Big Data? Small Data? How market research experiments add to predictive capabilities.

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Presented by Chris Robson & Scott Laing

Traditionally Market Research has run highly controlled experiments and built descriptive models of the data gathered. The data has typically been anything from a few hundred to a few thousand responses, but the exact make-up of the responses is well known and highly controlled. Now that we also have access to "Big Data" (whatever that means) from transactional or social sources, the question arises: "Is there still value of Small Data and controlled experiments?" In this lively talk we will show how a blended Small+Big approach gives our customers the "best of both worlds."

Chris Robson and Scott Laing recently joined ORC International, a leading global research firm, to form the Product Strategy and Analytics group.  Prior to ORC, they were co-founders and  principals of Parametric Marketing, a quantitative research and advanced analytics consultancy located in Vancouver, Washington.  Parametric was founded in 2003 to provide research and analytics  services to business professionals and policy makers. We specialize in analyzing consumer behavior and advising companies on the financial implications of product, pricing, promotional and brand decisions.  With our expertise in advanced research, data mining and business & financial modeling, we are uniquely equipped to help our clients address their most demanding problems. In addition, Parametric’s extensive development capabilities allow us to provide outstanding value through both standard reporting approaches and interactive tools.

About the Speakers

Chris Robson Bio

Chris Robson is Vice President and Senior Director of Analytics for the US for ORC International.  Prior to joining ORC, he was co-founder of Parametric Marketing, experts in Marketing Research and Data Sciences.

Chris is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in both marketing and technology.  Before co-founding Parametric Marketing he was Vice President of Engineering for WebCriteria, Inc. (acquired by Coremetrics, Inc.), and was responsible for the development of Site Analyst, described by Forrester as "a smart - and unique - choice for Web Managers struggling to define success metrics."  Prior to that, he spent thirteen years with Hewlett-Packard in a variety of senior management roles in R&D, Marketing, Business Development and Advanced Research.  He started his career as a mathematician building complex statistical models of radar systems.  Chris regularly speaks to technical and non-technical audiences – and sometimes both!  At SXSW 2012, he was a panelist in the spirited discussion Wall-E or Terminator: Predicting the Rise of AI.

Scott Laing Bio

Scott Laing recently joined ORC International after 10 years as Co-founder & Principal at Parametric Marketing. His interest in the business application of data drives integration of wide-ranging data sources into client engagements. Active in the research industry, Scott served as the President of the Puget Sound Research Forum for its 2011 – 2012 season.

Scott has substantial experience in all areas of Marketing. Prior to co-founding Parametric, he served as Director of Market Development at WebCriteria (acquired by Coremetrics, now IBM), responsible for defining and implementing partnership and lead generation strategies. In this role, he developed and led over 100 executive workshops to help clients define Marketing program objectives and measurement strategy. Prior to joining WebCriteria, Scott spent eight years with Hewlett-Packard in a variety of analytical marketing and product management roles at HP’s Corvallis, OR, Vancouver, WA and Böblingen, Germany sites.

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