Maybe you’re working for a software company that suddenly faces a free cloud-based solution (funded by advertising). Or perhaps you’re in a clothing retail chain whose market share is under attack from an offshore company using webcams to offer virtual fitting rooms and cut-to-order clothing. If you are employed by a brick-and-mortar retailer of DVD rentals, music, or books, you’ve already been disrupted and have either found a safe niche to hide in or are in the process of liquidating your stock.

Disruption cannot be avoided. Today, rapid changes in technology, customer preferences, competitive capabilities, market dynamics, even government regulations, make continual adaptation a requirement to avoid disruption, which can result in market share and even business loss. Can you help your company prepare for disruption? Even more valuable: Can you help your company be the one that has the insights to disrupt its competitors?!

For market insights professionals, the constant threat of disruption creates a new mandate: Provide the insights that help stakeholders understand where, what, how, how much, and why changes need to be made. So:

  • How well can you hear the voice of the customer?
  • How well do you understand competitive capabilities?
  • Have you worked through potential change scenarios with stakeholders?
  • Do you have the ability to spot early signs of change?
  • Do you have a plan for what you’ll do when change happens?

In upcoming research, as well as at Forrester’s Consumer Forum in October, we will provide more guidance on how market insights departments can better prepare for disruption.

For those who have experienced disruption, what have you learned? For those who see it coming, what changes should market insights professionals make?