Current Technologies for
Market Research1
Over the next few years,
new approaches will gain traction1
Big Data
will provide the majority of "who, what, where and why"of consumer actions
Traditional quantitative & qualitative market research
will help fill in the gaps of information
Development of methods to interpret Big Data
will ensure the "representative" nature of insights emergingfrom big data
Insight consultancies
will harvest the Big Data and other market research channels
The estimated amount of digital information that is generated across the globe every day is considered to be 2.5 quintillion bytes. To put this in perspective, it is equivalent to digitizing everything in print at the Library of Congress and sending it out about 3x every second.
- IBM
meet BIG DATA
We are now in a digital and social age where there is constant conversation between consumer and company. Our world is interconnected in such a way that every touch-point – whether Twitter, Facebook, geo-tracking, etc – can be recorded, converted into text and mined for insights. Human behavior can be tracked and measured with "unprecedented fidelity." 2
And these insights – garnered throuh appropriate market research – serve as the foundation for successful strategies and targeted, integrated marketing.
Only four years ago, there were a handful of Big Data projects with total industry revenues under $100 million. It is now estimated that more than 90% of Fortune 500 companies invest in Big Data initiatives.3
The following will provide a more in-depth
view of the data having a big impact on the
market research industry
Insights that once took days or weeks to develop via standard market research techniques
can now be gleaned in hours, minutes or even seconds.
A retailer using Big Data analytics to its full potential
can add 60% to its operating margin.
The adoption of data-driven decision making
can result in a 5 to 6% rise in productivity.
Information Resources
1) Greenbook Research Industry Trends Report
2) How Big Data Market Research Benefits Big Businesses
3) Analyzing Customer Behavior – Predicting What Happens Next
The Market Model
• Articulate a clear description of your business model
and the current state of the marketplace
• Define your products/services
• Define total size of market
• Define monetization schedule(s)
• Define distribution mechanism
• Define geographic area you plan to sell to
Macro Trends & Insights
• Identify trends and insights that affect the marketplace,
your business model, brand, products/services and target
• Identify factors that may influence future conditions
Competitive Assessment
• Define entire competitive set
• Identify potential competitors
• Evaluate competitor's positioning and
marketing efforts
• Determine what differentiates you from
all sources of competition
Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities & Threats
• Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats of your business model, brand, current
products/services and any potential offerings
Target Insights
• Identify customers and prospects
• Identify customer and prospect preferences
• Identify current market and brand perceptions
• Identify brand attributes relevant to customers
and prospects
Valuable Proposition
• Define your brand experience and why it is unique,
relevant and valuable
Brand Positioning
• Develop your brand positioning statement
that articulates who you are, what your purpose is,
why you exist and why anyone should care
Communications & Messaging Framework
• Develop a framework for effectively communicating brand
character and values
• Identify all channels appropriate for engaging your customers
and prospects
• Identify integrations and coordination of brand strategy
across all media and platforms
Strategicplanning is in a constant state of transformation – due in part to the rapid speed at which new technologies emerge and alter business and messaging platforms. Determining the best path forward has never been more challenging, but sound strategic planning lays a strong foundation for your business – one forged of strategic insights and collaboration.
Strategic planning is a disciplined effort that gets to the core of a business and brand. It helps to actualize the fundamental framework needed to set priorities and goals, focus efforts and adjust direction in response to changing environments. Effective strategic planning defines an organization, who it serves, what it does and most importantly, why it does it.
Gone are the days when strategic planning could be defined as static – a one-size-fits-all model. Today, the way forward born of strategic planning must be adaptive yet commanding, nimble yet show restraint, and appreciate the value of thoughtful, intuitive thinking. To prep your brand for success in an age when pandemic movements can start from a single Tweet, strategic planning is a must.
Why do customers leave a company?
68% leave because of the treatment they receive
14% are dissatisfied with products & services
9% do business with competitors
5% seek alternatives
3% move away 1
it costs 5 to 10x more
to acquire new customers than it does to keep current ones 2
The probability of selling
to an existing customer is
60-70 %
The probability of selling
to a new prospect is
5-20 %3
Reducing customer churn by 5%
can increase profits 25 to 125% 4
Profits with 5% churn reduction (high estimate)
Profits with 5% churn reduction (low estimate)
Profits with typical churn
For every customer COMPLAINT, there are 26 others who have remained silent5
70 %
Almost 70% of customer churn is due to poor quality service
21 %
But businesses only attribute 21% to poor quality service8
Companies that prioritize
customer experience
generate 60%
higher profits10
Relevant emails drive 18x more revenue
than broadcast emails
Triggered messages have click rates 119%
higher than "business as usual" messages
Personalized emails improve
conversion rates by 10% 11
At its core, customer relationship management is a model for managing all interactions between a company and customer. It is a business strategy implemented to increase profitability by building and maintaining customer loyalty. Customer relationship management marries all data sources within your organization to clearly define your most valuable asset – the customer.
But the insights garnered through customer relationship management practices do more than help you gain a better understanding of your customer. They also help with retention, attracting new customers and increasing profitability – all while decreasing costs through increased efficiencies. Customer relationship management is a customer-centric philosophy – one that must be implemented throughout an entire company, its people and brands.
Information Resources
1) The Reason Customers Leave You is You
2) Keeping Your Customers with Email Marketing
3) 8 Customer Facts Marketers Can't Ignore
4) Winning the War on Customer Churn with Big Data
5) The Value of Complaints
6) Poor Customer Service Costs Companies $83 Billion Annually
7) Why Social Media Means Customer Service Can Make or Break Your Brand
8) 15 Statistics that Should Change the Business World – But Haven't
9) The Cost of Poor Quality Service
10) Customer Experience: The Next Corporate Battleground
11) Trigger Emails Score 119% Higher Click Rates than "Business as Usual" Messages
The Process
to Brand Identity
The process for developing a brand identity system that truly articulates your brand takes an incredible amount of research, smart thinking and intuitive design.
But a strategic brand identity ensures your brand is easily heard,
recognized and remembered.
Conduct a Brand Audit
Define the Strategy
Design Your Identity
Manage Assets
Brand Tone
What is it and why does it matter?
In simplest terms, brand tone is the personality of your brand or company. It serves as the guide for what you say and how you say it. Brand tone should convey your brand's values and beliefs but should also connect with your audience in a relevant way – like a friend speaking to another friend. Brand tone should sound and feel like a person, not a corporate mission statement. Because this is what makes your brand relatable to those you are having a conversation with – your customers and prospects.
Even with the explosion of online, mobile and all other technologies, one thing still holds true…
the brand experience
created in-store is
as important as ever
to consumers
Why is the in-store brand
experience so important?
E-commerce has limitations – 67% of consumers still want to see and touch products 3
Consumers are shopping less but want the experience of doing so to provide more 4
Mobile continues to grow and consumers want unified online and bricks-and-mortar experiences 4
48%
percentage of people 18 to 44 years-old who
claim brand loyalty depends on the brand
experiences created for them 1
90% of all US retail
transactions happen
in physical stores...5
but shopper
satisfaction is declining
up to 15% per year 6
People are 3x more likely to remember a real-world experience than a virtual one 7
80%
percentage of shoppers who will talk about a great retail experience with their friends – often telling 4 to 5 other people 2
75%
percentage of shoppers who have enjoyed a great retail experience and intend to return the next time they need a similar product 2
74% of retailers believe developing
a more engaging
in-store customer experience is critical to business 8
Information Resources
1) US Consumers Love the Brands that Love Them, According to
Analytic Partners Survey
2) Brand Experience and Shopper Loyalty in Retail
3) Strengthening the Core of Retailing to Help Retailers Deliver
on the Brand Promise
4) Clicks and Mortar: Why In-Store Experience Matters
(Now More Than Ever)
5) Adventures in Retail – In Search of Seamless Brand Experiences
6) Four Keys to Surviving the Future of Retail
7) Experience Matters: The Science Behind the Resurgence of Physical Stores
8) 74% of Retailers Believe Developing a More Engaging In-Store Customer
Experience is Critical to Business
Local Businesses
missing digital marketing basics
85% of consumers search for local businesses online, but without an optimized digital marketing strategy, can they find you?
Consumers spend a great deal of time online – on average, a little over an hour a day.4 Much of this time is spent on social sites, reading content or searching.5
Consumers rely on search engines. In fact, most consider search engine results to be reliable, educational and unbiased.6
Consumers
searching online for local businesses1
Small businesses without a website 2
Small businesses that don't show up in search results 3
Small businesses without a phone number on their website 3
Small businesses without an email address on their website 3
How your website ranks in search engine results could keep consumers from finding your products/services.
Search engine optimization is one of the many digital marketing tools to help consumers find you online,as most consumers don't venture past the first page of search results.
of consumers start with a search engine 7
of consumers never go beyond the first page of search results 8
Paid search ads provide 50% more clicks even when a business ranks #1 in organic search 9
Frequency of Posts on Social Media Sites 12
Post at least once a week
Post at least once a month
Post less than once a month
Post almost every day
Post many times per day
Never post an update
Social media has grown
713% in 7 years
Social sites have experienced the fastest growing online activity since 2005. Adults who use social media have grown significantly – from 8% usage in 2005 to 66% usage in 2011.10 Interestingly enough, internet users spend 1 out of every 6 minutes online using social media.11
It's no mystery that consumers are active on social media – to put this in perspective, there are 155 million Facebook users in the US. 13 So use social media tools consistently and with relevancy – as part of your targeted digital marketing strategy.
The percentage of small business owners who consider social media sites valuable is impressive – 86% find Facebook valuable, 71% YouTube and 60% Twitter. 14
7 out of 10
Consumers said they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations
5 out of 10
Consumers said they were more likely to use a local business that has a positive online reputation
Your Online Reputation Makes
a Big Impact With Consumers
Consumers often turn to the web when considering a new product or service, as there is no shortage of chatter discussing the good…and the bad.
• 76% of consumers consider online reviews when
choosing which local business to use
• 72% trust online reviews as much as
recommendations from family and friends
• 52% are more likely to choose a local business with a
positive online reputation 1
As an essential part of your digital marketing efforts, respond to all positive – and negative – feedback in a timely and appropriate manner.
Digital Marketing
Is mobile
Consumers spend an average of 2 hours per day using their mobile phone.15 As shown in the graph to the left, communication is the main reason for usage, but there is still an incredible amount of time spent browsing the web.17
Nearly 234 million Americans use mobile phones. In fact, mobile users would rather give up the following novelties than live without their phones for one week.17
• 70% alcohol
• 63% chocolate
• 33% sex
• 22% toothbrush
Of all smartphones available, the Android platform has the most market share (59%) in the US.18
More consumers
are using tablets
As previously discussed, consumers have a strong affinity to their mobile phones, but more and more are turning to tablets as well. Trends show that over half of internet users will own a tablet by 2015.19
And interestingly enough, consumers are not replacing one screen with another. They tend to use multiple screens at the same time.21
• 85% use a tablet or phone while watching TV
• 66% use a tablet or phone while on a computer
and watching TV
Digital marketing strategies should embrace trends such as this and anticipate how consumer behaviors evolve and change.
Growth of Tablet Ownership 20
Consumers search
for you on their mobile device
Trends predict that by 2016, local searches on mobile devices will exceed those done on computers.24 In fact, the number of Google searches via mobile has grown by 500% over the past two years.23
3 out of 5 consumers seek out local businesses on their smartphone 24
Consumers use their mobile devices to help make purchasing decisions
Consumers now shop via their mobile devices. Almost half of all US consumers have used their mobile devices to search for products and services online. 25
of smartphone owners use their phones to help make purchasing decisions
of those consumers use their phone while at a store
of those consumers use their phone while in the aisle where the product is sold 26
Information Resources
1) Study: 72% of Consumers Trust Online Reviews
As Much As Personal Recommendations
2) Google Ads Expert Highlights Tools for Small Businesses
3) Less Than 20% of SMB Websites Link to Social Presence
4) State of US Internet in Q1 2012
5) How People Spend Their Time Online
6) Search Engine Use 2012
7) 10 Stats to Justify SEO
8) 24 Eye Popping SEO Statistics
9) Impact of Organic Ranking on Ad Click
10) Pew Internet: Social Networking (full detail)
11) US Digital Future in Focus
12) The Social Habit
13) CheckFacebook
14) Small Business Social Media Infographic
15) People Now Spend More Time Daily on Mobile than TV or Computers
16) comScore Reports March 2012 US Mobile Subscriber Market Share
17) Survey Finds 1/3 of Americans More Willing to Give Up Sex Than Their Mobile Phones
18) Android and iOS-Powered Smartphones Expand Their Share of the Market in the 1st Quarter
19) Tablet Shopping Grows as Consumers Browse in Bed
20) A Closer Look at Gadget Ownership
21) Portrait of the Tablet User
22) When Will Mobile Local Searches Eclipse Desktop
23) The Mobile Playbook
24) 5th Annual Local Search Usage
25) Mobile Trends: Consumer Views of Mobile Shipping and Mobile Service Providers
26) Majority of US Smartphone Owners Use Devices to Aid Shopping
Online video consumption is showing record-breaking numbers.
Around the world, consumers watch over 200 billion videos online per month.1 Most videos are from YouTube, making it the 2nd largest search engine with 3 billion unique searches per month.2 & 3
THERE ARE 7 BILLION...
Consumers are watching business videos online.
Consumers use online video as a means to get information about a business and its products/services. Therefore, video can be a great asset to build trust and sway purchasing decisions.
8.5 out of 10
People may watch a video if it contains product information
8.7 out of 10
People reported they may watch demonstrations of a product 4
Information Resources
1) More than 200 Billion Online Videos Viewed Globally in October
2) YouTube as a Search Engine
3) YouTube Statistics
4) Consumers Value Videos that Educate, Demonstrate
Sponsorship is the
fastest growing form
of marketing in the US - surpassing
advertising and sales promotion1
Total North American Sponsorship Spending 2
North American Sponsorship Spending
by Property Type 2
Sponsorship creates opportunities for "embedded advertising" - where relevant,
intuitive messages are incorporated right into the action
IEG highlights the many
benefits of sponsorship3
Increase brand loyalty
Create awareness and visibility
Change/reinforce image
Drive retail traffic
Showcase community responsibility
Drive sales
Sample/display brand attributes
Narrowcasting
Merchandise opportunities
Annual Growth of Advertising,
Sales Promotion and Sponsorship 2
Sponsorship aligns companies with social responsibility –
a statement consumers react to
83% of Americans wish brands would support a cause and 41% have bought a product because it was associated with a cause they supported. 2
Information Resources
1) Sponsorship: A Key to Powerful Marketing
2) Sponsorship Spending
3) IEG's Guide to Why Companies Sponsor
4) Stat of the Day: 83% Want Brands to Support Causes
A look into the world of
branded merchandise
If done right, branded merchandise can create new loyalties with your customers and spread the word about your business, products and services to new audiences.
It is important to choose products that support and reinforce your brand image. But those same products also need to be of value to your customer, and there is industry research that can help you do just that.
Most popular branded merchandise categories
As the chart shows, writing instruments are the most popular promotional item with almost one-half of recipients having received at least one in the last year.
Interesting Facts
Branded Merchandise Categories
Average number of months branded merchandise is kept
What happens to branded merchandise when not kept?
Contrary to popular belief, promotional items are not just thrown away.
And the likelihood of that happening has decreased over the years.
Americans who have received branded merchandise remember the advertiser 87% of the time
This has been consistent since 2008 and is the highest percentage of any country. Of all branded merchandise items, outerwear has the highest recall among recipients at 97%. This is because people are more likely to receive one of the more popular promotional pieces, such as a writing instrument, than a jacket. Also, most recipients view jackets as being more expensive, so they are more likely to hold on to them.
How often do recipients feel favorable about the advertiser?
* ASI Global Advertising Specialties Impressions Study V.3
Looking at the in-store
shopper experience
There is no doubt that a great retail marketing strategy is born from a solid understanding of your shopper. Understanding their needs and purchasing behavior is essential to fostering a relationship that results in purchase, repeat purchase and eventually brand loyalty.
It is no secret that shoppers are inundated with product offerings and means of purchase, including in-store, online and mobile. Shoppers today are making a staggering number of their purchasing decisions in person – at a physical store. In fact, the number of shoppers making in-store purchasing decisions has increased from 70% in 1995 to 76% in 2012.
More often than not, the decision making process doesn't start until a shopper sees the product in-store and is face-to-face with your retail maketing strategy. The way that product is displayed, and the marketing materials available, is important to encouraging shopper purchase and increasing sales.
The following pages highlight key retail marketing insights found during the 2012 Shopper Engagement Study performed by Popai – The Global Association for Marketing at Retail.
How shoppers are making
in-store purchase decisions
Understanding the in-store decision making process is fundamental to retail marketing. In fact, the in-store decision rate reached an all time high of 76% in 2012 – showing shoppers plan less but make more decisions at the shelf.
However, "unplanned" purchases as a specific category are down. Most shoppers said impulse purchases happened as a result of remembering a certain item was needed or there was a sale.
Where are displays
in the Supermarket
More than 1 in 6 purchases are made when a display with that brand is present in the store.
In 1995, 47% of displays were placed in secondary locations. But this number reached 60% in 2012 as retailers tweaked their retail marketing strategy to take better advantage of cross-promotion; they put displays away from the more common home aisle.
Most Common In-Store Display Locations
Fixation Rates of Shoppers
Display types most commonly
noticed by shoppers
In the study conducted by Popai, half of surveyed shoppers recalled seeing at least one display, with end caps and free-standing displays being recalled most frequently. It is also important to note that 13% of all recorded eye fixations were drawn to in-store displays. Considering the field of eye-tracking and neuroscience, this is impressive.
The graph to the left breaks down the type of display most noticed by shoppers.
