Published: 8/27/2024
Stuart Manning
Director, Sales, Dynata
Growing up, I remember playing the game telephone. Now for those of you who may not be familiar with the game here are the basics. Ten or so people would stand next to each other in a straight line. The game would begin at one end where the initiator would speak a sentence to the person on their left. Something like, “how big can you blow blue bubbles without a bubble blower?” The next person would repeat the sentence to the person on their left. This would continue until the last person was told the sentence. That person would then share what they heard with the group. What started out as “how big can you blow blue bubbles without a bubble blower?”, could end up as “how large can you make blue bubbles?” The outcome would almost always be funny, as it was the intention of the game. But it was a game, we were kids and there were no consequences. When it comes to business, getting inaccurate information can translate into a loss of millions of dollars. It’s imperative that you “get the sentence right.”
What is the value of quality data and why is it so important that it is not glossed over. Take for instance the 2008 housing crisis. Bad data overstated the values of mortgage-backed securities and other financial vehicles. The result was the collapse of the housing market, the end of one of the most influential financial institutions in the history of our country and widespread panic. Avoidable? Likely had the quality of the data been better.
Now, sometimes bad data yields a positive outcome. Let’s look at Columbus’ voyage in 1492. He set out to discover a better route to Asia. He relied on the information provided by a Persian cartographer. He must not have realized that he needed to convert the Arabic miles used by the cartographer to Roman miles so instead of winding up in Asia, he landed in America. And the rest, as they say, is history. Was it just dumb luck? We will never know, but do you want to rely on luck when making billion-dollar decisions?
Quality data is the bedrock which allows informed decision-making surrounding market research. In our industry the high cost of bad data causes a myriad of issues. Unreliable data can be problematic, providing researchers with faulty insights and compromising critical decision-making. When it comes to studies like brand trackers, lack of consistency can cause data fluctuations which can show false results. Poor data quality leads to project delays, reputational damage, price increases, lack of trust, and poor decision making. Much too high of a price to pay when the right partner, who can provide quality data, would eliminate all these threats.
Having the peace of mind that you can trust in the data is imperative to business executives of all organizations who need to make big decisions. Decisions which could mean the difference between profits and losses, an organization’s reputation, or people’s lives being changed.
So, when you’re a kid, it’s funny when a phrase in a game becomes a completely different phrase at the end of the line. But when you’re an executive responsible for what could be monumental decisions that influence so many different things it can prove disastrous.