Is market research is seen as a partner or in a support role? There are many reason why marketing research should be more integrated into the company. When integrated, companies can male full use of the information created and it is more cost effectiveness.

With organizations needing to justify every dollar spent – and needing to make the most out of the resulting findings – not integrating market research is a costly error.

While Corona is not a department within a larger organization, we have seen similar issues from our outsider’s viewpoint.

How can market research be more fully integrated into the strategic infrastructure? Some thoughts…

  • Include market research from the beginning. When large strategic questions start to arise market research should already be at the table.
  • Have market research assess your in-house data to see what questions you might be able to answer with your existing data that could guide future directions.
  • Promote market research to be an equal partner, not just a support function.
  • Market research should be an integrated member of teams, not an outsider.
  • Finally, to build trust, the first steps of integrating the market research component should be to focus on “small wins” – starting small with little projects creating little successes and slowly increase the scope and participation of market research that will lead to greater successes on larger projects down the road.

What other issues do you see? What else can be done?