Market research platforms return consumer feedback to where it belongs – as an essential part of an agile marketing process.

Struggling to adjust to changes in consumer demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have turned to self-serve market research platforms to get fast feedback on their marketing initiatives. But market research platforms offer more than just speed and low cost. They offer the opportunity to put market research at the heart of a truly agile marketing process.

Disruption accelerates change

Disruption often proves to be the catalyst for change, and the COVID-19 pandemic has proved no exception. Witness the explosion in usage of online meeting platforms like Zoom, WebEx, and Microsoft Teams. And while in future we may return to a blend of working from home and from the office, it seems unlikely that things will return to the way they were. It seems likely that a hybrid model of working will be the future, because it offers a win-win for companies and employees.

Changes that are better and easier stick

A change like working from home sticks because the new behaviour is an improvement on what came before – and it is easy to adopt, thanks to new tech platforms. And I think we are seeing something similar in market research, where the need for fast consumer feedback during the pandemic has accelerated the use of online market research platforms. Here we saw a 60% increase in usage of Kantar Marketplace, with over 400 clients using the platform in 2020. No longer a poor substitute for traditional research, automated market research platforms offer the benefits of speed, quality, and powerful meta-analysis across studies – something that was simply not available in the past.