category: align
articles exploring new perspectives on business strategy, innovation, and insights
This has been a peculiar winter in New England—on Saturday it was 59 degrees. Despite the unseasonably warm weather, all I wanted to do was stay close to home, make soup and look into what sort of marathon television opportunity Bravo had on offer. My own behavior in large part mirrors what Best Buy validated via an innovative research program in their Communispace community—seasonality in retail is largely about behavior and not about weather, location or calendar anchors. Customer behavior should then drive the retail calendar of marketing plans and offers.MORE…
2012 is right around the corner, and this is the time when the market research industry is rife with prognostications about where we’re all headed.
We asked a few Communispacers about what they thought the biggest trends and opportunities for 2012 would be, and while they all protested oracle-status, what emerged is nonetheless an interesting look at the big picture of market research.MORE…
In 2012, according to Greenbook Research Industry Trends’ Fall 2011 Report, Market Research Online Communities (or MROCs) will see “massive” adoption by research buyers. As traditional sources of insight (focus groups, consumer panels) suffer problems with recruiting, attrition, decreased relevance, and respondent fatigue, more brands are turning to market research online communities to build more intimate relationship with consumers.
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It is predicted by IBIS World that revenue to Australian online retailers is expected to increase to $10 billion over the next 5 years. Currently, online retailing makes up about 5-6% of total sales in Australia, compared to about 12 percent in the US. This trend drove the recent news that Australia Post is planning major changes to its service to support this growing demand including 24 hour pick-up lockers, international product tracking and an increased focus on small to medium businesses.MORE…
How many of you are like me? You design survey after survey with the same set of standard demographic questions at the end of the survey. You then go on to dutifully create banner points of that demographic information to analyze the results against… but never actually use it in a meaningful way. As a “good” researcher I feel obligated to put the check in the box …MORE…
With Paris Fashion Week in full motion, it’s a timely opportunity to think about how brands are “setting the trend.” While some fashion brands are on the Communispace roster, our clients are always, metaphorically, putting their products and services on the runway. And we all know a consumer insights analyst or marketers Holy Grail is truly, “how do I get ahead of the curve in terms of trends?”MORE…
Is it me or is it pretty transparent and predictable when retail sales will hit the calendar?
As a consumer I’ve been trained to ‘hold out’ on making a purchase until I know I can expect a sale. As a marketer, I’m disappointed when I see trite, overused attempts at making a “standard” sales event somehow interesting or fun.MORE…
