research crisis. who cares.

AdAge has a podcast interview discussing the research industry - and how consumers don't want to complete surveys, don't want to be in focus groups, and just don't want to be bothered. That's a big problem for the research industry.

I've seen countless examples of wasted research dollars. I've known people in market research companies who fill groups with their friends. "Here's what you need to say, if anyone asks you," they tell their friends - because they couldn't find subjects that meet the real demographic. And of course, we've all seen bad decisions made as a result of poor research.

This is another example where small agencies can make a difference. Without the budgets for research, smaller agencies have for years dug into the trenches instead. They do the research on their own, find people they know in the demographic, or become a part of the demographic themselves. They absorb themselves in everything about the demographic. What they watch, what they read, what they wear, where they go. Research and discovery. It's real, and it works.