DIFM: A third strategy emerges for corporate researchers.

“Are you Full-Service or DIY?” It’s become one of the most common introductory questions in our industry. This simple phrase is used to immediately typecast you in a conversation; for brand teams, the question is meant to discover how much research they conduct internally, while for research partners it’s a question to understand whether you provide “just tools” or exist to serve a broader consulting relationship. 

With the rise of user-friendly quant and qual DIY tools over the past 15 years, and the fact that many brands have hired an increasing number of internal researchers, it’s not surprising that the movement to “do-it-yourself” research has disrupted the way our industry has historically operated. 

While DIY vs. Full-Service is still an extremely meaningful way to categorize buyers and suppliers, at 20|20 we see a third category gaining steam as an alternative to the binary choice of DIY or Full-Service. I believe that over time, this third category will rival in size the other two camps of buyers and suppliers.

We call this third category DIFM - Do It For Me.

In a classic Goldilocks-style metaphor, DIFM researchers found themselves dissatisfied choosing between 100% outsource and 100% insource.

They sought out a third type of research partner, one who could work alongside them in some projects to become an extension of their corporate research team, plugging resource gaps and lending expertise in specific parts of the process, while in other projects they want that partner to take complete control of the design, data collection, and analysis. 

These DIFM researchers want access to leading DIY technology platforms, but don’t want to be handed a username and password and told “have fun with the software!” They also want the platform partners to provide guidance, advice, and even professional services like programming and respondent engagement.

These DIFM researchers want to work with strategic research consulting partners but also want to get their own hands dirty in the work from time to time to really get a feel for their customer’s experiences and feedback. They want to be in-the-trenches with their partner so they can hear first hand f?rom their users.

Until a few years ago, this middle-of-the-road desire was completely ignored by the traditional research DIY or Full-Service providers. However, when you take another look, you see the demand is growing, and we’re seeing several providers move in to fill this gap. There are several advantages to the DIFM buyer:

1. Right-sizing the research scope. Many projects today are somewhere between “quick and dirty DIY” and a lengthy, complicated engagement with a full-service firm. Some projects start off DIY, but then evolve into something more strategic. A DIFM partner can provide access to the tools and respondents, but can also expand their role in the project as needs evolve. This agile approach is becoming more and more desirable as brands want to quickly explore new areas of insight to fuel their growth.
2. Move faster. Because DIFM partners are often vertically integrated with the technology and respondent sample, they help the researcher get into field faster. They cut out the back-and-forth bidding and vendor selection process, and work under an existing rate card or master services agreement. Our own DIFM clients can launch projects in a fraction of the time of a traditional full-service engagement. 
3. Preserve budget. When a DIFM corporate researcher has a direct relationship with the platform and service provider, they can often see significant savings by “buying direct.” These savings can be used to fund additional research through the year, and sometimes add up to simply massive savings.

Do-It-For-Me is a trend I believe will continue to grow inside corporate research teams. The benefits we see for this type of client are enormous; one of our larger DIFM clients remarked that this strategy has allowed her teams to “do twice the research in half the time with the same budget, without adding headcount.” While this path isn’t for every insights team, its benefits can’t be ignored by those who are looking for that middle ground between DIY and Full-Service.