Experts harp on Marketing Research as aid to National Development

Experts in the marketing research profession have stated the need for Nigeria to pay greater attention to the practice in order to facilitate greater national development.

The Nigerian Marketing Research Association (NiMRA) noted that market research plays a central role in product development, adding both the public and private sectors should embrace it more to reap its benefits.

President of NiMRA, Mr. Lanre Fasakin, stated that marketing research today has become very central to development as it helps in bringing ideas from conceptualization to eventual implementation.

He said: “Once ideas have been generated, marketing research principle/methods are employed to help in ideas screening; test concepts during which modifications needed are discovered; developing concepts into acceptable/marketable products; conduct test marketing/market stimulation of the prepared product sometimes deploying other elements of the mix such as advertising and effective distribution.”

Fasakin who spoke on Friday following the completion of NiMRA’s national conference noted that Nigeria will experience greater development if marketing research is embraced properly as many failed efforts at bringing products and services to the market will undergo better testing processes before they are eventually deployed. 

According to him, in the advanced world, marketing research is an important element that all businesses and sometimes government use to assess and understand market situations.

While making clarifications on the position of NiMRA vis-a-vis other professional bodies such as the Nigerian Institute of Marketing and the likes, Fasakin explained that the association was not a parallel body to any existing organization noting that NiMRA has its terms of reference well cut out.

He predicted that NiMRA will in no time assume the respectability of professional bodies such as Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, for accountants; the NBA, for lawyers; and NMA, for medical doctors, as efforts are top-gear at the National Assembly to lobby for a charter status by way of legislative enactment for the regulation of the activities of the body.

Putting journalists present at the occasion up to speed on the activities of the association, Fasakin disclosed that since the new executive council of the body came on board in 2010, its contributions to the advancement of NiMRA has been of intrinsic and extrinsic value.

Of the former it has been “able to promote a heightened consciousness on the essence of our great association by stimulating renewed vigour and interest in members in members,” he said, while adding that of the latter the association has put in place the following initiative, including, paying courtesy visits to market research agencies and media houses; introduction of monthly e-newsletter; promotion of membership drive; execution of mini-library project, among others.

The organization also indicated its readiness to partner media with the aim of drawing public awareness regarding its activities and for membership drive, which according to Fasakin, is open, competitive but non-discriminatory, saying accelerated efforts are on course to grow student membership as well.