My wife and I recently purchased a new car. On the whole, I would call the process uneventful. We had done our research and quickly identified the car we wanted to buy. It was just a matter of going to the dealership and closing the deal.

What really struck me about the process was what happened after we bought our car, more specifically the day we went to pick up the car at the dealer.

As we were getting ready to leave with our brand new car, our salesperson approached us and politely asked to speak to us privately. We gladly obliged and followed him to his desk.

What ensued was a classic case of marketing research losing its way.

The traditional web survey is no longer the only player in the online research ecosystem.

Over the past few years, we have witnessed the emergence of:

• Social Media Research;
• Do It Yourself Research (DIY) and;
• Mobile Research.

Traditional web surveys are not disappearing anytime soon. However, their results can often times be complemented by integrating new practices such as social media research, DIY and mobile research into the process.

The online research toolbox is getting richer and market research firms need to adapt to this new reality or risk losing ground to firms specializing in these new techniques.

Have you ever had a project that required multiple reports in short order? Think...
- One report per region;
- One report per unit or division;
- One report per store;
- One report per wave - tracking studies.