Free Web Seminar - New Research Study: Do Consumers Prefer Private Label? A Look Into Consumer Attitudes About Private Label

Date/Time: Wed, Dec 9, 2009 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST

Do consumers know the difference between national brands and store brands? Do they care? How do they describe private label compared to national brands? Does this differ across categories? How about across markets?

Private label and store brands are having an impact on many consumer purchases today, both in the US and Europe. And within these markets the definition of private label compared to national brands varies according to category and retailer.

When is a brand important? What makes a national brand different? Do consumers feel the same way about brands today as they did a year ago? Why or why not?

Showcasing BuzzBack’s unique portfolio of award-winning online research techniques, this webinar will highlight new consumer research conducted in the US and UK about purchasing behavior and attitudes associated with private label versus national consumer brands. The study will present ways to identify consumer behavior and attitudes about shopping via an online survey.

As you listen in, you will learn:
• What drives consumer purchases of private label brands and why
• Consumer perceptions and attitudes about private label compared to national brands
• Types of people who purchase private label compared to national brands

Featured Speaker
Brendan Light, SVP, Research and Development, BuzzBack Market Research

Register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/781266785
Mention priority code MWS0020BLOG

Today's Free Web Seminar Next Thursday - Unlock a Better Business Strategy with Text Analytics

Start Date/Time: Today - Thu, Nov 19, 2009 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST

With SPSS text analytics, you can read documents, blogs, wikis, tweets, e-mails, call center notes, surveys and other free form text – and turn the insight you gain into a true strategic asset. We’ll show you how to use text analytics with social media and other Web 2.0 sites to understand trends, and what your customers want, and how they’ll behave. We’ll demonstrate using text analytics in modeling to make your models better, and how to use automatic translation from more than 30 languages to make sense of your global customer base.

Your customers are talking about you, and you can gain a genuine advantage by knowing what they are saying. Attend this webinar and learn how you can “listen in” – and act on the information to gain a competitive edge.

This webinar will show how to:
- Use text analytics to make sense of any text, including Web 2.0 sources such as social networking sites
- Use the information to get a better understanding of your customers, your products, and your competitors.
- Make sense of free-form text resources, and act on the insight you gain
- Unlock predictive secrets from text sources, and combine that information with structured data to build powerful predictive
models that can inform decision making.

Featured Speaker
Jane Hendricks, Product Marketing Manager, SPSS, an IBM Company

Mention priority code MWS0026BLOG when registering:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/646359377

Could segmentation lead to stereotyping?

Caleb Hannan of Seattle Weekly recently wrote a piece that questioned whether or not Starbucks was write in sponsoring Nascar. Was Nascar the right choice for them? Did Nascar fans drink coffee? Read the article here.

He does bring up an interesting point. Does your company seek out customers in places that might not be typical? While we see certain customers frequenting Starbucks and other frequenting races on the weekend, could there be an unexplored market you haven't yet tapped yet? What are other examples of companies reaching out to markets that aren't typically suited for them, but have found success.

As the article points out, racing fans are some of the most loyal customers in the industry. What does Starbucks have to loose from reaching out and investigating a new market? They're both potentially letting new customers know about their brand and showing returning customers that they're a diverse brand.

Market research catches up with Web 2.0

Tamara Barber, writing for Research-live.com says it’s time for the industry to embrace online communities as a research tool – and defends the increasingly unfashionable term ‘Web 2.0’

Barber writes, over the past month, through gatherings such as the IIR’s Market Research Event, the Esomar Online Research conference and Forrester’s Consumer Forum, researchers have been buzzing about how to incorporate Web 2.0 – or social media – into their research mix, how to use the internet for crowdsourcing ideas, and whether customer insights are the same as market research. Clearly, it’s time for our industry to innovate, and no doubt companies like BrainJuicer, Invoke Solutions, Communispace and others are teaching the rest of us how to think outside the radio button online survey and adopt the next evolution of online market research.

Take a look at the rest of Tamara's article and let us know your thoughts. Are we moving to Web 2.0 or past it?

How to Write a Survey

Here's an interesting post I came across on the PcQL blog that gives somes tips on how to write a quality survey, quality being the key word. Here are 3 easy tips from the post, that if followed, is a guaranteed method to getting quality results.

1. What are you trying to find out? - A good survey is designed to answer your question, so the results should tell you what you want to find out.

2. How are you going to use the information? - Make sure you know why you are asking the questions in the first place because if they are not going to be used, there is no point in conducting the survey.

3. Telephone, Postal, Web, Face-to-Face? - There are many ways to conduct surveys and each method has its pros and cons, but which is best for your survey? You must properly research the benefits of each method to make a informed decision on which style is best for what you are trying to answer.

NYTimes: Know Your Market Before You Leap

If you're starting a business or launching a new product, New York Times reporter Paul B. Brown has a few tips on what to consider before making the leap.

“Who are your five nearest direct competitors?

“Who are the indirect competitors?

“Is their business growing, steady or declining?

“What are their strengths and weaknesses?

“How does their product or service differ from yours?

"What can you learn from their operations or from their advertising?”

Brown also discusses how professional market researchers being the process of answering these questions.

What do you think of Brown's tips? Any to add?

Know Your Market Before You Leap

Reminder: Free Web Seminar Next Thursday - Unlock a Better Business Strategy with Text Analytics

Start Date/Time: Thu, Nov 19, 2009 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST

With SPSS text analytics, you can read documents, blogs, wikis, tweets, e-mails, call center notes, surveys and other free form text – and turn the insight you gain into a true strategic asset. We’ll show you how to use text analytics with social media and other Web 2.0 sites to understand trends, and what your customers want, and how they’ll behave. We’ll demonstrate using text analytics in modeling to make your models better, and how to use automatic translation from more than 30 languages to make sense of your global customer base.

Your customers are talking about you, and you can gain a genuine advantage by knowing what they are saying. Attend this webinar and learn how you can “listen in” – and act on the information to gain a competitive edge.

This webinar will show how to:
- Use text analytics to make sense of any text, including Web 2.0 sources such as social networking sites
- Use the information to get a better understanding of your customers, your products, and your competitors.
- Make sense of free-form text resources, and act on the insight you gain
- Unlock predictive secrets from text sources, and combine that information with structured data to build powerful predictive
models that can inform decision making.

Featured Speaker
Jane Hendricks, Product Marketing Manager, SPSS, an IBM Company

Mention priority code MWS0026BLOG when registering:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/646359377

Public library looks at segmentation

The Topeka and Shawnee Public Library System has segmented their market in order to better provide for the members of their different branches. By looking at the populations around the branches of their library, they've been able to get a sense of what they should carry at each library. For libraries surrounded by lots of elementary schools, they'll have a larger children section, and for areas where lots of adults live, they'll provide more best sellers, etc. Watch the webinar of their findings here.

Source: EIS Education Community

Video from The Market Research 2009 Event

If you missed TMRE 2009 this year or just wanted a refresher of some of the sessions and topics covered at the event, make sure to check out the video clips we took from Vegas. On the event site you'll find speaker interviews, recorded track sessions, as well as a welcome from the conference director Krista Vazquez. Enjoy!

TMRE 2009 Video

Announcement from The Market Research Event: TMRE 2009 Wrap-Up

Below is an excerpt from our LinkedIn announcement sent today. If you've not already joined us on LinkedIn, we encourage you to do so!

--

We’d like to thank all of you at The Market Research Event LinkedIn group who followed us last week at the conference. In case you weren’t able to make it to Las Vegas, we’d like to share with you some of the most popular sessions from our blog:


TMRE Keynote Session – Yes! Proven Ways for Market Researchers to Become More Persuasive
http://bit.ly/4jclVe

Web 2.0 & Community Research Symposium: More for Less: Leveraging Research Communities to Maximize Your Budget
http://bit.ly/Z7Iur

TMRE 2009: Decision Pathway Modeling: Understanding How Your Customers Get To Yes
http://bit.ly/3SfkQa

TMRE Keynote Session: Why quality doesn't matter A report on the terminal illness of Survey Research
http://bit.ly/3y9fJ5

Creating "Delicious" Research
http://bit.ly/2vj2GI

For all of the sessions covered at TMRE, visit our blog:
http://bit.ly/GXcE9

Would you like to be more involved in TMRE 2010? Feel free to contact Krista Vazquez, Conference Director, kvazquez@iirusa.com for more information about speaking, Jon Saxe, Business Development Manager, at jsaxe@iirusa.com for Sponsorship and Exhibition Opportunities, Anastasia Ioannou, Senior Marketing Manager, at aioannou@iirusa.com for Media or Marketing Partnership Opportunities; and Kim Rivielle, Managing Director, krivielle@iirusa.com for strategic partnerships and new ideas.

Registration is now open for the 2010 The Market Research Event. You can register here http://bit.ly/3WwqtX and use priority code TMRE2010LINK. Keep up with the latest information on TMRE 2010 right here at the TMRE LinkedIn group, or on Twitter @TMRE.

** ** **
We’d also like to invite you to a web seminar we have coming up:
Unlock a Better Business Strategy with Text Analytics
Start Date/Time: Thu, Nov 19, 2009 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST

With SPSS text analytics, you can read documents, blogs, wikis, tweets, e-mails, call center notes, surveys and other free form text – and turn the insight you gain into a true strategic asset. We’ll show you how to use text analytics with social media and other Web 2.0 sites to understand trends, and what your customers want, and how they’ll behave. We’ll demonstrate using text analytics in modeling to make your models better, and how to use automatic translation from more than 30 languages to make sense of your global customer base.
Featured Speaker
Jane Hendricks, Product Marketing Manager, SPSS, an IBM Company

Mention priority code MWS0026BLOG when registering:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/646359377

Cheers,
The Market Research Event Team
http://bit.ly/4mbFEC

Free Web Seminar - Unlock a Better Business Strategy with Text Analytics

Start Date/Time: Thu, Nov 19, 2009 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST

With SPSS text analytics, you can read documents, blogs, wikis, tweets, e-mails, call center notes, surveys and other free form text – and turn the insight you gain into a true strategic asset. We’ll show you how to use text analytics with social media and other Web 2.0 sites to understand trends, and what your customers want, and how they’ll behave. We’ll demonstrate using text analytics in modeling to make your models better, and how to use automatic translation from more than 30 languages to make sense of your global customer base.

Your customers are talking about you, and you can gain a genuine advantage by knowing what they are saying. Attend this webinar and learn how you can “listen in” – and act on the information to gain a competitive edge.

This webinar will show how to:
- Use text analytics to make sense of any text, including Web 2.0 sources such as social networking sites
- Use the information to get a better understanding of your customers, your products, and your competitors.
- Make sense of free-form text resources, and act on the insight you gain
- Unlock predictive secrets from text sources, and combine that information with structured data to build powerful predictive
models that can inform decision making.

Featured Speaker
Jane Hendricks, Product Marketing Manager, SPSS, an IBM Company

Mention priority code MWS0026BLOG when registering:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/646359377

TMRE 2009: Get Stimulated: Innovating Through Challenging Times

Get Stimulated: Innovating Through Challenging Times
Andrew Pek, Author, Stimulated!

Andrew Pek presented in the "Proof" track at last week's 2009 TMRE, and looked at how people could become more creative in the work that they did. He focused on three ways to get stimulated, focusing on The Vibe, The Value and The Verb. We've got to work on better exploiting the brain in order to be more creative and innovative at work. Creativity is essentially a survival skill.

When audience members were asked about their best moments of creativity took place, they responded in the shower, while sleeping, driving, or even at conferences.

The Vibe, one of the core parts becoming creative, is all about managing your energy. Innovation is a vibe, and relies on tuning and turning your thoughts and feelings into a creative energy. Being aware of your thoughts and feelings is key to having a good vibe.

The Verb is to act, pair ideas with your actions. Pursuing ideas is the key to successful innovation. A great way to do this is to pair random words together. What do you need to come up with a creative idea for? One audience member suggested a new flavor of beer. Te audience then came together to think of different flavors of potato chips. This can introduce new flavors that one had previously never thought of.

And finally, Pek looked at Value. What impact do your new innovations have on your company and society?

TMRE 2009 - Interview with Communispace CEO Diane Hessan

We were able to catch Diane Hessan, CEO of Communispace, and ask her some questions about some of Communispace’s new research initiatives and what lies ahead for market researchers of tomorrow. Take a couple of minutes to view the video below. Enjoy!

Research communities can be as Communities can be easy on the purse strings

For the first time this year, Gongos Research decided to raffle away a handbag that this year's TMRE. They wanted to create something that showed who they were as a company and that aligned with their presentation with Domino's Pizza. So with the motto of "Research communities can be easy on the purse strings when you know how to leverage and be creative with them," they gave away a Burberry handbag. Susan Scarlet, the director of marketing and public relations at Gongos Research, said this was the perfect raffle prize to match the Gongos brand and their presentation with Domino's Pizza. The lucky winner of the raffle was Debbie Lunsford, of The Coca Cola Company, pictured in the middle, along with Susan Scarlet (left) and Christi Walters (right), both of Gongos Research.

TMRE General Session: Why quality doesn't matter A report on the terminal illness of Survey Research

Why quality doesn't matter A report on the terminal illness of Survey Research
Stan Sthanunathan, Vice President , Marketing Strategy & Insights, The Coca-Cola Company

Stan is presented us with two vital slides. As different people have different styles, and he doesn’t want to offend anyone.

Vital slide #1: Why quality doesn’t matter. You must think about the future. If you don’t have quality, don’t come to the party. This is the reason why quality should matter, but it shouldn’t be the only thing.

Vital Slide #2: It’s beyond quality. What’s the next frontier? This slide could be considered less offensive than the first.

85% of research leaders indicated that they are either ”Neutral of dissatisfied with the impact of marketing research in their company. How can we take respondent engagement to the next level?

Is only debate getting us in the way we focusing on urgent versus important. We probably spend a disproportioninate amount of time on the urgent as opposed to the important. There is hope for the industry going forward, the question is is innovation happening at the pace its suppose to happen?

It’s about helping the company to change shape. Not following the change as quickly as possible. Leaders create change. Followers follow change. Our role as leaders and market researchers is to light the way, and show a beacon of hope for what can change in the future. End user expectations bring value to the table.

Expectations are changing quite dramatically. Going forward, we must put money behind research, innovation, and technology changes that accelerate change. We need to think about how we can bring dramatic changes to the world of our research? How can we use technology to do so?

What’s blocking our way for innovation?
We can’t agree on the definition of insight in the industry.
We don’t ‘know what we don’t know, and we don’t know how to know what we don’t know.

What will our final frontier look like?
The speaker can’t predict the future, but Facebook will become the insight provider for the world. There are 300 million individual users, each have given an extensive amount of personal detail. So we can get a great understanding of human conditions. It’s the best source in the world for information on the human behavior. What is your loyal fan base thinking about your product? What do they do, when do they enjoy coke; all can be found if used Facebook correctly. They’re consumers who love your brand.

Here’s what a company needs from clients and research agencies.
-creative problem solvers,
-Story tellers
-Disruptive thinker
-Visionaries
-Act before the change comes to shape change
-Imagine the world where date becomes a commodity
-Agencies are rewarded for business results delivered.

Focus on: outcomes, inspiring change and creating the future