Week 3 – Reflection on Dr. Hans Hosling, Malcolm Gladwell videos and Market Research

We live in an information overload world. Gaining insights without getting lost in the details is becoming increasingly hard. I found Dr. Hans Rosling’s video very true. Making sense of the myriads of data in order to extract the right value is something that only few people have been able to master. I have been in many meetings where because the data is not accurately presented the aim of the meeting is lost in some topic outside the scope of the discussion. This is not to say that I am not guilty of having made the same mistake at times. Sometimes colleagues or leaders, who are honest enough to point out the mistake if they catch it, may point it out, but many times the mistake or misrepresentation gets caught after the damage is done.

I found Malcolm Gladwell’s video equally engaging. Several researchers had access to the same data that Howard Moskowitz had but no one stumbled upon the invention of variety in food choices such as spaghetti sauce. Not everyone looked at the data with the same keenness as Mr. Moskowitz did. I watched a video on 60 minutes (The Flavorists: Tweaking tastes and creating cravings, from Nov 2011) not too long ago, highlighting how the food industry continues to invest millions of dollars in identifying that one unique flavor in addition to the already 50 some flavors. The focus of the 60 minutes segment was to point out how cravings are created by means of developing a unique flavor, not exactly same as what Mr. Moskowitz’s work was all about, but still very much related. It may not be a stretch to say that if it was not for Mr. Moskowitz……there would not be much work for the flavor developers in the food industry. Food industry has a very common saying that, flavor is what makes customers return to their product.

Did we just discover the next big flavor?                                   

This week’s focus is on market research, an important piece of marketing function. For me the biggest take away from this week’s material including the slide deck presented at the Tuesday breeze session is, why do we need to do market research? What will be done with the data gathered?

1.     Does your company use research to understand it's customer's?  What type of research? 

I am aware that my company’s marketing division uses research to understand the customer base in the markets we do business in. I have never been part of the marketing function at CMI so I have gained understanding on the marketing aspects at my company via my own project experiences, interactions with cross functional colleagues and few friends who work in the marketing function. I do believe that the marketing folks do a good job J, as I have examples of some good projects where front end research was done to decide the respective path. At the same time I have to say, there is room for improvement. I have got doubts on some projects when there was not enough data and convincing arguments to explain why a certain supplier was picked say to provide engineering contractual services. The argument that this was the best supplier available does not chime well with the skills offered by the chosen supplier.

2.     What Insights does Dr. Rosling gain from the data collection and analysis he conducts in the video.  How important is the visual display of data in creating these insights? 

The global development analysis is critical to evaluate changes in the world, and preconceived ideas are hard to change. A good data representation can hit the point home very well. The visual display was the most insightful for me. Data not analyzed well can lead to some very different findings. The demographic shift in longevity of life with shorter family size and change in gap between the poor and rich over the years was interesting to me.

3.     Where will you go to collect data for your marketing plan?  How can you learn about the type of consumers in the market you have been assigned.  How will you convey and provide insights to your client using this information?

This is an apt question for my team (1) as we are tasked to submit the first part of our marketing plan in a week’s time. Data collection for a marketing plan entails looking at all resources one has at his or her disposal. In the internet age that we live in, net has made it relatively easy to gather data, but still the key is in finding accurate and right data. I am using my own experience, prior readings and of course internet searches to gather data for my team’s marketing plan. In order to understand the consumer needs and preferences in the market assigned to us, we need to review prior year purchases made by the consumers in the product space and industry we are interested in. Alongside, one needs to review the macro and micro environmental trends and marry those trends with the prior year data to identify upcoming trends that may favor the purchase of the product we are interesting in selling. As for explaining our findings and providing insights to our clients, that is how best to present our marketing plan, that is where we will need to remain aware of Dr. Hosling’s video. All work and data may be meaningless if not presented well.