Most organizations maintain an opt-in email list of customers, prospects, members, or donors and use the lists as a way to learn about customers and prospects

Author’s Note: This article has appeared in numerous books and blogs since it was first written in 2007 including MENGBlend, BrandingStrategyInsider and MillennialMarketing. It was also featured in the American Association of Advertising Agencies newsletter in 2011. Although the examples may be old, it still resonates and reflects our philosophy of what constitutes an ‘insight.’

Martin: i think there's a problem with giving everyone an equal voice, which is what social media seems to do. anyone who can figure out how to get a twitter handle or blogger account suddenly has a pulpit, and we should suddenly be fascinated about 'listening' to their organic comments. this is a big problem for review sites like yelp and tripadvisor, and has spawned some backlash sites like oyster.com <http://oyster.com>;, where there's a return to reviews from PROFESSIONAL consumers. i think there's a similar thing going on with marketing research. isn't it the role of the marketing researcher to ask the right questions, and to let the consumer talk without leading them? Just because we all have megaphones now doesn't mean we all have interesting things to say, or that we are providing answers to the right/important questions for marketers

These are good times for the market research industry. In 2010, North American companies spent over $10 Billion on market research, which for perspective is about 20% more than 2010 total Internet ad spending by all US advertisers. Globally, the spending figure is $31.4 Billion, a figure that represents a 5.2% increase over 2009.  Yet amid the healthy growth and enormous size lies a shameful secret. There is a growing sense that much of the money spent on research may be wasted.

Abraham Maslow, the man famous for formulating one of the most ubiquitous tools in the marketing toolbox, the Hierarchy of Needs, was also famous for admonishing against over reliance on one tool.  His caution has come to be known as the law of the instrument or “Maslow’s Hammer”.  “It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail”.

You’re new in your job. Or the competitive landscape has changed. Whatever the reason, you need to understand which customers to target for purposes of product development, marketing, and customer experience design.  So you call one of the big firms that specialize in segmentation and brand tracking. They tell you identifying and following your target audience requires a study that requires 12 weeks and costs a couple hundred thousand dollars or more. Once you recover your composure, you ask: ‘Why does it have to be so complicated?’ Sound familiar?