Today, all sectors appear - more or less - to be in the grip of uberisation, not only consumer players, but also those in B2B... including digital marketing, with Dozor advertising, with Creads.
So why not marketing research?
A few introductory remarks, however.
First of all, it's not all advertising that has fallen victim to uberisation, but the creative side; strategic planning, for its part, seems to have been preserved, at least for the time being.
On the other hand, the communications industry has always relied on freelancers; what is changing is the way they are put in touch with their clients, via platforms where amateurs can also offer their services, and compete with seasoned specialists.
This is halfway between Uber - which federates VTC drivers who comply with the law - and Uberpop - which offered anyone the chance to practise a regulated profession without authorisation.
As far as marketing research is concerned, the phenomenon is neither new nor recent: for a long time, junior companies have been offering services at knock-down prices... and more often than not with no guarantee of quality!
In the end, it was a bit like Uberpop... before Uber!
Today, outsourcing only affects simple services that are fairly easy to provide and often have little added value: driving a car, renting a room, etc. Services that are easy to evaluate: the driver is friendly, the apartment is clean, etc. Services that are easy to assess: the driver is friendly, the flat is clean, etc.
Let's imagine a slightly complex issue requiring, for example, ethnology and in-depth interviews - nothing very rare, after all. Even before implementation, there is the question of the methodological approach: complicated to evaluate in an 'Uber'-style system.
There's no reason why the marketing research sector shouldn't be subject to outsourcing... at least when it comes to simple issues with little added value. However, there is less danger of this happening whenever the complexity of the question posed requires real expertise!
This does not mean that high-level freelancers will be able to join forces in the future to respond to sophisticated calls for tender. But this is no longer a question of outsourcing, simply of new organisational systems. The younger generations seem to be better suited to this kind of exercise.
But whether they are traditional institutes or networked freelancers, in both cases they are seasoned professionals... not neophytes a la "Uber".
