Please see a link to an interview conducted by Jörg Höhner in Marktforschung a leading German marketing publication. The English translation is detailed below.
Jörg Höhner, Senior Vice President, Global Head of Automotive, is responsible for the development of the automotive research business at SPA Future Thinking. In this interview he explains the planned international expansion in the automotive sector.
marktforschung.de: Mr. Hoehner, after many years working in large international market research agencies you took over the new position as Senior Vice President – Global Head of Automotive at the relatively new company SPA Future Thinking. How did this change happen?
Jörg Höhner: Whilst SPA Future Thinking is a relatively new company it was very familiar to me. SPA Future Thinking and one of the agencies it acquired in 2011, Maven Research, is a leading provider of CEM (Customer Experience Management) solutions to the automotive industry within the UK, with well-established and successful client relationships, an excellent team and innovative products.
I had known the management team for some time and at the end of 2011 I met with Jon Priest, CEO to discuss the opportunity of expanding their automotive sector at a global level. The opportunity to push the business at an international level from a strong base in the UK domestic market was a deciding factor.
The role has a clear remit to focus on automotive clients across Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America and on the practices of CEM, Innovation, Shopper Insights, Brand & Communication and Advanced Analytics.
Pivotal to my decision was the assessment that the company is fully prepared for the future challenges within the market research industry and the specific needs of the automotive sector.
marktforschung.de: What will your key activities be in the next few months?
Jörg Höhner: In the first few weeks I have made an extensive review of our current position, both internally and externally. I’ve had a very close look at the solutions that we currently offer to our clients and at potential areas for improvement. I have visited our clients and a large number of potential new clients to ascertain their current research needs and longer term requirements. The most pleasing aspect has been the very positive feedback I have received and I am therefore very confident as to our future business performance.
I am now in the process of planning and implementing our sales, communications and product strategies. One core focus will be to increase the awareness of the company and our offering within the automotive industry, at a global level and not just in the UK and Europe. We have already adapted and successfully launched a number of company wide solutions to the automotive industry. Over the year we are planning further launches of new exciting methodologies. For example, we have new approaches in the area of customer feedback, which are tailored to specific needs of the automotive industry such as car dealerships. Aspects like integration of different data sources, text analytics, data mining, issue resolution management, social media, etc. will all play an important role in these approaches.
marktforschung.de: SPA Future Thinking has opened their first office in Germany to coincide with your appointment. What are the reasons for the launch in Germany at this point in time?
Jörg Höhner: SPA Future Thinking were not explicitly looking to launch a full-service research offering in the German market but wanted to build on their established track record in providing international automotive research solutions out of the UK. It was my expertise in developing and managing national and global automotive programmes which was the real interest. I just happen to live in the most beautiful city in the world and so it was logical to open an office in Hamburg.
In addition, the geographical proximity to clients in the automotive industry played a role. Depending on future client requirements we will potentially create functions like account management and sales roles at locations which are close to our major clients and relevant to the automotive industry.
marktforschung.de: The market research market at a national and international level is highly competitive. From your point of view what currently are the main challenges and how do you propose to address them?
Jörg Höhner: At the moment the most exciting aspect of our industry is its transformation through technological advancements. Very often these advancements and their consequences on the industry are overestimated in the short term but underestimated in the long term. The market research industry is the primary supplier of data about consumer behaviour and attitudes and needs to find a new position in the new “data and information world”. For example, there will certainly be surveys in the future but the laws of nature in our industry will change radically.
Just a few examples of major trends shaping the future of the industry include the explosion and abundance of data from various sources like social media, the profound changes of client requirements to predictive insights and foresights, the convergence of the market by the entry of non-traditional competitors, new innovative tools and applications to observe consumer behavior, new ways for processing big data, collaboration with customers in new product development processes etc. All these trends will definitely result in a change and probably a re-order of the industry. Of course, I cannot speak for everyone, but every player in the industry needs to seriously consider their own role in its future.
For example in the automotive industry the amount of data and information about customers will increase markedly. Until now car makers and dealers respectively have had limited, infrequent transactions with consumers, e.g. purchase, warranty, service, repair, etc. Through the integration of the vehicle, connectivity services, mobile applications, integrated communication, mobility services and social networking, vast amounts of data about consumers will be available across a rapidly developing information network. This will provide car manufacturers with a completely new way to identify and understand the behaviour and needs of their customers.
The ability to collect, process, synthesize and purposely analyse the vast amount of structured and unstructured data from various sources and the successful integration in strategic and operational decisions will be integral to providing companies in our industry with a competitive advantage. For example, our new Customer Experience Management solutions integrate various data sources (e.g. CRM data, transactional data, structured and unstructured feedback, operational data, social media, etc.) alongside the basic survey data and data mining and data modeling techniques.
From my point of view the areas of mobile Internet and Internet of Things are still underestimated. At SPA Future Thinking we have, for example, developed and launched a mobile ethnographic application, Be-There, which can be used to observe and monitor the behavior of consumers in real-time by using video, audio, photos, text and barcodes in-situ. It enables us to get closer to the consumer than ever before. The insights we are able to gain from this methodology provide our clients with a unique and enlightening view of their consumers’ lives.
marktforschung.de: The automotive industry has always been a key focus in your professional life. How did it come about?
Jörg Höhner: Actually I was never a car freak from a technical point of view; it was more or less by accident. In my first position after university I was responsible for the development and management of a CATI centre. At this time, almost 20 years ago, it was quite an advanced and innovative method of data collection. One of the first assignments was an international tracking survey for a major car manufacturer. As a result there was a need for a dedicated automotive business unit which I successfully implemented and managed. I could easily have worked in a different sector if the client had been a bank or a telecommunications provider. However, I was immediately sold on this sector with the specific structures and characteristics so with only some exceptions I have remained truly focussed to the automotive industry.
marktforschung.de: How would you describe the specific characteristics of the automotive industry and automotive research?
Jörg Höhner: After initially overcoming the global financial crisis, in the coming years the automotive industry needs to address a number of new major challenges. Overcapacity in production in developed markets must be tailored to the moderate growth in demand; massive investments in new powertrain technologies must be made in order to cope with the protection of natural resources; changing consumer needs have to be dealt with new concepts of integrated mobility; the major traffic problems in ever faster growing mega cities must be solved; requirements in emerging markets must be expanded through localised vehicles and services; the sales and service of vehicles must be adapted to the changing technological conditions; new communication and information technologies must be integrated into vehicles.
The market research industry must address and find clients solutions to these issues and the different requirements of the various market players; manufacturers, parts suppliers, retailers, service providers, etc. In doing so, topics like innovation, consumer needs and customer loyalty will be key to our clients. What are the key requirements for the vehicle of tomorrow? What will mobility of the future look like?
At a general level the automotive research is not seriously different from other sectors. There are some characteristics which are more typical for this sector; the majority of research projects have an international scope, and an increasingly global focus, and budgets are very much focussed on three areas, customer satisfaction, new product development and brand / communication. There are many syndicated products available within the market and a vast amount of secondary data is available which will be integrated in study approaches.
For more information please contact Jörg Höhner, Senior Vice President, Global Head of Automotive:
E: joerg.hoehner@spafuturethinking.com
T: +49 (0)176 32 97 25 22