marktforschung.de
Interview with Dr. Jörg Munkes, GIM, and Walter Freese, Interrogare Have we really arrived at the 'New Normal' yet?
Interview with Dr. Jörg Munkes, GIM, and Walter Freese, Interrogare
Have we really arrived at the 'New Normal' yet?
This year's Week of Market Research sponsors GIM and Interrogare reveal some details concerning their sessions at WoM in May. They also answer questions about the "New Normal" in their agencies as well as current trends in the market research industry.
"Digital events are only a temporary hype" – what do you think of this statement?
Dr. Jörg Munkes: In my view, digital events were never really "hype" in the true sense of the word, but were born as an emergency solution in the pandemic. Like so many things that have emerged or gained importance in the pandemic, digital events also have the chance to develop from a temporary solution to a genuine alternative and enrichment alongside analog events. The decisive factor will be which formats create real added value for speakers, sponsors and participants that go beyond mere reach and availability.
Walter Freese: In my opinion, this has nothing to do with hype. The entire world of work and interaction has changed permanently and will not return to 'the way it used to be'. So while digital events are here to stay, my hope is that some really well-attended and interestingly designed face-to-face events will manage to re-establish themselves in the long term and facilitate real encounters.
You are not only a sponsor of the Week of Market Research, but you also contribute to the festival agenda. What can the participants look forward to?
Dr. Jörg Munkes: As always with us on exciting content with substance. On the one hand, we focus on the "definitely not just a hype" topic of sustainability, including "six golden rules for green marketing". On the other hand, we take a look at experimental approaches in market research: While experiments are the royal road to gaining knowledge in many disciplines, as they allow causal statements, market research often relies on more or less direct questions.
Walter Freese: First, we provide another insight into the emotional world of brands. We have analyzed the positioning of more than 100 prominent brands with the implicit method of reaction time measurement and found a whole bag full of exciting insights. On the other hand, we share with the participants the findings and progress of the Shelftest 2.0, which can be used to realistically map a holistic analysis of the buying process at the POS.
Why should your event at WoM not be missed?
Dr. Jörg Munkes: It's not about tools, it's about content and methods - that might be relaxing for a change.
Walter Freese: I think Interrogare is known for attaching importance to the fact that participants can really take something away with them on the methodological level and in terms of insights. Pure navel-gazing or self-promotion are not our style.
At last there is light at the end of the tunnel, the pandemic is tapering off. What has happened in your agency in the last two years? What does the "new normal" look like?
Dr. Jörg Munkes: I don't think we're in the "new normal" yet. The changes of the last few years have not only been triggered by the pandemic, but have also been steered in certain directions by legal requirements. When these external factors disappear, the system will also start to move again. It is clear that it will not return to the starting point of spring 2020 and that the daily work routine will become more hybrid. Since employees and teams are likely to differ greatly in the mix of work in the office and remotely, we have planned a trial phase for ourselves and our employees in the coming weeks and months, in which everyone is to reflect on and test hybrid work for themselves and together in the team.
Walter Freese: To be honest, the last two years have not done us any harm. We have grown on all parameters - employees, sales, profit - and at the same time have further developed structures and processes in the interests of our customers. And the market also seems to notice and appreciate this - the results of last year's image study were really great for us.
What do you consider to be the top trend in market research at the moment?
Dr. Jörg Munkes: After the last few years have been dominated by AI, platforms and DIY, which were also associated with one or the other promise of salvation, the realization is gradually gaining ground in my perception that these are means to an end and that real added value is only created when technology and human expertise come together.
Walter Freese: Despite AI, MarTech and DIY, we see an increasing need for customer-oriented and customized high-end market research to answer complex questions in fragmented and volatile markets. This reads like a random stringing together of buzzwords, but it is reality for us. Our Market research solutions are not off-the-shelf, but truly handmade and individual.
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS FOR GIM
While in 2020 many agencies recorded a drop in sales, 2021 was a year of growth in the German market research industry, including for GIM. To what extent have the Corona years brought GIM forward?
Dr. Jörg Munkes: Apart from the fact that the last two years have increased our resilience as a company, we have also succeeded in focusing more clearly and unambiguously on our strengths again. We are therefore coming out of the crisis stronger, as our focus on the essentials has been sharpened and we have a clear vision for GIM. In this vision, the employees play the central role, since only their expertise can create real added value for customers.
It's no secret that consumers have increasingly high expectations of brands. How can brands react to this in your eyes?
Dr. Jörg Munkes: It is more important than ever that consumers feel taken seriously by brands. It is therefore not important to present oneself as bombastically as possible and to promise the moon, but to build and maintain a sustainable relationship between brands and consumers. In the meantime, this also means that a company takes its responsibility for customers, employees, society and the environment seriously and does not just superficially claim a purpose.
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS FOR INTERROGARE
It is well known that brands need to be emotionalized in order to create customer loyalty. But most brands already do that. What else do brands have to do nowadays to become favorite brands?
Walter Freese: Brands must trigger something mentally and emotionally in consumers. Images, smells, memories, experiences must be awakened. These triggers ensure that brands - loosely based on Byron Sharp - are readily available mentally. In a nutshell: successful brands fit well into people's System 1 and fire quickly and associatively. Beyond that, however, brands must also arouse the appropriate emotions, connect to consumers' subconscious needs and motives, and differentiate themselves from the competition. A brand that takes all this into account and implements it successfully has the best chance of becoming a love brand.
What do so-called love brands like Nutella and Adidas do better/differently than other brands?
Walter Freese: Many differences cannot be explained in purely rational and functional terms. As I have just said, these love brands offer the System 1 positive experiences and strong associations, use the right language of words and images, and thus trigger the appropriate motives and needs of people.
ABOUT
Dr. Jörg Munkes has been with GIM since 2003 and joined the management team in 2019. He is head of the quantitative research division. His focus of research is on psychographic target group, value and brand research. Previously, he earned his doctorate in social and personality psychology.
Walter Freese joined Interrogare in April 2018 as Director Business Development, responsible for new and further development of customer relationships as well as sales of established and innovative projects. Prior to this, the social science graduate spent 23 years working for global market research groups such as GfK and Kantar TNS.
This interview was originally published in German on marktforschung.de – here
