Using 'Extension Teams' to build capacity, generate integrated insights and drive business imapact

1. Using ‘Extension Teams’ to build capacity, generate integrated
insights and drive business impact
A blueocean market intelligence and Microsoft presentation
Kumar Mehta PhD – CEO, blueocean market intelligence
Jeff Mercer PhD – Director Market Research, Microsoft

2. Research at Microsoft has been evolving
Research studies to
facilitate decisions
and reduce risk
Consumer insight
Inspire ideas to
ignite growth
Research 1.0
Research 2.0
Research 3.0
1
Generating research data
Using research data
Using information
2
Delivering data
Delivering insight
Delivering impact
3
Discipline-focused
Partnership-focused
Decision-focused
4
Fragmentation
Collaboration
Integration
5
Reacting to the business
Supporting the business
Driving the business

3. Research at Microsoft – Providing fact based insights to drive
Microsoft’s most important business decisions
Customer & Market Research Team
•
Product Research, Campaign Research, and Corporate Research
•
Inform business strategy, marketing strategy, product development,
campaign strategy & effectiveness, and in-market optimization decisions.
•
Breadth of customers and issues
85+ Research Consultants
•
Centralized market research function
•
Researchers serve as consultants to the business
Evolving our Practice
•
Shift from Research Managers to Research Consultants:
•
Evolving our skill set
•
Evolving how we work
•
Building capacity

4. Building Capacity with Extension Teams – Creating a model where
researchers can spend more time acting as a strategic partner to those in
the business lines
Ideal Use of Researcher time
Old Model
70%
Research Operations
70%
30% Business
Consultancy
Researchers are doing more..





domain understanding
problem framing
future-thinking pieces
predictive analysis
storytelling
Business Consultancy
30% Research
Operations
and less..





data cuts
searching for data and information
market tracking
time spent creating PPT slides
checking of survey links and banners

5. Incorporating new streams of data - There is a big need to understand digital
data, as well as more traditional primary and secondary research sources
Wip
Source: Incredible Things That Happen Every 60 Seconds On The Internet

6. Microsoft has built an ‘Extension Team’ with blueocean to help enable
the consultancy model
What is an extension team?
• A team of people that serve as an extension of the Microsoft research team,
custom built to align to Microsoft requirements
• Exclusive to Microsoft’s business and paid for on a retainer basis
• Designed to provide the right blend of skill-sets for the work required
Benefits of extension team
Adds significant
Adds
Adds
Capacity
Speed
Skill sets
Frees up researchers
to focus on driving
impact and insights
for the business
Most initiatives
completed
in a few
business days
Researchers have
access to new skills
Such as visualization, secondary
research, advanced
analytics and others

7. Microsoft/blueocean Extension team principles
Custom built and dedicated to Microsoft
Viewed as team members, not suppliers
Retainer and not project based relationship to enable
continuity, familiarity and speed
Become the go-to team for solving complex
Access to all available data sources
problems

8. Microsoft researchers are armed with a 360 view
Secondary
Social
Primary
• Familiarity with data
sources leads to
efficiencies and faster
turn times
Microsoft + Blueocean
360
Insights
Behavioral
• Extension teams look at
multiple sources of data
to help answer a business
question
Internal
• Integrated insights means
greater ROI for Microsoft

9. Phablets Analysis – An interesting form-factor?
Business Problem
•
•
Our Approach
The Phablet emerged quickly as a new category
Microsoft needed to understand how consumers
were viewing the device
Use of Multiple Data Sources
Primary
Data
Secondary/
Syndicated
Social
Media
• Phablet vs.
Smartphone
usage
differences
• Demo Profiling
• Reasons for
phone
selection
• Functionality
• Key drivers
• Scope of
product
• Geo
differences
• Voice of the
Customer
• Buzz/
Sentiment
• Geographical
uptake
Impact
This 360 analysis helped Microsoft quickly understand:
•
•
•
Market landscape of the new category
Expectations for the short and long term growth of
the category
Implications to the phone/tablet/PC categories
Synthesis
Storytelling
Powerful visualization

10. blueocean has scaled
AA Benefits to support more divisions of Microsoft over time
Extension Team Members
50
Text
Analytics
Advanced
Analytics,
High end
Visualization
40
Transactional
Analytics
Scenario Presentation,
Data Visualization
30
• More skill-sets added
over time
Secondary Research,
Survey Analysis
20
Helpdesks
10
• Model adopted broadly
• More processes and
standardization added
over time
Primary
Reporting
Information
Audit
0
‘06
‘07
‘08
• Started small with
initial proof of concept
‘09
‘10
Year
‘11
‘12
‘13

11. Extension Teams - Outcomes and Keys to Success
Increased capacity to
provide business
consultation
Increased ROI on
MR assets
Cost savings
Communication &
Feedback
Commitment to Evolving
Engagement

12. transformation through
integration: realize the full potential
of your information
QUESTIONS?
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