Edward Appleton

15 June 2014 Last week I was working on a web-usability research project. Looking at the pros and cons of the various methodological approaches, I was struck, shocked even, by the cost differences between DIY, unmoderated software driven solutions and the consultative lab-based approaches.
11 May 2014 How many newer entrants into market research know, I wonder, what "planners" do in ad. agencies? I've spent almost a decade of my professional career in planning, leading the Planning Unit at Grey Europe, and then jointly spear-heading it at Young and Rubicam in Germany.
13 April 2014 Market Research is going through exciting times - mobile, communities, biometrics are just some of the new ways technology is helping us get closer, and for longer, to the audiences we wish to understand.
02 February 2014 I attended the Warc 2014 Next Generation Market Research Conference in London last week - as a Keynote speaker, no less. It was - as per the last two I attended in 2013 and 2012 - a great event, well attended, plenty of interesting papers. What did I take away from the Event? The immediate presence of Admap - surely one of Warc's most valuable assets - is always reassuring and inspiring. Seeing its pre-eminent Editor, Colin Grimshaw, sitting in the front row of the Audience looking pensive is both exciting and slightly unnerving at the same time for speakers, at least for myself. Did I say something intelligent or stupid?
09 December 2013 At the recent ESOMAR Qualitative Conference in Valencia, Spain, one of the papers that stuck in my mind was on the topic of "online" versus "offline" identity. Entitled "Freedom to Reveal or Freedom to Project" and given by Peter Totman of London based Jigsaw Research, it outlined the results of a qualitative project comparing the views of people given in a face-to-face versus an online context.
03 November 2013 A recent article in Research Live highlighted the re-branding of WPP's Insights Division from "Consumer Insights Division" to "Data Investment Management". CEO Sir Martin Sorrell explained the move as a way to bring the Insights and Media divisions closer toghether, thereby making it easier for Clients to manage and synthesize various data streams. Makes sense - but why re-brand, removing the word "Insights" completely, with the new entity sounding more like a financial services offering?
22 October 2013 I've long been a fan of Qualitative Research - Groups, Depths, ECGs, ethnographies.... - both as a Client and Agency Side provider. It's simply powerful stuff. A quantitative researcher by training, I am frequently stunned by how truly transformational insights are generated by relatively simple qualitative tools in a very short space of time. An evening, if you like.
31 May 2013 In the June 2013 issue of Harvard Business Manager (German edition) there is an article by Prof. Thorsten Henning-Thurau of Münster University entitled "Crisis of Marketing".
22 April 2013 I have just finished Week 4 of the Ariely/ Duke University online course on Behavioural Economics ( http://bit.ly/134WRDq ) The last 6 days have been all about " Labour & Motivation" - particularly relevant for those of us in gainful employment.  It was extremly interesting, if pretty hard work - maybe I'm just feeling the pain a little after four weeks of evening and weekend study; or perhaps the topic was chosen deliberately to test our desire and will mid-way through.
10 April 2013 I've recently completed the 2nd Week of my online course on Behavioural Economics given by the renowned Dan Ariely. Week two was all about "The Psychology of Money". ( You can read about the first week of the course here .)
02 April 2013 I'm currently taking an online educational course in Behavioural Economics (BE), lead by the eminent Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational and teaching Professor of Duke University ( http://danariely.com/ )
24 February 2013 Two things caught my attention over the past few weeks in the world of Market Research.
17 February 2013 I recently read an excellent article in the January 2013 issue of Research Live on the role social influence has on our preferences. The authors - Colin Strong, Paul Ormerod and Alex Bentley - quote an experiment conducted by Microsoft, showing how strongly influenced teenagers music preferences were by a social component, in this instance the ability to see how many times a song had already been downloaded by others. The difference between this group and one that hadn't had access to any social influence was marked - amongst those that were "influenced" only a few songs were highly popular, the majority of songs received very low ratings. Amongst those who didn't have access to the number of downloads available, the preference spread was much broader.
11 February 2013 Anyone who follows rugby will be aware of the transformation that the English national team has undergone since the new coach, Stuart Lancaster, was appointed roughly 12 months ago.