Category: Blog

Introduction

Brand tracking is seen by many marketers as a ‘rear-view mirror’ tool that is too retrospective and doesn’t provide useful insights in today’s fast-moving world.

If we are thinking about traditional brand trackers that put brand – rather than the customer – at the centre and consist of tedious 25-minute consumer surveys, this negative opinion of brand trackers is justified.

However, by reimagining tracking as a means of understanding the customer on a deeper level rather than simply measuring brand metrics, it reveals its value as an essential tool for today’s businesses.

In this article, we’re going to discuss why brand tracking needs to change its focus if it is to survive and propose Brandspeak’s own customer-first model as the solution.

What Is a Brand Tracker? (The Traditional View)

Many companies use brand trackers to measure brand health over an extended period of time. This is achieved by gathering responses from consumers and analysing how they think and feel about your brand. This data is collected largely using online surveys, and consumers are usually asked the same questions at different times throughout the year.

Although brand trackers can differ depending on the needs of the company, they are likely to include some of these brand metrics:

• Spontaneous and prompted awareness of your brand
• Awareness and relevance of the different elements of your brand’s offer
• Brand values

Trackers may also look at product metrics like these:

• Purchase criteria (e.g. ease of use, price, innovation, etc.)
• Usage behaviour (when and why the product is used)
• Frequency of use

By comparing consumer responses over time, brand owners hope to get an overview of brand performance and analyse the success of certain campaigns.

Depending on the requirements of the business, brand tracking reports are usually produced every quarter, every six months or annually.

What’s Wrong with Traditional Brand Tracking?

In today’s always-on world where huge volumes of data are available in real-time, brand tracking has come to be seen as a retrospective, rear-view mirror tool that does not help brand owners to evolve and move forward.

This is largely because the information that brand tracking provides is seen as outdated. With some trackers only interviewing as little as once a year, the data takes too long to generate.

By the time the team receives the report, they see the information as irrelevant because it doesn’t reflect current brand perceptions.

Businesses also have a dated view of brand trackers as long 25-minute surveys that consumers lose interest in and don’t fully engage with.

A Loss of Focus

However, the key reason for the failure of traditional brand trackers is their loss of focus. Many companies no longer find their brand trackers useful because over the years they have been reshaped into something else.

Often, lots of extra functions are added in, and many trackers are expected to do multiple jobs – from comms tracking to customer satisfaction tracking and more.

Although they may have been relevant when they were first implemented, over time trackers become less streamlined and are no longer fit for purpose. Think of it as an overgrown garden that is in desperate need of attention.

It’s no surprise that many businesses see their trackers as a relic from the past that has little remaining value.

To make matters worse, brand tracking reports often present numerical data that is difficult to make use of.

Although the tracker is able to tell you what happened in the last wave, it is unable to explain what it means or what to do next. This leaves brand managers feeling frustrated and struggling to see the relevance of their trackers.

With problems like these, brand tracking is in danger of extinction. So, what’s the solution?

Trackers Need to Be More Relevant

For trackers to survive, they need to be more relevant to the business. Most trackers treat  brand as the beginning and end of the question, without considering what role it plays in the wider context of the business.

However, it’s vital to remember that the overall purpose of any brand is to play a supporting role in selling more goods or services.

Although brand trackers are able to give a good indication of brand health, what this means for the business is often unclear.

For example, a brand tracker is able to tell us that brand awareness has increased, but not whether this has helped to gain new customers or retain existing ones.
 

Changing the Focus

For trackers to be useful, we need to think about them in a different way. Their goal is not simply to measure brand health. Instead, their aim should be to understand customer motivations and behaviour. Brand health is a diagnostic way of doing this, rather than the sole purpose of the tracker.

With this new focus on customer rather than brand, the tracker can evolve into a valuable tool that gives new insight into what drives and motivates buyers.

The Customer-First Model

Following this concept, Brandspeak has created a customer-first model to offer a more relevant approach to tracking. Unlike traditional trackers, it puts customer dynamics (rather than  brand) at the centre.

In the outer ring of the model is Marcomms, with a focus on how it drives brand beliefs and impacts customer behaviour and attitudes.

By seeking to understand the behaviour and attitudes of different customer groups (e.g., loyalists, new customers, potential customers), our model is able to measure the impact of the brand on customer behaviour.

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The model is also built on the conscious and subconscious consumer perceptions that drive behaviour – namely presence and preference. This includes considerations such as whether the brand comes to mind easily (mental availability), and whether the products are readily available to buy (physical availability).

We use our model to inform our tracking programme, and each of its measures points back to customer flow to help businesses understand their brand’s impact upon winning and retaining customers.

The Solution: A Flexible, Agile Tracker That Puts the Customer First

If trackers are to survive, they must focus on the customer rather than brand.

However, flexibility and agility are also key. At Brandspeak brand tracking agency, we create flexible trackers that collect data from multiple sources rather than just a single survey.

In today’s multi-channel, always-on culture this is essential, and consumer surveys are fully optimised for mobile use.

Our agile trackers can also publish data directly onto online portals and dashboards that clients can access and cut themselves, allowing them to receive relevant, up-to-date information that can be used to understand customer motivations and drive growth.

Alternatively, if you’re looking for more information on brand tracking, read our complete guide to brand tracking written by market research experts. 

We know that understanding your customer is vital to the success of your brand. For more information on our unique, customer-focused tracking programme, contact Jeremy@brandspeak.co.uk or call us on +44 0203 8580052

Everyone is talking about online communities, but what is all the fuss about? This article will outline what online communities are and why they should be part of all research toolkits; not as the poor relation to other methods. When they are used to tackle the right briefs, they can excel in their own right.

What are online communities?

Online communities, digital communities, customer communities, panels, MROC’s (Market research online communities) have as many names as shapes, sizes, and purposes. There are some small communities, with under 100 people and there are large communities with several thousands or hundreds of thousands. Some are used for qualitative approaches, others for quantitative surveys, some are used for both. Some last a few days, a week or run long term. To the uninitiated, this can, I admit seem all a bit confusing! So, let’s break this down a bit….

When you boil down online communities to the essentials; it’s all about gathering people into an online space for research. The difference between the community types comes into play when you consider how many people to have within the community and how long it should be in place for.

Smaller or larger communities?

Smaller communities tend to be used for qualitative research – exploring the thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and behaviours of a small-scale group of community members. Larger communities being best suited to quantitative surveys that size and profile audiences or opinions. These larger communities also have the benefit of being used for either quant or qual, or combining the two, depending on the challenge at hand.

Short-term pop-up communities or continuous?

The length of time you host a community depends on the research needs of the client. If we are looking at one particular topic, butter buying for example, this may well be best suited to a short-term pop-up community run over a week or two. This gives plenty of time for community members to answer all the questions a client may have to guide and shape their category or brand.

Whereas, if you are a large retailer or brand you may need to tap into a larger group of consumers or your customers frequently to take the pulse of the nation on a particular topic, use their feedback on new products you might launch, the communications you have planned or simply to find out how satisfied they are with the brand, product, or service you offer.

The uses for larger communities are endless and are best used to help brands touch base with their community members often and about a range of topics.

Now we’ve got the basics covered, let’s explore some of the main benefits of an online qualitative community.

The benefits of an online qualitative community

Get more, from more

One of the first things I noticed using online qualitative communities compared to other qualitative methods, is that in an online environment everyone has an equal share of voice. This means you get a lot more, from a lot more people. We can talk to community members for longer periods of time (days vs hours in other approaches) and in depth, generating a much greater volume of feedback, discussion and ultimately insight. This might sound overwhelming for the community member, but in practice, their participation is spread across the duration of the community, with members dipping in and out of the discussion at times that are convenient for them.

Get more, from further afield

Online communities gather members from, well, pretty much anywhere across the globe! Need to speak to people in the north and south of the UK? An online community can do that. Need to speak to UK and US consumers? We can do that too. Essentially, you can bring consumers into this virtual space from anywhere across the globe to join the community – providing representation, at depth and speed.

Get 1-2-1 depth and group insight

The flexibility that technology gives us when running an online qual community is continuously improving. With ease we can have one on one discussions with community members to avoid group think or influence. Or, alternatively we can speak to specific segments of community members about a key topic. Or we can open it all up for group debate.

Get beyond the conscious

Any researcher worth their salt will tell you there’s a real difference between what people say they do and what they actually do.

And in all fairness, it’s not like people are being dishonest, it’s just the way our brains work – up to 95% of human reaction and behaviour is driven by our subconscious. Until recently it’s been up to the skill of the researcher to dig down, underneath the rational responses consumers give and uncover the real drivers of behaviour. But with the rise of neuroscience techniques and video tools embedded within community platforms, we can get even closer to what decisions are made, when, how and why.

Get insights instantly

A key improvement across the research industry in the last few decades, is the speed of access to insights. Gone are the days when it would take months to report back on a project, by which time attitudes, behaviours or even the market could have shifted quite significantly. This is one particular strength of an online community – instant insights. The speed at which discussion flows between community members on a topic they are truly passionate about is simply outstanding. Have a burning question you need answering for your big meeting with senior stakeholders in 24 hours? Ask it to a community and in just a few hours you’ll have plenty of rich, detailed insights.

Get stakeholders involved

Linked to the point above, one of the key challenges for market research can be making sure the insights are seen and heard across all stakeholders. The nightmare for any researcher or insight professional, is the thought of an insightful and business useful research project report that holds the key to unlocking brand growth, buried somewhere on the company file system, never to see the light of day.

With an online community, we can engage stakeholders much earlier in the research process. They can join the community as observers, exploring the discussion as it happens in real time. And, sometimes, hearing exactly what consumers think, feel, or do, directly from them is the most powerful way to embed insights.

Summing up

Well, that’s all from me for today, the points mentioned above just scratch the surface of why I love online communities, in truth, I could have written much, much more. The flexibility, the speed, the engagement of community members are just a few reasons why I as an online research specialist, will always have a soft spot for an online community.

Introduction

In this 5-minute article, we take a look at Big Data and how it can be used to augment and improve consumer insights. If you’re dealing with market research data but hesitant to step beyond that single-mode consumer view, then we hope this piece will encourage you to think again.

So what exactly is Big Data and why does it exist?

There’s no single Big Data definition but you might think of it as a passive, digital record of our daily activities. When we use a Sat Nav, it’s storing a record of that journey, when we use a smartphone, it’s collecting information on who’s been called, which apps have been used, where photos were taken, and where we’ve been, and when we go online, it’s picking up which websites we’ve visited, how long for, whether we’ve made any purchases and what we’ve searched for. These are just a few examples – just about every activity we do that includes a digital element generates big data.

And it’s called ‘big’ because of the sheer scale of all this capture. A fair estimate on active internet users around the world in January 2021 comes in at 4.66 billion. If you imagine all those billions of people generating hundreds of data points every day just by using the internet, then you get a sense of its vastness.

Big data is very different from the data generated by quantitative or qualitative research. In terms of scale of course, but more fundamentally in its genesis. Big data is being passively collected on the premise that it ‘could be useful’ under the right analytical lens – capture first, think next. On the flipside, market research data capture starts with the end in mind, on the premise that ‘it will be useful’ – think first, capture next.

When thinking about the application of big data in market research, the key word for us is ‘behaviour’. Big ‘behavioural’ data is undeniably valuable in its accurate pin-pointing of the where, when, what, and how of what we do. Yet, despite the prevalence of Big Data, a lot of market research methodologies still rely on participant self-reporting of behaviours even though the results are generally untrue, tainted by forgetfulness and miscalculation. 

As a result, even today, a large chunk of market research analysis and reporting misrepresents what’s happening in consumers’ lives. Clearly, there’s a great opportunity to embrace Big Data and improve our understanding of consumers and the insights we draw.

Harnessing Big Data – a fundamental shift

It does though require a change in attitude (we need to be more open to the idea of using Big Data) and an upgrade of our skills if we’re going to harness Big Data. Fortunately, we already have the core expertise to do this, after all we deal with data every day. We just need to expand our horizons and put our knowledge to the test.  

Big data is only part of the story

But Big Data will only ever be part of the story. Understanding people is at the heart of what we do as market researchers. It always has been and always will. Big Data has the power to be a great addition but it doesn’t provide us with the full story. It can tell us when, how much, how often, and where, but it can only make educated guesses at who, and it can’t tell us why; the motivations, the attitudes, and the beliefs that underpin the behaviours of people today.

For that, we still need to commission qualitative, quantitative, ethnographic or neuroscience research. 

The sweet spot is in fusing Big Data with these forms of consumer research data to produce a more rounded and accurate picture – not only of when, how, and where but also of why and what that means to buyers as people and consumers.

Here at Brandspeak, our consultants have worked with research buyers around the globe on some truly ground-breaking Big Data projects; Google and EA Games to name just two.

Big data is about more than just quantitative research

Although we’re talking data, we shouldn’t forget that data that tracks the behavioural patterns of consumers can also be leveraged by qualitative research too. We might want to call this Little Data instead, but the same benefits apply. 

Indeed, we’re already capturing respondents’ behavioural patterns using mobile research. Examples of behavioural capture we can already deploy through mobile research include:

• Geo-location
• Bar code / QR reading (to capture purchases or retail browsing)
• Photo / video / audio capture (to capture a vast range of activities)

The strategic goal

To sum up, the strategic goal of researchers using Big Data should be to augment the unique ‘why’ that primary research can offer up with the behavioural accuracy of Big Data to uncover the more accurate, deeper, richer consumer story.

If you’re interested in how we can help you make use of Big Data and would like to know more about how we can help you and your company, or if you would like to talk to us about your Big Data needs, contact us on 0203 8580052 or enquiries@brandspeak.co.uk

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Introduction

Many B2B marketers feel that the brand has a relatively small role to play in the B2B space.  This article sets out to challenge that view and explain why B2B branding is every bit as important as its B2C counterpart.

In doing so, it;

• Defines the overall purpose of a brand
• Assesses the relative importance of mental availability in both B2C and B2B environments
• Explores the growing importance of brand purpose to B2B brands
• Identifies how, where, and why the B2B brand comes in to its own 
• Reveals why B2B branding has never been more important 

It’s a 5-minute, must-read article for any B2B marketer or director who still thinks branding is mainly relevant for B2C organisations.

Quick definition of a brand

At its most basic level, the role of the brand is the same for both B2C and B2B organisations.  It enables both to articulate, in a concise and compelling manner, what they are offering (the proposition) and where their offers sit relative to the competition (the positioning).  

B2C and B2B brands also act as templates for shaping the organisation’s personality and its customer experience philosophy.

Once the constituent parts of the B2C or B2B brand have been defined, it can be brought to life via the organisation’s products and services, its marketing communications, and through the way it looks, acts and behaves at the different touch points along the customer journey.

This basic brand role allows both B2C and B2B brands to build awareness, clarity and (potentially) differentiation with regard to what they provide.  

The vital importance of creating mental availability in B2C

In addition to the above, the other basic role of the B2C brand and its advertising is to create mental availability.

In his book Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman explains that because our rational, System 2decision-making capacity is actually very limited, most of our less important, day-to-day decisions are made subconsciously and without deliberation, using System 1 thinking. System 1 thinking is automatic, and tends to be driven by intuition and emotion, rather than reason.

In his book How Brands Grow, Byron Sharp adds to our understanding of the B2C brand’s role, by stating that in order to stand a chance of being selected at the moment of purchase, the brand must also achieve a good level of mental awareness, meaning that it is able to come to mind readily when the consumer is in a buying situation.  

In combination, these two schools of thought highlight one of the most critical functions of the B2C brand and its advertising; to successfully ‘lodge’ that brand in the consumer’s subconscious and create a degree of mental availability that will enable it to come to mind at the right moment.

Examples of B2C brands which have been very successful in delivering emotionally-resonant messages and straplines capable of creating a high degree of mental availability include Persil – Washes Whiter, Apple –Think differently, L’Oréal – Because you’re Worth it, Subway – Eat Fresh and Red Bull gives you Wings.

The reduced importance of mental availability in B2B branding

In the case of B2B brand purchasing, however, things are very different.  

Whereas the System 1 brain may defer to its System 2 counterpart for the majority of its B2C decision-making, it will generally assume responsibility for making B2B purchase decisions itself.   

This is because;

• B2B purchase decisions usually need be made within the context of a budget and a procurement process.  This makes a rational and exhaustive examination of the pros and cons of each supplier’s offer essential  
• A ‘bad’ buying decision on the part of the B2B buyer is likely to viewed poorly by colleagues and superiors, thereby increasing the pressure on the buyer to arrive at the right decision still further
• The buyer will often start with a pre-approved supplier list, meaning the mental availability of each brand on the list is of much less relevance

The role that defines the importance of B2B branding

Instead, the real role of the B2B brand is to showcase the organisation’s credentials during the due diligence process and then ensure that they are upheld during the during the subsequent relationship.  

It’s a role that is growing in significance, as the ‘traditional’ B2B buyer / supplier relationship, built around a few arm’s length, set-piece meetings and a number of ‘courtesy’ phone calls each year, is becoming an anachronism.  

Instead, the need for greater cost-control and continuity of supply has partly been responsible for businesses treating suppliers increasingly like partners, who are rewarded with longer-term contracts, underpinned by minimum service level agreements.  

Nowhere has this trend been more apparent than in the service sector, where B2B relationships tend to be particularly complex.

Because of the extended, ‘always-on’ nature of these more sophisticated B2B relationships, the culture, personality and values of the supplier become as important as its product or service offer.  This, in turn, means the brand – and the way the organisation brings it to life in its relationships with clients – becomes critical.

The real challenge for the B2B organisation is to understand which elements of its brand clients value most and just how they should be brought to life in the way that brand speaks and acts. 

Identifying those elements correctly on behalf of the brand is a job for a competent and commercially aware, B2B market research agency. 

One further role for B2B branding 

A brand facet that is going to become increasingly important to B2B brands is that of brand purpose.  

Definition of brand purpose

A brand’s purpose can be defined as its raison d’être, its reason for being, over and above ‘making a profit’ or ‘driving shareholder value’.  

As human beings become increasingly aware of the social and environmental implications of brand consumption, we are gradually taking steps to clean up our act.  Moreover, we are increasingly expecting the brands that serve us to demonstrate similar levels of accountability.  

B2C brand purpose

B2C brands, in particular, have started to replace self-serving vision and mission statements with more tangible brand purpose strategies.

Unilever is an example of an organisation that has been doing this in a meaningful way for many years.  The company launched its Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) in 2010, when it set out to prove that sustainability and successful business performance could coexist.  

Since that time the business has been working hard to reduce its environmental footprint and increase its positive social impact across the globe – to great effect.

Patagonia is another example of a brand that is really living its brand purpose, which is to; 

To build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.

The company actively delivers on this brand purpose statement in numerous ways, including; 

• Switching to 100% organically grown and ethically sourced cotton
• Undertaking environmental educational events
• Supporting of grassroots environmental efforts
• Reducing corporate waste and pollution

A final B2C example is the Dove brand; 

Discovering the value of ‘real’ beauty and improving self-esteem worldwide

Dove is another brand that is talking the talk.  It uses its advertising to challenge stereo-typical views of beauty in a way that is confrontational, and by doing so it forces consumers to challenge their own pre-conceptions. 

The brand has also created numerous campaigns designed to help women boost their self-esteem.

In addition, Dove has partnered with Getty Images to build a photo library of over 11,000 images of individuals who identify as female or non-binary.  The initiative is known as Project #ShowUs and the images are available to media companies and advertisers to use in their campaigns.  So far, over 3,000 of the images have been licenced.  

To-date, brand purpose has generally provided yet another reason for consumers to identify with the B2C brands they buy.  In the future, as the world’s social and environmental problems continue to grow, a meaningful brand purpose is increasingly likely to become pre-requisite for purchase.   

Brand purpose – the next B2B branding battleground

Right now, good examples of B2B brand purpose statements are actually hard to find, largely because B2B brand responsibility isn’t a buy / don’t buy issue in B2B to the same extent as it is in B2C……. yet.

However, just as it has become a significant component of B2B branding, we fully expect it to do the same in the B2B space.

The challenge for B2B brands will be to find the right brand purpose to align with – one that makes sense within the context of its business activities and is also of real importance to its customers.  

Brand purpose is likely to be the next B2B brand battleground and it’s coming sooner rather than later.

Conclusion

The fundamental roles of B2C and B2B brands are very different and, as a result, applying B2C brand thinking to B2B branding will not work.  

Changes in the way B2B business is conducted mean that the significance of the B2B brand will continue to grow.

Brandspeak

If you need help developing your B2B brand please contact us on 02038580052 or at enquiries@brandspeak.co.uk 

Introduction

Why conduct market research? Because in today’s congested market it’s never been more important to find and maintain your brand’s competitive edge.

In this 5 minute article you will learn about the different types of market research that are available to you and how they should be deployed for brand success.

Its a must-read for any brand owner who is thinking of conducting market research for the first time.

What is market research

Market research provides the insight used by organisations to inform strategic and tactical decision-making, usually with the aim of maximising brand growth and profitability.

When is market research conducted?

Most market research companies find that the majority of the research they conduct on behalf of clients is devoted to either helping launch new products and services or managing and growing those already in-market.

Market research for new brand launches

With regard to the development and launch of new products, it’s surprising just how many companies – even large ones – will go ahead and launch without a sufficiently detailed understanding of the marketplace, comprising;

• Competitors; their brands, products, positioning and propositions, key features, benefits, sales volumes and prices
• Consumers; their underlying needs, expectations and behaviours, their brand and product preferences, their rate of product consumption, their customer experience requirements, their price expectations

• 

Appropriate research during the stages of product and brand development can identify;

• The optimal brand configuration; its positioning, purpose and essence
• The product’s most compelling specification; its proposition, features and benefits
• Target customer; the customer segment(s) with (partially) unfulfilled needs and expectations
• Sales volume and price points
• Marketing communications; to hierarchy of messages most capable of driving initial brand awareness and adoption

Given that so many new products are developed and launched based on incomplete insight, it is perhaps no wonder that new product and service failure rates are as high as 95%. 

Market research for brands already in market

For products and services already in-market, the role of research is to generate the insight required to manage them profitably.  

This can mean;

• Helping to optimise marketing and communications campaigns, and then measure their impact
• Monitoring the customer experience provided at the different touch points and channels, so that any issues causing customer inertia can be identified and addressed
• Helping to identify and develop the range extensions that will enable the brand to consolidate and expand its footprint
• Tracking key brand performance indicators; including awareness, recall, purchase andsatisfaction 

Which different types of market research are conducted?

The research industry commonly refers to primary versus secondary research.  

The former covers any form of research that is generated from scratch.  This may be either qualitative or quantitative in nature, and it includes neuroscience or customer experience too.  

Secondary research refers to the analysis of market research that has already been conducted and published.  It again covers the 4 different approaches outlined above. 

Below we review each of the different types in a little more detail;

1. Secondary or desk research

These terms apply to the analysis of market research reports that that are available either on a free or paid-for basis.

Free research is typically found on websites and in (trade) magazines, journals, published reports and previously commissioned client research. The British Library (which also has some subscriptions to paid research sources) also provides access to a wealth of published research material.   

• 

Secondary research can be highly cost-effective, but the information that is available is often piecemeal and lacking in relevant detail.   This can require the researcher to either make educated guesses to fill in the gaps, or commission further, bespoke research.

For any organisation commissioning secondary research, it is important to note that the market research agency you are commissioning will probably not even know what information is available to be discovered, until they have started the project.  There is, therefore, a leap of faith required by both parties!

2. Primary research

Primary research is the term used to describe any form of research that is generated from scratch.  It comprises four main types;

a) Quantitative research 

This involves the recruitment of a statistically significant number of people, to answer a variety of closed and open questions, often in the form of a research survey that may be conducted. It can be conducted online, by mail, by phone or face-to-face.

Online. This is by far the most common, rapid and cost-effective method of quantitative data collection, at scale, across different geographic locations.  

A B2C survey may comprise just one question, or it may comprise over 100.  Typically, though, consumer surveys tend to be no more than 15-20 minutes in length – long enough to ask maybe 30-40 questions. 

The majority of those questions are likely to be ‘closed’ – meaning that the possible answers are shown alongside the question, and the ‘right’ answer simply needs to be selected. 

A small number of ‘open’ questions may also be included.  These are questions for which no answer options are provided, and the respondent (the person taking part in the research) must write a freeform response. 

Response rates are generally very low (anything from 1% upwards), unless the subject is one of significant interest to the target audience, so large sample sizes are generally required.

Mail. Mail surveys enable researchers to target specific geographic areas that can be defined by postcode.  As such, they are very precise and enable the sort of geographic saturation that online surveys cannot.  

Surveys of this nature increasingly tend to be restricted to ‘local’ issues. 

Phone surveys. This so-called CATI (Computer Aided Telephone Interview) approach is great for conducting surveys when the available sample is too small for an online approach, and a high response rate is required.  This is because response rates for phone surveys can exceed 50%.  

Phone surveys are often used in B2B research, where available sample is typically smaller.  

Face-to-face.  Also called in-person surveys, these are most usually conducted with passers-by in the street.  However, face-to-face surveys can also be conducted in the form of ‘hall tests’ where passers-by are invited into a nearby venue – or hall – to evaluate new products, after which they complete a short questionnaire.  

Face-to-face surveys are the most expensive option, with a single interviewer perhaps completing less than 10 interviews per shift.

b) Qualitative research

Qualitative research is typically discussion-based (it can also involve observation), exploratory research, the purpose of which is to identify meaningful insights where either none – or only some – currently exist. 

The insights that are generated may be quantified afterwards.  

For example, qual research is often undertaken as the first step when identifying a brand’s target audience(s) as well as the differentiating, attitudinal and / or behavioural criteria that may be used as the basis of a customer segmentation model.

Qualitative market research is most frequently used in; 

• Segmentation development
• Brand development 
• New product development
• Advertising and communications development
• Packaging development
• Customer experience development

With as much as 95% of our decision-making in relation to everyday brands being undertaken at the sub-conscious level, qual research provides the means of accessing the subconscious, System 1 criteria that are so frequently responsible for brand choice.

Qualitative research is also essential for developing brand archetypes that are capable of creating an intuitive, emotional bond with consumers (think Apple or Virgin), who are able to use them as a means of self-expression. 

Qualitative research can be conducted in person, online or by phone.  In the case of in-person, the main formats are focus groups and depth interviews.  

In the case of online, these same two formats apply, as well as bulletin boards and communities.

Focus groups

This format is most frequently used in B2C research. Focus groups typically comprise 4-8 respondents and last for 1-2 hours.  During the time the moderator uses a discussion guide to pose a series of pre-determined questions but also has the flexibility to pursue other issues and topics as they occur.

Projective techniques are often used during the sessions, as a means of uncovering subconscious thoughts and feelings. 

Depth interviews

These sessions are similar in format to focus groups but are run with just one or two (in the case of paired depth) respondents.

Depth interviews are commonly used when sensitive issues are going to be discussed and as a result, they are common in B2B research as they are in B2C.

Observation

Observation is another form of qualitative research.  When asking respondents to explain how they perform a certain detailed task (e.g. undertaking the weekly shopping or searching online for a holiday) their recall is likely to both partial and faulty.

Instead, therefore, moderators can observe consumers actually undertaking the task in question, either in silence, or prompting with relevant questions during the process. 

Conclusion

B2C and B2B brand success is harder than ever to achieve in today’s ultra-competitive and noisy marketplace.  As a result, the brands that do succeed are those that make fewest mistakes, whilst also identifying the sources of competitive advantage that others have missed.

Market research has never been more important in helping to shape and monitor brand strategy.

Ask Brandspeak

Brandspeak is a London-based market research agency which offers a full range of research types, including qualitative, quantitative, neuroscience and customer experience.  For more information about our services call us on +44 (0)203858 0052 or contact us enquiries@brandspeak.co.uk

Introduction

This 5-minute article provides a clear definition of brand purpose, as well as explaining its importance in contemporary brand development. The article reveals how any organisation can develop its own brand purpose statement, and the issues that will determine its success – or failure.

Context

Quite simply, brand differentiation is everything.  An undifferentiated brand doesn’t stand out amongst its competitors and doesn’t come readily to mind.  

The best way to create real differentiation is through innovation.  This can be at the product or service level (think Dyson) but it can also be in relation to the brand’s channel or distribution strategy (think Uber) or the nature of the customer experience that is provided (think Ikea).

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And differentiation doesn’t have to rely on physical innovation at all. Marketers create brand differentiation and stand-out via the creative articulation of the brand’s value proposition and the creativity of its advertising and marketing communications.

During the last 10 years, marketers have had another means of differentiating the brand – through brand purpose.

What is brand purpose?

A brand’s purpose is its overarching raison d’être – the ‘higher purpose’ that acts as its reason to get up and go to work in the morning.  Typically, it is linked to a social or environmental issue that has relevance far beyond the brand’s narrow target audience and commercial focus.  

At this point in any article focussing on brand purpose, it is often Unilever’s Dove body care brand purpose that is used as the example.  

Dove declares its brand purpose as; 

Discovering the value of ‘real’ beauty and improving self-esteem worldwide

Dove’s aim is to help change society’s highly damaging view of what constitutes beauty, thereby helping to address the self-esteem of millions of people globally.

The reason that the Dove example is cited so often is that it isn’t just paying lip service so that it can jump on the brand purpose bandwagon.  Dove uses its advertising to challenge stereo-typical views of beauty in a way that is confrontational and by doing so it forces consumers to challenge their own pre-conceptions. 

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The brand has also created numerous campaigns designed to help women boost their self-esteem.

In addition, Dove has partnered with Getty Images to build a photo library of over 11,000 images of individuals who identify as female or non-binary.  The initiative is known as Project #ShowUs and the images are available to media companies and advertisers to use in their campaigns.  So far, over 3,000 of the images have been licenced.  

Of course, one could argue that this is no more than a self-serving marketing strategy.  Well, yes, it is self-serving but, on the other hand, which commercial enterprise is going to pursue a marketing strategy that actively undermines its brand!  

What Dove has managed to do very successfully is identify a brand purpose which enables it to pursue its own commercial agenda whilst at the same publicising and helping to address a social issue of global significance. 

But why is having a brand purpose so important today?

Well, the cynical view is that it’s important because if Brand A promotes a brand purpose, brand B must promote one too, or suffer by comparison.

In reality though, it’s because today’s consumers have simply moved on.  Gen Z and Millennials in particular expect brand authenticity and they want the brands they buy to reflect their priorities.  Moreover, empty words are no longer enough – they also expect their brands to back their words up with actions.  

And it’s a trend that isn’t going to change any time soon. 

According to a global, 2018 survey by Accenture, 66% of consumers think transparency is one of the most attractive qualities in a brand.  This includes transparency about where the brand sources its materials and what it cares about beyond profit.  

In the same survey it was also reported that 62% of consumers want companies to stand up for the issues they are passionate about.

In addition;

• A 2019 survey by Stackla revealed that 86% of consumers (particularly Gen Z and Millennials) regard brand authenticity as a key factor when deciding which brands to patronise.  

• Edelman’s global, 2017 study found that 50% of consumers worldwide consider themselves to be belief-driven, whilst 67% bought a brand for the first time because they agreed with the position it had taken regarding a controversial topic

The brand purpose agenda isn’t just about consumers, however. Brand purpose creates a enables the brand to create a more emotional connection with the consumer, based on common values.  Those values, in turn, lead to a greater consumer loyalty.

OK! But what about the brand vision and mission?

So, if brand purpose is the new, must-have brand architecture accessory, where does that leave brand visionand mission? 

Brand purpose is outward-looking,  socially responsible and relevant – totally in step with consumer thinking and behaviour. 

By contrast, brand vision and mission are inward-looking and self-serving, far more focused on the trajectory of the brand rather than the society from which it makes its profit.   

As a result, both can be considered increasingly anachronistic within the current environment. 

BTW – They have also been responsible for confusing a whole generation of marketers, many of whom understandably find it difficult to differentiate between the two!   

How do you identify your brand purpose?

Brandspeak has helped a number of organisations identify and shape their brand purpose.  Through that work we have identified the following, brand purpose ‘must-haves’;

• The brand purpose that is selected must be of equal importance to the brand and the target audience.  
• Consumers are suspicious of brand motivations.  Therefore, any brand wishing to  publicise its brand purpose must be prepared to back up its words with actions, or risk alienating the very consumers it is looking to attract
• Consumers are only too willing to interpret brand vagueness as insincerity.  Again, action is needed to clarify brand purpose words 
• Brand purpose must be more than skin-deep.  Consumers want to be convinced that the whole organisation is on-board – not just the marketing and management layers.

Other brand purpose examples

The Bodyshop

The Bodyshop’s brand purpose statement is as follows; 

To become the world’s most ethical and truly sustainable business.

Its message takes centre stage in its advertising; 

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The company backs up its brand purpose words with action.  Along with brands like Ben & Jerrys and Patagonia the The Bodyshop is a certified B Corp organisation.  B Corps are businesses committed to pursuing the highest social and environmental standards.

Patagonia

Patagonia’s brand purpose is; 

To build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.

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The company actively delivers on its brand purpose in numerous ways, including; 

• Switching to 100% organically grown and ethically sourced cotton
• Undertaking environmental educational events
• Supporting of grassroots environmental efforts
• Reducing corporate waste and pollution

Lego

Lego’s brand purpose is; 

 “To inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow”

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The emphasis is on using the power of play as a conduit for education, learning and wellbeing.  

Through the Lego Foundation, Lego has teamed up with Sesame Street and organisations working with Syrian and Rohingya refugees. The aim is to create play-based learning programmes for children up to the age of 6 in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Bangladesh.

Conclusion

The growing importance of brand purpose underlines the continuing power shift from brand to consumer.  The days of brands telling consumers what to think and how to behave are over (at least for the time-being!). 

Increasingly it is the consumer that has the upper hand in determining what their favourite brands should stand for.  And as consumers continue to become more engaged with the social, environmental and even political challenges affecting us all we can expect brands to become ever more purpose-led, 

Brandspeak

If you would research to help identify and refine your own brand purpose statement, or to understand how best to bring it to life in terms of what your organisation says and does, please contact Brandspeak at enquiries@brandspeak.co.uk or on +44 (0)203 858 0052.

1. Introduction

When it comes to briefing a market research agency, the quality of the information you provide is crucial. Quite simply, the better the information, the better the proposal – and the quicker you will receive it.

This article has been compiled for anyone who is unsure what information is required in order to obtain a great market research proposal.

In it we outline the sections of the ‘ideal’ market research brief, as well as explaining within each section what information is most helpful – and why.

And don’t worry if you can’t provide all the information suggested. Whatever you can provide will act as a starting point for a conversation during which the agency.

At the end of this article we’ve also providing a link to a downloadable and editable market research agency briefing form that has been designed to collect the information outlined in this article.

2. Requirement overview

Here you should just lay out in a sentence what the research will be about and where it needs to take place. For example;

• Qualitative research to explore a new push chair concept with UK mums
• Survey of SME purchase decision-makers regarding IT support contracts in USA, UK, Germany and France

3.    Your company and its offer

Next, provide your agency with some useful detail about your company. For example; whether you are a B2C or B2B organisation, your location (especially if outside UK), your products or services, channels to market, customer base and key competitors.

In fact, anything that provides context that will help the agency understand you and your research needs better.

A link to your website will also be helpful.

4.    The business requirement

Before explaining your specific market research needs, it is very helpful for the research agency to understand the wider business context of the research; e.g. the business circumstances that have led to the need for this research and how the research findings will be used.

This information helps the research agency to ensure that the research approach and deliverables it recommends will not only meet your research needs, but will also be suitable more broadly.

5.    The market research objectives

This is probably the most important part of the research brief so it’s worth taking time over!

It’s where you provide a list of the project objectives and / or the questions that you need the research to answer.  Bullet points are fine and the more detail here the better!

The research agency will use the objectives you provide to identify the best research approach and develop the individual questions that it will ask in the research.

The agency will also use your stated objectives to identify if/ where it thinks there are gaps in the insights you are seeking, or whether it can usefully suggest additional objectives that could provide added value for no additional cost.

6.     Preferred approach

If you have any thoughts or expectations regarding the research methodology (e.g. quantitative / online survey or combined), its always good to include these.

It’s helpful for the research agency to understand your methodological expectations or preferences at this point, because there is often more than one way to approach a project.

And if the research agency doesn’t agree with your preferred approach, it will (tactfully!) explain why.

7.    Research recruitment profile

In this section you should provide details of the individuals who will be recruited to take part in the research.

Don’t worry if you don’t have much detail, or if you aren’t sure. Its important context for the research agency and they will build on it with you later, if required.

If its for a B2C project you can provide details of the relevant consumer segment(s); their demographics, defining attitudes, preferences, behaviours etc.  

And if its for a B2B market research project, then you can include details about the target customer segment(s); their industry sector(s), company size, locations, job titles etc.  

Respondent recruitment and incentivisation accounts for a significant portion of the overall project cost and, as a rule of thumb, the more criteria that are included in the final recruitment specification, the more expensive this element of the project will be.

As a result, its worth separating those recruitment criteria that are must–haves and those which are just nice-to-haves.

If you have an idea of the numbers you would like the research agency to recruit, add that here too.  And if you don’t, don’t worry! The agency will help you to identify the right number for your project.

8.    Timing

If you need the project to either start of finish by a certain date then let the agency know at the outset.

If the timing is tight, for example, it could affect the methodology that is selected or the extent of the research exercise that can be undertaken.

Your agency will also need to confirm that it has the necessary resource to kick-off your project at short notice.

9.    Reporting

When it comes to reporting the research findings, different formats and levels of detail will have different price tags, so it’s worth specifying what you need.

For example, if the project is quantitative, you may wish to receive data only, so that you can save on cost by doing the analysis yourselves. Otherwise, you may want full analysis and reporting.

And if the project is qualitative, the research agency will typically cost for the provision of a detailed report which includes illustrative quotes from the participants. You may also wish to have edited video footage of the research to bring to life key elements of the debrief.

On the other hand, you may prefer a shorter, more cost-effective, top line report that excludes verbatim. Its a good option if your are just interested in the headlines, or if you are under time constraints

10.    Budget

This is always a tricky one! An agency will always understand if a client prefers not to give an indication of budget.

However, it can be really helpful, because it means that you receive a proposal tailored to your budget from the outset, rather than something that is either too expensive, or too modest in scope.

11. Any other information

Here you can add any other information you think may be important.

For example;

• Are there any other agencies involved in the project that the researchers will need to be aware of?
• Will you or your agencies wish to view the research live?
• Will the research agency need access to your client database for recruitment purposes and do you know if you have the necessary Data Privacy permissions to contact them

 

To download an editable briefing template in Word, please use this LINK

Otherwise, you can contact Brandspeak directly on +44 0203 858 0052 or at enquiries@brandspeak.co.uk

 

Consumers aren’t engaging with marketing and product literature

“Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don’t.”

This quote from American folk singer and social activist Pete Seeger is accepted wisdom when it comes to the importance of reading the marketing and product information thoroughly before signing on the dotted line. 

Yet, whilst we all know it to be no more than common sense, many of us still don’t give the marketing and product literature that is made available to us more than a cursory glance before signing-up for the product or service we have decided upon.

Brandspeak’s own research shows that behaviour is most common in the area of Financial Services, where 57% of the UK’s consumers are self-confessed Information Avoiders, unwilling to engage with the detail of the mortgage, insurance or investment product they are considering. 

But why? Is it because we assume that detail isn’t going to be relevant? Could it be that we feel that we won’t understand it? Or is it that it is presented in a way that doesn’t enable us to engage with the subject matter?

The issue with marketing and product literature

It’s impossible to navigate life these days without taking out numerous paid-for services and financial products – and those products and services all come with paperwork.  

We know we should read it – there could be grave consequences if we don’t – yet all too often we just give it a cursory glance, or we put it to one side, telling ourselves we will look over it later. 

A pertinent example of this data myopia was provided by NameDrop – a fake social network set up as an experiment to see how much consumers really read T&Cs.

Students taking part in the research were asked to activate the “By Clicking Join,” button, agreeing to abide by NameDrop’s terms of service in doing so. 

Paragraph 2.3.1 of the terms of service required them to hand over their future first-born child. 534 students took part in the experiment.

Only a quarter actually “read” the T&Cs but all 534 still agreed to join, theoretically giving NameDrop ownership over their entire next generation!

A nation of marketing and product literature Avoiders

In Brandspeak’s own research, the 57% of UK consumers who identified as ‘Information Avoiders’ stated that they fail to assimilate the financial product information in detail, and focus primarily on the main features and benefits instead.

Of course, the features and benefits are little more than the product’s ‘good news soundbites’, but for a majority of consumers at the point of sign-up, they are enough to make them feel that they have exercised due diligence.

The problems arise when those consumers wish to make a claim, take a payment holiday or change the agreement’s status quo. It’s at this point that they find out that the agreement they have signed prohibits them from doing so, or that very exacting terms and conditions apply.

But why do Information Avoiders end up in this situation?

Barriers to marketing and product literature assimilation 

According to Brandspeak’s own research, the reasons include; 

• “What’s the point?” 74% of us don’t expect to understand a financial product, so don’t bother trying
• “I’m pushed for time.” 43% of us only allow 20 minutes for the assimilation of information in a key document where thousands or even hundreds of thousands of pounds may be at stake, whilst another 22% allow half that
• “I focused on the important sections.” 85% read financial communication in a highly selective manner. Hierarchy of information absorption starts with Key Features and Costs. Risks and How the Product Works are much further down the list.

The fault isn’t just with the financial consumer

What about the role of presentation and content?

The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) initiative was set up in 2007 to look into the way financial product information was being presented to consumers.

Specifically, its purpose was to determine whether individual, financial providers were treating customers fairly in terms of the product information they provided and the way they presented it.

The premise was that if providers weren’t providing the right information in a way that was sufficiently easy to read and digest, then customers were disadvantaged at point of sign-up.

Although the FCA never actually defined the umbrella concept of fairness, Brandspeak did its own own research on this and found that, in the minds of consumers, fairness was tightly correlated with the notion of trust. 

Our research also showed that providers were best able to create trust by demonstrating simplicity, honesty, transparency and a willingness to put the customer first. 

In terms of fairness in financial literature, the research revealed that product communications (by whatever channel) that were regarded as fair were seen as clear, timely and succinct.

Other unfair practices identified by consumers included;

• Complex language. The use of jargon and technical phrases is problematic
• Densely grouped text. 3% find this user-friendly but 97% of consumers see it as intimidating
• Long documents. Research by Which? found that the small print used by some insurance companies runs to 38,000 words – that’s longer than the whole of Shakespeare’s Hamlet! As 43% are only willing to commit a maximum of 20 minutes to reading financial product documents, many are read selectively or just don’t get read at all
• Vague or misleading language. “Might” or “could,” for example are identified by consumers as “weasel” words that are deliberately evasive. Many are also put off by vagueness, particularly when it comes to charges or commissions
• Risks are difficult to digest. All too often this section of T&Cs is one of the longest and the risks are frequently presented without any relatable context.

Based on our original research, Brandspeak also identified a number of additional, presentation criteria that increase the level of disconnect from the consumers’ point of view. These include:

• Individual words and phrases that confuse or create suspicion
• Sentences or paragraphs that are felt to be too long and therefore prevent easy understanding
• Page layouts that make the content tiring to read or assimilate
• Issues relating to indexes, headings and other navigation devices that don’t help consumers identify the content that they are looking for
• Images and graphs that create more questions than answers!

A wider issue

Of course, the barriers created by poor content and presentation aren’t just a problem in the Financial Services sector. 

The same issues exist in every industry, whether B2C or B2B. For example, consider the following and see if any ring true for you:

• Holidays, hotels and flights – most of us are looking for the best deal on cost, not on T&Cs, and so we just don’t read them.
• Price comparison websites – we’re happy to blindly buy energy or insurance online and hope that nothing goes wrong.
• Signing up to “free” wifi – because we don’t read the T&Cs we often have no idea how much data we’re unwittingly handing over by making the connection.
• Buying train tickets online. The purchase process includes accepting 36 pages of T&Cs, which most of us tick without any knowledge of details. For example, did you know that the T&Cs only entitle you to a seat if you’re a first-class passenger?
• Click-to-agree contracts. Digital contracts that we click to sign online present a whole new set of issues. For example, we might be giving web-based services the right to sell our data or signing away essential rights, such as the option to go to court if it all goes wrong.
• Trialling an online service. How often have you signed up for a “free trial period,” not read the T&Cs and then found yourself a regular subscriber?
• Online shopping checkout. 91% of us don’t read the T&Cs during the checkout process when shopping online, hoping instead that if anything goes wrong we’ll be treated fairly.
• Updating apps and software. The updates themselves take long enough so why waste time ploughing through the T&Cs too. For example, only 16% of people read the T&Cs when updating an online banking app, despite the access it provides to personal financial data.
• Tenancy agreements. As these are often presented as non-negotiable documents, and there may be stiff competition for a property, few people go through the document line by line before signing.
• Employment contracts. Do you know about the clause in your contract that entitles your employer to dismiss you if you don’t wear a long sleeved shirt? Of course, your contract probably doesn’t contain that but are you sure… few people familiarise themselves with all the details before taking the job.

What’s the solution?

There are some high tech solutions on the table that could prove useful in future.  

Aviva, for example, identifies AI as a possible option, using machine learning to generate answers to common questions to make T&Cs easier to assimilate. 

However, the most obvious solution is a fundamental overhaul of the way that brands communicate with consumers, not just when it comes to contracts and T&Cs but in relation to any marketing communication that imparts information that is important to the consumer’s decision making process. 

We believe that there is a way to establish trust and improve information assimilation – and that clear, concise communication is the way to do it.

Brandspeak

Brandpseak’s communications consultant are experts at researching and improving written communications, to ensure they achieve maximum engagement and impart maximum clarity.  If you need help with your own communications please contact us on +44 (0)203 858 0052 or at enquiries@brandspeak.co.uk

https://brandspeak.co.uk/services/communications-market-research/

Introduction

This article explores the importance of B2B branding, based on Brandspeak’s experience of working with 100’s of B2B clients over nearly 20 years.

It starts by explaining why so many B2B organisations place little value on, nor investment in branding. 

It then goes on to explain why the brand is actually the most significant tool in any B2B organisation’s sales and marketing toolbox. 

It finishes by outlining the process of building a B2B brand, then measuring and maintaining its performance. 

It’s a 7-minute read and an essential one for any B2B business that feels the brand isn’t important for their business, as well as those who know that it is!

Why so many B2B businesses regard the brand as unimportant

If only I had £1 for every time I have been told by a B2B client that the brand isn’t important for their business!

The fact is, many B2B organisations (particularly those below a certain size) ascribe little or no importance to their brand on the basis that B2B branding doesn’t have the ability to influence sales performance.  

Instead, they will point to the superiority of their product, the excellence of their salesforce, or the keenness of their pricing. 

It’s totally understandable. If you dial these things up or down, you will see an almost immediate impact on sales – either positively or negatively.

For B2B organisations focussed on keeping the lights on, fulfilling orders and satisfying customers, any focus on brand-building can be seen as a distraction from the day-to-day. 

The B2B view of branding

The fact is though, that when appropriately devised and implemented, the brand is the single greatest weapon in the B2B company’s armoury, with the ability to transform the bottom line.

So why is there this mismatch between perception and reality?

In our experience, it’s often because B2B businesses are primarily product and relationship-focused, regarding their customers as ‘pragmatists’ who aren’t influenced by marketing.   

As a result, the brand typically isn’t ascribed nearly the same level of importance as it is in B2C organisations and because of this, it’s composition, role and potential impact is often not clearly understood.  

The  brand reality

The reality, however, is that every B2B organisation has a brand, whether they want one or not! 

That’s because a brand is ultimately just the sum of the customers’ perceptions of the organisation, based largely on their direct and indirect experiences of it.  

If the organisation has designed its brand well and implemented a coherent strategy to bring it to life across the channels and touch points, then those perceptions will be highly consistent, relevant and differentiating, and they will be instrumental in turning prospects in to customers and customers in to advocates.

Not only does the brand support the customer journey in this way, it has several other significant advantages too; 

•  A carefully created and managed brand has significant value in its own right.  That doesn’t just apply to huge brands like  Coca Cola or Apple for which it represents a line on the balance sheet.  Carefully managed, smaller, B2B brands can add significant value in their own right, when the business is sold, licenced or leased
• A brand that has built significant, positive awareness (or equity) can charge a premium for its products or services, simply because of its name. This applies regardless of whether they are genuinely better that the competition or not.  It’s all about managed perception. 
• If an organisation has succeeded in making its customers loyal to its brand rather than its products it is much harder for competitors to prize them away with new product or service roll-outs
• Once an organisation has a successful, existing brand it decreases the chance of new product failure, as the customer base will be significantly more receptive to new products from a brand it already trusts – even if that new product bears no relationship to the existing one(s) 
• The brand provides additional corporate resilience during difficult periods; for example, during a serious product recall or a security breach.  The goodwill and confidence the brand has created helps to insulate the company when the proverbial hits the fan!
• A strong brand will find it much easier to identify other brands or individuals to partner with. Organisations with strong brands find it much easier to attract the best and brightest talent. 

Of course, if no formal brand exists, customers will still be developing perceptions of the company every time they interact with it.

However, without the structure and clarity a brand brings, these perceptions are likely to be random, contradictory and (to some degree) negative – a jumble without a consistent or compelling narrative. 

Creating a B2B brand

It’s not just the point of having a brand that some B2B organisations struggle with.  Many are also put off by brand strategists stressing the ‘complex’ nature of brand development – models of brand onions and aubergines, further broken down in to the brand proposition, brand positioning, brand vision, brand mission, brand values, brand pillars, brand personality, brand culture, brand essence……..and so on. 

The truth is, you will rarely meet two brand strategists who can agree on the essential components of a brand, let along how each one should be defined, because they have made it needlessly complicated.

For B2B branding it’s a matter of quality over quantity, simplicity over complexity.  The most important thing is the brand that is implemented isn’t just the result of a brainstorm by board members, or those in the company who believe that they know what the customer wants.  

Instead, the brand’s composition should be the result of independently conducted qualitative and / or quantitative market research capable of getting under the skin of the target audience – its needs, expectations, perceptions and behaviours.  

At its simplest, a B2B brand doesn’t have to be much more than a positioning statement reflecting what the brand must stand for in the mind of the target audience, supported by a number of tangible brand values that reflect the characteristics the organisation would most like its brand to be associated with.  These elements then need to be delivered via a consistent brand personality and tone of voice. 

The rest is down to the marketing and operational strategy that defines how the brand positioning, values, personality and tone of voice are implemented across the business.   

THAT is the only way to really understand what customers need from you – and your brand.

Bringing a B2B brand to life

The next task is to ensure that the new brand is delivered consistently in the organisation’s marcoms and at the key customer touch points.  Brand market research may again be required to understand exactly where and how the B2B brand can be leveraged to best effect.  

Ultimately, brand delivery should be considered within the main, customer-facing areas of the business, potentially including; 

• The website
• The call centre
• Field sales 
• Retail premises
• Administration / back office
• Customer service  
• Product / service portfolio
• Product / service delivery

Ensuring the brand stays in good shape

After the brand has been implemented, ongoing measurement is essential to ensure your brand is being delivered appropriately and continues to have a positive impact on the business fundamentals. 

It’s most commonly undertaken via a market research brand tracker – often in the form of an annual, online or phone survey of customers and target customers.

A B2B brand tracker will either include participants who are representative of the brand’s target audience. 

Aside from the main brand, the tracker will also gather data on around 6 competitor brands, in order to provide essential context and comparison.

Tracker results are then reviewed both in isolation and in comparison to the previous period(s), in order to understand the brand’s direction of travel.

A B2B brand tracker assessment will typically include; 

• Brand awareness / recall;  increasingly referred to as the brand’s mental availability, this is typically measured at both unprompted and prompted levels, to determine the extent to which (target) customers are able to bring the brand to mind
• Brand usage; this is used to measure the frequency with which your brand is being used, as well as how it is used and the specific occasions on which it is being used
• Brand preference / purchase; this metric simply identifies the extent to which the brand is preferred over those of the competition, as well as the likelihood that the (target) customer will purchase or repurchase in the future
• Brand attitudes and perceptions; these are typically perceptions related to the quality and / or performance of the underlying product or service
• Brand associations; this identifies what the brand stands for in the minds of (target) customers. 

Ideally, those associations will derive from the brand’s positioning and core values.  Individual brand associations can either be prompted in list form, or respondents can be required to reveal what they most associate with the brand using free-text.  The market research agency running the tracker can then analyse their responses very simply using text analytics software

Brand tracking enables the organisation to measure and monitor the impact of a new brand from Day One.  It provides the necessary insight to course-correct at short notice and to keep optimising the brand’s ability to make a positive difference to the bottom line, by enabling the organisation to acquire and retain more customers.

Brandspeak

Brandspeak is an insight consultancy that specialises in helping B2B organisations develop new brands, products and services.  If you are interested in finding out how we may be able to help you, please contact us on +44 (0) 203 858 0052. Alternatively, you can contact us at enquiries@brandspeak.co.uk

It is generally accepted that up to 95% of new products across all categories fail. 

Brandspeak is a new product development research consultancy that has helped bring 100’s of new products and services to market. 

As a result, we have real understanding of what it takes to succeed in new product development, as well as the conditions most likely to lead to new product failure.

What we’ve observed time and again is that;

• When new products do fail in the market place, that failure has actually been baked-in months previously, at or near the start of the development process.  

• Failure is often avoidable – the result of corner-cutting on the part of the those responsible for the new product’s development.

• Failure needn’t be terminal. By identifying the warning signs early enough and adapting accordingly, significant amounts of time and money can be saved – enough to regroup and refocus the project.

What we’ve also learned is that the key to avoiding baked-in failure,  maximising new product development successes and minimising failures is timely and appropriate market research.

In this 5-minute article, we explore the different types of new product development and why market research is essential for all of them.  

New product types

There are actually 4 main types of ‘new’ product development project, reflecting;

1. Improvements to an established product or 
2. Line extension, or
3. ‘Me too’ development or
4. Genuine innovation

Of those four different types, only the last one can be considered genuinely new – or revolutionary.   The others are all evolutionary, based on product or service ideas that already exist.

Evolutionary products and services actually account for over 95% of all new product development and are typically less challenging, costly and time-consuming to bring to market.   

Truly revolutionary products, on the other hand, account for less than 5%.

Evolutionary product development failure

Notwithstanding the above, evolutionary products tend to have failure rates that are similar to – or even greater than – revolutionary ones.  

This is because, in our experience, new product development project types 1-3 (as outlined above) are often approached with a degree of over-confidence, simply because they are each based on an already-existing and successful product or service.  

As a result, it is felt there is no need to research the concept and its appeal, as the overall risk is much smaller and any improvements to the existing concept can only enhance appeal.

What happens in reality, however, is that without research, the project team often loses sight of what made the original product successful in the first place.  As a result, key features and benefits end up being watered down, or engineered them out of existence completely, as the team’s own agenda is pursued at the expense of the consumer’s. 

Revolutionary product development failure

Truly revolutionary products tend to be far fewer in number and cost considerably more to bring to market. From our own experience, digital or technology-focussed projects account for the majority of revolutionary product development.

The issue we encounter here most often is that whilst it is the B2C or B2B consumer who will be the new product’s ultimate target, the developers are often more technically-minded – sometimes to the extent that during product development they actually think relatively little about the end-user.

In this instance, market research needs to challenge the developers’ thinking and introduce the end-user’s perspective, before serious amounts of time and money have been spent.

Often, however, it is only in the latter stages of development that research is commissioned – and then only to confirm decisions already made, rather than challenge them.

The 2 critical stages of new product development research

Whether your proposed new product is evolutionary or revolutionary in nature, there are 2 stages of the development process where market research will enable you to avoid the costly and unnecessary mistakes that lead to new product failure. 

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Both are outlined below;

1. The Ideation stage 

The Ideation stage is crucial, because it often defines the strategic parameters for the remainder of the project.  

That is why, rather than putting all their eggs in one basket, many organisations prefer to generate several new product ideas at the project’s outset, before identifying the strongest candidates for onward development.

The process of idea generation and prioritisation is often undertaken internally, by members of the marketing / development team. 

The problem with this approach is that it tends to be prescriptive and lacks the objectivity and creativity that an external moderator would provide.   It can also fail to identify the important opportunities and challenges that members of the target audience would surface – via focus groups or co-creation sessions which mix members of the development team and public together.

The result of an internalised Ideation stage is that the idea(s) that is selected for onward development is the one that the business feels most comfortable with, but not necessarily the one with the greatest potential.  

Remember at the outset of this article it said that failure is often baked-in near the start of the project?  Well, the Ideation stage is the point at which that happens.

2. The Concept Development stage

By this point, the shortlisted ideas have been turned in to three-dimensional concepts, each with new levels of detail that need to be reviewed and optimised, before a final decision can be made about which (if any) concept(s) will be taken forward for production and launch. 

Again, this stage is often conducted internally, for the reasons outlined.  

However, we regard both qualitative and quantitative research as essential here, to provide the range of insights necessary to make the appropriate Stop / Go decision(s).

Qualitative research at this point ensures the proposition underlying each selected concept;

• Is as compelling and relevant as it can be, with a suite of features and benefits to match
•  Resonates socially and culturally 
• Reflects and addresses real target audience need and behaviour, at both rational and emotional levels
• Identifies itself easily with core usage occasions
•  ‘Fits’ with any parent brand

Quantitative research can also clarify a range of other details that are essential for a final top / Go decision and for marketing planning, including; 

• The demographic definition of the target audience
• Likely levels of product demand
• Key usage drivers and occasions
• The most motivating hierarchy of communications messages
• Retail / wholesale price points and price elasticity

Not just any research…the right research

The rush to quant

Almost as bad as conducting little or no research at either of these stages is conducting the wrong research.  

By far the most common example of this is organisations wishing to quantify the potential of their new idea before consumers have even had a chance to kick the tyres in early stage, qualitative research. 

By moving to quant too early, assumptions end up becoming ‘facts’ and the trajectory of the remainder of the project becomes set.  In such cases, opportunities to challenge, tighten and refine the proposition have been missed and this can mean the difference between success and failure.

Final thoughts

When important corners are cut in the new product development process it is usually down to a lack of resources and / or the (over-) confidence of the development team.

If budget is the issue and it won’t stretch to qualitative research we recommend;

• Hiring an external new product development specialist to act as the voice of the consumer in workshops designed to challenge, refine and augment existing ideas / concepts.  The outputs won’t end up being as insightful as the real thing, but they should help expose many of the bigger issues that qual would have identified 

• Asking your research agency to be creative in finding ways to research your concept / proposition as cost-effectively as possible.  This may include running Friends and Family focus groups which provide considerable savings on recruitment and incentives.  Also, running much shorter, high intensity focus groups that cut to chase quickly. These can save money in terms of incentive payments, analysis and reporting

• Repurposing existing research – either your own or work that is in the public domain.

You can read about the individual stages of the best practice, new product development process in our article; The New Product Development Process – a Best Practice Guide

Brandspeak research has helped many companies in many different markets gain valuable insights prior to successful product launches.  If you would like us to do the same for you, please call Brandspeak on 0203 858 0052 or contact us at enquiries@brandspeak.co.uk