I recently led an end-of-project presentation over Zoom. During it, I couldn’t help but think how market research presentations have changed over the years. There was no single event or time period that changed the nature of research presentations, but if you teleported a researcher from the 1990’s to a modern presentation they would feel a bit uncomfortable.

I have been in hundreds of market research presentations — some led by me, some led by others, and I’ve racked up quite a few air miles getting to them. In many ways, today’s presentations are more effective than those in the past. In some other ways, quality has been lost. Below is a summary of some key differences.

Today’s presentations are:

• Far more likely to be conducted remotely over video or audio. COVID-19 disruptions acted as an accelerant onto this trend which was happening well before 2020. This has made presentations easier to schedule because not everyone has to be available in the office. This allows clients and suppliers to take part from their homes, hotels, and even their vehicles. It seems clear that a lasting effect of the pandemic will be that research presentations will be conducted via Zoom by default. There are plusses and minuses to this. For the first time in 30 years, I find myself working with clients whom I have never met in-person.
• Much more likely to be bringing in data and perspectives from outside the immediate project. Research projects and presentations tended to be standalone events in the past, concentrating solely on the area of inquiry the study addressed. Today’s presentations are often integrated into a wider reaching strategic discussion that goes beyond the questions the research addresses.
• More interactive. In yesteryear, the presentation typically consisted of the supplier running through the project results and implications for 45 minutes followed by a period of Q&A. It was rare to be interrupted before the Q&A portion of the meeting. Today’s presentations are often not presentations at all. As a supplier we feel like we are more like emcee’s leading a discussion than experts presenting findings.
• More inclusive of upper management. We used to present almost exclusively to researchers and mid-level marketers. Now, we tend to see a lot more marketing VP’s and CMOs, strategy officers, and even the CEO on occasion. It used to be rare that our reports would make it to the CEOs desk. Now, I’d say most of the time they do. This is indicative of the increasing role data and research has in business today.
• Far more likely to integrate the client’s perspective. In the past, internal research staff rarely tried to change or influence our reports and presentations, preferring to keep some distance and then separately add their perspective. Clients have become much more active in reviewing and revising supplier reports and presentations.

Presentations from the 1990’s were:

• A more thorough presentation of the findings of the study. They told a richer, more nuanced story. They focused a lot more on storytelling and building a case for the recommendations. Today’s presentations often feel like a race to get to the conclusions before you get interrupted.
• More confrontational. Being challenged on the study method, data quality, and interpretations was more commonplace a few decades ago. I felt a much greater need to prepare and rehearse than I do today because I am not as in control of the flow of the meetings as I was previously. In the past I felt like I had to know the data in great detail, and it was difficult for me to present a project if I wasn’t the lead analyst on it. Today, that is much less of a concern.
• More strategic. This refers more to the content of the studies than the presentation itself. Since far fewer studies were being done, the ones that were tended to be informing high consequence decisions. While plenty of strategic studies are still conducted, there are so many studies being done today that many of them are informing smaller, low-consequence, tactical decisions.
• More relaxed. Timelines were more relaxed and as a result research projects were planned well in advance and the projects fed into a wider strategic process. That still happens, but a lot of today’s projects are completed quickly (often too quickly) because information is needed to make a decision that wasn’t even on the radar a few weeks prior.
• More of a “show.” In the past we rehearsed more, were concerned about the graphical design of the slides, and worried about the layout of the room. Today, there is rarely time for that.
• More social. Traveling in for a presentation meant spending time beforehand with clients, touring offices, and almost always going to lunch or dinner afterword. Even before the COVID/Zoom era, more recent presentations tended to be “in and out” affairs – where suppliers greet the clients, give a presentation, and leave. While there are many plusses to this, some (I’d actually say most) of the best researchers I know are introverts who were never comfortable with this forced socialization. Those types of people are going to thrive in the new presentation environment.

Client-side researchers were much more planned out in the past. Annually, they would go through a planning phase where all the projects for the year would be budgeted and placed in a timeline. The research department would then execute against that plan. More recently, our clients seem like they don’t really know what projects they will be working on in a few weeks’ time – because many of today’s projects take just days from conception to execution.

I have also noticed that while clients are commissioning more projects they seem to be using fewer suppliers than in the past. I think this is because studies are being done so quickly they don’t have time to manage more than a few supplier relationships. Bids aren’t as competitive and are more likely to be sole-sourced.

Clients are thus developing closer professional relationships with their suppliers. Suppliers are closer partners with clients than ever before, but with this comes a caution. It becomes easy to lose a third-party objectivity when we get too close to the people and issues at hand and when clients have too heavy a hand in the report process. In this sense, I prefer the old days, where we provided a perspective and our clients would then add a POV. Now, we often meld the two into one presentation, and at time we lose the value that comes from a back and forth disagreement over what the findings mean to a business.

If I teleported my 1990’s self to today I would be amazed at how quickly projects go from conception to final presentation. Literally, this happens in about one-third the time it used to. There are many downsides of going too fast and clients rarely focus or care about them. While there are dangers to going too fast, clients seem to prefer getting something 90% right and getting it done tomorrow, than waiting for a perfect project.

There is even a new category of market research called “agile research” that seeks to provide real-time data. I am sure it is a category that will grow, but those employing it need to keep in mind that providing data faster than managers can act on it can actually be a disservice to the client. It is an irony of our field that more data and continuous data can actually slow down decision making.  

Today’s presentations are less stressful, more inclusive, and more strategic. The downside is there are probably too many of them – clients are conducting too many projects on minor issues, they don’t always learn thoroughly from one study before moving onto the next, and researchers are sometimes being rewarded more for getting things done than for providing insight into the business.