The missing link for Market Research oriented Big Data – The Connected Consumer Data

As the manufacturing and production business limps back to normalcy in the post-COVID world, consumer perceptions have changed drastically. With the majority transitioning into a minimalistic mode, the discretionary spending is curbed across the spectrum for the long haul. As the years of data for studying consumer behavior goes kaput amidst this changed business scenario, the need for connected data and connected ecosystems is emerging as the strongest ask to envisage a better and faster bounce-back.

Tapping the consumer mind has been an unfathomable tale. Traditionalmarket research or consumer research methods, such as observational data and video-graphs, have a limited scope while envisaging outcomes across entire market cross-sections. Hyper-personalization is asking for too much in a not so booming or otherwise swamp-like economy with near-zero discretionary spending. The only recourse that seems viable for all seasons seems to be Connected Consumer Data.

Contrary to popular perceptions, Big Data is not just a “huge amount of data”. Big Data, in this case, Connected Consumer Data, is high amounts of authentic and viable data weaved together in a contextual environment. To put it simply, it is like an online book with an introductory preface set to create a predefined impact. It has multiple chapters, followed by multi-level sub-headings, with inner finer bulleted and numbered points, hyperlinks, and cross-references; with prefaces or summaries for each chapter. Of course yes, this online book is not researched, written, or built up in a day. Here, each point is painstakingly researched, curated, and only the final outcome is incorporated to build up the contextual environment or to add multiple nodes to augment the main storyline of the online book. A la Metcalfe’s law cut out to the consumer research environment.

A second popular belief is that collecting a lot of data and storing it in a data reservoir serves the research purpose. Contrary to this belief, the data has to be unidirectional to achieve a desired business impact, say for example: finding the off-the-shelf healthy and cost-effective FMCG products preferred by the majority, the reason behind their perception, their second best choice, and their perception of the product & brand value. Weaving the curated data across market cross-sections and pre-defined demographics enables the researcher to prepare a data environment that helps them land much closer to their desired goal. The key here is to obtain multi-point data over a period of time across the selected demographics towards building the Connected Consumer Data. This kind of data has higher business value as compared to high amounts of data collected without a unidirectional purpose and is almost akin to a data swamp.

Connected Data & Connected Ecosystems

Collecting data for highly objective and targeted research involves multiple teams scattered across a diverse ecosystem. This value chain involves on the ground qualified research partners or data gatherers, data curators, technology partners, research agencies, and brands. As data evolves through the refining process, it is rich in both strategic as well as transactional value. Here not only well-defined questionnaires but also personalized data collection platforms, such as HubSpot, observational data & video graphs, data curators, data unifiers, analytical solution providers, research agencies, and brands act in tandem to procure high-quality actionable data for predictive insight generation.

Data curated, refined, and connected through multiple touchpoints has immense value. When weaved across multiple samples or subjects across different demographics, the data is closer to the real market sentiment. This data can be used for product up-gradation as well as product variant(s) launch. As the data is collected through personalized data collection platforms, the same data can be used for hyper-personalization and targeted marketing. This kind of connected consumer data has better viability for all seasons and market conditions.

Connected Consumer Data is refined through a multi-stage process to deliver business value and is closer to the authentic market sentiment. Connected Ecosystems or value chains play a stronger role in sieving and enriching the data to tap the right sentiment and ensuring a better bounce-back.