Is marketing research only about markets and marketing?

And the same images always involve data relating exclusively to responses to marketing initiatives - advertising, pricing, new product launches etc etc. Perhaps there might be some awareness of data on Customer Satisfaction and Retention.

However, nowadays, though still largely unsung and unnoticed, an increasing amount of Marketing Research is conducted on business issues totally unrelated to Marketing per se. One such business issue is Stakeholder Relationship Management (SHM) - which looks at the strength of an organisation's relationships with a diverse set of stakeholders. By 'stakeholders' we mean the likes of Channel Partners i.e. Distributors, Stockists, Retailers, Business Partners i.e. Suppliers, Investors or Shareholders, Lenders and, of course, Employees.

Stakeholder Relationship Management

This relatively new 'practice' in Marketing Research is driven by three trends:

• A realisation that the term 'customers' is not necessarily limited to those who buy or use your products or services

• The increasingly short 'shelf-life' of product and service innovation as well as business process improvements - it is extremely difficult now to maintain a competitive edge for any reasonable period of time through technical product-led efforts

• New organisational management approaches such as the Balanced Score Card, CRM, ERP, ISO certifications etc.

This has led to a realization for a company to build strong emotional bonds and relationships with various stakeholder groups - and hence for a need for relevant metrics to measure and track the strength of these relationships and highlight areas for improvement. Such metrics need to be comparable across the various stakeholder groups to make resource deployment and planning effective.

Addressing these needs, TNS has a globally successful SHM model called TNS TRI*M which offers a common philosophical framework for measuring and tracking metrics for all stakeholder groups. Apart from the relatively well known Customer Satisfaction and Retention, and Employee Commitment modules, TRI*M offers specialised modules dealing with

• Channel Partnership;

• Investor/ Shareholder Confidence;

• Corporate/ Leadership Reputation;

• Change Management/ M&A Management; and

• Internal Service Quality.

In effect, TRI*M delivers metrics which can be used as an integral part of the Balanced Score Card.

Business Intelligence

There is also an increasing need for companies to be able to predict behavior. But, in the face of increasing competition and the failure of product or service innovation to assure competitive advantage for any reasonable length of time, past behaviour can no longer be considered a reliable indicator of future behaviour. Such a situation opens up scope for Business Intelligence to link attitudinal measures, such as disposition to a brand, preference etc, with actual transactions or behaviour. Again, TNS has already invested in this area.

Re-Defining Marketing Research

Given all of this, there is I believe a case to redefine Marketing Research in a more comprehensive way - as Marketing & Business Research.

While the basics of marketing research as a science - statistical methods, sampling, analytical models, data collection infrastructure and rules etc are still important they are becoming 'givens' - basic qualifications for membership in the market research ( MR ) fraternity. To address the real dynamics in business today, MR organisations need to acquire a new range of skills and expertise - ones which are not just concerned with the marketing space. This has led to several structural and organisational innovations within leading MR groups such as TNS. Such innovations include :

1. Sector Expertise: To deliver meaningful and relevant recommendations, the analysis and interpretation of research data today demands a clear understanding of the business context. Sector expertise has thus become crucial and TNS has already invested in building special resources in sectors such as HealthCare, Telecoms and ITES, Finance and Banking, Automotive etc, in addition to the FMCG skills already available within the company. This has led to a relatively more intimate knowledge of the client's business issues and objectives, and competitive realities in the business sector. The focus is thus on delivering 'strategic solutions', rather than just findings and recommendations.

2. Business Solutions Champions: All leading MR companies have a range of proprietary methods and models. It is now fundamentally important to constantly re-visit and adapt these to changing market and economic realities. A continuous commitment to 'R&D' investments, constantly re-visiting and re-examining the philosophical as well as practical aspects of the business solutions portfolio is now more of the rule than the exception.

3. Account Management: The demand from clients for MR companies to move from being data and information suppliers, to Decision Support System partners, has also led to a closer, more intensive engagement with clients. This emphasis moves the focus from being a 'project' led to a 'goals' driven relationship.

The Future

The relevance of MR companies in the new paradigm will thus be determined by an ability to marry their 'bread and butter' research skills to the imperatives of the organisational 'triad' mentioned above. Not as easy as it sounds....it needs a mind shift from pure project management to a more matrix-type approach to management of client needs. And one that brings sectoral expertise, the business solutions portfolio and an altogether more intimate client/agency relationship, together in a more relevant and effective manner.

In such a scenario, familiar structural frameworks such as geographical units etc may well become hindrances rather than facilitators. This is already apparent, given the connectivity that modern technology provides.

Old notions such as client exclusivity may also need to be re-visited. After all, by very definition, sectoral expertise calls for wide exposure to the sector. The challenge here will be to ensure the confidentiality that clients must have, while being able to deliver the benefits of a more indepth sector knowledge.