Benchmark Brand Health

A distinguished and competitive firm offering accounting, tax, and audit services wanted to assess its brand image and health among C-suite executives and identify criteria used when selecting a consulting firm. In addition to learning about the category from constituent perspectives, the client sought to validate hypotheses around changing marketplace attitudes.

APPROACH

W5 conducted a custom survey with a mix of current and prospective clients to assess awareness and perceptions of the firm and its core competitors. Further questioning went beyond brand health to understand brand preference. Additionally, a hypothesized marketplace attitude was tested, seeking not only a read on agreement, but an understanding of what this attitude means to different constituencies.

RESULTS

W5 surprised the client with strong brand awareness and consideration data, but brand preference was limited relative to competitors. The study results also pointed to a realistic opportunity for increased brand preference given existing attitudes around competitor performance. This marketplace assessment served as a strong benchmark for the market context against which strategic communications efforts were to be tracked in subsequent waves of research.