If there was one word to describe 2021, it would be unpredictable. Whether you got a vaccine, left your job, went on vacation, or were impacted by supply chain issues, we experienced changes that affected our personal and professional lives. Just when we thought we had mastered one challenge, another one would show up to shake things up yet again.

Market researchers are always on a mission to innovate. While they’re finding solutions to challenges experienced by consumers, the inner workings of their teams can also face challenges. If you’ve ever struggled with market research prioritization, logistics, team bandwidth or research timelines, you’re not alone.

Many of today’s successful teams are applying a Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) framework to redefine product categories and identify new opportunity areas for their brand. Among those success stories is Hormel Foods’ consumer insights team.

Launching a product or service that no one wants is like throwing a party that no one attends. The number one way to get some insurance on your innovation ideas? Invite your customer to the product development team by using online research communities. Injecting the voice of the consumer is essential to generating new ideas and validating them at the same time. And generating rapid, iterative insights throughout development is the fastest way to get there.

Jobs-to-be-done is a framework for better understanding customer behavior. While conventional marketing focuses on market demographics or product attributes, Jobs Theory gets to the root cause of behavior to expose the functional, social and emotional dimensions that explain why customers make the choices they do. People don’t simply buy products or services – they pull them into their lives to make progress. We call this progress the “job” they are trying to get done, and understanding this opens a world of innovation possibilities.

Market research continues to evolve in exciting ways. New tools continue to develop, and platform capabilities are upgrading with better, faster and stronger features. The marketplace is flooded with these shiny tools that make market research look easy. But research expertise is still essential to help companies make the right decisions. All flash and no rigor will lead to bad research and sub-par business results.