Clare Franklin is Research Manager at MMR Research Worldwide. The business, started in 1989, employs nearly 100 full time staff in a diverse range of roles. MMR has a strong tradition in providing added-value research and re-invests heavily in methodology development to keep its research fresh. Brandphonics, the latest offer from MMR demonstrates the company’s commitment to making better brands and products for its clients.
Clare is 26 years old and lives in Didcot in Oxfordshire. She is currently living with her boyfriend and their two cats and describes a typical day in the life of an MMR researcher.
‘I have been with MMR for the last 3 years, since graduating from Bournemouth University with a degree in Business studies. I find the working environment really stimulating and it provides plenty of variety on a daily basis. I love going shopping at the weekend and seeing the fruits of my labour on the supermarket shelves or advertised on television – it’s a very satisfying feeling!’
7.00 Rise to alarm and head for the kettle – first cuppa out of the way and it’s time to think about dressing for the day ahead – internal meetings/external meetings, smart/casual/smart but casual etc. Second cuppa, bowl of muesli and it’s off.
Once out of town I have a brief trip through the Oxfordshire countryside – a nice way to start the day!
08.45 Arrive at the office in Wallingford and take 15 minutes to catch up with overnight e-mails – there can be a surprising number of these due to the international nature of most of our work, and I’m constantly navigating different time-zones to maximise ‘useable time’.
09.00 Everyone is now in the office and it’s time to get the ball rolling. First job is to check on fieldwork progress from our fieldwork department and overseas fieldwork providers. Data collection is at the heart of our business and there are a number of different ways of doing this, but one thing’s for sure – data is always being collected! Did my online surveys reach enough willing participants to complete overnight? Hopefully everything is running smoothly. It’s not always the case – but that would be dull wouldn’t it?
10.00 Phone rings and one of my clients briefs me on a new project – sounds interesting. An outline proposal with costs and timings is required by the end of the day. Time to speak to our fieldwork department and get the rest of the team up to speed and mobilised.
11.00 New projects are commissioned daily and the first step is to get department heads together for an initiation meeting. Agree timings, allocate resource and make sure that everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.
12.00 Time to switch project and catch up with a different team. Data is checked and validated and curiosity has got the better of me! I can’t resist a sneaky peak to see if we have a winning product. Oops, interesting result. It’s time to think about what it means and how we communicate it back to the client. Strategy agreed, it’s time to get the presentation created.
13.00 Phew – lunch time (on a good day!). Time to take 20 minutes to boost the local economy with a few like-minded individuals and find out the latest office gossip!
14.00 Training session, a regular and useful forum to allow colleagues to share useful methodology developments to the wider team. Usually worthwhile and sometimes quite an eye-opener!
15.00 The telephone is typically ringing all day, but by mid afternoon it’s time to contact those clients that I haven’t already heard from for a quick update and to ensure I have all of the information I need to hit impending project deadlines.
16.30 Check everything is in place for evening fieldwork and crack on with some desk work! Costs are compiled against the earlier brief and timings are run by the different departments involved. Our thoughts are outlined in an e-mail along with a couple of alternative approaches for consideration. E-mail is sent and it’s fingers crossed for a successful outcome!
17.30 End of the office day. Sometimes an evening will bring focus groups, a consumer test or finishing touches to an early morning debrief…but typically it brings a glass of red wine and feet up in front of a good soap!
To find out more about the MMR Research Worldwide click here.
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