Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Uncovering What Customers Really Think How to Conduct Research that Gets to the Truth Bureau West, Inc. Market Research & Marketing Strategy Los Angeles, California, USA Tel:

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Bureau West: research & strategy Consortium of independent researchers –Qualitative research (focus groups, interviews, online methods) –Quantitative research (surveys) –Website-related research (usability, conceptual) “Agnostic” when it comes to methodology –What’s the best way to answer the research question?

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Asking direct questions When conducting market research, it’s tempting to simply ask participants direct questions: –Would you buy this product? –What do you like about that product? –What do you think of this brand? The problem is, research participants lie. (Perhaps unintentionally.) –When asked a direct question, people try to theorize how they would make a decision in a given situation, which can be different than actually being in that situation. We need to give them the context to answer the question –Physical aspect (what are the choices?) –Emotional aspect (how do they feel about it?)

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Understanding customers’ relationship with… Direct questioning: “How do you feel about X?” “Why is it important to you?”

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Understanding customers’ relationship with… “Choose a picture that best illustrates how you feel about X.” Or: –Choose among colors. –Choose among random pictures and tell a story about how it relates to X.

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Which positioning statement is best? Direct questioning: “Please read this statement. This isn’t an ad, but it’s an idea that might be behind an ad. What do you think of what it’s saying? “Now please read this statement…” “And this statement…” “Which statement works best? Why do you say that?”

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Which positioning statement is best? Provide a bullseye with the attributes the statements need to convey in the center. –Participants place positioning statements based on how close they are to those attributes

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Impressions and benefits of a brand Direct questioning: “What do you think of X?” “What do you like about it?” “What don’t you like?”

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Impressions and benefits of a brand “Think of as many things as you can say about X and write them on the lines shown” Or… Brand

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Impressions and benefits of a brand Laddering –“What attributes of X are important to you? –“What’s the benefit to you of attribute Y?” –“Tell me a bit more about the personal value of that benefit to you. Why is it valuable?” Or…

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Impressions and benefits of a brand What do people say about the product or brand? What do they think about the product or brand? Can add: What do they feel? Or… “Imagine a situation where the product was not available.” –“Describe what life would be like.” Or… “Write a love letter to the brand…”

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Where is the brand in the competitive field? Direct questioning: “Who are the competitors for X?” “How does X compare? In what ways is X better? In what ways is X worse?”

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Where is the brand in the competitive field? Perceptual map: (Based on attributes defined earlier) “Where is X on this map?” “Where are the competitors?” (one at a time) And don’t forget: “If brand x, y and z were people at a party, what would they be like? What car would they drive up in? How would they be dressed? How would they behave?” (Or for more broad-stroke impressions:) “What animal would they be? Why do you say that?” Higher Lower Less More

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Which features are important? Direct questioning: “Here is a list of features. Which of these is important to you? Which are unimportant? Which are just ‘nice to have?’”

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Which features are important? “Here is a list of 20 features. You each have four green dots and four yellow dots. Put a green dot on the features you want the most, and put a yellow dot on the features that you want, but that aren’t as important to you as the green-dot ones.” (Or give them a certain number of dollars to allocate.)

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Evaluating a new product Direct questioning: “Do you like this product? Why do you say that?”

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Evaluating a new product “The first stick figure is the typical customer for this product. Let’s describe that person…” “The second stick figure is you. Let’s go over the same descriptions.” “Now let’s compare the two.” Name: ____________________ Lives where? ________________________________ Car drives: __________________________ Marital status: __________________ Kids? How many? ________________ 5 adjectives to describe lifestyle: ____________________ Name: ____________________ Lives where? ________________________________ Car drives: __________________________ Marital status: __________________ Kids? How many? ________________ 5 adjectives to describe lifestyle: ____________________

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Evaluating a new product “Imagine yourself using the product.” “What would change?” “How would it fit in to your routine?”

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Evaluating designs, logos Direct questioning: “What does this communicate to you?”

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Evaluating designs, logos “What’s the first word that comes into your mind when you see this logo?” Or: Place the designs on a perceptual map, with the axes based on the attributes we want to convey. Higher Lower Less More

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Likelihood to buy Direct questioning: “How likely would you be to buy this?” Alternate approach: “Here are your options and their prices. How do you go about choosing?”

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Many other options Examples? Use your creativity. Consider: –Context –Emotions Also, consider calling us for advice!

Bureau West ▪ Market Research & Marketing Strategy ▪ Los Angeles, CA ▪ tel: (818) , Thank you Jay Zaltzman Bureau West - Market Research & Marketing Strategy –Our Research Tidbit newsletter keeps you up to date on what's new and interesting in marketing and market research each month –Please send me an if you'd like to receive it. Just and write “newsletter” in the subject line