YouGov Shopper: market research on new grounds

  While the name YouGov mayn’t necessarily ring a bell for domestic FMCG market players, it is a major international research firm. What are the company’s strengths?

– YouGov mayn’t be so well-known in Europe, but globally it is a very large company with extensive and diverse online research and public opinion polling capabilities. The acquisition of the Household Panel business means that we now have a professional investor behind us, who believes in market research in the long term.

 Does this mean that everything has remained the same in terms of day-to-day work?

– Yes, but there have been great changes behind the scenes. The international management has been replaced, and the task in the past 1.5-2 years has been to separate from the former parent company and establish the conditions for independent operation.

Our goal is to always ensure that data does not stand alone, but rather highlights connections that are directly useful to the client. We must be present not only as data analysts, but also as consultants.

 Is this happening in other countries as well?

– Similar processes are taking place in other CEE countries. Our organisation is constantly evolving, as we are optimising our operations. One of the keys to our success is that we employ professionals who have been members of our team for many years, have highly specialised knowledge and are familiar with the specifics of the Hungarian market.

 How has sampling developed in recent years and what new opportunities opened up for research?

– The panel that used to have 2,000 members has doubled in size over the years. I have always believed that household panel data is very special, for instance completely different from retail audit. These two methods complement and reinforce each other. Household panel makes it possible for us to understand consumer motivations and habits.

 How has the role of market research changed in the FMCG sector recently?

– It has become clear that our customers are asking increasingly complex questions that often address deeper business issues. They want more than just simple data; they would like to know what is behind the numbers and how changes can be interpreted. We must act not only as data analysts, but also as consultants. (x)

Thoughts on the domestic FMCG market: