We’re glad to announce that the team of volunteers in the Market Research Committee of the American Marketing Association Chapter for the DFW (DFW AMA) won the Volunteer of the Month Award in June, 2010. Michaela Mora, the founder and president of Relevant Insights, is the Director of the Market Research committee.

The DFW AMA is a very active chapter and is driven by its mission to educate, support and enhance the performance of marketing professionals in the DFW Metroplex. In this year alone, under the presidency of Michelle Lemire, the chapter has conducted more than 60 events. The attendance is up by 37% for  the Dallas luncheons, 47% for the Fort Worth luncheons and 77% for the Special Interest groups (SIGs).

“The DFW AMA is always eager to get feedback from its members and monitors satisfaction and interests at all chapter events, so we do a lot of surveys! My team helps to gather data, analyze it and provide insights on how the chapter can do better,” Michaela said.

Congratulations to Michaela Mora, Pat Billup, and Evelyn Yang!

About the Founder, Michaela Mora

Michaela is a market research professional with 20 years of international hands-on experience in industries such as internet subscription services, entertainment, online personals , offline and online retailing, automotive, travel, consumer packaged goods, and consulting services.

Michaela has conducted more than 300 studies including new product concept testing, market segmentation, customer satisfaction, A&U, pricing research, copy testing and Web site usability.

With a unique combination of strategic thinking and a hands-on approach, with extensive knowledge of market research principles and practices, Michaela has been able to deliver high quality research and insights in a cost-effective way, saving millions of dollars in research cost at client organizations where she has led in-house full-service market research agencies.

Michaela has working experience from both the client side and the supplier side in the U.S. and abroad. Before launching Relevant Insights, she managed the research team at Blockbuster Online where her research was instrumental in shaping the design and launch of BLOCKBUSTER Total Access™. Thanks to this service, Blockbuster Online was able to double its subscriber base from 1.5M to 3M in only 9 months.

Prior to Blockbuster, Michaela worked at Match.com and was directly involved in all research conducted to support the launch of two new online dating services: Chemistry.com and Dr. Phil’s MindFindBind. Before Match.com, Michaela was responsible for sales forecasting at Pro-Line International, the ethnic hair product division of Alberto Culver.

Her agency experience comes from working at M/A/R/C Research, Research International Sweden, and the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television for several years.

Michaela holds a MS in Marketing Research from The University of Texas at Arlington, a MS in Marketing, Advertising and PR from Stockholm University, and a BS in Psychology from Havana University. She also received the Professional Researcher Certification at the Expert Level, issued by the Marketing Research Association (MRA). She is fluent in English, Spanish and Swedish.

PUBLICATIONS

• Look At What’s Crucial Before Doing Research, 5/4/2012, Dallas Business Journal

• Gauge your customers’ satisfaction, 1/27/2012, Dallas Business Journal

• Build Your Brand The Smart Way, 12/30/2011, Dallas Business Journal

• Metrics That Will Guide You To Success, 11/30/2011, Dallas Business Journal

• Don’t Just Trust Your Gut — Do Research, 10/7/2011, Dallas Business Journal

• Understanding the Pros and Cons of Mixed-Mode Research, July 2011, Quirk’s Marketing Research Review

• Targeted Market Research, 4/1/2011, Dallas Business Journal 

• Research for Research Agencies: Examining Client-Side Priorities, 2/3/2011, American Marketing Association Newsletter

• Market Segmentation Is Key To Success, 12/31/2010, Dallas Business Journal

• When Do You Need A Market Research Vendor?, November 2010, Alert! Magazine, Market Research Association

• Getting The Right Price Takes More Than Guesswork, 10/29/10, Dallas Business Journal

• Measuring Brand Equity, 10/1/2010, Dallas Business Journal

• Using A Strong Questionnaire To Harvest High-Quality Data, July 2010, Quirk’s Marketing Research Review

• Insightful Planning On A Tight Market Research Budget, 5/3/2010, Dallas Business Journal

• The Basics of Successful Rebranding Research, 3/22/2010, Quirk’s Marketing Research Review e-Newsletter

• Savvy Businesses Realize Value of Market Research, 1/8/10, Dallas Business Journal