Against the Grain: Research

Every year, local advertising agencies compete in the OUTY Awards for a chance to showcase some fun, creative outdoor advertising. This year, our own Interactive Design Director Paul Burger brought home the win with this board for our new division, Trilix Research. http://www.outyawards.com/

Ah, it’s a beautiful morning and you’re jonesing for a caffeine fix. You need a cup of coffee STAT. You have two options: brew a pot at home or head down to Starbucks for a cup of joe. Before you know it, you’re half way out the door and eagerly anticipating a venti café latte.

A few decades ago, a cup of coffee cost about 50 cents and research indicated that sales were rapidly declining. Today, Starbucks beverages average $3.00 each and their annual report says they have more than 16,000 stores in more than 50 countries. So, how did the Seattle-based coffee retailer successfully launch a premium product in a declining industry? They identified a vacant niche in the coffee market, then branded and positioned their product to satisfy it.

Branding is more than a name, it's an experience. It's the emotional response, ambiance and point-of-sale interaction that influences brand perception and earns customer loyalty. Successful branding is what keeps coffee drinkers flocking to Starbucks day after day — well that, and the pesky caffeine addiction. Is it more economical to brew a pot at home? Yes. But Starbucks mouth-watering aroma, soothing ambiance and social interactions generate brand loyalty that makes the premium price seem worthwhile.

Branding and market positioning go hand-in-hand and are essential elements of your integrated marketing campaign. A strong brand name allows companies to charge a premium, while bad branding leads to commoditization. This is generally thought of in terms of B2C industries, but the same principles apply to B2B. To successfully position your product in the market, you must understand how consumers perceive your brand so you can shape their attitudes and distinguish your product from your competitors'.

The best way to evaluate your branding and positioning is to conduct market research. Qualitative and quantitative data gives you vital statistics about the consumers you want to buy your products and use your services. Market research will help you identify your niche, classify your target audience and position your brand.

Researchers use multi-phase, qualitative and quantitative survey methods to ensure statistical reliability. The first stage uses a face-to-face delivery method, (e.g. an in-store intercept or focus group) to collect qualitative data about your brand. Personal interactions and first-hand conversations help researchers interpret consumers' emotional responses to your brand.

The second phase polls a larger audience using direct mail, online or phone surveys to collect quantitative data. This is statistically reliable, verifiable data that reveals the median age, gender, income level, marital status and geographical location of the people buying your product or using your services.

The qualitative survey results will help you understand a consumer's emotional response to your brand. Are consumers responding favorably? If not, how can you re-brand your product to improve public perception? The quantitative results will help you determine how to package, price and promote the product in the marketplace. Are you selling your product in the right stores? Is it priced competitively?

This information enables your marketing team to strategically plan an integrated campaign to reach your target audience within your advertising budget. Translation: getting your product in front of the “right people” will raise awareness about your brand, boost sales and increase your profitability.  

The next time you make a purchase, ask yourself why you chose that product instead of its competitor. Did the packaging influence your decision? Was it a “good deal?” How are consumers answering those same questions about your product?

Brand positioning influences thousands of subconscious decisions we make every day. If you correctly position your brand, you can build a loyal customer base that rivals Starbucks' – without that pesky caffeine addiction.  

A lot of people ask me why I closed Genesis Marketing and Research, Inc. and joined Trilix Research after 9 years.  The short answer is that it felt about time to do something different. Why?  The economy had gotten tougher the last couple years, clients were tightening their budgets more and I was getting ready to do something different in my life.  As many of you know, my life has changed drastically in the past two years and I wanted to make some changes to embrace and enhance my new life.  Trilix Research offers me the great opportunity to interact with bright, creative people daily and to actually see my research and strategy implemented.

Fortunately for me and my clients, Trilix was open to the idea of having me join them to start a research division.  I have known Todd Senne for almost 20 years and trusted both him and his partner, Ron Maahs.  In short, these two have grown Trilix Marketing to where it is today with nearly 30 employees by being good to their employees and their clients.  Few agencies have done so well in recent years.

What does me joining Trilix mean to customers of Trilix Research?  Your research will be completed to the same high standards as we had at Genesis Marketing and Research, Inc.  We will use the best research methodology to match your research need.  The work will be done accurately and the research projects will be competitively priced.  If you are a former client of Genesis, you will not see big price changes on similar projects done in the past.

Best of all, Trilix has more resources to help you.  Resources come in the form of talented people, the investment in new technology and creative problem solving. Our full-service research capabilities allows us to offer focus groups, online surveys, telephone surveys, advanced research techniques and fast turnaround times.  With all of the additional support backing me, Trilix Research will serve your client needs even better than before. I am excited to be working at Trilix and excited to be working with many of my former clients and many new ones as well.  

“Wait.... hold on... I think I have a... yep, yep, I have an idea”*

Trilix is founded on the three fundamental elements of insight, strategy and creativity. Within those fundamentals is the development of ideas which are a key component in all marketing strategies, campaigns and tactics. But how many ideas need to be developed in order to deliver one? So many hours are spent developing ideas that don’t get executed. How can you use your brainstorming sessions to your maximum benefit and deliver an idea that actually works?

1. Know your audience. Knowing your target audience will save you time and allow you to build relationships – and that kind of insight is priceless. Developing strong relationships with your clients, clients’ customers and your own employees can directly benefit client relations as you discover the goals and objectives of their business. If you do your research before the brainstorming session, you’ll find you can save a lot more time, energy and resources. Before each brainstorming session you should research your audience. Know their demographic, interests and dislikes and you’ll find these sessions to be more focused and productive.

2. Be prepared. Bring paper for everyone and set a time limit on the session. Setting a time limit will force you to focus on the task at hand. Take a brief break and brainstorm again for a few more minutes – some of the most valued ideas surface at the end of the session.

3. Look for variety. Don’t brainstorm only within your department – branch out! Include people from a variety of backgrounds with various years of experience. Your entry-level employee will look at things differently than your 20-year veteran. This variety will give you an opportunity to gain the most creative, versatile and unique ideas possible.

4. Get out of the cubicle. Leaving your usual think space allows your thought process to be clear of clutter, e-mails, to-do lists and visiting co-workers which can allow you to think productively. Use open-ended questions to start the session in order to trigger the flow of ideas. It’s beneficial to the thought process if brainstorming is done in a neutral setting. This prevents distracting interruptions and allows for all members of the group to contribute.

5. Stock pile your ideas. Write all of your ideas down! Even ideas that seem far-fetched or unrealistic should be recorded – you never know when one of those may just lead you to a solution. What’s important is that you focus on the quantity of ideas and not necessarily the quality. You obviously won’t be able to use all the ideas you develop, but keep them on file as they may work for another project later on down the road.

Brainstorming can be very beneficial to your company or organization. You can profit and grow through improving the products and services you provide to your clients. It can also expand your personal creativity and help you grow within your career. While the process may take some time, in the end, the outcome may just surprise you. And it’ll be worth every minute you spent.  

** Recognize the subtitle of the article? If you guessed it as a quote from the movie Dumb and Dumber, you guessed right! **

It's great to get a front page story about your company in the newspaper, but how can you measure its impact on your business?

While there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution to measuring earned media, a strategic media relations program presents several ways you can measure that front page story for its effectiveness and relevance to your target audiences.

Content Analysis

Research fans, this one's for you – and it's going to give you the best idea of the impact your article has. Content analysis is literally analyzing the content of the article to determine the positive, negative or neutral value in different elements of the story.

Items typically looked for in content analysis include spokesperson quotes, photos, key message delivery and clarity, article placement and article importance, among other items. These items are marked or charted and then rated as positive, neutral or negative – or sometimes given a number value.

Charting content analysis is a great way to see how a company is portrayed in the media or whether a spokesperson is effectively communicating key messages across various media platforms.

Content analysis can be time consuming if there are a lot of categories to chart. The good news is, it allows for a customizable system for media relations efforts and a way to track media relations successes over time.

Advertising Equivalency (also called PR value)

Probably the most controversial method to measure earned media, PR value is still widely used in the industry. The controversy lies in whether or not you can equate a front-page story to a front page ad, because, well, most newspapers won't sell you a front page ad, and a news story has more credibility than an ad. While it's not a true apples-to-apples comparison, putting a dollar amount on the article can help those who are more numbers-focused see how PR work can be a more cost-effective way to get your message out to the public.

While there are many ways to measure PR value, a basic formula is as follows: column inches (or the size of the article) times the ad rate, then that total is given a multiplier (M) of two, five or sometimes ten (based on how much "value" the article has.)

(Size x Rate)M = Value of earned placement

This method isn't rocket science, nor is it always the best method to determine the actual value of earned media. We always recommend using content analysis with PR Value for a better idea of what an article meant for your company.

Plan your work, work your plan

Yes, it's always going to come back to planning. What were the goals in your marketing plan? Trying to increase Web site traffic? Check your Web statistics the day the story runs. Want to sell more products? Check sales figures the day before, the day of and a few days after the story appears. Trying to increase event attendance? Ask ticket buyers how they heard about the event and capture that information! Wrapping your media relations strategies around the goals in your marketing plan helps enhance the number of times a potential consumer sees the message.