Tag Archives: Richard Walker

Top 5 recurring themes from the Ci Nation online research community

20 Feb

 

Ci Research recently delivered a syndicated online community trial for clients in the financial services sector.

The community ran for 12 weeks, and gathered over 2000 contributions from 100 participants.

This was delivered through the new Ci Nation community portal, which included online discussion forums, polls and live online chat with consumers.

Here is a taster of some recurring themes from the online discussions.

1. Increasing frustration surrounding in-branch banking experience
(falling further behind other sectors in terms of standards) – long queues, overly formal, unwelcoming.

“I could go on all day with the issues I have with UK bank branches! I don’t think I have ever had a good experience in-branch. Partly to do with incompetent staff, partly to do with the stuffy nature of the branches themselves” (Male, 17-25)

2. An overriding sense that banks (and to a lesser extent other FS organisations) do not have the customers interests at heart. Perceptions of ‘pushy’ counter-staff trying to up-sell.

“I prefer to do my banking online and only go in-branch when there isn’t an alternative. If I am going in a branch I set myself up in advance for a long wait followed by the multiple questioning at the counter about my other financial products, when I usually only want to pay a cheque in.”(Female, 36-45)

3. Consumers feeling more informed than ever before – savvy and empowered to negotiate deals or preferential rates (across FS products).

“I have used Confused & Go Compare for car insurance, but have never bought through them. I use them to get a base price then call a company directly to get them to beat it. Seems to work 90% of the time. They will match it the other 10%.” (Male, 17-25)

4. That said, a thirst for further financial education was apparent. The need for this is of greater importance amongst young people (according to older consumers and the young people themselves).

“Unfortunately young people, my own children included, cannot see the importance of investing, preferring to focus on the here and now such as socials, holidays etc. I am sure there will be a time when they realise the error of this approach. I just hope that they realise sooner rather than later. Financial planning / education will help. But attitudes with regards to the ‘live today society’ need to change.” (Male ,56-65)

“I’m nearly 22 and I know next to nothing about investments apart from the basics of ISA’s. I have no pension (being that I am a student and can’t afford to pay into one) but from everything I’ve heard I’m not sure a pension plan is the best way to go. I suppose I am investing in my future with my education, but I do really need to learn more about this stuff – especially with the recent issues with pensions.” (Female, 17-25)

5. A demand for more tailored insurance products

“With insurance I sometimes feel they are trying to fit everyone in the same box. They don’t take into consideration that people are individuals. They should provide policies that are matched to people’s lifestyles.”  (Female, 26-35)

If you would like more information on the Ci Nation online community please contact Anthony Shephard or Richard Walker at Ci Research on +44(0)1625 628000 – or send us an email.

anthony.shephard@ci-research.com

richard.walker@ci-research.com

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Top 10 Market Research Projects for 2012

20 Jan

The New Year has arrived, along with a new set of challenges for clients across multiple sectors. Insight is integral to understanding what customers want, and how to deliver value for their discretionary spend. In these increasingly competitive and straitened times, here are ten insight projects that should be considered in order to give your business the edge.

1. Use research to generate ideas and solutions

More clients are using open exploratory techniques, including video observation and communities, to identify behaviours, frustrations and opportunities for innovative solutions. Such projects are essential if a business is committed to ensuring its product/service development and innovation is aligned to delivering solutions, not products.

2. Use research to test designs and concepts

Qualitative and quantitative methods can be used to refine and improve designs and concepts, giving them greater chance of success.

3. Use research to monitor your brand alignment

The value of brand alignment is becoming increasingly realised, and more businesses are using techniques such as the Brand Alignment Monitor (BAM™) to measure the extent to which they are aligned to a clear and differentiated vision – across multiple stakeholder groups (customer, prospects, influencers, staff, etc.)

4. Use research to measure customer satisfaction

Maintaining a satisfied client or customer base is a pre-requisite to building and sustaining a successful business. Beyond generating measures of satisfaction, a customer satisfaction survey can generate actionable insight around what service elements have most influencing on driving satisfaction, advocacy and loyalty.

5. Use research to understand the customer journey

Customer needs, attitudes and expectations change as time passes, and more clients understand the importance of monitoring and understand this through quantitative and qualitative research. Such consultation allows us to understand experiences and requirements at key stages of the journey, thus maximising revenue opportunities and minimising the risk of churn.

6. Use research to test your communications

Ensuring your messages are clear, easily understood and on brand.

7. Use research to understand needs and motivations

As incomes are squeezed further in 2012, businesses need to better understand the customer’s end goals and objectives – what are they looking to get from that product, service or experience?

8. Use research to measure usage, behaviour and attitudes

How exactly are customers using your products and services versus competitors? What is the wider context for their usage – what occasions exist and how are these fulfilled? How does usage and behaviour differ across different groups, locations, and through time?

9. Use research to identify priority segments

How does the customer base / wider market segment? What unique and differentiating attitudes, needs, behaviours, motivations and traits exist? Segmentation research allows businesses to understand which discreet groups deliver the greatest value, and which show the greatest opportunity for future growth.

10. Use research to generate competitor intelligence

Research can be used to engage with your business ‘prospects’ to understand their requirements, but also to understand what your competitors do differently in order to shape acquisition strategy. Insights about the competition can allow you to make decisions on all element of your own business – pricing/discounting, product, service, innovation, communication, etc.

For more information on any of these example projects, or to request case studies, please contact Colin Auton or Richard Walker at Ci Research on +44 (0)1625 628000.

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Top 10 tips for dealing with quiet and dominant respondents in focus groups

8 Dec

Every focus group is different. Not only in terms of subject matter and techniques, but also in terms of the most important ingredient – the respondents.

Any moderator will be able to regale their own tales of interesting, colourful and memorable discussion group participants. Bringing together a mix of personalities, characters and opinions is often a recipe for unforgettable encounters.

Focus groups are all about engineering and managing the discussion and debate (and, sometimes, conflict) in order to develop meaningful understanding and insight around the subject matter and the research objectives. Managing the dynamics between the group members is, therefore, critical to delivering balanced viewpoints. Keeping control is essential – and this means hearing from all respondents in equal measure.

In this particular blog post, I have dissected the top 10 tips into two – we have 5 tips for dealing with the quiet and nervous respondent, and a further 5 tips for dealing with the noisier, potentially dominating respondent.

Encouraging the quiet respondent

1. Spot them early (check their defensive body language – they more likely to be sat furthest away from the moderator), and ensure that everyone is given the chance to speak early in the session;

2. Refer to some of the quieter respondents by their first name, and give them verbal and non-verbal encouragement;

3. Ask nice and easy questions from the start – don’t start off with complicated and difficult questions that will scare the nervous participants;

4. Break into smaller groups for tasks – less confident respondents may be more willing to speak up in smaller groups;

5. Refer back to earlier comments from the quieter respondents to prove to them that you’re listening.

Managing the dominant respondent

6. Spot them early (anyone who seems over-confident – they are more likely to be sat nearest the moderator – directly to the left or right);

7. On occasions and where necessary, take advantage of the seating position of the dominant respondent by leaning forwards and giving a ‘cold shoulder’;

8. Deal with interruptions – a hand in the air, palm outwards, is often sufficient to stop an interruption in its tracks;

9. Tell the dominant respondent directly if they are interrupting or talking too much. Initially you can make light of it, but if they know the rules and keep flouting them then you have reason to have a stern word!

10. As a very last resort, kick them out. A dominant and domineering respondent can be damaging, and it is essential that the group isn’t compromised.

Of course, we would always have checks in place so that the group is spot on in terms of recruitment profile, that people are ‘warmed up’ and made to feel welcome upon arrival, and that they know the rules and expectations prior to the session starting. Feel free to try these techniques and let us know how they work out for you. And please feel free to share any tips of your own in the comments area below.

Richard Walker is a director at Ci Research, and has 16 years qualitative research experience. He is still actively involved in qualitative research – designing discussion guides, developing new techniques, moderating groups, devouring transcripts and presenting insights.

He has also been a key figure in developing Ci Research’s new suite of online qualitative techniques, including online groups, online communities and social media engagement tools.

For more information on moderator tips, feel free to contact Richard on +44(0)1625 628070 or richard.walker@ci-research.com

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Top 10 Tips for delivering Brand Alignment

29 Nov

To coincide with the launch of the How Do Top 100 Northern Brands Survey (powered by Ci Research), we have compiled a Top 10 tips for delivering brand alignment. For more information on brand alignment and brand research, contact Richard Walker at Ci Research or Gary Moss at Brand Vista.

10. Remember that brands are much more than a logo, they are the product of ‘thousands of small gestures’ – everything you do and everything you say will have impact on how your brand is perceived.

9. Support from the top – it is essential that the business leaders are bought into alignment and are open to change

8. Have a clear and differentiating vision – this is fundamental to stand apart from the competition. Something more imaginative and meaningful than “the best”, “the leading” or “the number one”

7. Empower people to act. Communicate the vision, the values and what the brand means to everyone who is required to embody the brand

6. Focus on short term wins – the quick wins and fixes that will improve alignment ratings

5. Have a 360 degree alignment plan – a plan for all stakeholders, channels and touchpoints

4. Go with the grain – protect the best bits of the brand by delivering brand evolution not revolution

3. Measurement – monitoring how aligned your brand is with the vision is critical to understanding what needs to be done and how changes are being received (check out the Ci Research / Brand Vista collaboration the Brand Alignment Monitor for more information on how to go about this)

2. Keep it simple – the reporting and outputs should focus squarely on what is and what isn’t working – where and with who are we aligned, where and with who are we misaligned, what needs to be done to improve alignment? Avoid death by PowerPoint and black-box brand tracking solutions

1. Understand the emotions – the personality of the brand and the relationships stakeholders have with it. A strong brand promise is built on emotional as well as rational values, which is why branding research should incorporate qualitative techniques to go beyond the rational (e.g. product, service and price) to get at the intangibles, the irrationals, and the downright core emotions.

 

Richard.Walker@ci-research.com

 

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Top 10 tips for running a successful online community for better insights

23 Sep

Clients are investing in online communities as an interactive consultation forum and a ready-to-use sounding board to meet both continuous and ad hoc research objectives. As a relatively new tool at the researcher’s disposal, communities have changed the way clients listen to their customers; customers that are now just a click away, ready and willing to share an opinion.

Ci Research has recently unveiled its new flagship online community – Ci Nation, which has been in development for over a year.

This week for MarketResearchExpert.co.uk, Anthony Shephard has compiled a Top 10 tips for running a successful online community for research purposes:

1.) Be open and honest.  Honesty really is the best policy! As a community manager you have to encourage members to be open and honest to ensure you get the best feedback. Empathise, and share your own thoughts and experiences with the community to show them you are human too!

2.) Be active on the community. Your community members need to see that you are actively participating in the community. Having a “Who is online” function show’s members the community manager is ready and waiting for their response and when other members are online.

3.) Be responsive. It may sound obvious but respond to your members! Show them you have listened. Moderation of a community is a full time job, including evenings and weekends.

4.) Acknowledge members good work. Acknowledging good work publicly is good for everyone. It encourages the contributor and shows your appreciation of their time and efforts.

5.) Agree to disagree. You can’t agree to every point of view. Respect the other persons’ right to disagree.

6.) Encourage members to create their own discussions. Allowing members to create their own topics of debate gives them the chance to get their thinking hats on and create the topics that matter to them. They may also bring up new topics or have a different spin on things to that of the community manager which could lead to richer insight.

7.) Mix it up. Although it is great to have a basic structure for your community (I.e. weekly discussions) it is also good to mix things up a little. Alongside regular polls and discussions have live chats with your members or send them an online survey to complete. Keep the content fresh!

8.) Give your members feedback. Keep your members involved by sharing insight and results with them. Allow them to see whether they share the same opinions as other community members or how they have helped a client.

9.) Incentivise members. Although community members should have an interest in the community and the subject matter, a little incentive goes a long way! This can be done by prize draw, selecting a comment of the week or by allowing members to earn points for taking part in the various aspects of a community (I.e. discussions, polls, live chats) that equate to money / vouchers.

10.) Don’t forget to have fun. Communities often have a serious tone to them so lighten the mood every now and again and have some fun or playful topics. You never know you might even see a sudden influx of smiley faces!

For more information on Ci Nation or for more online community tips contact Anthony Shephard or Richard Walker.

 

We are offering a free trial of Ci Nation to clients in the financial services sector – and still have a couple of spaces available. Get in touch now if you want to see the community in action!

anthony.shephard@ci-research.com

richard.walker@ci-research.com

+44(0)1625 628000

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Top 10 Challenges Facing B2C Clients

4 Jul

For any sector relying on discretionary spending, competitive advantage can be achieved by developing a more in-depth understanding of customer behaviour and (crucially) their motivations.

This week for MarketResearchExpert.co.uk, Richard Walker has compiled a Top 10 challenges and issues facing clients in consumer sectors:

10. Recession and the squeeze on disposable income. A lack of job security and rising prices are causing many people to be choosier in how to spend their time and money.
“How can we persuade people to buy ‘this’ (instead of ‘that’)?”

9. Increasing travel costs. A recent Ci Research poll of 6500 UK residents highlighted that approximately one in four people are now deliberately avoiding using their cars for days out.
“How can we persuade people to make the journey to see us?”

8. People are busier than ever and are more demanding than ever. They want more for less. Leisure time is increasingly precious.
“How do we persuade people to engage and give up their spare time?” Continue reading →

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Top 10 insights and themes from the 2011 How-Do b2b Digital Marketing Forum

20 May

Ci Research was delighted to sponsor what proved to be an interesting, useful and enjoyable event at the Museum of Science and Industry. With speakers from Apple, Talk Talk Business, IAS b2b and TwentySix Mobile, and a number of interactive round table discussions, the blog below provides our take on the recurring themes and hot topics from the world of b2b Digital Marketing.

Thanks to all participants and the tweets of @IASB2BMarketing, @NatFoz, @craigduxbury, @ColTalbot1 and @DMANorth in particular for inspiring some of the content for this blog.

10. Build a “pull” connect strategy rather than just pushing out messages and hoping some will resonate and stick. As Paul Higgins at Talk Talk Business explained, 100% of the pull market are in buying mode. Paul demonstrated the value of putting the website at the heart of all communications.

9. Look after the ‘long tail’ of social media by utilising all of the many channels and forums available – get involved in Quora and become an expert, manage the LinkedIn profile, create your own ‘Wiki’. Continue reading →

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TOP 10 – Qualities required to be a good researcher

2 Feb

Perfectly formed

There is a researcher within all of us just waiting to be let loose…

Being ‘good’ according to the Oxford English Dictionary can be aligned with a multitude of properties of which high quality, competent and skilful are amongst those listed to name a few.  If these qualities have been cited as key requirements in order to fulfil this objective, then surely success can be said to be heavily weighted on the possession of such desirable qualities?

Some may argue that surely this discussion should encompass all ‘good’ values and skills for researching, however we at Ci Research believe that the qualities required to be an experienced researcher can be broken down into more specific core competencies. Although an opinionated subject we would like to share with you the reasons behind our own interpretations of the types of expertise required to be a ‘perfectly formed’ and ‘quality focused’ researcher.

So to begin and in no particular order…

1. An analytical mind

“As a market researcher you are constantly analysing a variety of factors. Why does the client ultimately want to do this research? What is the appropriate methodology? When should this research take place? What are the appropriate questions to ask and how? Why did the respondent say that? What are the findings telling us? Why are they telling us that? How do I best communicate the findings? etc. etc. etc. On a daily basis researchers must be able to take a step back and analyse the situation presented to them. The obvious answer is not necessarily the right one” (Gareth Hodgson)

“You have to be able to see the bigger picture as well as the detail. People often find it easier to do one or the other- it is a skilled researcher that can do both simultaneously” (Richard Walker)

“Interpreting information and data- the ability to not just present the findings of research but to look for all the causal factors behind them” (Ian Brown)

2. A people person

“For clients – the buyers of research would rather work with professional AND friendly consultants. For respondents – to get the best out of interview / focus group participants” (Richard Walker)

Continue reading →

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TOP 10 – Useful links for researchers

26 Jan

The Top 10s are back for 2011.

This week, a collection of useful links. A list of websites that, in our opinion, make the researcher’s life easier, more bearable and more fruitful:

 

10. INDUSTRY NEWS / INSIGHT

According to Ci Research staff, the definitive places to go to keep abreast of what’s happening in our key sectors – news, events and expert comment:

Research Live

http://www.research-live.com/

MR Web

http://www.mrweb.com/

Market Research Daily

http://paper.li/mllemire/1288627215

“A good example of an online newspaper, content is pulled together by a US researcher” (Richard Walker)

Market-Research.Alltop

http://market-research.alltop.com/

“I visit this site daily to keep myself up-to-date with all the latest marketing news story and ‘hot topics’ that all researchers should be keeping themselves aware of” (Kelly Millen)

Public Sector / Policy Insight

http://info4local.gov.uk/

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm

Retail

http://www.retail-week.com/

http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/

Marketing

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/

Insurance & Financial Services

http://www.postonline.co.uk/

http://www.insurancetimes.co.uk/

Health Service Journal

http://www.hsj.co.uk/

Children & Young People Now

http://www.cypnow.co.uk/

Regeneration & Renewal

http://www.regen.net/

 

9. DATA SOURCING / OFFICIAL STATISTICS 

Where to find data – for proposals, sample frameworks or reports:

Nomis

http://nomisweb.co.uk/

“Essential quick access to population data for tender background and reports” (Ben Cooper)

Office of Labour Market Statistics

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/default.asp

“A quick and easy way of getting a feel for local areas in terms of population and employment trends.” (Katie Waterhouse)

“Vital for accessing data about the UK economy and society. Useful for providing background information for proposals, helping to define sample frames and adding perspective to findings.” (Gareth Hodgson)

  Continue reading →

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Top 10 Tips… for using film in research

1 Dec

Richard Walker(In a previous life) Director Richard Walker was MD of a film business specialising in consumer insight-led productions, and he has developed these propositions further whilst at Ci Research to improve the effectiveness of both insight capture and dissemination for clients. Below are his latest musings on how to most effectively use film and video within market research and customer insights.

10. Think channel not method

Film and video should at least be considered for every single research project commissioned. “Easy for you to say” I hear you all cry. My retort is thus: Every year, millions of pounds of research budget, if not entirely wasted, is at least partially frittered away because consumer insights do not compete effectively with other ‘noise’ within the client’s organisation. Fantastic research is useless unless it’s properly communicated and shared, and this does not mean simply circulating PowerPoint attachments alongside Excel data tables!

Researchers should start by simply thinking of film and video as an alternative, higher impact, more engaging channel with which to share consumer knowledge. Film is much more than capturing behaviour or glorified vox pops – it is potentially a stand-alone communications solution.

9. High quality production is worth the investment

“Easy for you to say” I hear you all cry. My retort is thus: It is the new media age and expectations of video outputs have changed. If an internal client sees shaky camcorder footage and poor quality shot framing, or hears distorted audio, then this potentially detracts from the message and jeopardises the communication.

Unless specified otherwise, we suggest aiming for broadcast quality outputs that you should be proud to share –not just for the content, but for the style!

8. But don’t let the medium overtake the message

A client in the telecoms sector once gave me this important piece of advice whilst I was having a particularly creative moment. This excellent advice sits well with another piece of advice absorbed along the way – that an audience will only memorise around 5 facts or key actions from any given presentation. In planning a film based output ensure everything is centred around communicating the message (sounds obvious, but worth re-iterating). Which 5 messages do you want people to remember and what do you want them to do as a result?

Continue reading →

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