The Taylor Group

Case Studies
 

 

 

Case Study No. 1

Ongoing Tracking Research in the Sports Industry
 
 
Read More

Case Study No. 2

Creating Customer Satisfaction Work in the Communications Industry

Read More

Case Study No. 3

Helping Create Dynamic Publications for the Print Media Industry

Read More
Read More
Read More
Read More

Case Study No. 1: Ongoing Tracking Research in the Sports Industry

Read More

Case Study No. 2: Customer Satisfaction Work in the Communications Industry

Read More

Case Study No. 3: Helping Create Dynamic Publications for the Print Media Industry

Read More

Additional Case Studies by Industry

Customer service pain points: Explore our client’s customers’ needs, expectations, and pain points when it comes to their outreach to our client’s call center for phone support (i.e., live agent), including determining what tradeoffs subscribers are willing to accept in terms of quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of resolution when they reach out for assistance?

Retention and churn:  A large-scale ongoing tracking study to gauge why and when customers disconnect their pay-TV service.  Due to a rapidly changing marketplace—with dramatically increased competition, new technologies, new leading-edge applications and services—we’ve taken a step back to reassess why our client’s consumers behave the way they do.

K-12 science educator needs and interests: Help our client better understand the needs and interests of various school districts relating to science curricula for grades K-12— foundational, exploratory research to help our client prepare for an upcoming adoption cycle to maximize its chances for success in pursuing it.

Needs-based segmentation: A segmentation study to help our client increase awareness of their brand and products, grow business opportunities (i.e., sales, engagement, etc.) among existing customers and prospects alike, and strengthen the brand via more effective market communication and messaging—achieve all of the above by focusing the marketing effort on a segmented basis—that is, tailoring communication, products, distribution, etc., to the different needs and interests of key segments.

Corporate image print advertising campaign:  Research in support of the development of a corporate image advertising campaign designed to improve viewers’ image of the pharmaceutical industry broadly, and our client specifically.

Product development: An international, qualitative-research study (Argentina, China, and India) to support product development for a new glucometer concept from a major, international medical-device manufacturer. Multiple focus groups conducted across these markets among both medical doctors and diabetics directed the client’s refinement of its device design while assessing price sensitivity.

International traveler micro-campaign: A focus group study to better understand how well various credit card campaign positionings resonate among Family & International Traveler sub-segments, and to identify ways to clarify and improve relevance, in preparation for a quantitative study designed to rank the relative appeal of the refined product adcepts.

Distribution and delivery strategy:  We’ve conducted industrywide strategic research examining retail insurance practices, examining customer preferences for delivery channels, the effects of life events on purchase behavior, and the effect of advisory relationships on purchase behavior and satisfaction with providers.

Case Study No. 1: Ongoing Tracking Research in the Sports Industry

Sports is one of our primary areas of research specialization. Both from our work in this area and from our personal interests, we have strong knowledge and understanding of the sports industry generally, of sports marketing in particular, and of the various issues and developments the industry is wrestling with today.

This client came to us with a basic question: How many people in the U.S. play our sport, and how is that participation broken up within sections throughout the U.S.?

We had several meetings with the client to lay out different options for different budgets, as well as the client’s expectations for the work. We ended up launching perhaps the largest single-sports study ever undertaken, 25,500 interviews annually.

This measurement examined all current players (divided into continuing, new, and rejoining), former players (divided into lapsed and samplers), and non-players. We also examined the demographic profile of each group (age, ethnicity, household income, and size of home city/town), to provide a roadmap for the sport to develop the right products, programs, and plans to significantly increase participation.

Our client uses this information to identify areas of strength and weakness and to place its resources where it can do the most good. It also publicly releases portions of this data to its members and the media, to keep open a dialog designed to best support the growth of the sport.

Case Study No. 2: Customer Satisfaction Work in the Communications Industry

Customer satisfaction measurement is the most important and sensitive work suppliers do for their clients.  We have been heavily involved in the development of new measurement plans, large-scale revisions to existing plans, and administration of ongoing plans.  Specifically, for a Fortune 50 company in the communications industry, we’ve managed a half-dozen customer satisfaction measurement plans, each focusing on a different segment of its customer base.

Our largest study for this client involved 350 annual, in-depth-interviews with the company’s largest business customers.  This client came to us looking for a process that would allow it to track the satisfaction of these key customers, which were its most important customers—but also the most vulnerable to competition.  Our client needed to ensure their needs were being met—and where possible, exceeded—to prevent losing them to its rivals.

We developed a set of systems that allowed for immediate delivery of the most important information—information like negative ratings results, urgent customer service situations, and changes in the designated decision-maker—all critically important information for our client’s organization.

Following each interview, we prepared a detailed narrative report, averaging 5-7 pages and including insight into each customer’s experiences and outlook for the future.  We developed a method of coding action items to gain a clearer understanding of the best areas for our client’s focus, as well as a Pareto chart display of this information to further facilitate the translation of interview results into action.

This research was used by the very top of our client’s organization, where it influenced personnel decisions and compensation packages for account managers.  Over the course of the project, we experienced a 90%+ response rate from interviewees, who realized great value from the process.  In the end, this work not only helped our client address business issues, but every interview served as a customer service event.

Case Study No. 3: Helping Create Dynamic Publications for the Print Media Industry

Our media work has covered the full gamut of editorial, design, marketing, and advertising topics—covering all media including television, movies, music, websites, newspapers, and magazines.  So when one of the most established magazines in the industry came to us looking to make its covers more dynamic and appealing to newsstand buyers, we knew the issue was of vital importance.  

As exciting as this assignment was, we knew it would be far from straightforward—it is no secret the print media industry has had its share of challenges in recent years.  We began by consulting existing newsstand sales data and issue-reading survey data to gain further insight into cover strategies that appeared to be most and least effective. But we knew we also needed to hear from consumers themselves, to add a human voice to these statistics.

We decided to conduct a focus group study in which we presented consumers with a series of covers in batches—including our clients’ covers and competitive covers. By asking them to pick one or two covers out of a group, we were coming close to simulating the actual newsstand experience.  We also modified specific cover design elements (headlines, cover image, colors, fonts) to measure the impact of each on purchase decisions.

We then integrated consumers’ feedback with the existing data.  Using our recommendations, the client was able to tweak upcoming cover designs to create consumer-friendlier covers with higher-selling numbers.  

Menu

Contact Us

About Us

All of our work is distinguished by our dedication to design creativity, methodological rigor, client service, and most importantly, the application of results to effective business action. We strive to be the research firm our clients use for their most important projects.