Two market researchers you need to know
I’m on a flight back to NYC from an Academic Impressions conference I attended this week in San Diego. “Strategic Market Research: From Formulation to Implementation.” It takes a lot to get me to take the time to fly all the way to the West Coast but this conference really delivered. Kudos to Academic Impressions they really know how to put on a good show.
If I were any one of the associations that offers conferences for folks in the fields of marketing, recruitment, development, advancement, communications, public relations, enrollment management, etc., I would be watching Academic Impressions like a hawk. They have refined the process of putting together a stellar conference to an exact science. Actually, it’s a pretty simple formula. Hand pick great speakers to cover specific topics of interest to your audience. And I’m not just saying that because I was one of the speakers.
The very best part about the conference for me was meeting my two co-presenters; Lo DeJanvry, Director of Market Research for the Annual Fund at UC-Berkeley and Jerold Pearson, Director of Market Research at the Stanford Alumni Association. Lo used to work for Prophet Brand Strategy and has actually done some work with David Aaker. You probably have a couple of Aaker’s books in your office. Or, if you are like me, they are in your bedside table.
Lo has great stories of successful branding projects and some really funny ones of projects that failed, which reminds us all that our work in the area of marketing research, specifically as it relates to branding, is as much art as it is science. If you can get Lo to stop teasing Jerold just because he works for his arch-nemesis institution, he can also tell you some cool stories about being on the Olympic field hockey team.
Jerold is so well-versed in the principles of market research, I think he could have presented the entire two-day conference on his own without any preparation whatsoever. The only problem would have been that he’s not really cogent until about noon. Knowing that, we put him on first thing each morning.
If you ever find yourself at a conference where either one of these fine gentlemen are on the agenda, count yourself lucky and go to their sessions. And, if you are looking for a good resource for market research, put Jerold’s Web page in your “favorite places” folder.