When will Online Panel Providers Pitch Directly to Clients?

An article in the July 2011 issue of Research Live got me thinking about how much industry structures in MR could change in the coming years.

By Edward Appleton
Director Global Marketing at Happy Thinking People

An article in the July 2011 issue of Research Live got me thinking about how much industry structures in MR could change in the coming years.

It was an interview with the UK MD of Toluna, Mark Simon. He talked about a new Toluna DIY tool, and additional services his company were introducing to make DIY even easier…..and more professional.

I immediately started thinking – firstly: what’s holding clients back from buying directly from panel providers?

Expertise? – maybe, clients don’t tend to employ MR advanced analytical specialists. But on the flip side, who would engage in a complex survey design including elements such as Max Diff or Conjoint with a DIY provider?

Time? – not all clients have enough time to micro-manage parts of the survey process they outsource – analysis, data checking, data reporting, developing first draft of the findings.

Maybe there’s more factors holding clients back.

Second thought – what kind of money could clients save by buying directly from panel providers?

And third thought – would that allow clients to a) beef up their internal resource team and b) access stand-alone freelance advanced analytics professionals?

Finally – how long is it before panel providers start offering packages allowing clients to engage in more sophisticated surveys?

I’m certainly not a crystal ball gazer, but I could certainly imagine more and more client side researchers sitting down with their line manager and going through a few scenarios looking at the above, especially as the supply side market evolves.

For sure, client side companies will need to be pretty confident that they get more value by changing a discretionary cost (traditional survey costs) into a fixed cost (increased size of MR department).

But surely the rise of MROCs is the start of this kind of process – taking ownership inside a client company, and reaping the benefits?

Curious, as ever, as to other’s views.

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