A New Model For Market Research
Presented with a whole new technology to reach a public audience, advertising executives in the early days of television dutifully filmed narrators walking up to a microphone and reading from a script…because that’s what they had done in radio. It took some creative thinker to realize that television offered whole new opportunities above and beyond what had been possible before. Someone had to think out of the box to take full advantage of the new medium.
With the onset of the Internet in recent years, many seized on data collection as the ultimate use of the Internet for market research, and an assortment of Web survey upstarts was unleashed on the research market. The box their research came in, however, was typically defined by a very narrow view, not only of what research is, but also of what the Internet can do.
Bernett Research has been in business for almost three decades and has been experimenting with the Internet for more than five years. Rather than just using it to accomplish what was possible before, Bernett has explored beyond that to what could be possible if the Internet were fully integrated into the research process at all stages.
The result of this experimentation and exploration is the new www.bernett.com website launched in March 2001. The Internet is a rich, multi-dimensional environment. It can be used effectively to collect data. But it can do so much more.
Bernett’s new website takes full advantage of the Internet as a new medium for research. It works for our research clients throughout the research process. For example:
• The Bernett Research Exchange. The Bernett Research Exchange provides a password-protected workspace for all the individuals working together on a specific project, both within Bernett and within the client company.
• Online Monitoring. Online monitoring is like having an open window into the research factory. It makes it possible not only to anticipate trends before the research is completed, but also to flag sample trouble spots and re-apportion clusters and geographic segments in response to what is actually happening in the field. Soon you will be able to listen to audio clips of interviewers conducting your surveys.
• Online RFPs. Bernett clients will also be able to use the Exchange to request proposals on new projects. We showcase our Web survey capabilities by providing you a Web survey that walks you through the details we need to give you a quick, knowledgeable and competitive proposal for your next project. Hit the submit button and we’ll have a response for you within 24 hours.
• Online Filing. Ever wish you could find the questionnaire for a project Bernett completed for you in the past? Archives of all past projects are easily accessible at the Bernett Exchange, complete with a project profile that includes a description of the survey and the sample, a copy of the questionnaire, the top line results and a synopsis of what was learned during the fieldwork that could be useful in the future. You can even store files that supplement a research project on your secure intranet for easy access by your research team.
• Online Publishing. Use our private-label extranet service to take advantage of our technology in your name. A new service from Bernett—the Strategic Partner Response (SPResponse) service—actually provides an extranet between survey respondents and the sponsor of the research project. SPResponse builds a strong sense of community through on-going interaction. Clients who build and support partner portals can use SPResponse as a content generating engine that maintains an on-going dialogue between partners and their host company.
The true potential of the Internet for market research is in the interaction between individuals that it makes possible across the full range of the research process. This is just the beginning. We took the Internet out of the box. Try it out at www.bernett.com.