The industry habit no one questions.
Most market research briefs still start the same way:
“We need focus groups.”
“We need a brand tracker.”
“We need a survey.”
It gives the impression of momentum. Like something tangible is happening. But in reality, it’s skipping a step.
Methodology matters, but it shouldn’t be the starting point. When you jump straight to the tool, you often end up answering a question that was never properly defined in the first place.
The real failure isn’t methodological. It’s strategic.
After 30+ years working with leadership teams across the UK and Ireland, from local brands to PLCs, one issues comes up time and again.
In our experience, its rarely the research is done badly. Its just not tied closely enough to the decisions that needs to be made
What’s really happening behind most briefs?
- The decision itself hasn’t been clearly nailed down
- Teams lean on methods they’ve used before rather than stepping back
- There’s an unspoken hope the research will confirm an existing direction
So you end up with insight that looks good on paper but doesn’t shift a single decision.
We’ve seen businesses invest heavily in research, only to find that when it comes to the crunch, leadership still falls back on instinct, because the work hasn’t been set up to guide a real choice.
That’s the gap. Insight only proves its worth when it helps someone make a call they wouldn’t have made otherwise.
The commercial implication
When research starts with method instead of the decision, the impact shows up in ways that aren’t always immediately obvious.
Decisions drag on longer than they should. Positioning looks right internally but doesn’t quite land in market. Opportunities pass because there isn’t enough confidence to act.
In other words, the business keeps moving, but not necessarily in the right direction.
We’ve seen businesses spend six figures on research, only to end up exactly where they started or by the time the insight lands, the market has already moved, or worse, their competitors have.
This is where market intelligence and consumer insight should be pulling its weight: helping people move earlier, and with more certainty:
Start in a different place
Before commissioning any research, it’s worth stopping to ask a more basic question:
What decision are we actually trying to make here?
And just as importantly:
What do we need to understand to make that decision with confidence?
Only then does it make sense to talk about method.
At FN Research, this is where we take a different approach, because we’ve seen what happens when research is disconnected from decisions. So
- We start with the commercial decision, not the methodology
- We design consumer insight to influence action, not just inform
- We focus on clarity and usability in our findings, so leadership teams can move quickly
The aim isn’t to produce more research, it’s to make sure the right decisions actually get made.
And a final thought… If your research isn’t changing decisions, it isn’t working.
So before you commission your next project, ask yourself:
Are you investing in research,or in better decision-making?
If you need our hep to provide actionable insight to help drive your commercial decsions get in touch for an initial chat at fiona@fnresearch.co.uk