Case 2,3 America

arketing Research: An Applied Orientation

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“This could be more of a challenge than we previously

thought,” Melissa Marcello told her business associate, Julie

Litzenberger. After nodding in agreement, Litzenberger put

down her cup of coffee at the Vienna, Virginia, Starbucks

coffee shop near her firm’s headquarters.

Both Marcello and Litzenberger were far along their

career paths as researchers in the winter of 2008 when

they met at Starbucks, Marcello was CEO of research

agency Pursuant, Inc. (www.pursuantresearch.com), and

Litzenberger led the public relations division at marketing

communications agency Sage Communications (www.

sagecommunications.com). Both were based in the

Washington, D.C., area,

Litzenberger took the last bite of her cinnamon scone

before sipping her latte. She nodded again to Marcello across

the table for two before answering. “Research studies that are

the most successful in moving the needle are the studies

where the research firm uses scientific and credible methods,

poses the light questions, and provides the client company

with the insights needed to sufficiently reduce risk in decision

making,” Litzenberger said. “In short, improving decision

making is what effective marketing research is about.”

Over the years, Marcello and Litzenberger had witnessed

prospective client companies voicing resistance to pursuing

marketing research. Skeptics of professional marketing

research sometimes would say that they “already knew

enough about customers to make decisions.” Other times,

skeptics would assail the sampling methods of studies in an

attempt to dismiss the results. And in other instances,

skeptics would merely claim that finding the answers to such

questions about customers would be too expensive to obtain.

In sum, professionally done marketing research was presented as being impractical.

Marcello and Litzenberger were attempting to overcome

a challenge in client development. Specifically, they were

attempting to obtain evidence to confront skeptics of professionally done marketing research without compromising the

privacy of previous clients witb whom they had worked.

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