Perhaps the finest summary of the challenge the industry has in regards to its gravitas is Greg Rathjen’s piece in the December 2008 edition of Quirk’s.

Here, Rathjen asks, “When do we stop identifying with Rodney Dangerfield?”

It is well worth a read here.

Key quote:

“I suppose what I am building up to is my own reverse polemic: that it is time to stop being Rodney Dangerfield, time to stop being the downtrodden, overworked partner and insist that both parties respect one another and deliver a more mutually-satisfying process of collecting, disseminating and using information. Marketing research has to be “at the table” not hoping to be; marketing research needs to be on the first string; marketing research needs to be more than the “little woman” who keeps the house clean and the beds made.”

The piece is a response to Kieron Mathews’ equally cutting piece titled “Going beyond the numbers”, in which Mathews chides the industry for not doing more to build its value and gravitas.