlus® and research techniques like Maximum Difference Scaling have in common: Want to Lose Weight? Try a Tradeoff Exercise!
  
  

• Our Director of Qualitative Research, Anne Hooper, shares her proven methods for routing out those not so honest online focus group participants:How to Catch a Catfish: Secrets of a Qualitative Researcher
  
  

• Companies are wasting a lot of time and money on Segmentation studies that aren't usable. CMB's Chief Methodologist, Richard Schreuer, explains why, and what to do about it:The Segmentation Research Crisis
  
  

• Developing new and innovative products isn't easy (or cheap). Athena Rodriguez shares the 10 best practices in New Product Development research that help our clients make product development decisions with confidence: Taking Product Development to Infinity and Beyond
  
  
  
• It was quite a year for loyalty, with several high-profile companies jettisoning their programs. VP of CMB's Travel and Hospitality practice, Judy Melanson, on why some brands are saying "good-bye": Do You Need a Loyalty Program to Drive Customer Loyalty?

What topics do you want us to cover in 2014? Tell us in the comments, and see you next year!

Megan is CMB's Senior Product Marketing Manager, her New Year's resolutions include banning the word "utilize" from the blog when "use" will do, and skiing more.

By the CMB Light the Night Team

Thursday, October 10th, CMBers will gather for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Light the Night walk. The annual walk raises money to support a cure for the millions of people around the world who suffer from blood cancers. This is the 6th year CMB has had the honor of participating in this event and our dedicated team members have hosted a bbq and silent auction, a paint night, happy hours, bake sales (CMBers do love to cook!) and other creative fundraising events. Now it's just two days until the walk, and we're thrilled to announce that CMB is a  top 3 fundraiser for the LLS Boston Chapter!

As many of you know, the walk has a special place in our hearts because Catherine Shannon, our Director of Finance (and our inspiration to start walking in the first place) has been in remission from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma for 3+ years.  We couldn't be more thankful for the research that led to the treatment that has helped Catherine, and so many others, get healthy.

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far, and if you're in town this Thursday please join us as we walk for a cure.

 If you'd like to donate click on The CMB Light the Night Team Page.

You might call me a CMB “success story” (seriously, go ahead it has a nice ring to it), in a few short years I’ve made the journey from intern to Project Manager. Because I know my way around these parts, I’m often asked to interview Associate Researcher candidates. I like to think I’ve worked here long enough, and in enough roles, to vet whether a candidate is the “right fit for CMB." Through numerous interviews I’ve come up with a few questions I ask all candidates regardless of position. One of my favorites: what is it about you specifically, that would make you an excellent fit for this position?The Associate Research position is quite technical, requiring a strict attention to detail and programming skills in various platforms, so of course, the first thing I listen for is an attention to detail and strong problem solving skills. However, what I am really looking for is the desire and ability to work “in the weeds” as we call it and then surface for air and impart value to the project strategically; someone who is as enthusiastic and engaged in how our work is used by our clients as they are in the work itself. To me, the difference between a good associate and a great associate is one who is not just a worker bee but a thinker bee.  Not only is this beneficial to projects, but the daily work becomes more satisfying when associates are as invested in the meaning of the data as they are in the accuracy of the data.

Recently, I was discussing the Business Decision Worksheet (one of the tools we use to stay focused on how our clients will use their data) when a senior level colleague mentioned that he encourages all levels of employees to take on the work of the level above them. That is exactly the sentiment I want to hear from candidates interviewing at CMB, and it’s exactly why I am not the only “success story” around here.  Encouraging employees to work to the next level, with the support and guidance of the most senior staff, prepares them for the next level, ensuring smooth transitions and a capable project team.

Given that several candidates I’ve interviewed are currently employed at CMB, I would like to think that they were wooed as much by my rousing speech on engaging project work and growth opportunities as they were by the promise of free beer on Friday afternoons.

We're hiring! Take a look at all our Career Opportunities here.

Check out this short video to learn more about why we love working at CMB:

Elizabeth is a Project Manager at CMB. In addition to 4+ years of experience at CMB, she has honed her interviewing skills during her work with the Moving Ahead Program at St. Francis House, a 14-week life skills and job readiness program for unemployed ex-offenders and other individuals with histories of substance abuse, homelessness, or mental illness, participating in mock interviews and resume reviews.

By Heather Magaw

It's Oscar week, time for me to reveal a few of the lesser-known parallels between two glamorous industries—Hollywood and Market Research.

Just as the Academy is abuzz about Lincoln and Argo, market researchers can't get enough of two topics: 1) Big Data and 2) Storytelling. You can’t go to a conference or read a blog without hearing at least 5 new takes on both concepts. For us, figuring out how to tell a compelling story with massive amounts of data is exciting stuff. Maybe we should recruit some big-name, box-office talent, like Steven Spielberg, to join the CMB ranks for our next Blockbuster client project.

What? You’re not convinced Mr. Spielberg is cut out for the life of a market researcher? Movie producers and directors sift through mountains of footage, leaving the vast majority of it on the cutting room floor; an extensive team effort transforms hundreds of hours of film into 90 minutes of entertainment. Really, it’s very similar to what we do every day at CMB: analyze mountains of complex data, synthesize it into a focused story, ultimately crafting a business decision focused research report.

At first blush, you may think that research reports don’t stack up to a movie for entertainment value, but for our research junkie clients and information needy executives, a well-written research report that helps them tackle their most difficult business challenges is often even more compelling than the latest blockbuster flick. The art of storytelling in a research report is just as important as it is to movies. Just as audiences would never willingly sit through hours upon hours of raw footage, business leaders have little appetite for sifting through reams of data tables.    

So, I ask, why shouldn’t we be recruiting Steven Spielberg as our next great Practice Leader or Senior Consultant at Chadwick Martin Bailey? As my colleague Athena mentioned last week, our neighborhood has served as a backdrop for a number of well-known movies, he might feel right at home.

Heather is VP of Client Services and always makes a point to read and finish the book before viewing movie adaptations.

Can't get enough excitement? Register for our upcoming webinar, February 28th at noon: Segmentation as a Strategic Change Agent, with Jeff VanDeVelde of SunTrust Bank.

The next time you attend a market research conference, listen very, very carefully. That dull buzzing sound you hear is the collective whine of hundreds of market researchers lamenting their inability to get a seat at the big kids' table or even just some recognition for all the value they provide.

 I know it hurts, but it’s time to do some soul searching and address the all too common ways market researchers get in their own way:

• over-reliance on statistical significance

• inability to put oneself in the business partner’s shoes

• focusing on research objectives rather than business objectives

• unwillingness to commit to a point-of-view regarding what the data means

I’m not the only one who’s picked up on these industry-wide weaknesses; witness the popularity of the mysterious Angry MR Client on Twitter and GreenBook.  There isn’t a silver bullet that will fix all of the issues facing our industry, but I am sure of this: we need to communicate better.

Over and over I hear people lament that researchers need to do a better job “telling stories.”  I agree completely, and it’s something we have prided ourselves on at CMB for the last 5-10 years.  Lucky for us, while there’s always been and always will be a “story” to tell, there are now so many more tools to help us elicit that actionable insight from the stream of data.  Say what you will about the rise of the quants but there’s much to be said about the art of data, and that can mean taking a visual approach to data—no, not a pie chart.

At CMB, we have graphic designers who, in addition to making our PowerPoint reports look great, have also designed some great infographics.  There are so many more mediums for storytelling available to us and it would be crazy not to take advantage of them.  Maybe there’ll always be an audience for the traditional PPT report/presentation, but I’ll bet there’s also an audience for an infographic, like the one below, highlighting key takeaways:

We’ve provided these for Customer Experience and Brand Tracking engagements and our clients really enjoy them. Easy to read visuals, like infographics, are a great way to socialize key takeaways across an organization where not everyone needs to go through a huge deck. 

We’ve also gotten great feedback on our Prezis – mini movies that add energy and emotion to the story.  Check out this one that we’ve dummied up to tell the story of a fictitious bank. 

ABC Bank Video from CMBinfo on Vimeo.

We’ve given these in advance of an annual presentation and the result has been increased attendance, improved engagement, and better solution-brainstorming. 

These are just two really simple examples of how you can take storytelling to the next level, engage your audience in the insight, and perhaps get that seat in the C-Suite.

Jim is Managing Director of CMB’s Financial Services practice. He enjoys sweeping historical dramas and is working on his Downton Abbey infographic.

Stephanie Kimball, our Marketing Operations Manager, created the infographic and Prezi you see here. She gets her inspiration from many places, including the 3 million Redbox movies she rents every week.