Is market research occupying a strategic or a tactical role?

The answer to this question seems to come from two different data sets:

1. MREB Business Alignment Survey
2. BCG Consumer Insight Benchmarking 2009

Several data points from these two surveys seem to work together in painting a solid picture of market research’s role.

a. MREB research (as reported on by Quirk’s) found that 69% of executives want research to be a strategic partner, but only 29% of executives see their market research function filling that strategic role.

b. BCG’s analysis of market research budgets found that “only 20 to 35 percent of a company’s market research budget is devoted to strategic studies.” (see page 5 of BCG report)

What does this mean?

Although senior management want MR to play a more strategic role, the majority of MR departments are currently locked in tactical work that only reinforces their image as project-drive providers of tactically useful data.

Ian Lewis at Cambiar offers his thoughts in Qurik’s magazine this month on how MR departments can get out of this box. I have met Ian, and he offers sound advice.