The world is changing, and the way consumers view, access and consume media is evolving faster than any of us could have imagined. There are now devices that people can access on the move, wear and even link into their everyday activities. But as this evolving digital consumer develops, how are researchers keeping pace – or are we falling behind?

As we are now in the period where clients start to renew their Trackers for the coming year it is great to see so many recognising that panellists are changing their behaviours. Today up to 50% of panellists register on our ‘online’ panels through a non-PC device, this is up over 25% YOY. This means we are faced with a challenge to make surveys shorter, device agnostic and device optimised. With Trackers this is especially important as exclusions, sample frequency and the need for continuity quite often mean that a high amount of the sample available needs to be utilised. If the Tracker cannot access the 50% of panellists who choose tablets and smartphones then it can see an increase in sample blending and decrease in quality.

The great news is that many of the Trackers we are renewing are being amended for today’s audience and although there is a need for some parallel testing and possible data changes these changes will future proof the research and increase the quality of the insights.

So while we cannot stop the march of technology, we can work closely with our panellists and clients to develop a suite of survey and tracker solutions that mean we can be confident that we are ready for Survey 3.0, or whatever the next development is.