Cooperative Respondents, Enlightened Clients, and Other Research Myths

1. Cooperative Respondents,Enlightened Clients,and Other Research Myths CMAG, March 13th, 2008

2. Respondent Cooperation(or more specifically, lack there of) CASRO – 10/02 Respondent Cooperation Summit – 11/06 Quirk’s – 1/07 CMAG Challenge – 11/07 • We get that there’s a respondent cooperation issue. • Don’t just revisit the problem. Help us find some kind of a solution?

3. Great Ideas We Won’t Discuss Improved Sampling Procedures Better Incentives Proprietary Panels Reinstituting “Non-Response Work” More Engaging Administration

4. A Novel Thought Can We Create a Win for Respondents by: encouraging their cooperation with more engaging surveys? Might This Also Create a Win for Clients: because more engaging surveys deliver more enlightening results?

5. One Ecosystem – Three Species Clients, respondents, and the research community are inextricably entwined. A win/win model will benefit both clients and respondents but we’re the biggest winners. It is therefore not surprising that the problem is ours to resolve. • Respondents – the supply of information • Clients – the demand for information • Market Research- the brokers of information

6. RespondentsHow Do We Abuse Them? • The Seven Deadly Sins of Market Research Design • Client Directed Methodology • Lack of Focus (Omnibus Studies) • Inappropriate Targeting • Insulting Intelligence • Inept Construction • Exposed Game • Brutal Length

7. RespondentsHow Might We Do Better? • Applying the “Groucho Marx” test • Recognizing their priorities regarding surveys • Understanding that they like to please • Providing interesting construction • Delivering tolerable length surveys • Volunteering as “Guinea Pig #1”

8. ClientsWho are They? Folks who: • need to know a lot • tend to overestimate what they know … about their business • often overestimate what they know … about market research • are native leaders ABOVE ALL: • Clients are decision makers

9. ClientsWhat Do They Seek? Clients want insight— not just information. • “Don’t drown me in data – just tell me what I need to know.” • Delivering such insight is an easy promise to make but not so easy to keep.

10. So What is Insight? Insight, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder … and the beholder is your client. Not new? Not needed? Not insight! • And the first fundamental requirement for generating Client Insight is? • Cooperative Respondents!

11. Designing to Insight Clientswithout Inciting Respondents • Ever been asked any of these questions? • How come my tracker seldom gives me anything new or useful? • What actions can I take with the tracker feedback regarding price perceptions? • Speaking of price, is there any reliable methodology that can help me price my product? • How about ways to better evaluate programs? • In the time remaining, let’s see how many of these issues we can address with approaches meeting our new specifications: • Considerate of the respondent yet • Insightful for the client.

12. Brand Tracking System A Win/Win Example Example 1 Conventional Shortcomings • More respect for longitudinal consistency than current relevancy • Limited argument for attribute refreshing • Measurement calcification (MBOs) • Surveys are brutally long and generally dull • NOTHING CHANGES • And lots more Relevant Space Methodology

13. Brands COMPREHENSIVE MATRIX: Attributes Respondent rates all brands on all attributes Providing hundreds of ratings on brands and issues of variable interest. Brands Attributes Respondent-level Relevant Space Respondent selects attributes to demonstrate relevance Most relevant brands are then determined Respondent Respect Relevant Space Methodology Example 1 RELEVANT SPACE: Providing a handful of ratings on brands you know and issues you care about.

14. Client InsightKnowing What Matters Example 1 Insights Knowledgeable respondents “know what matters” Experiential attributes play key role in developed markets Emotive attributes serve as surrogate for experience elsewhere The less you know, the more that brand matters Developed markets can guide emerging markets

15. Example 1 Client InsightAttribute Importance to Brand Choosers Competitive Choosers ManyEase Issues Cisco Choosers Many Expertise Issues 15 17 3 8 2 11 1 20 19 12 16 18 13 14 16

16. Minimum Requirements High Stated/Low Derived Key Drivers High Stated/ High Derived 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 Stated Importance 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Hidden Priorities Low Stated/ High Derived 27 28 Extra Credit Low Stated/Low Derived Derived Importance Client InsightStated & Derived Importance Example 1

17. The Pricing ConundrumWhy It’s a Frustrating Attribute Example 2 • Interesting commentary from the past: • Can’t you tell me something other than price? • Don’t worry about price. It’s not a driver! • It’s a tough attribute to capture: • We treat it like “just another attribute” when in reality it’s comparative to the entire set of benefit attributes. • Even when treating it like “just another attribute”, it’s tough to properly communicate. • Maybe a more robust approach will make it easier for respondents to answer and more powerful for us to analyze for our clients?

18. The Pricing ConundrumA Different Approach Example 2 First we look to understand the purchasing philosophy of an organization: Then we have respondents classify brands by how they fit. Traditionally we have a two dimensional analysis as shown earlier – brands by attribute. This process recasts price from “negative benefit” to comparative variable - and allows for triangulation – the confluence of benefits, price, and brand.

19. The Pricing DilemmaThe Toughest Assignment of All Example 3 • Pricing research is always dicey. • Market dynamics make today’s wisdom, tomorrow’s folly. • We design a game then get gamed. • Prediction trumps predilection. • It’s behavior we’re really after.

20. The Pricing DilemmaApplying Controlled Experiments Example 3 Here’s what a controlled experiment typically looks like: The four panels are randomly equivalent and the ONLY difference between them is the price of your product. The respondents task is to review the alternatives and then allocate future purchases across the set of brands.

21. The Pricing DilemmaApplying Controlled Experiments Example 3 Chooser Share 15 17 3 8 2 11 1 20 19 12 16 18 13 14 Price Points 16 • Results are simultaneously simple and profound. • Demand curve based upon price. • With financial information and strategic assumptions provides a sound platform for price establishment. • But still no “slam dunk”

22. Ad TestingWhat Does That Mean? Example 4 oncept Selection: Are we saying the right things? ampaign Effectiveness: Do the executionswork collectively? opy Development: Are we saying things right? If we recognize the creative process to be iterative rather than sequential, then the right place to enter the conversation is – wherever the conversation happens to be right now. omponent Testing: Do the executions work individually? In the marketing world, communications is the most costly and important component … that routinely escapes rigorous testing.

23. Example 4 Controlled Experiments Feasibility via Layering Creative design makes surveys easier for respondents, not harder. One Dimensional TV A 600 22.2 TV B 600 29.8 TV C 600 27.6 TV D 600 21.0 TV E 600 26.3 Two Dimensional TV A TV B TV C TV D TV E Print A 200 200 200 200 200 27.4 Print B 200 200 200 200 200 25.4 Print C 23.0 200 22.2 200 29.8 200 27.6 200 21.0 200 26.3

24. Conclusion

25. Directions Research, Inc. 1-888-651-2990 www.directionsresearch.com dmurphy@directionsresearch.com cgoodwin@directionsresearch.com Respecting Respondents; Enlightening Clients Excellent research incorporates the needs of both clients and respondents. Give respondents boring surveys and they will reward you with boring results. Exhaustion and boredom are the enemies of insight. Treat respondents with the respect and courtesy they deserve. Insight, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, and the beholder is your client. Not new, not needed, not insight! Insight is hand crafted. Precisely, procreated. Information close to a decision illuminates – which greatly enriches the potential for insight. True insight is a gamble; illumination, our ”table stakes” promise. Your ultimate contribution is as a “decision coach”. This means knowing your client, knowing your client’s business, and knowing your client’s critical decisions. Penetrating insight is an uncommon outcome of blunt inquiry. If you aren’t fond of searching through haystacks, practice designing needles. Expect an insight to often be controversial or contentious. If it’s nothing more than confirmation of “conventional wisdom”, it’s not much of an insight. The best surveys capture what customers have to say—not just what clients want or expect to hear. Further, the former is more rewarding to both parties.

26. Directions Research Inc.401 East Court Street, Suite 200Cincinnati, Ohio 45202513 651-2990 (main)513 719-2192 (fax)www.directionsresearch.com An uncommon setting An uncommon contribution Cincinnati’s Flatiron Building is the headquarters of Directions Research, Inc. Constructed circa 1900, two years prior to the Flatiron Building in New York, this building originally served as the local home for PPG Industries. Completely gutted by a fire in August 1903, the building served primarily as a warehouse until a major renovation and rededication in 1987.