Podcast: Bob Lederer reflects on the insights sector over the years

Bob talks about how the advent of “innovative research tools” has changed over the last 25 years, with many new tools coming to market without adequate due diligence or testing before launch. It is a critical step that is often overlooked by companies who are trying to meet accelerating marketplace demands for speed and other pressures. 

We went back in time to 1995, and spoke about when Bob launched Research Business Report, a newsletter almost entirely focused on new technologies and methodologies that would emerge and  have a tumultuous effect (economically, functionally and more) on research. Some of the old guard in the market research industry likely remember when this newsletter came out, before everything moved online. Thinking back on those newer ways of working that popped up throughout the years, Bob reflected on various people who were “verbally abused” by the traditionalists in the industry who weren’t quite ready to move online and innovate. 

An industry that was historically slow to change, by the 2000s, market research was well on its way to moving completely online. Trends in mobile research best practices quickly followed and over the past 20 years, the rollout of new online research tools has run “rampant” with new players constantly entering the marketplace. Bob says that much of the supposed innovation is same-same, as opposed to anything truly new or better. He maintains that better testing processes and procedures before being taken to market can help to deliver higher value and avoid costly errors in the long run.  

Listen to the podcast to hear more of our conversation with Bob.