Executive Summary: Marketing is involved in a lot of big decisions, many of them involving risk: whether to enter a new market, how to respond to competitive pressure, if a new product launch makes sense or what services to offer. Ideally, these decisions are driven by data, and quite often that data is the product of research. Marketing research can help mitigate risk, and while research conclusions themselves don’t make decisions, decision-makers value having research to guide them. The marketing organization is often responsible for conducting the research that influences many of these decisions. Housing this responsibility in the marketing organization seems logical given the nature of the decisions the research influences. However, “marketing” and “marketing research” are not interchangeable functions. While they are related, even a brilliant marketing team isn’t necessarily equipped to properly conduct marketing research. There’s simply too much at stake for marketing to lead research efforts and draw conclusions based on flawed methods and faulty assumptions. This is not to say that the marketing organization can’t conduct marketing research effectively, but does it do so? In a study sponsored by SurveyGizmo, Demand Metric partnered with the Marketing Research Association (MRA) to provide a unique view of marketing research from two perspectives. The first is from the perspective of the marketing community – CMOs, vice-presidents of marketing, directors of marketing and their teams that have marketing research on their list of responsibilities. The second view comes from corporate marketing researchers who are members of the MRA whose focus and specialty is marketing research. As this report will reveal, there are differences in how these two groups approach conducting marketing research. By comparing and contrasting the focus, methods, tools, importance and capabilities between these groups, marketers will have data and parameters to help them become more effective marketing researchers. Table of Contents: - Introduction - Executive Summary - Marketing Research's Importance & Focus - Initiating & Conducting Research - Methods & Tools - Education, Capabilities, Credibility & Impact - Challenges & The Future of Research - Analyst Bottom Line - Acknowledgements
 - About SurveyGizmo - About Demand Metric - Appendix A - Survey Background - Appendix B - New Tools Used in the Last Year Research Methodology: The Demand Metric 2014 Marketing Research Landscape study was administered online during the period of January 30, 2014 through February 21, 2014. Separate but identical surveys were administered to two populations: the Demand Metric marketing community and the Marketing Research Association membership. To obtain this document, visit us at http://www.demandmetric.com/register

1. Benchmark Report
Marketing Research Landscape
Sponsored By:
© 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
3
Introduction
29
Analyst Bottom Line
4
Executive Summary
30
Acknowledgments
5
Marketing Research’s Importance & Focus
31
About SurveyGizmo
9
Initiating & Conducting Research
32
About Demand Metric
14
Methods & Tools
33
Appendix A – Survey Background
20
Education, Capabilities, Credibility & Impact
34
Appendix B – New Tools Used in the Last Year
24
Challenges & The Future of Research

3. INTRODUCTION
Marketing is involved in a lot of big decisions, many of them involving risk: whether to enter a new market, how to respond to
competitive pressure, if a new product launch makes sense or what services to offer. Ideally, these decisions are driven by data,
and quite often that data is the product of research. Marketing research can help mitigate risk, and while research
conclusions themselves don’t make decisions, decision-makers value having research to guide them.
The marketing organization is often responsible for conducting the research that influences many of these decisions. Housing
this responsibility in the marketing organization seems logical given the nature of the decisions the research influences.
However, “marketing” and “marketing research” are not interchangeable functions. While they are related, even a brilliant
marketing team isn’t necessarily equipped to properly conduct marketing research. There’s simply too much at stake for
marketing to lead research efforts and draw conclusions based on flawed methods and faulty assumptions. This is not to say
that the marketing organization can’t conduct marketing research effectively, but does it do so?
In a study sponsored by SurveyGizmo, Demand Metric partnered with the Marketing Research Association (MRA) to
provide a unique view of marketing research from two perspectives. The first is from the perspective of the marketing
community – CMOs, vice-presidents of marketing, directors of marketing and their teams that have marketing research on their
list of responsibilities. The second view comes from corporate marketing researchers who are members of the MRA whose
focus and specialty is marketing research.
As this report will reveal, there are differences in how these two groups approach conducting marketing research. By
comparing and contrasting the focus, methods, tools, importance and capabilities between these groups, marketers
will have data and parameters to help them become more effective marketing researchers.
3

4. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Primary research for this study was done using a survey, and the data analysis provides these key findings:
 The top two research focus areas for marketers and marketing researchers alike are Customers and the Market.
 Marketing researchers serve a more balanced group of research initiators than do marketers, who primarily address their own
research needs.
 It if far more common for marketers to conduct marketing research in small companies (30%) than larger ones (7%).
 Marketing researchers conduct research far more frequently than marketers: 63% of marketing researchers conduct daily or
ongoing research, compared to just 15% of marketers.
 In a ranking of tools used to conduct marketing research, statistical analysis tools are virtually tied for first place for
marketing researchers, but rank seventh for marketers.
 Over three-fourths of marketers report that they don’t have the capabilities to tackle advanced marketing research questions.
 Over 90% of both marketers and marketing researchers project their marketing research workload will stay the same
or increase in 2014 compared to 2013.
This report details the results and insights from the analysis of the study data. Data for this study was gathered using two
identical surveys, one of which was fielded to the Demand Metric marketing community, the other to members of the Marketing
Research Association. This approach created the opportunity to compare how these groups conduct marketing research. For
more details on the survey participants, please see the Appendix A.

5. MARKETING RESEARCH’S IMPORTANCE & FOCUS
Figure 1: 83% of marketers believe marketing research is moderately or very important to their
organizations, and 91% of marketing researchers feel this same way.
Importance of Marketing Research
Marketers
Marketing Researchers
As stated in the introduction, research supports many
important decisions.
60%
54%
50%
40%
30%
The first question the study survey asked was to gauge the
perception of the importance of marketing research.
43%
37%
40%
The results of this question are presented in Figure 1.
Marketers and marketing researchers alike attach a
high importance to the work of marketing research.
20%
10%
0%
Moderately important
Very important
Marketing Research Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=307
5
The fact that marketing researchers attach greater
importance to it should surprise no one – it is the focus of
their work.

6. MARKETING RESEARCH’S IMPORTANCE & FOCUS
Figure 2: More marketing researchers are focused on customers, product and service research
than are marketers.
Marketing Research Focus Areas
Marketing Researchers
Other
Marketers
 Customers: to determine satisfaction, preferences,
perception, Net Promoter Score, etc.
19%
10%
65%
Service
 Market: to understand trends, share, brand awareness,
direction, gain insights, etc.
49%
76%
Product
 Competitors: to detect competitive threats, share, etc.
57%
58%
Competitors
 Product: to get ideas for new products, features,
measure reliability, satisfaction, etc.
66%
84%
85%
Market
 Service: to measure service quality or other attributes of
services provided.
89%
Customers
0%
80%
20%
When it comes to marketing research efforts, does the
focus between these groups differ? The survey presented
the following for participants to identify their research focus:
40%
60%
80%
 Other research types
100%
Participants were able to select any of these areas of focus
that applied to them, and Figure 2 summarizes the results
for each group in this study.
Marketing Research Benchmark Report, Demand Metric, March 2014, n=307
6
The statistically significant differences in the focus
areas of research were for the “Product”, “Service”
and “Other” response options.

7. MARKETING RESEARCH’S IMPORTANCE & FOCUS
In one of the top two marketing research focus areas – market – there is no difference across the two groups. For the other top
focus area – customer – the difference isn’t substantial but it is statistically significant. It is a bit surprising that marketers are
not placing the greatest emphasis on marketing research to understand customers more deeply.
Christine Crandell, President of New Business Strategies and a Research Director at Demand Metric, observed in the 2014
Outlook Study:
“The shift in 2013 that had the most impact is the rise of the customer. Companies have intellectually embraced the need to be
customer-centric. In 2013, progressive CEOs in all industries realized that becoming customer-aligned was an across-the-board
initiative that touched everything and everyone in their organizations. It is a transformation and that is driving the rise of the
Chief Customer Officer.”
Achieving a high degree of customer-centricity involves a number of influences, culture and leadership occupying the top of the
list. However, being customer driven is fundamentally a data-driven proposition. Marketers must lead the way in the effort, and
guesswork about customer sentiment, preferences, needs and dispositions is not only foolish, it’s dangerous. To look inside
any company that is widely admired as customer driven will reveal a relentless pursuit of a better customer
understanding through research.
Marketers that aspire to lead their companies to higher levels of customer centricity must have this research at the top
of the agenda. Companies must remain in a perpetual state of customer marketing research because the shelf life of findings is
typically quite short. Marketing researchers seem to understand this better than the broader marketing community.
7

8. MARKETING RESEARCH’S IMPORTANCE & FOCUS
Almost 20% of the marketing researchers’ sample selected the “Other” response option, and many participants wrote
in comments that help illustrate the richness and variety of the marketing research they conduct. The scope of their
efforts includes research on consumer behavior, testing creative or messaging, pricing, demographics, benchmarking and other
types. Here is a sample of some of their write-in comments:
 “Validate ads and concepts, develop ads and concepts, consumer understanding...”
 “Test positioning and messaging, test promotional materials.”
 “Help assess impact of our sales force.”
 “Opinions: to measure perceptions about issues, policies, new development, corporate image and reputation.”
 “User experience, including advanced methodologies such as eye tracking.”
 “Advertising research, behavioral modeling.”
 “Price testing.”
 “Corporate strategy, M&A, etc.”
 “Customer experience.”
8

9. ABOUT DEMAND METRIC
Demand Metric is a global marketing research & advisory firm serving a membership community of over 38,000 marketing
professionals, CEOs, and business owners with advisory services, custom research & benchmarking reports, vendor studies,
consulting methodologies, training, and a library of 500+ practical tools and templates.
Using Demand Metric resources, members complete projects faster and with greater confidence, boosting respect for the
marketing team and making it easier to justify needed resources. Our 1,000+ corporate clients range from start-ups to consulting
firms to members of the Global 1000.
To learn more about Demand Metric, please visit: www.demandmetric.com.
To read the rest of this Benchmark Report, become a Demand Metric member today!