I’m here in Amsterdam for the Market Research in the Mobile World conference.

We’ve had some great presentations and discussions about mobile research, emotional hot states (BrainJuicer), passive measurement and privacy.

And today I’ll be talking about (a) futuring tools and (b) market research futures.

With this in mind, I’ll give a sneak peek on my presentation.

In a VUCA world (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) the future is less continuous with the past and we’re in a much less predictable environment.

With this predictive ability in doubt, it is best to look at futures drivers, sketch the most plausible futures and strategize accordingly.

A lot has been discussed in terms of internal analysis of market research and its structure. But, the industry is facing massive, exogenous change to our commercial system and this change will impact MR. This is where I will highlight the 6Ds that will change commerce – and ultimately MR:

1. Disruption Ethos
2. Disintermediation
3. Digitization
4. Dematerialization
5. Democratization
6. DIY

After this, I’ll be discussing the 5 megatrends specifically facing our industry (based on my chapter in “Leading Edge Marketing Research”):

1. Data abundance
2. Asking-Observing Shift
3. Democratization
4. Convergence
5. Strategic Imperative

And then I’ll wrap up with a tour of several MR futures from my book chapter:

1. Power to the People
2. Portal Power
3. E-Agency

It should be a fun and thought provoking session.