If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words can a video buy you? As smartphone adoption rises in Australia, it’s only natural for research to have a presence in this arena.

Latitude has recently completed its first qualitative mobile phone study – talking to 22 mums and their kids. Over a period of two weeks we asked mums for feedback, challenged them to tasks, sent them on shopping trips and had them interview their kids (all done with smartphone in hand!). In total they generated over three hundred video clips for the project.

One of the benefits of using mobile for qualitative research is its ability to effectively collect point in time data. Through this medium we were able to observe behaviours as they happened at home, in the supermarket and during usage occasions, allowing us to better understand the decision-making process.

A new innovation for research – keep posted for more learnings about mobile qual!

Anyone with a brand would be asking this question – what is the ROI on a Facebook fan? Jon Bird from Inside Retail has managed to hunt down an article that gives some insight into this question – The true value of a brand fan.

Anyone in business knows that it’s often easier to retain the customers you have rather than ‘recruit’ new customers to your brand. Tough economic times such as those we are experiencing now, and the level of competition that can be seen to get the almighty consumer dollar, makes this scenario especially true.

With many brands now having Facebook pages for their fans, it is worth asking the question – What is the value of a Facebook fan?

Some interesting revelations emerged via the study Jon Bird came across – ‘The Value of a Facebook Fan: An Empirical Review’, by an organisation in the US called Syncapse

The study (undertaken about a year ago) looked at 20 of the top brands on Facebook in the US. Fans and non-fans were compared on six variables: product spending; loyalty; propensity to recommend; brand affinity; media value; and acquisition cost. The brands studied were skewed towards manufacturers, but did include Victoria’s Secret, Starbucks and McDonald’s. What became apparent was that fans are quantifiably more valuable to businesses across all variables:
• On average, fans spend an additional US$71.84 per year on products compared to those who are not fans (In the case of McDonald’s, fans reported spending US$159.79 more per year).
• Fans are 28 per cent more likely than non-fans to continue using the brand.
• Fans are 41 per cent more likely than non-fans to recommend a ‘liked’ brand to their friends.

So here’s the question for you, have you got your Facebook page set up?

My grandfather-in-law, who lives in England, recently turned 100. I was very excited for him, greatly anticipating the obligatory telegram from the Queen.

“No”, my father-in-law said. “We have to write to them to request one.”

WHAT?!

My local video store knows my date of birth, along with my local pharmacist, my local library, my hairdresser, my beautician and just about all the major retailers with whom I have a loyalty card. But the Queen’s Anniversaries Office, can’t find out when I turn 100? I thought digital technology was making it easier to find out such information!

OK. So we get over that hurdle and request a telegram.

“No”, my father-in-law said. “He got a birthday card.”

A BIRTHDAY CARD?!

I was disappointed. It’s not the quaint, old fashioned telegram that I was expecting and I’d never seen a real telegram before so I was looking forward to checking out this traditional form of communication. But neither was it a new and innovative way to send your wishes like a tweet or a Facebook message (don’t you just love it when your Facebook page gets filled with birthday messages? – but I digress). No, it’s somewhere in that grey area of being almost – dare I say it – common.

I wonder if when it’s my time to turn 100, I’ll be receiving a tweet from King William? Or perhaps that will be considered too “quaint”, “old fashioned”, “traditional” or “common” by then. I can just hear my daughter now…. “Oh Mum, tweeting is so yesterday!”

Futurists are predicting a meeting of the digital and real world is not far way. I’d almost say this ‘union’ is already happening. Smartphone (iPhone / Android) adoption in Australia is cited to be outperforming the US by 5 – 10%. Amongst other things, this means retailers also need to unite with the digital world.
Unfortunately, so far many Australian retailers are lagging in terms of digital marketing (in particular mobile and online).
I’ve just come across stats that make it clear that retailers needs a well thought out digital ‘vision’:

• 35% of Australians own a smartphone and 38% have already downloaded a shopping app

So it’s not hard to then make the leap that mobile, particularly smartphones and apps, is already influencing sales and ongoing loyalty.
But shopper apps need to be well thought out and deliver on certain features to be useful.
Other stats from the US and Europe make it clear that shopper apps, to be useful, need to deliver on certain features:

• 84% of US shoppers use their phones while they shop
• 70% are comparing prices
• 67% are accessing product reviews
• 61% are looking for specific store information – hours, other locations

There’s nothing really surprising in these stats, but certainly worth keeping in mind when designing a shopper app. No point in having an app that no one uses!

Now that I’ve got my shopping apps sorted, the next part of the story will be to download Google Wallet (when it’s released), then really there’s no need for my handbag or wallet. My smartphone and car key is all that’s needed. Much easier then for me to carry shopping bags! Ok, time to go shopping…

Half way through a traditional face to face qualitative project with mums and kids, and it’s got me thinking about kids and their role in market research.

As we move forward to new technologies and channels for accessing adults are we going to be missing out on insights from kids, and what does this mean for our clients and their products?

At the moment we can conduct direct research with kids with their parents consent, be it in focus groups, accompanied shops, in home sessions etc. But contacting kids online and through mobile devices is a bit more of a grey area.

Does this mean more heavy reliance on mum for an interpretation of her kid’s thoughts, desires and relationships with brands and products?
Kids researchers know the value of hearing it ‘from the horse’s mouth’ so to speak, and clients certainly respond well to watching and listening to kids, who are often instrumental in driving mums purchase behaviour. Many a time we have seen kids in the next room choosing a totally different ‘favourite idea’ to the one their mums are picking for them across the hallway.

Sitting down to talk about a particular brand and what it means to kids can unearth insights far more powerful than we may first think. Kids are so used to being asked for the ‘right’ answers in school. But given the chance to explore their inner thoughts and feelings through drawings, projective techniques and other mechanisms, can be empowering for them. They enjoy harnessing their imagination and creativity, which can lead to fabulous food for thought for brand managers, advertising creative and design teams.

Often mums tell us they buy stuff for kids ‘because they want it’ – but how often do they know why?

I for one am interested to ‘watch this space’ and see how we connect with kids as ethical debates, technology and research evolve. After all, kids are often the most switched on when in it comes to new technology. In a recent focus group, the first question from the 9 year olds boys was “woah is that an ipad 4?”. I have to admit I didn’t know the answer……

Cruising through Dan Murphy’s the other day I was stopped in my tracks after passing a new product display. Backing up thinking ‘did I just see what I thought I saw?’, sure enough. I did see what I thought I saw.

And I still can’t reconcile it:

AC/DC branded wine.
That’s right. AC/DC of ‘Back in Black’ and ‘Thunder’ fame.
Hard living guitar toting rockers…making quality shiraz???

Now don’t get me wrong. I love AC/DC. My hubby is a big time Acca Dacca bogan from way back. And he loves wine. So of course being a market researcher and wondering who would be the target market for such a seemingly strange combination of brand and product, I asked him if he would ever buy it.

He laughed and said ‘no way!’ Then made a joke about ‘maybe if it came in a flagon so that you could scull it!’ And then asked ‘why aren’t they making whiskey or something?’

As a researcher I’m always open to the idea that my attitudes could be quite different to other people’s. So is this a disastrous marketing failure waiting to happen or am I missing something??? Maybe?

In true market research fashion I’ve since asked a lot of people what they think of this idea, because the apparent paradox is driving me crazy! So far the response has been consistently anti. But I still find myself wanting to stalk people in Dan Murphy’s, hopefully spot someone buying ‘Back in Black Shiraz’ and then ask a load of probing questions…

This is why I love research – I have an overwhelming need to ‘get it’. I need to find the person who would buy Back in Black Shiraz, Highway to Hell Cabernet Sauvignon or You Shook Me All Night Long Moscato.… because I want them to explain it to me…!

So if you’re out there. Please get in touch.

As community managers we surround ourselves with people of differing ages, genders, backgrounds, attitudes and opinions in our communities. It’s part of what makes communities so interesting. We get to understand the differences and similarities between members, draw an overall consensus and then provide valuable insights to our clients.

Dealing with members with such varying backgrounds, opinions and outlooks can therefore be a difficult process. We aim to get to know people throughout the period that the community runs, and it is true that as we go along, you get a better understanding of what you can talk to some members about; how much you can ask them and importantly what topic of conversations are taboo or not. In the first weeks though it is worth being cautious as something that you may say flippantly without even thinking may actually be offensive to a member.

Think about real life, the first time you meet someone, it is pretty unlikely that you’ll be asking them who they voted for in the last election or how much they earn each year in the first few minutes of conversation. Sure these may be relevant questions at some point but think about how you would feel being asked this in the first week of a community or the first time you meet someone.

A good example of mine was a discussion which took place around Easter which aimed to investigate how much the meaning of Easter had diminished over time and the reasons for this. Whilst  most of us have an opinion on the matter, it was early in a community and had the potential to create divisions between those with differing opinions of a religious nature. Whilst healthy argument can be a good way to really delve into the true thoughts of members, fractures in the membership surrounding issues of religion or other sensitive topics can be very damaging.

Trust must be built up with members in order to get the best from them. It is built over time and you can’t expect someone to provide you the most insightful responses without their trust.

A tip that I now have in the back of my mind when talking to members in the community is that if you are any way concerned or worried about what you are writing and how it could be understood by a member then it is safer to not ask the question at all.

Sometimes it’s not the questions that we ask which are important in getting the best out of members but the ones that we don’t.

What’s your most embarrassing moment that makes you squirm and that you’d hate to share? What, you don’t want to answer? You’re trying to evade my question? Why?

As a qual researcher we often have to find ways of going beyond direct questions. We have to find subtle ways to ‘tease’ out the information we need. This opens up the opportunity for ‘unearthing’ different responses than would be gained through simply asking a direct question.

As we all know, in ‘traditional’ qual there’s a number of strategies to do this, and some of them are about getting people to ‘do’ things rather than simply talking to them about the topic.  Projective techniques, sentence completion, brand party, product reviews, sampling, missions, are but a few.

With online research communities these same techniques and strategies apply. Sometimes we may adapt them, sometimes it’s a straight forward exchange from the ‘round table’ to the online environment.  Chatting with community members is not dissimilar to chatting with focus group attendees. Sometimes you need to go in softly, tip toe around, and see what is naturally volunteered. And in some cases you canjump straight in and get to the point.

I guess the reminder for us all is to be creative….don’t just ask.

Here are a couple of different examples to inspire you:

• Ask members to create an ‘online dating’ profile for a brand.  What do they highlight to ‘attract’?  What do they gloss over and / or omit from the profile?
• Imagine Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are trapped on a leaky boat.  There is no reception where they are and only  two lifejackets can be found,  - which would you hope survives?