Market Knowledge

Census Day

The ultimate market research project is happening today – yep its’ Census Day. While many may not get very excited by this event, it is an immensely important survey and has significance beyond knowing how many people live in NZ. And it’s also a relatively rare event, as the last one occurred back in 2006.

From a market research perspective, this is the reference. We are in the business of gathering representative feedback, and the Census is generally the basis for determining what a representative view of the market looks like.

Good political polls (they are not all created equal) need an accurate population reference (age, gender, location) from which to take a sample of 1,000 people, to represent the views of the voters. It’s the same process for many research surveys, and using the 2006 Census is well and truly past it as a reference.

For the first time we can fill in the Census online – a practice that most market researchers are well versed in. And the difference between the online versus paper copy – for me, the online approach was far easier and quicker.

So if you haven’t done so already, fill in the Census. And then sit back and wait, as we won’t know the results for some time. In the meantime, we’ll struggle on with the 2006 results.

As the Olympics draw to a close its fair to say the country is feeling justifiably proud of its athletes and their achievements. Watching the Olympics is an invaluable insight into the psyche of not only an individual, but also a country. Witness the jubilation of NZ getting a bronze in the women’s rowing and contrast with the Australian reaction to coming second in the pool. One country proclaims ‘winners’ and the other ‘loser’.

Listening to commentators during an event also gives you a glimpse of the attitudes within a country. The English commentators tend to back the underdog, the Kiwi commentator hope for the best, but are prepared for the worst, while our friends across the ditch just expect to win, and feel robbed if they don’t.

Showing our relative immaturity as a nation, we often find ways to show our standing on the world stage. Remember the early medal comparisons, and in particular that Picton had more Gold medals than Australia. Then the Stats Department gets in on the action and re-proportions the medal tally to a per capita basis (placing NZ 5th rather than 15th on the official medal table).

Unfortunately this manipulation with the results also happens in the business world. It is relatively common practice for the results to be ‘adjusted’ to suit a particular situation or personal perspective. Yes the results will invariably be more favourable but not necessarily reflect the whole or the true picture. In the end it comes down to the degree of confidence an individual or business has to confront the reality of their situation.