Researchers use data to direct their clients

In the market research business, it's always quality before quantity.

“It's what you do when you don't know all the issues, how your ideas will play out, or what your target market will think of your ideas,” said Monica Vernon, president and CEO of Vernon Research Group in Cedar Rapids.

Quantitative research is more formal, she said, and generally involves a set of predetermined questions asked to better understand trends.

“In terms of quantifiable research, we're conducting more and more studies on the Internet,” said Vernon, whose 25-year-old Vernon Research Group employs five people, along with contract employees and consultants.

Using the Internet also allows visuals that can't be shown as easily with phone research. And, of course, participants can be anywhere as long as they have access to the Internet.

Strategic Marketing Services (SMS) recently began using webcams and streaming video to allow real-time interviews.

This allows for sharing documents for discussion, picking up on non-verbal clues, etc.

SMS has counted some 300 clients in its 20-year business life, noted Director Ron Padavich.

“Our clients include entrepreneurs, Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, economic development corporations and not-for-profit organizations,” he said.

SMS, a market research company affiliated with the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, functions as a private business within a university structure as part of UNI's College of Business Administration.

Created in 1990 as the Market Development Program through funds provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Padavich says SMS was created to provide market research to Iowa agricultural-based manufacturers affected by the downturn in the agricultural economy.

Today, SMS is a boutique operation that maintains a staff of five researchers and does work for organizations in all markets.

Vernon said while technology and the Internet have made market research easier, her organization still conducts phone and mail-out studies for certain projects, as well as face-to-face interviews and large panels.

Once data is gathered from these different research methods, Vernon noted that the work isn't necessarily done.

“We also make recommendations for application of the data,” she said.

She described situations in which Vernon Research Group has helped customers choose the right brand or product name, tagline and advertising campaign.

“In several cases, we've stopped companies from using names, graphics or advertising that would've been rejected or had unintended consequences in the marketplace,” she added.

“We have our fingerprints on many products,” Vernon said. “A few recent studies we've done include a new mobile phone application, a control device for manufacturing processes, agricultural machinery and a software program for human resources application.”

At Dan Wiese Marketing Research, the one-man Cedar Rapids business has conducted focus groups in almost every state.

Wiese also has worked locally with the cities of North Liberty and Cedar Rapids on opinion and satisfaction surveys, and conducted research for the Cedar Rapids Public Library to gather information about citizens' programming interest.

He's also responsible for market surveys and research that led to Kirkwood Community College's Equestrian Center initiative.

“It's only me, but I use a number of contractors,” he says.

Wiese says he obtains new clients primarily through word-of-mouth, but he also gets some business from LinkedIn and listing his services in marketing search directories.

Although some marketing agencies end up with more clients in one market than another, most try to serve a wide variety.

Padavich sees this generality as a strength.

That way SMS can take what it learns from one client and use that information to benefit other clients that don't directly compete. Padavich also pointed out that specializing in a specific market area can require working for competing companies.

“We believe that you cannot fairly serve more than one master,” he said.

It recently worked with a manufacturer that was considering a plant expansion, but was confronted with a new competitor that received significant media attention.

A qualitative study identified awareness and understanding of both the client's and competitor's products.

The study also found that, although the client's product was more expensive, it had an excellent reputation.

Survey analysis also learned that the competing product didn't function as well in different parts of the country due to varying weather conditions.

As a result of the study, SMS's client ended up expanding its operations.

“We've never found an industry or organization type that didn't benefit from knowing more about themselves, their market and their customers,” Vernon added.