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Pacific Media Associates: Background and PhilosophyThe Founder's BackgroundDr. William L. Coggshall founded Pacific Media Associates in 1992 to conduct market research on large-screen displays, multimedia hardware, and multimedia software (tools). He had previously co-founded research firms New Media Research Inc., Software Access International Inc., and Dataquest Inc. He earned a BME with Honors from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Stanford University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He has been in the research and analysis business since 1965, with stints at SRI International and Creative Strategies prior to Dataquest. In those 30+ years he has built an unquestioned reputation for integrity and thorough work. He has also watched the evolution of computer-driven presentations with great interest since its inception, impatiently waiting until personal computer software and hardware made it possible to get professional-looking visuals onto slides, transparencies, and on-screen shows. He's been watching the LCD projection business since it began and the 3-tube projector business for the last ten years. Now that the technology is here, he's measuring how fast buyers are adopting it and what varieties they're demanding. The Best Forecasts Come From the Best ForecastersForecasting markets for which there are no precedents and short or no histories is tough. The best forecasts are made by analysts with the best inputs and the best feel for the possibilities. Forcing someone to make – and live by – a numerical estimate should force him/her to consider all the forces that shape that number. But only a good forecaster can "hear the numbers talking" to him/her, enabling him/her to extract meaningful conclusions and recommendations. "Get a $10 Helmet if You Have a $10 Head"This tidbit of sick humor in a motorcycle shop applies to the information business as well. Buying a one-shot report done by a short-term or junior researcher may be a cheap way to fill a spot on a bookshelf, but it's not a good way to get reliable, and actionable, information for making you-bet-your-company or you-bet-your-job decisions. Putting your money on an experienced researcher, who has a proven record of reasonable forecasts for which he/she has been accountable, and who follows the industry day-in and day-out, is a lot better bet. A Passion for ResearchSince high-tech market research has become a moderately big business in its own right, some research companies – particularly the larger ones – are run first to make money and second to do good research. While such a philosophy may be all right – at least in the short term – for some businesses, it is not all right for any business that deals with advising clients. The good research firms strive to deliver good information; good financial performance then follows naturally. |
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