Tip:
 So what has Birds Eye discovered...?

Targeting its key audience of mums, Birds Eye is now using insights to aligning itself with eating occasions, and aims to change consumer perceptions of the frozen food sector.
 

How can identifying and exploiting occasions help me?

Understanding how mums organise their family lives today and manage a range of pressures is key to identifying relevant occasions. Exploring these occasions will in turn reveal detailed insights to help design and communicate a brand solution which is aligned to consumer occasion needs today.

A simple example is the lunchtime meal deal, which is now commonplace. Well known drink and snack brands linking up on the fixture to provide a convenient grab and go lunch solution.

Clearly, many more possibilities exist across food categories...

…and thinking beyond food to other forms of regular consumption such as content or even professional services, these all potentially have target occasions which are equally important to understand, and by doing so could lead to a competitive advantage.

Just think… how would identifying and gathering insights into key occasions enhance my marketing…?
 

There are a range of research tools which can be combined to help us understand key occasions, and how we might identify with our target consumers and their need states. These can include:

• Online diaries
• Ethnography (observing naturally occurring settings)
• Focus groups and interviews

Thinking about understanding your target occasions, we could design a solution to fit your project objectives and budget. So while you’re thinking about it - why not ask us?

>>> see our capabilities and project experience

5 things every marketer should know...

• How do people use and interact with my brand?

• What motivates my loyal customers to stay loyal?

• How can my brand be seen as more relevant than my competitors?

• Why do I lose customers and what can I do about it?

• What unmet needs could my brand fulfil and thereby grow?

If you feel you have any gaps, then the best way to fill them is via market research which:

• observes behaviour

• probes the decisions being made

• draws insights from loyal, lapsed and potential customers

Understanding how and why people make their choices and what influences their decision outcomes is key to successful marketing.
 

Just think… if I could influence brand loyalty and also identify unmet needs…?

Ultimately, it’s all about understanding people, what they believe, how they behave in situations and what can influence that behaviour. That’s why researching the right people in the right environment is key. Being there, at the moment of truth, is all important.

>>> see our capabilities and project experience

Breathe life into your plans
and harness the Facebook / YouTube generation...

Nowadays, telling people what you think at that moment and sharing those moments through a camera lens is a normal, everyday experience for the ‘Facebook / YouTube generation’.

Whilst video has long been used to observe and record market research, such as focus groups, it used to be to that talking on camera was unusual and quite a formal and uncomfortable experience for many.

However, with video phones, hand held HD video recorders and web chat it is now possible to gather insights about the brand experience in situ, and bring these insights to life with video.

Whereas in the past focus group recordings might be quite dull to watch, today in situ video and online networking make for interesting and provoking aspect insight into the brand experience – and can also be used to bring brand presentations to live.

Just think… what might you discover from in situ video and social network experiences of your brand…?

New technologies and the Facebook / YouTube generation now give marketers the opportunity to make discoveries from in situ brand experiences, and ring their marketing plans to life.

>>> see our capabilities and project experience

HOT Topic:
Digital marketing benchmarks and getting double the standard response...

Digital marketing takes many forms and covers everything from email marketing to advertising on social networking sites and pay per click campaigns.

Most organisations nowadays incorporate digital marketing within their marketing plan.

However, response rates vary by sector – here are some examples of industry benchmarks for email marketing click through response rates:

          Fashion              1.5%
          Finance              2.0%
          Charity                3.5%
          B2B Services    1.5%
          B2B Sales         2.6%

(Source: The 2011 Email Marketing Benchmark Report, Sign-Up.to)

Generally speaking across all sectors you are doing well if you achieve over 3.3% click through response rate.
 

Getting over double the standard response rate can be done!

We recently worked with a catalogue company on their email marketing strategy and campaign execution.

By understanding the audience needs and email habits, we were able to help them achieve campaign click through response rates up to 6% - well over double the sector benchmark.

Key factors in achieving this included:

•  Understanding how to time campaigns around email and buying habits

•  Utilising motivating inbox visuals to achieve strong click to open rates

•  Knowing what information is needed and key motivating messages

•  Utilising a ‘net structure’ and setting anchor points to catch readers’ attention as they move through the email

Just think… what is every extra half point extra response worth to you?

We’ve also helped organisations achieve double digit response rates in gathering customer information.

So when it comes to your digital marketing, why not ask yourself 3 questions:

•  Do I know enough about the digital habits of my target audience?

•  Do I know which creative (visuals, messages) are the most motivating?

•  Do I know what they want to click on and do next?

>>> see our capabilities and project experience

5 reasons to... ask your own panel

Increasingly, companies are utilising their own panels to generate on-going insights, get closer to their customers and improve decision-making, and this includes a wide spread of organisations from retailers to charities.

5 key reasons to set up your own panel are:

1. Panels are a quick and low cost way of measuring customer opinion, and enable marketers to gain rapid answers to burning questions

2 They can include a sample of current users or groups of particular interest to the marketer for long term engagement

3. They can be used for ad hoc or small projects that might not justify their own research budget

4. Online panel research doesn’t incur the same recruitment, interviewing and data processing costs that can make regular telephone and other survey methods expensive

5. A panel can be used as a barometer of opinion, e.g. to help track how attitudes evolve before, during and after a marketing campaign, or to understand the evolving needs of segments
 

Just think… how your own panel could make more insights possible…?

Having your own panel on hand can provide a rapid and cost effective response to marketing dilemmas.

>>> see our capabilities and project experience

Top Tip:
 Avoid 'group think' and achieve
better insights

When you’re sat in a meeting and someone says “let’s do some research”, most people immediately think of focus groups.

Now don’t get me wrong, focus groups are a great way to explore a topic, understand the context to a situation or need, discuss solutions and gauge reactions to campaigns. Groups can achieve a deeper level of insight, as respondents interact; they are often quick to set up with fairly instant results.

However, there are many other ways of gathering insights, and here are 3 examples where we didn’t use focus groups and why:
 

1) Researching merchandising, fixtures and look and feel aspects

There’s not better place to research the shopping experience than in the aisle. Getting in the physical environment allows us to collect insights on the overall effect and ambience, along with individual design and specific fixture layout elements.

A focus group approach could be used with visual stimulus or a mock fixture, but this isn’t the same as evaluating real shoppers in shopping mode, making choices in the aisle.

For this project, we conducted intercept interviews and accompanied shopping trips to talk about the real experience of shopping the aisle and making choices.

Just think… of the benefit of generating insights at the point of decision...

2) Understanding the motivations of company directors

This project involved talking to very high level executives about professional matters and their personal motivations, so it was important to adapt the research process to maximise participation.

Focus groups would have failed. It was clearly not going to be practical to ask busy people to free up their diaries and travel some distance to join a focus group. For this audience, the cash incentive offered a thank you for their help provided little motivation - in fact, several respondents donated theirs to charity.

However, we successfully gathered the insights needed by conducting a series of individual interviews. We offered to travel to each respondent at a time of their choosing for a face-to-face interview, or to do the interview over the phone.

We have taken similar approaches when researching specialist groups, or used online groups to get around geographical difficulties.

Just think… going the extra mile builds rapport and makes for great participation and revealing research results

3) Generating insights around sensitive and personal matters

When there is the potential for social stigma or embarrassment it can be difficult for people to open up in a group situation and reveal their personal experiences, fears and motivations. Some reactions could be superficial, so as not to reveal inner most thoughts.

However, we successfully designed a research approach which delivered strategic insight into how people feel about very personal aspects of their lives, and what help they might seek. This was inclusive of ethnic and sexually diversity.

Instead of focus groups, we set up a relaxed, neutral and confidential environment to conduct one-to-one, face-to-face interviews that built trust and ensured confidentiality.

Just think… about the insights you can uncover when people reveal more about themselves...

Of course it’s the quality of the sample and depth of discussion which makes for insightful findings. That's why we often advise client to consider alternative tailor-made approaches alongside focus groups.

>>> see our capabilities and project experience