On August 16, 2018 research firm Parks Associates hosted its first open house and asked members of the North Texas community to come learn what the company is all about. Attendees got to hear a brief introduction about Parks Associates from the company’s SVP, Elizabeth Parks and the Director of Business Development, Jason Paris.  Afterwards the company’s research analysts and directors gave quick presentations to highlight Parks Associates strengths.

The first group of presentations were focused on the Smart Home industry, one of the company’s top areas of research, and introduced Brad Russell, Research Director and expert in the Connected Home. He gave a brief presentation on the connected home and convergence of industries like energy and insurance in to the smart home space. Dina Abdelrazik, Research Analyst, discussed the growing DIY security market and the driving forces behind it such as price, ease, and safety. She also talked about voice control in the connected home, such as the insurgence of smart speaker adoption. Parks Associates’ energy specialist Tom Kerber, Director, IoT Strategy, presented research on the growth of energy efficient homes, how consumers value its importance, and how energy providers can get in front of this movement to keep support from their customers. Jennifer Kent, Director of Research Quality and Product Development, discussed connected health, an emerging industry that Parks Associates has been following for years. She analyzed data concerning device adoption, how consumers are creating habits, and what more can providers do to increase overall satisfaction and differences in their customers’ health.

Parks Associates’ Access and Entertainment team covers data directly from consumers concerning OTT services, Consumer Electronics (CE), Voice, Pay-TV, and more. Brett Sappington, Senior Director of Research, started the presentation off with research on the decline of traditional TV services and changes in the industry that are anticipated as pay-TV is losing traction with OTT services. He also presented research on growth in the CE industry including the number of CE devices consumers own and how much are being purchased.. Hunter Sappington, Research Analyst, went deeper in to data concerning OTT competition and the demographics that are subscribing to these services, including comparisons between generation X and millennials. Voice in the entertainment industry was presented by Craig Leslie, Research Analyst, who believes the next step for voice is direct control of entertainment devices including the partnerships of companies like Comcast and Fandango.

Overall the informational session was a huge success that showcased Parks Associates’ strengths in market research. Attendees were able to get a glimpse of what kind of data Parks Associates collects as well as projections and ideas from the analysts themselves.

If you missed the event, you can download a copy of the presentation: State of the Market: Smart Home and Connected Entertainment.