The United States and Europe dominate the market research industry with global revenues exceeding $40 billion. These research firms make up almost 5,000 companies in the US and generate over $15 billion in revenue here in the states.

Within this multi-billion dollar industry, there have been credibility concerns over the years. For example, back in 2013, The Globe and Mail, a leading Canadian online news source, pointed to botched political polls from a British Columbian campaign in their article entitled, “When pollsters get it wrong: The high cost of lost credibility.”

It can be very difficult to establish a criteria for measuring and judging brand awareness and, therefore, judging the efficacy of a marketing campaign. Unlike other measurements, such as website traffic, organic searches, or conversion, awareness is a much more intangible measurement, difficult to quantify and evaluate in a meaningful and objective way. Nevertheless, it can be done. One important tool for doing this can be market research.