Leading Edge Marketing Research: 21st-Century Tools and Practices

Robert J. Kaden is the author of Guerrilla Marketing Research, co-author of MORE Guerrilla Marketing Research and President of The Kaden Company, a marketing research company. He has been in market research his entire career, spending a number of years in the research departments at various Chicago advertising agencies and, in the early 1970s, becoming President of Goldring & Company. Goldring became one of Chicago’s premier research suppliers, employing a staff of more than 40 market research professionals. He and his partners sold Goldring to MAI, plc, a U.K. financial and market research conglomerate, in 1989. In 1992, he started The Kaden Company and continues today to serve his marketing research clients. Bob has worked extensively in the retail, banking, credit card, food, consumer package goods, health care, educational, toy, technology and direct marketing industries. He has been involved in more than 3,500 focus-group and survey studies and has pioneered many unique quantitative and qualitative market research approaches. Over the years, he has written numerous articles on marketing research and new product development approaches for a variety of business websites and professional journals. He speaks frequently to business and university audiences on a wide range of research topics, with particular attention to the "Guerrilla" approach to marketing research. He has lectured widely and conducted numerous virtual seminars. His speaking engagements have taken him to many U.S. cities, as well as London, Paris and Moscow, where he addressed audiences on the use of attitude research in the direct marketing industry as well as on the application of creative problem-solving principles to marketing research problems. Additionally, he has taught as adjunct professor in the Medill Graduate Program at Northwestern University.

Gerald Linda, the co-author of MORE Guerrilla Marketing Research, re-established the marketing consulting firm, Gerald Linda & Associates, in 1994. The firm provides marketing strategy, planning and research services to a mix of large, sophisticated marketers as well as smaller, entrepreneurial companies. A second service is aiding advertising and public relations agencies with their new business and account planning efforts. And a third service area is assuming senior marketing leadership/ executional roles on an interim basis. Mr. Linda received a BS in Business Administration and a MBA at Northeastern University, Boston. He received the Candidate in Philosophy degree from the University of Michigan for completing his doctoral course work. He is a frequent writer, whose thinking has appeared dozens of times in refereed (Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Advertising Research, Views, the Journal of the Qualitative Research Consultants Association), trade and professional publications. And he has made over 100 presentations and speeches at professional and trade association meetings and conferences. He is on the marketing faculty of the American Management Association and has served on the faculty of the American Marketing Association’s School for Marketing Research. He also serves on the editorial review board for the Journal of Current Issues in Research and Advertising.

Melvin Prince holds a Ph.D. degree from Columbia University. He is a professor of marketing at Southern Connecticut State University. He teaches graduate courses in marketing research, consumer behavior and advertising. Past academic appointments include teaching and research positions at Brandeis University, Fordham University, Pace, Iona College and Quinnipiac University. Dr. Prince is also President of Prince Associates and provides analytic counsel to research companies and their clients. He spearheaded the research and development of the instant coupon machine, a breakthrough in-store promotional device. His previous industry experience includes marketing research directorships at advertising agencies, manufacturing companies and the media. He worked in this capacity for BBDO and Marsteller agencies, National Brand Scanning, J. B. Williams, M &M’s Candies, and Scholastic Magazines. He is a member of the American Marketing Association, American Statistical Association, Association for Consumer Research, and the Society for Consumer Psychology, a division of the American Psychological Association. He has delivered addresses before the Advertising Research Foundation, the Association of National Advertisers and the Market Research Council. He has written three books, including Consumer Research for Management Decisions. His articles have previously appeared in such journals as Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Economic Psychology, Business Horizons, Business Strategy Review, Journal of Advertising and Journal of Advertising Research. A major theme of his articles include cutting edge issues in research methodology, such as the reliability of positioning studies, innovative approaches to focus groups, and potentials of mixed methods studies. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Business Research.