Posts Tagged ‘Research’

The Potential 2010 Census Mess

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

I just read the 2010 U.S. Census research questionnaire which is made up of exactly 10 questions and was surprised to find that the most important one was left off…. Are you a U.S. Citizen? The overall objective of the census is to get as accurate a population count of the U.S. as possible. The population data will then used used as a guide to allocate over $400 billion in annual federal funds to support health care and hospitals, schools, road construction and other community projects. The data is also used to recalibrate election districts to help determine ,among other democratic processes, the number of seats your state has in the U.S. House of Representatives.

 

The big deal is by not including this question, results will be skewed and American population centers will lose their fair share of critical funding and government representation at local and state levels. On top of that Washington is spending upwards of $300 million between 10 different ad agencies to increase awareness and action to fill out this less than useful survey.

 

Your thoughts. 

www.census.gov/2010census

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Posted in Advertising, Research | 1 Comment »

Clarity, focus and efficiency. Some things never go out of style.

Monday, December 28th, 2009

It’s funny how many meetings and arguments I’ve sat through lately about the merits or utility of brands in tough economic times: “Why are they needed?”. “Do consumers even care?” And of course the most ironic chestnut of them all: “We can’t spend money on that stuff right now.”

 

To which I will repeatedly say the same thing I’m going to here now: You’re already spending money on your brand, and very likely wasting a ton of it on things like errant purchasing decisions, misaligned innovation, bad licensing deals, and disorganized or uninspired personnel.

 

You’re spending it on the oft-overlooked other half of your brand: the functional and operational one that drives the engine. And while it’s the less sexy stepchild of logos and TV campaigns more commonly associated with ‘brands’ the past 10 years or so, it’s arguably the more important one as it tells you when to run that campaign, or if you should at all, what media to mix, or what sponsorships to cut or pursue.

 

Indeed, in tough times a strong brand actually becomes a vital corporate decision tool that helps allocate time and resources to keep everyone moving forward on a single, straight path. And last I checked that’s pretty much the point of any enterprise, isn’t it?

 

So sure: if you’re simply regarding brands as superficial image-driven entities limited to the province of wacky creative types, then probably do hold off on the re-branding for a bit longer. But if you’re looking to work smarter not just harder and truly leverage every dollar and hour in 2010, then strengthening and ensuring the fundamental health of your brands should be at the top of any to-do list. And there are a host of smart, resourceful ‘non-creative’ types like strategists, researchers and planners who can work their own magic to help you do so.

 

At their best, brands can provide a prism through which to view and manage every aspect of business operations, fostering focus and even providing yardsticks for financial ROI. Which–getting back to my argumentative client we started with—is probably the sole agenda of their next internal meeting after ours.  

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Posted in Brand Development, Strategic Planning | No Comments »

Green Expectations in a Down Economy

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

MSI recently made a presentation to a leading plumbing component manufacturer about the attitudes of home improvement shoppers and the percent of the U.S. who are active “green” customers. The study was conducted by the Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI) in 2008, but the majority of people in the room were somewhat skeptical about the numbers.

 

However, more recent research has revealed that consumers are not only more aware of green issues, they’re finding a lot more practical ways to be eco-friendly even in difficult economic times and also want businesses to address environmental problems. Here are some pertinent findings.

 Green Business Booming

–According to the Eco Pulse 2009 National Study, 40% of consumers would stop buying a product from a company accused of “greenwashing”. The same study also stated that the best product description chosen to read on a label is “natural” rather than “organic”.

 

 

–The 2009 BBMG study, Redefining Value in a New Economy, revealed that half of U.S. consumers are “willing to pay more” for products with social and environmental benefits despite the tough economic times.

 

As a manufacturer or marketer, this last statement frames a compelling reason not to cut back on your green efforts and to contact MSI to help you develop a successful marketing plan for your brand.

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Posted in Mixed Nuts, Research | 3 Comments »

What’s Your e-Handicap?

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Odds are, you’ve probably been challenged with the philosophical question, “Which one of your five core senses could you do without?” (You know, sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste). In reality, if you had to give up one, you would be at a handicap as compared to the rest of society.

A similar concept can also apply to electronic communication. With our texting, internet surfing, blogging, YouTube postings, Facebook updates and twittering, branding our personalities and re-branding others, there are some definite repercussions on our intellect, personalities and behavior compared to what might have existed 10 or more years ago without these technological advancements.

As an interesting, non-scientific research project, I ask you to choose one of the following handicaps that you would be most comfortable living without as it relates to electronic communication/social media. Post your selection here and MSI will post a final tally in a few weeks.

A.  No more txting 4 me.

Rules/Regs: In addition to never texting anyone, you also can’t view any text messages sent to you. Texting in general is disabled on your phone. It’s all back to actual conversations and face-to-face interactions for you. Might be a good idea to stock up on some mints…

B.  I will log-off my email for life.

Rules/Regs: Whether for professional or personal use, your email accounts will be permanently frozen. While having to leave your desk to walk down the hall to communicate to co-workers could add to your “friendly-factor” around the office and add a few thousand more steps to your pedometer, how would your communication with your clients or vendors change? Also, a trip to the post office is in order, you’re going to need some stamps!

C.  I will “unfriend” Facebook forever.

Rules/Regs: No more logging on for your daily fix, scouting for past classmates or former loves, telling your network of friends that you prefer wheat bread over white bread or taking a quiz that proves you are the champion at recognizing “Movies from the 80s”. Your newsfeed ends now, my non-Facebook-friend. And you can’t even change your status update to “MIA.”     

D.  I will turn the channel on YouTube to Never.

Rules/Regs: When everyone else in the free world is talking about the clip of a guy losing an arm to an alligator or a news anchor going postal on camera, you have to just hope it appears on the evening news or there is a still shot in the newspaper the next morning. You can no longer experience immediate gratification when it comes to wanting to watch videos of puppies sleeping. You are not allowed to look at YouTube, or open any links sent to you of videos on YouTube. YouWhat?  That’s right - it’s no longer in your vocabulary.

E.  I have Googled my last Google.

Rules/Regs: Never again can you use Google or any other internet search engine to instantly find out whether a peanut is a nut or a legume (and I’m not telling), get a recipe for any type of macaroon you could possibly be craving, find a map with the location of your dinner date or even zoom in on a photo of your house taken by the amazing Google Earth satellites.  You may just want to answer the door the next time the Encyclopedia Britannica salesperson comes knocking…

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Posted in Mixed Nuts, Online Media, Research, Social Media | 10 Comments »

Using Dial Testing to Capture Audience Reactions

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

If you have not seen the results of last night’s research polls (CBS, CNN, et al) taken among people who saw the State of the Union speech, President Obama’s popularity rose significantly from his post-inauguration benchmarks. And those gains were measured among both Democrats and Republicans. I think the prez is making in-roads on the bipartisan scene.

One thing that really got my attention during his speech was the electronic audience reaction meter at the bottom of the screen.  Apparently a group of Virginia residents, half of whom were Obama voters and the other half McCain voters, were reacting to his speech in real time.  The polling firm conducting this focus group used a dial test used to capture feedback on key topics, allowing participants to turn their handheld dial up during parts of the speech they liked and down for moments they did not. Their responses were showcased in a line chart, with Republican respondents’ reactions being captured in a red line and the Democrats’ sentiments in a green line. 

 

I think this could be a great application for measuring the effectiveness of infomercials, TV spots or product sales videos.  This is definitely something I’m interested in learning more about, so please feel free to respond to this post or contact me if you have experience with this methodology. 

 

This video has more information on the dial testing and the results from the focus group: 


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Posted in Mixed Nuts, Research | 5 Comments »

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