Guest blog from Leanna Comer, president of our research division.

I just returned from vacation. In my email inbox was a survey from one of the hotels where we stayed. I make my living conducting market research, so of course, I clicked on the link to participate. Early in the survey, I was asked if I used the wireless Internet in the room during my stay, and I clicked “no.” Why, then, was I later subjected to several more questions about the wireless Internet service in a series of questions about the amenities the hotel offered—how satisfied was I with the ease of logging on, how helpful was the staff in answering my questions, how satisfied was I with the speed, how much time did I spend on the Internet? Sure, I could click “not applicable,” which I did, but I shouldn’t have had the burden of doing so since I’d already said I did not use the Internet during my stay.  

Also in my inbox was an article on intelligent survey design, in which the author noted, “The advent of user-friendly online survey tools in recent years has created the illusion that anybody can write a survey questionnaire. After all, how hard can it be?” Online survey companies, like Zoomerang and Survey Monkey, are certainly both user-friendly and cost-efficient tools in a market researcher’s arsenal. The key word here, however, is tools. Just as my holding a scalpel wouldn’t make me a surgeon, someone armed with Survey Monkey and a burning question does not a market researcher make. Over the years, a lot of damage has been done to the market research industry by sloppy research methods and horribly designed questionnaires. And online survey tools, although quite useful when used properly, have certainly served to exacerbate that problem when they’re not.  

As someone who has devoted my career to market research, if I’m invited to participate in a survey, I typically oblige. However, I can’t tell you how many online surveys I’ve abandoned in recent years because it was so incredibly painful to participate. Poorly worded questions, branch logic that obviously didn’t work, extremely biased questions, response categories that weren’t mutually exclusive (or worse, didn’t include all possible options yet required an answer), surveys rife with typographical errors—I’ve seen it all. With each and every one of those survey experiences, I recognize and can appreciate why it’s getting harder and harder to persuade people to participate in the studies we conduct for our clients. No one wants to participate in a bad survey, and, trust me, there are lots of them out there. 

One of our clients—a professional association with several thousand members—uses Preston-Osborne to conduct their comprehensive research studies. They supplement those studies, though, with quick online surveys they manage themselves when they need to poll their membership on a single issue or simple matter. But here’s the great part: They enlist our expertise in designing the survey questionnaire before they field it. If only more folks out there would seek the advice of a market research professional before launching their own online survey then perhaps painful survey experiences would become less commonplace…and that would benefit us all—researchers and participants alike.  

(Stepping off my soapbox now.)

Oil Giant Says No Change of CEO, but Observers Say Shift Could Do Much to Clean Up Image

By Michael Bush
Published: July 26, 2010

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — The news media is reporting that Robert Dudley, the BP executive overseeing the cleanup in the Gulf, will replace Tony Hayward as the oil giant’s CEO. And many in the PR community think that would be a smart step for the beleaguered company right now.

Communications and crisis professionals said the move wouldn’t serve as a silver bullet or cure-all but replacing the gaffe-prone Mr. Hayward gives the company a chance to draw a line in the sand and create a fresh start. Careen Winters, exec VP at Interpublic Group of Cos.’ MWW Group, said a new CEO creates the opportunity for BP to say “that was us then, and this is now” while making the conversation about responsibility and not fault.

“All of the conversation about BP went past responsibility to fault with every foot-in-the-mouth comment that Tony Hayward made,” Ms Winters said. “A new CEO gives them a chance to take a breath and while he’s responsible for fixing the problems and moving the company forward, he gets the opportunity to not have the conversation be about fault as it relates to him and that can help BP move forward.”

Marian Salzman, president, Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, North America, said a new CEO is only a partial reboot and that the company now needs to work on restoring confidence with results versus pronouncement. “The challenge for BP is restoring its confidence so it can restore the public’s confidence,” Ms. Salzman said. She said the choice of Mr. Dudley, an American from the Gulf region, could provide a PR boost for BP. “Mr. Hayward is symbolic of what is wrong so he needs to be forgotten so that the global community can contemplate forgiving.”

Ms. Winters said having a U.S. CEO that has a U.S. style and view on accountability to lawmakers in Washington, investors on Wall Street, employees and customers, surely couldn’t hurt. But she said the devil will be in the details in terms of what kind of leader he turns out to be. “He has legitimate roots in the community, a legitimate concern for the region,” Ms. Winters said. “He’s of the community and not someone who was dropped into the community.”

Asked if she thought hiring a U.S. CEO could be viewed as pandering by BP to U.S. consumers, Ms. Winters said no. “The U.S. public will not just roll over because he is a U.S. CEO,” Ms. Winters said. “But the fact that he’s not a Brit, who just by virtue of style can come off detached and arrogant, can they make that work in their favor? I think they can. But I don’t think that’s a guarantee.”

A spokeswoman for BP cautioned against making assumptions about Mr. Dudley, noting that nothing official has been announced. “As we speak Mr. Hayward is still running BP,” she said.

With regards to BP’s marketing, Ms. Winters said there will no doubt be all kinds of experts suggesting that it change everything including its logo, name and advertising messages. But she said that might not be the best idea if it can’t execute. “BP needs to be able to deliver, and every marketing message is a promise and when you can’t deliver on the promise people will lose even more faith; it almost doesn’t matter what the promise is,” Ms. Winters said. “I would tell them to be focused on getting it right operationally and culturally and the evolution of the external message will come naturally from there. That would be a very powerful message from the CEO — ‘Here’s where I’m focused, from the inside of the company out.’ You can’t say the right things unless you’re doing the right things.”

Ms. Winters said if she were advising Mr. Dudley she’d keep him away from media tours and talking any big plans he may have for BP. Instead she would advise he keep his head down and make sure it is doing everything it can with the situation in the Gulf.

“Then he should focus on the operations and process improvements and cultural changes that BP needs to implement in order to be worthy of trust,” she said. “After that he can point to successes. This is not a situation where the right message can be a fix. The right actions over time can only change the course. But I always question whether the powers that be will have enough patience in a situation like this to give anybody enough time to make that happen.”

Interesting set of stats from the state Department of Education on high school transition. In Fayette County, Tates Creek had a 100 percent successful transition, which meant 2009 graduates successfully entered college, technical school, the military or the workforce. Lowest in Fayette County–Dunbar at 95.91 percent success. Fayette County average was 97.79 percent. So how does the FCPS stack up? Look at our neighboring counties:

Bourbon–92.82

Clark–92.63

Jessamine–95.31

Madison–95.69

Scott–99.50

Woodford–98.94

Breathitt County had the lowest success rate in the state at 63.95 while Jackson Independent (county seat of Breathitt) had a 100 percent success rate. How is that possible?