POSTCARD FROM ESOMAR

Gerry Guinan, a research director at Taverner attended the ESOMAR Congress 2006 in London from 17-20 September. ESOMAR is the world organisation for enabling better research into markets, consumers and societies, and has 4,000 members in 100 countries. As a member company, Taverner is able to keep abreast of the latest developments in research from around the word.

The theme for this year’s Congress was ‘Foresight – the predictive power or research’. The idea of ‘co-creation’, that is, truly involving consumers in the very early stages of new product, service or marketing communications design and innovation was an important sub-theme obvious in many speakers’ presentations.

The Congress was a valuable learning opportunity where more than 1,000 delegates (including over 20 Aussies!) from over 70 countries from Afghanistan to Venezuela came together to hear speakers showcase and demonstrate how and why market research is the keystone to the ‘creatable’ future.

London was looking its best for the duration of the event, and blue skies abounded. The Congress kicked off with a Welcome Reception held in the Great Hall of the Royal Courts of Justice, and the Congress itself took place in the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre directly opposite Westminster Abbey.

A few of the highlights, selected from a very comprehensive programme of keynote speakers and interviews, methodological papers, case studies, and client roundtables and discussions included:

• An opening address from Ms Nicki Gavran, Deputy Lord Mayor of London which highlighted some of the initiatives the city is making to build a sustainable future for its growing population, and examples of how market research is key to guiding this vision.
• A keynote speech by Mr Charles Leadbeater one of the world’s leading authorities on innovation and creativity in organisations, and reportedly Tony Blair’s favourite corporate thinker.  Charles’s argument that entities so often lose their ability to innovate and their creativity culture as they increase with size provided compelling food for thought.
• A case study demonstrating how a patient ethnography study conducted in the USA and UK helped a global pharmaceutical company radically revise how it thought about a chronic medical condition.
• A presentation from The Netherlands that explained how to measure the often subtle and mixed consumer emotions typically evoked as a result of new product designs or enhancements to existing product designs.
• An inspiring presentation by the very entrepreneurial co-creator of one of the UK’s most recognised high street brands [Coffee Republic] which stressed the importance of complete consumer immersion in the world you are trying to create.

The Congress was rounded off by plenty of networking opportunities that allowed Taverner to cement its relationship with some of its overseas affiliates, as well as make some new friends.

The 60th ESOMAR Congress takes place in Berlin from the 16-19 September 2007.

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