Corporate Secrets

I recently read about the extreme measures KFC takes to protect Col. Sander’s secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices. For example, only two company executives have access to the recipe at any one time, and their names and titles are secret. They use multiple suppliers who produce and blend the ingredients, but they only know a part of the entire contents. If you knew where the recipe was, you would have to open a vault, then 6 locks before getting to it.

This got me to thinking about corporate secrets that companies share with their marketing research partners. Maybe they are not as huge as the original recipe, but they are still significant. We learn about new products, relaunches, reformulations, ad campaigns, expansion plans, and likely retrenchment. Granted, most client firms require signed NDAs from their research vendors. But, you should also be asking them questions such as….

1. Do they have signed confidentiality agreements from each of their employees?
2.Do they require signed NDAs from their vendors and contractors?
3. Do they shred all sensitive documents?
4. Do they limit access to sensitive information on a “must know” basis?
5. Do they have the necessary IT and firewall security in place?

Sound marketing research firms should be able to answer “yes” to each of these questions. But companies also contract research projects to consultants, frequently working out of their home. Are they following these same precautions? Do you really want a copy of your concept being thrown out in their trash?