Has anyone noticed that all of a sudden, the Oracle that is Lord Sugar has begun asking his apprentices to do research as part of the tasks he sets them.
Finally! I hear you cry – Alan and his cronies have accepted that using research clearly adds a great deal to most of the tasks asked of the apprentices, especially when it comes to NPD (the latest biscuits episode being a great example). In previous series’ we have been forced to watch the apprentices’ come up with some pretty ridiculous ideas without any concern for what the actual consumer might think – how many times last series did you think to yourself ‘they should have done some research on that’?
However, (and it’s a fairly large however) in most cases, the research conducted has not reflected very well on what research actually is. In most cases their groups consist of a room crammed with some ‘typical’ consumers (and their pets as was the case with the pet food episode) into which stomp the apprentices who proceed to ask the willing consumers a series of pretty loaded questions, get what the answer they want (frequently an answer that makes their colleagues suggestions look bad – yes I am thinking of Melody) and leave.
The one on one ‘interviews/intercepts’ were even worse – the most supremely ridiculous example being Melody and Leon walking around a Parisian Metro station asking (in pretty bad French I hasten to add) unsuspecting METRO TRAVELERS how useful they thought a child seat for CARS is! I think even the least research savvy person is likely to realise how biased that sample is. The aspect of that episode that most angered me though (I have to say there was some standing up, pointing and shouting at the TV) was the cheek of Melody’s boardroom comments examples including; ‘based on the market research we conducted…’ and ‘the market research said….’ Number 1: the bigger the sample size, the better i.e. asking four people about something is never going to give you representative answers, number 2: think about the type of person you are asking i.e. in this case – do they drive!? Once you started to take these factors into account then, maybe just maybe you can start to ‘refer’ to your research findings to support an argument.
Overall, the Apprentice seems to demonstrate quite a common perception of market research. Increasingly, people are starting to come round to how much research can do for business, not just to keep up with competitors but to find out what their consumer thinks/wants/needs – a notion which should really be at the heart of every business. This increasing realization however does not often come hand in hand with the equally as important notion that the research has to be done PROPERLY. Researchers work and train hard to ensure the findings they produce are the most representative they can be. So, while I am happy that Sir Alan has finally seen the light by insisting his apprentices do some research, I also worry he is not appreciating the importance of ensuring the research actually reflects consumer opinion. Overall however, we as researchers should happy that market research is getting the kind of mass-recognition Apprentice can offer and quite frankly it deserves.
Who knows, maybe next series Sir Alan might employ a budding young researcher *indiscrete cough* to do all his research…!
Tom
