Jeffrey Henning
The afternoon session of the ESOMAR 3D Digital Dimensions conference in Boston looked at online and social media research.
Inspirational Customers Diaglogues – The journey behind the global evaluation of the 2013 IKEA catalogue
The session began with an IKEA case study presented by Frederic Gennart of IKEA and Tom De Ruyck of InSites Consulting. IKEA produces and distributes 2 million catalogs a year, and many readers love the catalog, but are resistant to change. For instance, a few years ago IKEA changed the font in the catalog and created a social media uproar. This made testing a proposed redesign challenging.
Traditionally, IKEA used focus groups, but given the global scope of the catalog and a need for acceptance of the redesign, IKEA was interested in alternative approaches. InSites Consulting proposed using online communities, tailored to different cultures, with a range of directed, observed and undirected exercises: questionnaires, self ethnography, diaries and a “catalog safari”. As expected, initial reactions to the redesign were negative, but — after a few weeks using the catalog — appreciation for the new design grew. IKEA is changing the catalog based on the community, with the cover tested by the community, a section devoted to new products added based on the community’s feedback, and with an enhanced mobile application.
Minding the Product Transition Gap – How digital qual helped P&G solve a diaper dilemma
In another case study about the need for longitudinal communities, Steve August of Revelation and Andrew Sauer of Procter & Gamble
discussed the challenge of researching product transitions, in this case the move from one diaper size to another. P&G was losing market share dramatically as moms “upsized” and past traditional research had failed to capture why. Revelation created a 12 week timeline for its online community, primarily to capture the specific moment during this 3 month period when moms switched diaper sizes. When moms did make the switch, they were asked to submit photos of the baby in the old size and the new size. The results were illustrative: the larger size, despite significant overlap with the smaller size, was much too big. As one mom responded, “I actually wish I could buy diapers in 1/2 sizes.” P&G realized they needed to expand the number of sizes they offered.
The Client’s Cafe – A Business Talk Show
The Client’s Cafe was a business talk show with representatives of Communispace, British Airways, MnDOT (Minnesota Department of Transportation), Meredith Corporation, and Enterprise Holdings.
Some key takeway points:
- “The company has been successful for 57 years in the absence of research, so the question is ‘why now do we have to pay attention to it’?” said Carol Jones of Enterprise Holdings. “But, when you let them know something they weren’t aware of their ears perk up and they start paying attention. With growth having slowed after 57 years, people are starting to look for some additional intelligence. I can help them make their job a little easier.”
- “You can’t hide from what your customers are saying anymore. Social media has put a stop to that. You can’t ignore them,” said Britta Cleveland of Meredith Corporation.
- Karla Rains of the Minnesota Department of Transportation talked about the value research brought to teams of engineers to help them better understand the impact of their work on Minnesota residents. Keeping the consumers at the heart of things.
- British Airways talked about the importance of getting business people and researchers out from “behind the glass”: “They become evangelists internally when they have talked to consumers…The story of the business class flat bed seat is that business travelers have to operate immediately when the travel ends and walk straight into a meeting. We developed the flat bed, but now every airline has it, so how do we continue to differentiate in a very crowded market?”
The Effect of Engagement with Social Media on Purchase Behaviours
Edward Malthouse of Northwestern University studied the UGC (User Generated Content) activities of loyalty program members in
conjunction with their purchase behavior across a range of product categories. He analyzed 2009 to 2013 cross-retailer purchase data from the Canadian Air Miles Reward Program and coordinated it with social media activity.
UCG ad exposures have a positive impact on purchase behavior in the short term for high-volume customers and in the short and long term for low-volume customers. The longer the social media comment typed in, the greater the purchase engagement. A good social media campaign shouldn’t be primarily about going viral and being passively watched, but should get participants to think about their relationship with the brand.
Digital Dimensions 2023 – Reflecting on future trends and challenges for digital market research
Norbert Wirth, John Wittenbraker, and Josephine Hansom of GfK led an interactive session exploring three questions:
* What percent of the data mix will be from passive digital data? 63% of the third of the audience surveyed said it would be a 50%/50% split in 2023, while 37% said it will be 80% digital / 20% non-digital.
As Tom De Ruyck said, “The more Big Data you have, the more questions you have.”
* What percent of data insights will be generated from clients vs. agencies? 60% of the third of the audience surveyed said it would be 30% clients and 70% agencies, and 40% said it would be the reverse.
* When asked who would be making the marketing decisions, 71% of respondents said 20% machines, 80% humans
and 29% said 80% machines, 20% humans. Those who voted for Terminator said it was the sheer volume of tactical marketing decisions to be made that would tip the balance to machines.
And then it was off for drinks at Communispace….
