Saturday, May 23, 2009

Nokia is back for me

Yesterday I picked up a new phone - a Nokia E71. It is fantastic and it has been 6-7years since I have had a Nokia. I have had the phone for 24 hours and have worked out 90% of what I need to know.

In the early days of mobile phones I was extremely brand loyal and loved Nokia phones. I would not consider anything else. Somehow i ended up trialing lots of different phones and PDA's, Samsung and HTC mainly, between 2000 to present. I think tried something different because everyone seemed to have a Nokia and it was nice to be a bit different. I was not however really happy with any of these phones.

How things have changed in 2009. When I needed a new phone, i was advised to get a new HTC, IPhone or Blackberry. Something about these phones didn;t feel right for me and I decided to go back to Nokia. Why? I think it is because this phone was not common and every person you see has a blackberry or new Iphone.

So back with Nokia, its a little different than the pack but its a great handset (so far)

Friday, May 15, 2009

Who is tinkering to get the engine right?

I recently read in the UK based RESEARCH magazine that WPP Boss Martin Sorrell, described his groups Insight capability as one of their "engines of growth". Good news for the research profession if he is right which I suspect he is. It will only work however researchers (both part of WPP and everyone else) are able to deliver the insight in an engaging format, suitable for business in 2009 and beyond.

In the same magazine, there was an article titled "Research Skills must evolve with consumers", from the Advertising Research Foundations, Chief Research Officer, Joel Rubinson. He challenged the research industry to learn and incorporate a new set of skills to gain insight from consumers online. Hearing the unexpected and paying attention to the new vocab were mentioned. His view said that insights gathered from Social Media sources need to be merged and integrated with insights gained from more traditional research data collection methods.

We have a big job to do to ensure we are being trained to do this to ensure the growth engine is well tuned. When I look at training being offered by most professional societies now, i see more of the same courses that have been present for 20 years. We need to invest now. Any thoughts on what we can do?

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Precious Time



check out my May contribution to Research News entitled "Time is precious so stand up for it"

http://www.amsrs.com.au/index.cfm?a=detail&id=3206&eid=161

Lets not waste time, there is too much in the world to do, see and experience!