Interview mit Leonard Murphy Warum der persönliche Austausch gerade im digitalen Zeitalter wichtig ist

Leonard Murphy, Greenbook

marktforschung.de: The IIeX will be taking place in Amsterdam for the 4th time – how do you classify the importance of the European market for Greenbook?

Leonard Murphy: Europe is a hotbed of innovation in the insights space, especially in testing new approaches and consultative thinking, so it’s very important. Marketing and commerce are primarily global endeavors today, so using IIeX as the platform to allow both clients and suppliers to develop global partnerships is integral to the entire event series; it’s a fantastic way to help push cross-pollination of the best thinkers in the industry and align them with global client needs.     

marktforschung.de: What are the differences between the European and the US market in market research?

Leonard Murphy: The US market is much more focused on technology and achieving scale of the business, whereas Europe seems to be more comfortable with a human driven, consultative approach. There is a powerful synthesis that happens when the two mindsets align, which is one of the reasons why we try to bring technology that may not have made an impact in Europe to this event, while bringing many of the thought leaders on the strategic side of the business to our North American event.   

marktforschung.de: Can you think of anything the different markets could or perhaps should learn from one another? 

Leonard Murphy: It's all about delivering greater impact for the client. Sometimes that means cheaper, sometimes it means faster, and sometimes that means a more human-centered strategic approach. As technology reshapes the world for both consumers and brands there is no escaping that fact that it will drive change in our industry as well, but there is absolutely nothing on the horizon that will replace great service, great consulting, and being a partner. The industry might bifurcate between tech and service, but the two are actually 2 sides of the same coin and must learn to work hand-in-hand.   

marktforschung.de: In Europe and especially Germany data security plays a way more significant role as for example in Asia or even the United States. Could the aspect and high relevance of data security even lead to an advantage for Europe in the long term? Do you notice a change in the assessment and perception of this issue in the United States?   

Leonard Murphy: That's a tough one. There is no indication that data security/privacy is as big of a concern for consumers in the US as it is in Germany or Europe as a whole. There are certainly folks who worry about it, but study after study here indicates it’s mostly a non-issue. Obviously things like identity theft and hacking are different and people do worry about that, but the use of personal data by Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc. is mostly perceived as a benefit. If anything, people are frustrated when their personal data is used and it doesn’t result in better ad targeting or relevant recommendations! It’s all about the value exchange, with most folks thinking "you can use my data, but you better deliver a better experience for me as a result". I think the European mentality has a very hard time translating to the US, and I am sure the opposite is true as well.       

marktforschung.de: How will Big Data and the associated persistent availability of data influence the market research branch from your point of view? 

Leonard Murphy: I have said for many years that the ultimate goal of any brand is to engage, understand, and activate their target market. P&G has said that their goal is to have a one-to-one relationship in real-time with every person on the planet. Those goals can only be achieved by the marrying of disparate data sets in real-time: behavioral, attitudinal, nonconscious, transactional, geolocational, etc. …  Through those data streams we can know who, what, when, where, and how but not why. In that world that is already well in development (and implementation) research has a role as a "spoke on the data wheel", but we can also seize the most important piece and be the providers of the "why". We can provide the contextual framework for understanding the implications and human elements that Big Data misses.  

marktforschung.de: Why is it that classic congresses and fairs are still a popular form of exchange and communication - despite the digital era we are actually living in?

Leonard Murphy: We're a social species! We actually track preferred channels for information sharing our GRIT study and events are perennially the number one, and although we have not probed on that in the study I assume it's the same reason in-person qualitative has not been supplanted by online qual: we just like being around others and interacting in person. I think events deliver a much needed opportunity for business networking and learning, but also for good old fashioned interpersonal relationship building. In fact, my bet is that the need to connect in person with other humans regularly will only grow in importance as channels for digital interactions grow as well. For me personally, I live a huge portion of my professional life using digital channels and that is great in terms of cost, efficiency, work-life balance etc., but I look forward to attending my own events immensely simply as a way to enjoy the company of my friends and colleagues.

Das Interview führten Dorothee Ragg und Matthias Richter.

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