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08
Apr

Waste Not, Want Not: Make Online Surveys Work Hard

Posted by: John Capps in: knowledge , market research , study No Comments on Waste Not, Want Not: Make Online Surveys Work Hard

A lot of folks are aware of online surveys but not everyone utilizes an online survey’s full potential. At W5, we like to ensure our surveys work hard for our clients, capturing data that will address multiple research objectives while maintaining an efficient, engaging, respondent-friendly experience.

W5 understands our clients are often juggling multiple projects for several internal stakeholders with varying needs. With limited time and budget, tradeoffs are made, prioritizing which research studies kick off first, placing other important studies on hold. Oftentimes when brainstorming with our clients, we see opportunities to address multiple research objectives with a single survey. Our thought is, while we already have respondents engaged, when appropriate, ensure the survey covers as much ground as possible, always keeping the respondent experience in mind.

Online surveys are dynamic. They allow us to reach a global audience and apply screening criteria to ensure we are engaging the appropriate target audience(s) for a given study. Online surveys can be customized to not only ask standard best practices questions/metrics, but also direct custom questions to address specific needs. For example, a single survey can capture:

  • a snapshot of a brand’s health
  • reactions to stimulus (video, visuals of different arrangements, copy, etc.)
  • target audience profiling (attitudes and behaviors)
  • and much more

An online survey does not have to be pigeonholed into focusing solely on a single research objective or a very narrow set of research objectives―a survey can cover a lot of ground.

There are a variety of questions and exercises that can be included in an online survey to address research objectives. In addition to traditional closed-ended questions (lists and scales/grids), W5 frequently utilizes the following:

  • open-ended verbatim responses (uncover the “whys”)
  • highlighting and hot spotting of text (determine words and sentences that are appealing/less appealing and stand out)
  • drag-and-drop card sorts (understand how respondents prioritize or break down concepts)

There are times when it is appropriate to address a narrower set of research objectives with an online survey. However, when appropriate, we want to squeeze as much juice as possible out of a survey, ensuring we do not waste an opportunity to collect valuable data.

03
Apr

Inbox Love in the Time of Corona

Posted by: Kathy Justice in: Uncategorized No Comments on Inbox Love in the Time of Corona

I am diligent about keeping my inbox at zero. It’s a personal accomplishment of mine, one that brings me a sense of joy. I love looking at the blank screen with all my email folders lined up nicely on the side, quietly awaiting the next incoming blitz of messages. If I were to describe the feeling of Zen it brings in mere words, it would go something like this: The noise has ceased, I have accomplished all my tasks, I am up to date.

Imagine my surprise when the world recently upended itself over COVID-19 and my email inbox was flooded with emails from all the food, clothing, furniture, bedding, makeup, pet supply, carpet cleaner, technology, and home appliance brand from which I’ve ever purchased a product (and this list I’ve shared is by far incomplete, it stretches on and on and on).

Brand emails run the gamut from reactionary to informational to comforting during the Corona virus outbreak.

Did it feel comforting to have my favorite bedding company check in on me to let me know they’ll be there for me over these long weeks of social distancing? Hmm, maybe, a nap did sound good as stress over the state of the world mounted. What about that Australian-based company I purchased pool floaties from a few years ago? Did I care that they cared? I must admit, it felt good to know my health and wellbeing was on top of their radar too, even from half a world away. Did seeing all these emails increase my anxiety? Not at all, my anxiety was already through the roof. Was I annoyed at the deluge of messages? Since I regularly “Marie Kondo” my inbox, then honestly, yes. But that’s when I decided to look deeper and ask: What exactly were the ultimate intentions of these emails? What did they hope to accomplish?

Luckily I was not the only one mesmerized by the litany of “we care” communications and curious to dig into their language, message, and meaning. A “Moneybox” article over at Slate tackled the issue with a funny round up of relevant tweets about the email blitz. Adweek also got into the game by analyzing the language used in these emails. They even delivered a delightful word cloud demonstrating the most frequently used terms.

Overall, industry experts felt it important to look at the timeline of these emails to understand their full intent. Initial rounds were from a reactionary place, addressing the sense of financial disruption everyone feared and wanted to prevent. Next up was a vital informational angle: Here is what we are doing to make sure you are safe. These emails were perhaps most important, especially for small businesses who hope to keep their customer base around with curbside pickup and extra careful sanitation of their retail space.

Most recently, emails and advertising have shifted to a more heartfelt “we care” tone that feels like a warm cup of coffee on a cold day or a hug from a friend. As the impact of COVID-19 continues to evolve, brand communications will have to shift and alter in many ways. It’s important to remember that no matter what the circumstances, we exist in an age where consumers are demanding more from brands—especially as we have ample time to sit and think about what the company represents, what they offer, and their role in our lives. A noted trend among Gen-Z (who now make up 40% of consumers) is a desire to see real people with real problems. In other words, now more than ever transparency and authenticity are key for brands seeking to maintain a relationship with consumers and even go the extra mile to offer support.

What do you think about the deluge of COVID-19 communications from brands? Share your reaction with W5 in the comments below.

31
Mar

Qualitative Research in the Current Crisis

Posted by: Tristan Shook in: culture , market research No Comments on Qualitative Research in the Current Crisis

We’re in the midst of an unprecedented economic and social disruption that has left many in the industry grappling with understanding what research looks like in this environment. Qualitative research is particularly in limbo as approaches have to adjust to the current era of social distancing.

But research and the need for consumer understanding has not halted and in fact many clients are finding it more urgent than ever. There are still opportunities for insight and learning provided you do it right. Respondents too are still engaged. People are eager for ways to connect and be heard. Research provides an outlet for otherwise cloistered lives.

For now, in-person research is out of the question. Never mind the widespread stay-at-home orders, there is a communal and ethical imperative that we do not endanger the health of respondents, their families, or their communities.

But this isn’t to say in-person research is going away. There will be a return to normalcy and a demand for qualitative, in-person research that digs deep into how consumer sentiment has evolved over this period.

In the meantime, online methodologies are your friend. There are a host of technologies that can capture direct consumer response from online discussion techniques, virtual focus groups and interviews, and innovative chat platforms. While it’s changed how we observe behavior, moving research online does not remove the ability to observe individuals as they conduct routine activities and shopping. W5 is able to leverage tech to observe people shopping online, capture video and photographic response, and talk to people in their homes. All of this will allow brands to observe current and changing attitudes and behaviors as consumers navigate through new paradigms and ways of doing things.

Despite the convenience and flexibility of online tools, it can still be a challenge understanding consumer sentiment, but here are some tips and tricks that can help you do it right:

  • Groups vs. Individuals: In highly uncertain times, conversations can be emotional and some topics can be potentially challenging to discuss in a group. Consider whether the answers you’re seeking might be better discussed individually or in groups.
  • Past, present, and future: How questions are framed is important. When seeking to understand consumer behavior, it’s important to capture not only their behaviors now, but how this differs from how they did things in the past and anticipate doing them in the future.
  • Respondent connectivity: Ensure that built into the screening process is a check for reliable internet connections, device compatibility, and the tech savvy to use various online platforms.
  • Engage respondents’ creativity: Respondents can be understandably pre-occupied with the daily news. Leveraging creative activities and exercises can be a useful technique for tapping deeply held opinions and avoiding conversations that redound to current events.
  • Recruiting time: Allow more time for recruiting online methodologies. The massive shift to online research has limited recruiting resources and consumers themselves are still adjusting to new routines.

Keeping these tips in mind can make qualitative research successful and insightful both now and once the cloud of the current crisis has lifted. Be well everyone.

24
Mar

DISSECTING THE ART OF NOTE TAKING

Posted by: Andrew Willard in: knowledge , market research No Comments on DISSECTING THE ART OF NOTE TAKING

“Writing and learning and thinking are the same process.” – William Zinsser

Boiled down to its essence, I view my primary goal as a marketing research professional as helping others understand something I have learned.

I try to ask thoughtful questions, listen attentively, and then effectively translate ideas for the benefit of others. This is a capital-P Process for learning and communications. However, it is not always linear, and my methods for asking, listening, learning, and communicating are varied.

Over the past 15+ years of working professionally with data and language, I have learned (the hard way – through mistakes; and over and over again) that I personally learn best through writing by hand. I use my PC, laptop, and phone for many things, but despite the ease and convenience of these technologies, when I want to absorb information, retain it, refer to it later, and ultimately translate it for others, I grab a pen and notebook. I like to physically spell it all out and scrawl across the page, leaving a record I can refer back to (and re-interpret) later.

It’s not really pretty, but it works for me…
I realize that I am just one information worker among many, however, and others have very different habits, practices, and preferences.

We recently conducted a brief, statistically reliable (N=1000) nationwide survey via Piplsay, powered by Market Cube to gain insight into how people take notes at work and the benefits they seek in making related decisions. Here is some information we gained on the subject:



Data Source for W5 Poll: Piplsay, Powered by Market Cube, September 2019

These are all valid techniques for taking notes and sharing ideas at work, of course. The prevalence of different habits and preferences is interesting. It is clear people learn and communicate differently and a combination of methods can be effective (and is most typical).

I was a little surprised at how many people take notes by typing, and that only 57% do so by writing. Personal preference and bias aside, in light of psychological science reflecting the value of handwritten notation for comprehension, I thought this percentage may have been even higher. It does, however, seem to make sense that typing is a preferred method for sharing information later – which for many people, may be a reason to take notes in the first place.

I was amused at some respondents’ confidence in relying on memory (though they, somewhat humorously, seem to admit it’s not the best way to record information to tell someone later).

Ultimately, it’s not about the tools or techniques. The key is to maintain focus on sharp questioning, open-minded listening, and efficient communication, using whatever methods aid you through the learning (capital-P) Process.


10
Mar

Vend It To Me!

Posted by: Tom Daly in: branding , packaging No Comments on Vend It To Me!

While you can still get a sugary soda, bag of processed salty stuff, or a congealed glazed doughnut in the vending machine downstairs in the W5 building, the future of vending is changing―finally.

Like other forms of convenient food delivery, vending is shaking up its offerings. Sure, availability at arm’s length is appealing, but the impulse of a vending purchase increasingly must offer intrinsic value beyond ease. Trading quality for accessibility will soon be disappearing from the category―food inherently good for you will also be readily available, whenever.

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal noted a few emerging companies that are successfully dispensing fresh, healthy food. It’s true, vending machines being fresh and healthy are no longer an oxymoron!

Not since the long-gone golden age of Horn & Hardart has fresh, good tasting food been readily available in this way. Chicago-based Farmer’s Fridge, now also available in a half-dozen other states, and growing, has a temping menu for those on the go: breakfast items, salads, bowls, sandwiches, snacks, and even drinks―many vegetarian or vegan. Fresh Bowl, a more recent entry to the category from New York City, offers busy Manhattanites just what its name says: healthy bowls of greens, grains, and protein combos in resealable (and reusable) glass jars.

The key to success today is the ability of these nascent vending companies to harness technology to deliver compelling offerings to consumers. Up-to-the-minute sales data is supplied to headquarters, so just-in-time items that need to be replenished, or removed, can be done so on a daily basis―no day-old turkey salad sitting in the machine or on the shelf of the delivery van. Technology also allows for temperature control, so food offerings are continuously stored at optimum levels. They can even alert you, via an app, when a seasonal item is stocked, and its nearest location.

The food industry has also become adept at cooking food at centralized “ghost kitchens,” where it is prepared daily by food staffs whose sole function is delivery to secondary locations, i.e., this isn’t a take-out business or part-time vending route, it is their sole core business function.

Obviously, the industry is evolving and snafus can be expected along the way, but consumer expectations regarding convenience and food consumption have quickly changed over the past few years. There are many models that will serve people’s needs and stationary interactive machines are most definitely part of that equation―there’s a lot less “moving parts” than restaurants or dubious delivery drivers (one recent study states 28% of food is ‘tasted’ by delivery drivers). Soon, these machines will likely be in your office so you can grab something on the way home, in your apartment building so you can run down while watching your favorite show, and on the street corner when you’ve decided last minute you’re not up for cooking, or going out―just walk up, choose, click, and eat!

24
Feb

MEASURING AND TRACKING BRAND HUMANIZATION

Posted by: Andrew Willard in: advertising , branding , culture , knowledge , market research , study No Comments on MEASURING AND TRACKING BRAND HUMANIZATION

Businesses are run by people and it is important for consumers to know they engage with real people when they purchase products or services from a chosen brand.

Brand Humanization focuses on the relationship between brands and consumers, comprised of various aspects of Brand Trust and Brand Empathy.

W5 recently conducted a custom, strategically-focused quantitative market research survey to establish benchmarks for consumers’ perceptions of a client’s brand on aspects of Brand Humanization. For this particular client, and category, we focused on the following aspects of Brand Humanization:

The below case study highlights application of W5’s Brand Humanization research for a Fortune 500 brand.

CLIENT ASK
A long-established American agribusiness and food company sought to reposition its brand to align with values that matter to modern consumers, including, but not limited to, Millennials. Understanding the relevance of Brand Humanization (i.e., comprised of Brand Trust and Brand Empathy values and perceptions) informed strategic market positioning, tactics, and communications focus.

APPROACH
W5 developed a custom survey to understand if Brand Humanization matters to target consumers regarding their category purchase decisions. In addition to standard survey questions, client logos, category and product imagery, and emoticons were incorporated to stylize and gamify survey design to elicit engaged, humanistic response. W5 quantified how well consumers felt the company delivered on attributes including brand purpose, business conduct, social responsibility, customer value, and employee appeal, mapped to a Brand Humanization framework. Future tracking research will assess the extent of the company’s success in positioning and marketing to consumers over time.

RESULTS
W5 confirmed Brand Humanization is valued, especially among Millennials, and informs purchase decisions in the client’s category creating opportunities for immediate positioning and marketing. Specifically, the client gained actionable direction for messaging and imagery to feature on its website, in advertising, and other marketing communications, ensuring resonance with current and future audiences.

To learn more about W5’s Strategic Tracking Services, download our company white paper.

11
Feb

LOVE HURTS [YOUR WALLET]

Posted by: John Capps in: Data Visualization , Data Visualization Infographics , market research No Comments on LOVE HURTS [YOUR WALLET]

Valentine’s Day is this week, so I hope everyone has been saving up for the big day. According to WalletHub, shoppers will likely spend over $27.4 billion on Valentine’s gifts in 2020, making Valentine’s Day the second most expensive holiday among U.S. consumers.

However, we should be careful not to overextend ourselves financially in the name of love. According to WalletHub’s 2020 Valentine’s Day Spending Survey, 4 in 10 people agree irresponsible spending is a bigger turn-off than bad breath and over one-half would not marry someone with bad credit. So, while chocolate, flowers, and fancy gifts are great, it appears financial responsibility is a bigger turn-on. We hope everyone is prepared for Valentine’s Day this year, but before you deplete your bank account, remember, the greatest gift is love (at least according to 86% of those surveyed).

29
Jan

A Glance at the Past to Inspire the Future

Posted by: Amy Castelda in: knowledge , market research No Comments on A Glance at the Past to Inspire the Future

A new year and new decade is upon us! Classic Blue 19-4052 is the Pantone color of the year (just look around), a deep shade that “represents the sky at dusk and what’s ahead.” For the Chinese, it’s the Year of the Rat, representing “the beginning of a new day.”

For W5, it’s a new decade and a time of anticipation―further exploring the world, providing understanding to the intricacies and nuance in human behavior. Given this, we thought we’d take a moment to look back at some 2019 highlights before forging into 2020:

  • One of America’s storied QSR restaurant brands engaged W5 to inform and guide a path forward into the world of plant-based protein options. W5 conducted exploratory qualitative research through a series of dinner discussions groups. These semi-structured, peer-to-peer discussions provided directional consumer insights to expand their menu for customers seeking non-meat options.

  • Partnering with a leading coffee producer available at retail and their advertising agency, W5 developed a quantitative behavioral segmentation identifying audience drivers, behaviors, and opportunities for understanding and communicating with the diverse spectrum of consumers in their product portfolio.

  • A legacy CPG brand and their advertising agency sought to consolidate and unify brand measurement to provide holistic periodic overview of their brand’s health to inform strategic positioning and marketing investment. W5 developed a customized, humanistic brand health initiative, encompassing quantitative metrics and qualitative interactive “Brand Humanity” exercises, that elicited instinctive emotional responses toward brand affiliation.

  • A global Fortune 100 CPG client was interested in designing an agile ideation process to kick start innovation for the cereal category. W5 leveraged a three-phased approach: an innovation workshop, followed by illustrated refinement of generated concepts, then collaboration with consumers to capture reactions and further refine concepts for future product development.

  • A premier luxury gift retailer sought to explore shopper attitudes and behaviors to understand their emotional need states and subsequent considerations when deciding on gifts―be it a satisfying or challenging experience. W5 developed a multi-modal qualitative, quantitative, and secondary research plan to capture considerations that shape decision making around gifting within the brand’s retail environments, both in-store and online.

We hope our noteworthy work in 2019 will inspire new ideas for you in 2020!

21
Jan

Volunteer’s Value

Posted by: Jonathan Morris in: Blog , culture , infographics No Comments on Volunteer’s Value

I recently joined the W5 culture committee―an employee committee tasked with building strong relationships within W5 and the community. This year the W5 team set the goal of increasing our commitment to serving and volunteering in Durham.

Which begs the question―why is it important that businesses play an active role in our communities? Research from United Health Group shows that not only is volunteering great for personal health, but it can be an incredible catalyst for building teams and learning new skills.

W5 believes not only can we be an agent of good in our community, but those around us can have a positive impact on our business as well. Our culture committee is on the lookout for fun, creative ways to get involved in 2020, so please reach out if you have any ideas you’re especially excited about. We always love new ideas!

08
Jan

The Big Picture in High-Tech

Posted by: Tom Daly in: knowledge , technology No Comments on The Big Picture in High-Tech

I am a BIG fan of macroeconomics. Macroeconomics tells the whole story of an economy, without getting caught up in the nuance of in-the-moment events or irrelevant small instances that cloud perception around the truth of human behavior. Trying to sift through today’s opinions and daily rumblings, I find relying on macroeconomics comforting.

Macroeconomic theory, as you know, focuses on the behavior and subsequent performance of society as a whole; macroeconomics doesn’t sweat the small stuff. Rather, it assesses aggregate changes in the economy such as unemployment, inflation, GDP, etc. – the things that really matter.

A great case in point is a macroeconomic factoid I came across regarding high-tech. We read about how high-tech is changing our lives every day in ways we never imagined. We also read how high-tech is transforming cities and towns, large and small. Cities like Austin and Raleigh/Durham are often written about as “new tech hubs for today’s Millennials.” At the same time New York City is being penned as an East Coast hub for the likes of Facebook, Alphabet, and even Amazon. I’m sure you have your own story to add to this list.

Unfortunately, macroeconomics has shown that high-tech only really matters to our economy if you live in one of five U.S. cities: Boston, San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, or Seattle. No where else. It may be personally relevant to you, or make a good story, but if you live anywhere other than these five cities high-tech is not a game-changer.

Why? Because macroeconomics, as outlined in a recent Wall Street Journal article, cites that according to research conducted by The Brookings Institution and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, that 90% of all high-tech job growth over the past decade has occurred solely in these five cites. That’s it! Everything else you read is fluff. The truth of macroeconomics has spoken – an ever-increasing concentration of high-tech resources has occurred in but five U.S. cities. Cities such as Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and Philadelphia are made irrelevant, i.e., with a net loss of high-tech jobs this past decade.  All the other cities, combined, account for only ten percent of high-tech job growth. Divide this ten percent across the nation’s other 377 metro areas and the growth per metro is negligible, at best.

What does this mean? It means these five cities will likely emerge as our centers of excellence as the century progresses. These are the five places where innovation and talent will commingle to change today’s world. New ways of living, working, consuming, and generally behaving will emerge from these five cities. The others will, in varying degrees, ape them and follow along. Some, such as Washington D.C. may catch up due to the new Amazon HQ2 set to soon open, as well as all the spiraling government space/defense-tech resources that spill over the Potomac. New York City is tough to bet against, yet the city seems at odds with itself with chronic congestion. The others?

It’s a sobering statistic and I still have trouble getting my head around it, given all the hype I read about other places. But this goes to show the power of the pen, digital or otherwise, to persuade. Plan accordingly!

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WHITESPACE INNOVATION

W5 can support your team to identify market opportunities and leverage strengths to create meaningful differentiation. Whitespace Innovation initiatives combine primary research to understand current consumer perceptions as well as strategic initiatives to brainstorm future opportunity.  

W5 will often leverage unconventional research approaches to elicit compelling ideas for how your brand can innovate within the category. 

W5’s Whitespace Innovation projects can help you: 

  • Identify your brand’s current position and opportunities in the category 
  • Create meaningful product and brand differentiation 
  • Promote a culture of innovation and creative thinking
RESEARCH PLAYBOOKS

Playbooks tell a visually compelling story, distilling research findings for the highest possible impact across your organization. W5 develops Playbooks to simplify and communicate research learnings into an action plan that is entertaining, easily digestible, and understood by all.

These deliverables distill traditional detailed research reports into engaging narratives, stirring conversation and hypotheses. 

Research Playbooks can help you: 

  • Consolidate findings from across research initiatives 
  • Make research pleasing and appealing for internal stakeholder audiences 
  • Visualize findings in compelling ways
RESEARCH ACTIVATION WORKSHOPS

Research Activation Workshops are interactive sessions that encourage your team to understand and then apply research findings to strategic initiatives. These sessions use research engagements as the springboard for internal collaboration and engagement. 

W5’s ideation facilitators start with a presentation of findings and then use creative exercises to elicit new ideas from participants. Each engagement ends with a prioritized list of action items to explore in the short and long term. 

Research Activation Workshops can help you: 

  • Get more from your research 
  • Familiarize internal audiences with the research results 
  • Encourage creative thinking and life beyond the final report
PERSONAS ARCHETYPE CREATION

Personas are tools for understanding and empathizing with consumers, clients, or end-users. They present a complex marketplace as a series of archetypes with names, faces, and perceptions, offering a shared foundation for teams in all parts of your organization to understand what your customer wants and needs.

Personas allow designers, marketers, product developers, and other internal teams to empathize with consumers and understand their needs in an easy-to-understand manner leading to smarter products and services. 

Personas can help your organization: 

  • Align on strategic goals based on consumer needs 
  • Visualize, understand, and empathize with the consumer 

Read our White Paper on Personas

META-ANALYSIS OF EXISTING RESEARCH

W5 can review existing primary and secondary research to develop a custom report centralizing understanding of your brand to springboard further strategic thinking. This provides your team with a cohesive understanding of the market and brand performance, adding richness and important context to research results.  

Often organizations have a repository of research reports that are not acted upon. W5 uses these data points to summarize and tell an otherwise buried story. Resulting reports are eminently more readable and actionable. 

Meta-Analysis approaches can help you: 

  • Find value in existing research 
  • Consolidate research findings in an easy-to-understand narrative
  • Uncover buried insights and inspire internal stakeholders 

Read our Thought Piece on Meta-Analysis 

Read our Case Study on Meta-Analysis

JOURNEY MAPPING

W5’s strategy practice works closely with qualitative and quantitative researchers and client teams to transform Consumer Journey research into engaging and lively visuals.

This collaboration combines research analysis with the design and visualization process. W5 produces detailed Journey Maps that clearly plot major touchpoints, key moments of truth, journey barriers, and the emotional steps of purchasing a product or service. 

W5 can help your team: 

  • Identify key moments in the Consumer Journey with your product, service, and brand 
  • Visualize the journey to promote stronger internal awareness and understanding 
  • Share and socialize the consumer journey with internal audiences 

Read our White Paper on Consumer Journeys 

Read our Case Study on Consumer Journeys

INTERACTIVE PRESENTATIONS

W5 works with you to create Interactive Presentations for sharing research across your diverse internal audiences. These presentations distill reports into key themes and ideas presented alongside charts, video, images, and quotes.

These deliverables are more dynamic versions of traditional research reporting by leveraging illustrative tools to tell a more compelling story. 

W5 can develop Interactive Presentations that help you: 

  • Make research findings easier to socialize throughout your organization 
  • Generate internal interest in research results 
  • Enable internal teams to engage directly with the data and embrace its implications
IDEATION AND CO-CREATION SESSIONS

In creative problem solving, the quality of a solution depends on the ability to generate creative and strategically sound ideas. W5’s Ideation Workshops use creative activities, lateral thinking, and brainstorming to inspire new ideas and solutions.

Our facilitators cater discussions to your organizational goals ensuring tangible strategic actions that can be applied immediately following the session. 

Ideation and Co-Creation Sessions can help you: 

  • Structure and formalize consumer insights 
  • Make research insights actionable 
  • Engage stakeholders in research and ensure the results are applied
DOCUMENTARY VIDEOS AND HIGHLIGHT REELS

W5 produces and edits research videos that illuminate consumers’ lives through stories and scenes, with a goal of encouraging consumer empathy and understanding translating into better products, communication, and stronger brand equity. 

W5 also produces short films that summarize findings in the voice of the consumer. These 3-5minute stories encapsulate research findings and provide an easy way to understand your consumers’ mindset.

W5’s video deliverables can help you: 

  • Share and socialize insights with a broad internal audience
  • Bring the consumer to life and inspire internal teams to put the consumer at the center of your design, product, or messaging strategy 
  • Generate interest and entice internal stakeholders to take greater interest in research results

Read our Thought Piece on Video Ethnography

CATEGORY LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT

W5 can create a complete picture of the competitive landscape, highlighting current category trends and alerting you to future developments. W5 leverages multiple methodologies to assess the Category Landscape, including social media synthesis, online trend analysis, expert interviews, and primary marketing research. 

W5 can help you: 

  • Understand where your brand fits within the current market 
  • Identify potential challenges and threats 
  • Pinpoint trends likely to influence your industry
  • Establish a baseline category understanding before more in-depth research
ARTIFACTS AND INSTALLATIONS

Artifacts and Installations include any method of communicating research findings that goes beyond the standard research report. These elements challenge expectations through novel presentations and unexpected media. 

W5 creates deliverables that can take many forms, custom designed to integrate into internal spaces and attract stakeholder attention. 

Incorporating these deliverables can help you: 

  • Share and socialize research insights throughout your organization 
  • Generate interest in research and promote a culture of customer-centric thinking 
  • Promote long-term engagement with research insights

Read our White Paper on Design Driven Deliverables 

PRICE SENSITIVITY RESEARCH

The marketplace is constantly evolving and there are times in every industry when it is necessary to assess your pricing strategy. Price Sensitivity research is valuable in gaining perspective into the optimal price-value balance. W5 typically uses the Van Westendorp pricing model to efficiently evaluate client pricing. 

The Van Westendorp technique applies four simple questions regarding a product or service, requiring survey respondents to rate each price in context with product/service offerings and perceived benefits. This method yields clear and intuitive data that identifies the range of acceptable price points, providing a solid basis to assess pricing strategy. 

Understanding consumers’ price sensitivity can help you:

  • Identify the optimal price point for a product or service
  • Model the range of acceptable prices driven by consumer purchase intent and in the context of brand equity, offerings, and benefits
  • Assess consumer demand above and below the pricing range to understand market implications

For more in-depth information on pricing analyses, W5 recommends Conjoint Analysis.

BRAND HEALTH ASSESSMENT

A Brand Health Assessment includes evaluation of consumer awareness, consideration, and engagement with a brand to generate insights on market positioning. Through a quantitative survey featuring validated brand metrics plus custom questioning, the “health” of the brand is measured and compared to key competitors. 

Through a W5 Brand Health Assessment you gain perspective into your consumers’ relationships with the brand beyond awareness, to explore their past, present, and future experiences with the brand.

Brand Health Assessment can help you:

  • Measure your brand health (awareness, consideration, usage, recommendation)
  • Understand your brand positioning and opportunities relative to competitors
  • Profile different audiences’ relationship with your brand
BRAND EQUITY EXPLORATIONS

Brand Equity is focused on consumers’ perceived value of a brand, beyond just their opinions of products or services. To understand brand value, an exploration of brand equity includes more than an assessment of current brand health and image. A forward-looking perspective is necessary to guide business strategy. 

W5 Brand Equity Explorations include brand health (i.e., awareness, consideration, engagement) and brand perceptions (i.e., overall image, brand performance on valued attributes, etc.) but also the call-to-action of the brand. The call-to-action assessment often includes personal (i.e., consumer research, purchasing) and social (i.e., recommendation, social media advocacy) aspects.

Brand Equity research can help you:

  • Assess brand health in terms of awareness and engagement
  • Understand how the brand is perceived by consumers, particularly on qualities that drive their brand selection
  • Identify ways in which the brand inspires future engagement, including sales
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Product Development is rarely a straight line and can present stops and starts throughout the process. Product Development research can be leveraged to evaluate initial renderings or ideas, test prototypes, optimize features and benefits, test products in natural contexts, and gauge related communications. 

W5 works with clients to employ both online and in-person approaches. In-person approaches are appropriate for hands-on elements or testing functionality and form factor, while online approaches can help narrow options and gauge overall reactions to attributes, design, and messaging. 

Product Development research can help you:

  • Narrow options around product features and design
  • Identify potential usages or pain points early in the process
  • Clarify areas of confusion or uncertainty 
  • Create a differentiated product that stands out from competitors
  • Eliminate false starts or development mistakes
AUDIENCE PROFILING

Audience Identification and Profiling research paints a detailed picture of a core market―their demographics, basic category behaviors and attitudes, psychographics underlying those behaviors and attitudes, and opinions of the marketplace. This method is a critical step when introducing a new brand or product and can be a cost-efficient alternative to a segmentation.

Beyond basic statistical profiling, W5 explores the relationship of consumer lifestyles, life stages, beliefs, and habits to define their potential engagement with the brand and/or product.  Audience Identification and Profiling is best used to identify a target audience for a product, service, or message. This strategic market insight will help you:

  • Identify a core market within a broader target
  • Estimate the scope of opportunity for a brand or product with that target market
  • Inform strategic brand or product positioning
  • Develop meaningful and resonant messaging
ATTITUDE AND USAGE RESEARCH

Attitudes and Usage (A&U or AAU) research answers essential questions of “what?,” “where?,” “why?,” and “how?” around consumers’ decision making within and across market categories. W5 A&U studies provide a robust and reliable snapshot of consumer sentiment and behaviors at a moment in time but can also be conducted to inform future strategy. They are a valuable tool for market hypotheses, exploring brand and product appeal and opportunity, and identifying the impact of recent or forthcoming marketplace changes.

Attitudes and Usage research can help you:

  • Identify nuances of consumer behaviors in the category
  • Understand consumer rationale for category perceptions and decisions
  • Gauge your competitive positioning
  • Resolve hypotheses and assumptions of consumer behaviors and mindsets
CONCEPT TESTING

Product and Positioning Concept Testing provides insight on how a product, service, or branding can cut through competitor offerings to fit consumers’ needs and desires. Thorough and strategic testing of proposed concepts will ensure success by identifying consumers’ rationale for specific likes and dislikes.

There are many ways to accomplish a concept test―monadic testing, paired comparison, proto-monadic evaluation, concept screening, etc.―however, not all techniques are applicable in every situation. W5 builds a custom approach based on the number of concepts, depth of presentation, selected audiences, and needs for comparative insight. A strategically designed research study will reveal resonant winners and relative losers and can help you:

  • Understand perceived benefits and shortcomings of each concept
  • Determine which concepts should be developed and refined and those to leave behind
  • Identify areas of improvement to integrate into an optimized offering
MESSAGE TESTING

The Message Testing process begins with creative stimuli and copy and ends with a refined message. Quantitative research plays an important role to ensure message effectiveness by eliciting consumer feedback on appeal, relevance, and call-to-action. 

W5’s approach to Message Testing provides multiple viewpoints on stimuli through a proto-monadic survey design where copy variations are assessed independently and randomly before comparative questions are asked. The result is dual perspectives on clarity, appeal, relevance, and call-to-action of each stimulus providing context and support for winning concepts.

The goal of Message and Copy Testing is to illuminate the best path forward for marketing and advertising. Armed with this insight, you are better positioned to:

  • Select a message or set of messages that will resonate based on a reliable, robust analysis of a large set of target consumers
  • Inform nuanced creative decisions around specific copy, imagery, media channels, etc.
  • Address hypotheses and outstanding questions about how best to communicate brand strengths, differentiation, and relevance
SEGMENTATION

The identification of different consumer groups in the market is a powerful tool for identifying target audience characteristics beyond basic demographics and category behaviors. W5 views Segmentation as the study of consumers’ responses to specific attitudinal, behavioral, psychographic, and category- and brand-related questions. During analysis, consumers with similar attitudes and thought processes are bundled together to create an audience ‘segment.’ 

Segmentation is beneficial for those seeking a reliable understanding of consumers based on stable, real-world criteria. W5 leverages a mix of applied approaches to ensure resulting segments are actionable and capable of informing product/service refinement, brand positioning, and communications strategies.

W5’s approach to custom, strategic segmentation research will:

  • Determine which consumer segments exist and reveal the relative size of each 
  • Evaluate the potential economic value of each segment
  • Identify the behaviors, attitudes, needs, and underlying psychographics of each segment and how these differ from one another 

Read our White Paper on Segmentation 

Read our Case Study on Segmentation

 

CONJOINT/TRADE-OFF ANALYSIS

Conjoint Analysis explores the value consumers place on your products or services and their features. Through a series of conjoint (two or more parallel) questions in an online survey, consumers evaluate different sets of attributes (and the various attribute options, or levels) and make “trade-offs” between services or features. Response across scenarios generates a robust data set processed using sophisticated modeling techniques. W5 can then gauge your consumers’ priorities, identify optimal bundles with market relevance, and explore demand and price sensitivity related to variations in marketplace offerings.

Conjoint Analysis can help you:

  • Understand the unique contribution each attribute and level of that attribute brings to a product or service 
  • Determine minute differences between a series of nuanced product offerings
  • Inform development of customized product offerings to specific target audiences
  • Model and explore consumer demand and price sensitivity based on a robust and reliable primary research data set
STRATEGIC TRACKING

Strategic Tracking research monitors a brand’s perception and strength over time through industry-specific metrics. Through a periodic or continuously-fielded quantitative survey, consumer insights are measured and compared to track changes and guide decisions based on past activity and predictions for future activity. Strategic Tracking supports decision making by examining market changes from one measured period to another.

W5’s approach to Strategic Tracking goes beyond measuring brand and advertising awareness to explore an evolving marketplace, bringing depth and context to consumer behavior and attitudes. Strategic Tracking research reveals understanding of the relative health of your brand and scratches below the surface to determine its fit in the marketplace.

This in-depth ‘state-of-the-brand’ understanding can help you:

  • Measure and monitor brand health (awareness, consideration, usage, advocacy, etc.)
  • Understand which brand strengths contribute to overall performance
  • Understand brand positioning and opportunities relative to competitors
  • Assess the impact of branding initiatives, advertising campaigns, and other marketing communications
  • Profile different audiences’ relationship with your brand and advertising 

Read our White Paper on Strategic Tracking 

Read our Case Study on Strategic Tracking

 

SHOPPER INSIGHTS

Shopper Insights reveal how consumers interact with products and brands within retail environments, both online and in-store. It focuses on every aspect of the shopping experience, from store selection to purchase decision. W5 views shopper insights as a nuanced and complex study of the retail environment, in-store behaviors, in-aisle decisions, and messaging.

Understanding shopper needs and motivations can transform your approach to products, packaging, displays, promotions, experiences, and interpersonal interactions for both brick-and-mortar and online/mobile shopping. W5 leverages a mix of ethnographic techniques to capture insights throughout the consumer journey.

Exploring Shopper Insights can help you:

  • Better position your products within the retail environment
  • Create new value propositions for your brand(s) 
  • Overcome barriers to product adoption and consideration
  • Build loyalty post-purchase

Read our Case Study on Shopper Insights

ONLINE DISCUSSIONS

Online Discussions are comprised of relatively new qualitative research tools that can provide broader access to participants (over both time and geographic areas) without limiting the quality or type of feedback.

These conversations can take place as Bulletin Boards, Online Journals/Diaries, or webcam-enabled IDIs or Focus Groups. The online platform incorporates rich response and reaction tools that allow participants to communicate via text, simple surveys, images, or video. This enables W5 to employ an activity-based approach to asking research questions where participants not only tell you, but show you how they behave and think.

Clients can also be more involved by observing responses in real-time, suggesting follow-up questions as they happen, contributing to an ongoing discussion among observers, and tagging responses to highlight in reporting.

Online discussions can help you:

  • Leverage longitudinal responses to better understand behavior and attitude in the context of real life
  • Gather frank and honest responses in a largely anonymous forum
  • Collect layered, highly personal responses from consumers in the context of their own environments and day-to-day lives
MOBILE ETHNOGRAPHY

Mobile Ethnography is one of the most flexible research tools available, allowing W5 to connect with a wide array of participants spread across time zones and geography via a smartphone app or mobile platform.

Mobile Ethnography allows researchers to virtually accompany consumers in their natural environment. Throughout the process, W5 integrates mobile-enabled activities to increase consumer engagement and generate insight. This may include exploring product usage, daily rituals, shopping experiences, etc. by capturing media and providing feedback in real-time.

Mobile Ethnography is an efficient and minimally invasive way for consumers to share their thoughts and experiences―a multi-sensory landscape of a consumer’s world that can help you:

  • Identify fallacies in reported versus observed behaviors
  • Capture first impressions of new products or services
  • Facilitate understanding of how, when, and why a product or service is used in its natural environment
  • Chart the moments a consumer engages with a product or brand on a daily basis
  • Identify pain points and moments of delight in the in-store or online environment

Read our White Paper on Ethnography

MESSAGE DEVELOPMENT

Before your brand messaging meets the market, qualitative research can provide valuable feedback to ensure relevance. Message Development research can be conducted throughout the process to develop initial ideas, test individual ideas/campaign concepts, or evaluate campaign material or concepts for consistency.

W5 uses both online and in-person approaches to evaluate messaging. In-person approaches benefit from a flexible forum for developing ideas or exploring initial reactions, while online approaches can incorporate evaluation tools such as heat mapping that identify positive and negative associations with specific elements.

Message Development research can help you:

  • Ensure a message or campaign remains consistent in various media (i.e., web banner, print ad, television spot, etc.)
  • Identify essential, need-to-know information for communication about a product, brand, or service
  • Create a unique and memorable voice that rises above digital and visual clutter
  • Assess the clarity and resonance of specific messaging elements
IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWING

In-Depth Interviewing (IDI) is an intimate conversation between a moderator and an individual or small group of participants. It is a preferred approach when research topics are sensitive or more detailed feedback is needed.

Semi-structured, the approach allows conversations to flow naturally, with the spirit of the conversation guiding the questioning and its order. W5 views IDIs as offering several methodological advantages including building a strong rapport and leading to more detailed and evocative feedback. The approach is often direct and focused, with minimal distractions, allowing for more genuine, thoughtful responses.

In-Depth Interviews can help you:

  • Explore individual concerns for a product, concept, or idea
  • Assess independent decision making and behavior among a specific consumer audience
  • Connect with unique, specialized populations to discuss a specific subject in-depth
  • Explore sensitive or emotional topics inappropriate for community discussion
  • Understand complex elements of a client product or service from the experience of a sophisticated end user
FOCUS GROUPS

Focus Groups, a moderated discussion held with pre-recruited participants, are the most widely used and familiar qualitative research tool. They are especially powerful for conducting exploratory research, messaging evaluations, product development, or brand positioning and strategy research.

Their familiarity does not mean they are a tired approach. W5 incorporates creative exercises and activities to challenge participants to think critically and creatively about research questions. New technologies feature a host of multimedia tools that further creative thinking.

Focus Groups can help you:

  • Conduct a broad exploration of consumer opinions
  • Inspire initial ideas to develop into more cohesive concepts
  • Test products, concepts, or campaigns to receive nuanced feedback
EXECUTIVE INTERVIEWING

Executive Interviews are in-depth, one-on-one discussions with professionals, often in specialized industries or roles. Unlike consumer interviews, they require qualitative researchers attuned to industry language and practices who can approach the conversation with an understanding of their specialization and tie their perspectives back to the research goals.

W5 approaches executive or professional interviews by staying flexible in both timing and means of communication, conducted via telephone, webcam, or in-person to accommodate participants’ schedules.

Executive interviewing can help you:

  • Develop branded marketing and communications that resonate with targeted professional audiences 
  • Adapt products and services to address pain points and meet market needs
  • Design new retention strategies to support long-term customer engagement
  • Outline the position of a product or service within the competitive landscape

Read our Case Study on Executive Interviewing

CONSUMER JOURNEY

Consumer Journey maps are tools for visualizing how people interact with your brand, most often in the realm of retail and/or online shopping experiences. These maps diagram each interaction with key behaviors, considerations, and potential barriers that lie between an initial trigger to consider and final purchase.

Qualitative research is instrumental in capturing the defining moments of the process. W5 designs Consumer Journey research to be immersive, incorporating in-person or mobile ethnographic approaches to shadow the consumer during each step in the process. The learning that comes from better understanding the experience as a whole can help you identify specific pain points and barriers and create a strategy to connect with consumers at the most opportunistic touchpoints.

Consumer Journey maps can help you:

  • Understand the myriad of touchpoints consumers encounter in an often complicated journey to purchase
  • Highlight opportunities to increase consumer satisfaction and drive future consideration

Read our White Paper on Consumer Journeys 

Read our Case Study on Consumer Journeys

 

ETHNOGRAPHY

Ethnography is a qualitative research approach that produces a real-world understanding of how lifestyle, culture, behavior, subconscious motivations, and social context influence product selection and brand interaction.

Ethnography is immersive, putting researchers in the consumers’ world to observe how they behave and interact with their environment and how they feel about the experience. W5 ethnographers can expertly evaluate consumer behavior in detail, identifying meaningful patterns and themes that emerge from their explicit and implicit attitudes and needs. Ethnographic research can take place anywhere (home, store, restaurant, etc.) and employs a mix of virtual and in-person approaches.

Ethnography can help you:

  • Understand a specific culture or subgroup of consumers in great detail
  • Observe and identify new contexts for product use, branding, or communication
  • Identify uncommon consumer insights that are simply inaccessible without closer access and engagement with your audience

Read our White Paper on Ethnography 

Read our Thought Piece on Video Ethnography 

 

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

Concept Development begins with an idea and ends in your consumers’ hands as a product or service. Concept Development research ensures the final result meets their expectations and needs. 

Initial exploratory research helps create empathy and understanding of consumers’ specific needs. From there, the customer can become part of your development team, providing qualitative feedback with each iteration. By embracing Concept Development qualitative research, you are embracing a customer-centric design process that will make for more successful product launches.

W5’s Concept Development and evaluation research can help you:

  • Develop new ideas or technologies
  • Better understand why specific products struggle
  • Refresh existing products to better meet customer needs
BRAND POSITIONING

Brand Positioning is a strategy to identify competitive advantages and help your brand connect with the right people, in the right way, at the right time. It assumes your brand and competitors occupy the same “space” based on subtle differences in audiences’ rational and emotional preferences. Exploratory, iterative, and interpretive, qualitative Brand Positioning research is ideally suited for understanding these nuances. W5 can help you uncover both rational reasons for brand preferences as well as hard-to-define emotional factors.

With knowledge of your current position and what’s important to your audience, you can clarify your brand’s meaning and adopt positioning strategies that offer long-term strategic value.

W5 can help your brand:

  • Identify its position in the marketplace
  • Define and clarify attributes that matter most to your audience
  • Create meaningful differentiation from competitors or within a brand portfolio
  • Revitalize its presence within the market