Consumer surveys – expensive and overfull?

A few weeks ago, I heard a top executive say:

“Our data is enough for us; we analyze what we sell and can act accordingly. In practice, we no longer do contract research with customers (today called customer insights). It’s all too slow, time-consuming, and expensive …”.

Data analytics are trending. That’s right. Many analyses and deductions can be drawn from data. That’s also true. But – are data analyses alone sufficient, as is currently increasingly being colocated by some people in management?

Contract research is not cheap, as it is exclusively set up, and you always have to get in touch with “real people” through the survey approach. This costs time as well as money. But what does some management do today if they want to know why consumers buy and how the markets perceive their specific ideas?

I can tell you: trial and error. First, develop and launch, then market demand will provide the insight. And if it doesn’t work, you just try a different, modified product.