By Paul Nnanwobu

When people talk about digital transformation, they often picture sleek dashboards, AI-powered analytics, or maybe drones flying over farmland. But in fieldwork—especially market and social research—it’s not quite that glamorous. Sometimes, it’s about persuading a team that a tablet will actually make their job easier than a paper form. Or realizing that a shiny new app is useless in a rural area with patchy internet.

I’ve been part of more than one transformation journey at Random Dynamic Resources Ltd, working out of both Nigeria and Canada. And if I’m honest, not every digital initiative was a roaring success from the start. You learn. Sometimes the learning is the real value.

One of the first lessons: technology alone doesn’t transform fieldwork. People do. I remember a data collection project spanning several West African countries. We had a state-of-the-art mobile survey platform, GPS tagging, real-time uploads—the works. But early on, upload rates lagged. We discovered that some field agents were saving surveys locally and planning to “sync later” because they worried about draining phone batteries in remote areas. It wasn’t a tech problem—it was a human trust issue. Once we addressed battery support and did more training, adoption soared.

That leads to lesson two: training is never one-and-done. Digital tools evolve quickly, but human habits… not so much. You have to keep showing, reassuring, sometimes re-explaining the same step in a different way. And that’s fine. A cautious operator is better than one who clicks through without understanding.

Third lesson? Connectivity is king, but you need a plan B. In rural Tanzania, our teams sometimes worked offline for days before reaching an area with a strong enough signal to sync data. We had to design workflows that allowed for both online and offline work without risking data loss or duplication. It’s not the kind of thing that gets written into glossy tech case studies, but in the field, it matters more than anything.

Another takeaway: analytics tools are only as good as the culture around them. You can pump real-time dashboards to project managers, but if they’re not actively interpreting and acting on those insights, it’s wasted potential. We started small—flagging anomalies early, celebrating “fast corrections” when they happened. That built a culture of responsiveness.

I should mention—our push toward smarter, more connected fieldwork has been part of a broader journey. This year, Random Dynamic Resources Ltd is proud to be nominated for the 2025 Go Global Awards in London, hosted by the International Trade Council. And this isn’t just about recognition. That event brings together the sharpest business minds from around the world. It’s a meeting ground for sharing exactly these kinds of lessons—what works, what fails, what might shape the next decade of global research. We’re looking forward to being in that room, swapping stories that don’t always make it into official reports.

Lastly—and this is perhaps the most human lesson—digital transformation in fieldwork should make the work feel better. Not just faster or cheaper. If your field teams feel more supported, if your clients feel more confident, if your data tells its story with fewer gaps—that’s the win.

By Paul Nnanwobu

For many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), branding isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. The focus is often on survival—on pushing sales, managing costs, hiring the right people, and navigating supply chain hiccups. Understandably, deep-dive research into brand communication might feel like a luxury.

But here’s the thing—when you skip understanding how your brand is perceived, or how your message is landing, you risk building a business on guesswork. That’s a tough position to scale from.

Brand communication research isn’t about fancy taglines or flashy logos. It’s about clarity. It's about learning how customers experience your business, what they think when they hear your name, and whether your values match your voice. For SMEs, especially in competitive, rapidly changing markets like those across Africa, this is gold.

Let’s take an example. A food processing SME in West Africa recently approached us at Random Dynamic Resources Ltd, where I work. They had a strong product—affordable, nutritious, locally sourced—but they were struggling to gain traction outside their home region. Their packaging was attractive, and they were pushing promotions. But nothing seemed to click.

Through a quick brand perception study, we uncovered something simple but critical: their brand voice was too technical. Their intended audience—working-class mothers—felt disconnected. Their messaging didn’t speak to their day-to-day concerns like ease, affordability, or emotional trust. After tweaking their communication tone based on the research, their engagement rates and regional sales began to lift within just a few months.

It's not always that immediate, of course. Sometimes it’s murkier. But research gives you the map. Without it, you’re just hoping your message resonates.

In Africa’s evolving marketplace, this kind of research is no longer optional for growth-minded SMEs. Mobile-first consumers, increasingly exposed to global brands, are becoming more discerning. They compare. They contrast. They remember who made them feel seen—and who didn’t.

At Random Dynamic Resources Ltd, a Nigeria and Canada-based research company, we’ve had the opportunity to work with dozens of SMEs across the continent. From startups in Nairobi to family-run operations in Accra, one consistent thread is that many businesses have the heart, but haven’t yet honed the language to express what they stand for.

That’s where brand communication research steps in. It answers questions like:

Are you speaking to your audience, or at them?

Do your visuals, messages, and tone match what your target market wants to hear?

Are you building a story that resonates or just broadcasting noise?

And this isn’t a one-time fix. As customer expectations evolve, so should your messaging. Periodic research—through surveys, interviews, or even digital listening—can help SMEs adapt and stay ahead.

We’re proud that our work in this space has earned Random Dynamic Resources Ltd a nomination for the 2025 Go Global Awards, hosted by the International Trade Council in London this November. But more than just an awards program, the event is a gathering of the world’s top business minds. It’s a place to connect, collaborate, and share ideas in a world that isn’t slowing down. Being part of that conversation—especially representing African insights—matters to us.

To any SME reading this, I’ll say: brand research doesn’t need to be expensive or complicated. Even simple exercises—like testing slogans, visuals, or social media tone with a small sample of your audience—can uncover patterns. Over time, those patterns shape decisions. And those decisions shape reputation.

Ultimately, what you say—and how people feel about it—is as important as what you sell. In fact, it’s often the reason they buy from you in the first place.