Norms Live in the Past

Over the next few weeks I'll share some of the insights I gained at the ARF Conference this week in talking to colleagues, watching presentations and reading what other companies are up to.

For today I'll focus on one key point that stuck with me from a thoroughly entertaining and informative session featuring John Zogby – President & CEO of Zogby International and Joel Benenson – Founding Partner & President, Benenson Strategy Group, the strategy firm behind Barack Obama's campaign. While much of the discussion focused on political polling - the notion of norms and benchmarks came up and were somewhat dismissed by the panel.

The world is changing at a rapid pace and many of us are working in uncharted territories - whether that means new purchase channels, new information sources, or new levels of brand engagement through online communities, widgets, and applications. So what do benchmarks really mean? The way we buy and consider products and services today is very different than it was years, or even months ago... and so is the way we evaluate them.

That's why we focus on creating indices that determine an ad or product's relative performance and help you measure against today's competition instead of living in the past.

Agree? Disagree?

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