Industry
Expertise
From developing new products, acquiring new customers, retaining existing customers, strengthening loyalty, or dealing with churn and identifying win-back opportunities, we come to each assignment with experience in the ways in which these broad issues apply to businesses in a particular industry. Throughout the years, we have concentrated our efforts on research for businesses in a defined set of industries. This concentration—in both the work we conduct and the background learning we do—has provided us with expertise regarding the issues and trends affecting each industry, and the ability to customize the research process to best address what it is that makes each industry—and our client’s position in that industry—unique.
We come to each assignment with a strong understanding of the broad issues that any business wrestles with—whether it has to do with developing new products, acquiring new customers, retaining existing customers and strengthening loyalty, or dealing with churn and identifying win-back opportunities. Just as importantly, however, we come to each assignment with experience in the ways in which these broad issues apply to businesses in a particular industry.
Throughout the years, we have concentrated our efforts on research for businesses in a defined set of industries. This concentration—in both the work we conduct and the background learning we do—has provided us with expertise regarding the issues and trends affecting each industry, and the ability to customize the research process to best address what it is that makes each industry—and our client’s position in that industry—unique.
In all industries listed below, we have had the opportunity to work with the very largest, best known, most successful brands.
Technology
Consumer Technology Products
Consumer Technology Services
Information Technology (B2B)
Consumer Technology Products
- Advertising and positioning
- Call center experiences/effectiveness
- Competitive assessment
- Customer needs assessment
- Customer satisfaction
- Green quotient assessment
- High-end business equipment needs/wants
Market opportunity for:
- Camcorders/cameras
- Mobile devices (traditional and smartphone)
- Computers/printers
- HDTVs
- DVD players
- DVRs
- Home theater video projectors
- MP3 players
- Market segmentation
- Migration measurement
- New product assessment
- Packaging research
- Price/Demand estimation
- Product development
- Product design/functionality assessment
- Product naming
- Product positioning/awareness
Consumer Technology Services
- Advertising and positioning
- Analog and digital service evaluation
- Bundling research
- Churn research
- Competitive assessment
- Customer needs assessment
- Customer satisfaction
- Digital rights management (DRM)
- Distribution/channel studies
Market opportunity for emerging services:
- From the 80s/early-mid 90s: dial tone, call waiting, caller ID, cell service, ISDN, etc.
- Through the late 90s/early 2000s: email, voicemail, speech recognition, broadband, VoIP, etc.
- More recently: VOD, PPV, multi-screen services, telepresence, MiFi, mobile apps, interactive TV apps, home security/automation, etc.
- Market segmentation
- Market share tracking of various communication services
- Media piracy/protection
- Message Testing
Needs/barriers/solutions identification - Price/Demand estimation
- Regulatory commission testimony
- Service enhancement/development
Information Technology (B2B)
- Advertising and positioning
- Application prioritization
- Awareness and attitude measurement
- Barriers to adoption
- Brand assessment and tracking
- Bundling plans
- Business driver assessment
- Competitive assessment
- Concept testing
- Customer satisfaction
- E-commerce opportunities
- Market segmentation
- Market share assessment
- Market/technical trials
- New technology development
- Next-generation expectations
- Outsourcing: barriers and opportunities
- Research to support mergers/acquisitions
- Sales force evaluation
- Telecommunication billing needs
- Value proposition testing
- Website design/usability
Consumer Technology Products
Consumer Technology Services
Information Technology (B2B)
Consumer Technology Products
- Advertising and positioning
- Call center experiences/effectiveness
- Competitive assessment
- Customer needs assessment
- Customer satisfaction
- Green quotient assessment
- High-end business equipment needs/wants
Market opportunity for:
- Camcorders/cameras
- Mobile devices (traditional and smartphone)
- Computers/printers
- HDTVs
- DVD players
- DVRs
- Home theater video projectors
- MP3 players
- Market segmentation
- Migration measurement
- New product assessment
- Packaging research
- Price/Demand estimation
- Product development
- Product design/functionality assessment
- Product naming
- Product positioning/awareness
Consumer Technology Services
- Advertising and positioning
- Analog and digital service evaluation
- Bundling research
- Churn research
- Competitive assessment
- Customer needs assessment
- Customer satisfaction
- Digital rights management (DRM)
- Distribution/channel studies
Market opportunity for emerging services:
- From the 80s/early-mid 90s: dial tone, call waiting, caller ID, cell service, ISDN, etc.
- Through the late 90s/early 2000s: email, voicemail, speech recognition, broadband, VoIP, etc.
- More recently: VOD, PPV, multi-screen services, telepresence, MiFi, mobile apps, interactive TV apps, home security/automation, etc.
- Market segmentation
- Market share tracking of various communication services
- Media piracy/protection
- Message Testing
Needs/barriers/solutions identification - Price/Demand estimation
- Regulatory commission testimony
- Service enhancement/development
Information Technology (B2B)
- Advertising and positioning
- Application prioritization
- Awareness and attitude measurement
- Barriers to adoption
- Brand assessment and tracking
- Bundling plans
- Business driver assessment
- Competitive assessment
- Concept testing
- Customer satisfaction
- E-commerce opportunities
- Market segmentation
- Market share assessment
- Market/technical trials
- New technology development
- Next-generation expectations
- Outsourcing: barriers and opportunities
- Research to support mergers/acquisitions
- Sales force evaluation
- Telecommunication billing needs
- Value proposition testing
- Website design/usability
Financial Services
Accounting/Finance
Consumer Banking
Credit Cards
Credit Reporting
Insurance
Tax/Audit
Accounting/Finance
- Exam reform
- Young minority professionals
- Attracting high school student to accounting major
- Undergraduate student interest in CPA
- Investment advisory services
- Professional ethics
- Personal financial planning credential
- Forensic accounting accreditation
- Making direct marketing more effective
Consumer Banking
- New product concepts
- Auto finance products
- Refinance products
- Ad (creative) testing
- Non-traditional banking services
Credit Cards
- Small business cash back cards
- Consumer cash back cards
- Consumer travel rewards cards
- New product concepts
- Positioning
- Language optimization
- Ad (creative) testing
- Advertising effectiveness
- Merchandise rewards
- Needs assessment
- Payment protection plans
- Redemption alternatives
- Collections
- Direct mail effectiveness
Credit Reporting
- Customer value analysis
- Customer satisfaction
- Credit monitoring
- Credit scoring
- Pricing
- Online credit service
Insurance
- Travel insurance products
- Positioning
- Telematics concepts
- Telematics device trials
- Teen driver data log device concept
- Actuary member satisfaction
- Agent media usage
- Lost customers (churn)
Tax/Audit
- Customer satisfaction
- C-level engagement evaluation
- Share value research
- Rollups/Consolidation
Accounting/
Finance
Finance
Consumer Banking
Credit Cards
Credit Reporting
Insurance
Tax/Audit
Accounting/
Finance
Finance
- Exam reform
- Young minority professionals
- Attracting high school student to accounting major
- Undergraduate student interest in CPA
- Investment advisory services
- Professional ethics
- Personal financial planning credential
- Forensic accounting accreditation
- Making direct marketing more effective
Consumer Banking
- New product concepts
- Auto finance products
- Refinance products
- Ad (creative) testing
- Non-traditional banking services
Credit Cards
- Small business cash back cards
- Consumer cash back cards
- Consumer travel rewards cards
- New product concepts
- Positioning
- Language optimization
- Ad (creative) testing
- Advertising effectiveness
- Merchandise rewards
- Needs assessment
- Payment protection plans
- Redemption alternatives
- Collections
- Direct mail effectiveness
Credit Reporting
- Customer value analysis
- Customer satisfaction
- Credit monitoring
- Credit scoring
- Pricing
- Online credit service
Insurance
- Travel insurance products
- Positioning
- Telematics concepts
- Telematics device trials
- Teen driver data log device concept
- Actuary member satisfaction
- Agent media usage
- Lost customers (churn)
Tax/Audit
- Customer satisfaction
- C-level engagement evaluation
- Share value research
- Rollups/Consolidation
Media and Entertainment
Music
Movies
Pay-TV Services
TV Programming/Marketing
Sports
Magazines
Video Games
Music
For the industry and major recording companies
- Consumer trial (for the industry’s first online store attempt)
- Music consumption tracking (2004-2008)
- Anti-piracy campaign messaging
- Digital rights management
- Genre assessment
Movies
For the industry
- Movie theater attendance (factors that enhance it)
- Anti-piracy campaign messaging
- Movie ratings clarification
Pay-TV Services
- For cable, satellite, and telco providers acquisition
- Determining factors that enhance and detract
- Positioning
- Segmentation
- Direct marketing
- Point-of-sale advertising
- Offer testing
- Channel effectiveness
- Tracking
- Advertising development
- Creative testing
- Tagline
- Referral program appeal, success, effect
- Installation
- Billing process
- Customer service
- Appointment setting
- Customer communication/marketing
- Protection plans
- Promotional channels (on-air)
- Causes of
- Migration to
- Winback opportunity
- Share of wallet
- Pricing and packaging
- New channel (appeal of)
- Sports packages (factors that affect):
- Acquisition
- Retention
- Churn
- Pay-per-view offerings
- Video-on-demand offerings
- DVR usage
- Advanced features and services
- Interactive apps
- TV Everywhere
- Retransmission consent disputes
- Commercial accounts
- Acquisition
- Retention
TV Programming/Marketing
- For a wide variety of broadcast and cable networks program testing (More than 125 shows tested)
- Shows in development, pilots, existing shows
- Both cable and broadcast
- Morning, daytime, primetime, late night
- Comedy, drama, news, news magazines, sports, talk, soaps, real-life, docu-drama
- Messaging
- Creative development/testing
- Online content
- Website usability
- Network brand
- Network tagline
- Network affiliate relations
Sports
- For major US professional sports leagues and collegiate sports organizations. We have studied:
- Baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer tennis, golf, and auto racing
- Both men’s and women’s sports
- Fans and recreational players from age 6 to 86.
- Tracking size of avid and casual fan base
- Identifying factors that affect avidity
- Segmentation
- How viewers watch sporting events
- Programming elements that attract and repel viewers
- Scheduling
- Talent evaluation
- Drivers of
- Ways to increase
- Tracking level of participation
- Identifying factors that bring people to the sport, keep them there, and push them away
- Advertising and promotion
- Event-based research
- Rules change research
- Sponsorship
- Licensed merchandise marketing and advertising
- Website development and usability
Magazines
For several of the most popular sports, news, and entertainment magazines in the U.S.
- Branding and positioning
- New magazine launch marketing
- Advertising sales
- Direct marketing effectiveness
- Editorial research
- Redesign research
- Cover research
- Publication naming research
- Digital transition
- Website development and usability
- Targeting lapsed subscribers
- Television (ad) campaign evaluations
- Competitor strength assessment
- Brand impact on new launch
- Renewal material evaluation
- Keys to interest in the topic (beyond the publication)
Video Games
- Game concepts
- Various specific sports video games
Music
Movies
Pay-TV Services
TV Programming/Marketing
Sports
Magazines
Video Games
Music
For the industry and major recording companies
- Consumer trial (for the industry’s first online store attempt)
- Music consumption tracking (2004-2008)
- Anti-piracy campaign messaging
- Digital rights management
- Genre assessment
Movies
For the industry
- Movie theater attendance (factors that enhance it)
- Anti-piracy campaign messaging
- Movie ratings clarification
Pay-TV Services
- For cable, satellite, and telco providers acquisition
- Determining factors that enhance and detract
- Positioning
- Segmentation
- Direct marketing
- Point-of-sale advertising
- Offer testing
- Channel effectiveness
- Tracking
- Advertising development
- Creative testing
- Tagline
- Referral program appeal, success, effect
- Installation
- Billing process
- Customer service
- Appointment setting
- Customer communication/marketing
- Protection plans
- Promotional channels (on-air)
- Causes of
- Migration to
- Winback opportunity
- Share of wallet
- Pricing and packaging
- New channel (appeal of)
- Sports packages (factors that affect):
- Acquisition
- Retention
- Churn
- Pay-per-view offerings
- Video-on-demand offerings
- DVR usage
- Advanced features and services
- Interactive apps
- TV Everywhere
- Retransmission consent disputes
- Commercial accounts
- Acquisition
- Retention
TV Programming/Marketing
- For a wide variety of broadcast and cable networks program testing (More than 125 shows tested)
- Shows in development, pilots, existing shows
- Both cable and broadcast
- Morning, daytime, primetime, late night
- Comedy, drama, news, news magazines, sports, talk, soaps, real-life, docu-drama
- Messaging
- Creative development/testing
- Online content
- Website usability
- Network brand
- Network tagline
- Network affiliate relations
Sports
- For major US professional sports leagues and collegiate sports organizations. We have studied:
- Baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer tennis, golf, and auto racing
- Both men’s and women’s sports
- Fans and recreational players from age 6 to 86.
- Tracking size of avid and casual fan base
- Identifying factors that affect avidity
- Segmentation
- How viewers watch sporting events
- Programming elements that attract and repel viewers
- Scheduling
- Talent evaluation
- Drivers of
- Ways to increase
- Tracking level of participation
- Identifying factors that bring people to the sport, keep them there, and push them away
- Advertising and promotion
- Event-based research
- Rules change research
- Sponsorship
- Licensed merchandise marketing and advertising
- Website development and usability
Magazines
For several of the most popular sports, news, and entertainment magazines in the U.S.
- Branding and positioning
- New magazine launch marketing
- Advertising sales
- Direct marketing effectiveness
- Editorial research
- Redesign research
- Cover research
- Publication naming research
- Digital transition
- Website development and usability
- Targeting lapsed subscribers
- Television (ad) campaign evaluations
- Competitor strength assessment
- Brand impact on new launch
- Renewal material evaluation
- Keys to interest in the topic (beyond the publication)
Video Games
- Game concepts
- Various specific sports video games
Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare
Healthcare Providers
Insurance Plans
OTC and Rx Medications
Conditions
Healthcare Providers
- Ad (concept) testing
- Brand image/positioning
- Corporate positioning/re-positioning
- Customer advisory panel development
- Employee segmentation
- Executive engagement evaluation
- Market share assessment
- Medical device assessment
- Product testing (current and concept)
- Service benchmarking
- Subscriber satisfaction
- Wellness program measurement
Insurance Plans
- Benefit manager perceptions
- Broker/agent perceptions
- Business development strategy assessment
- Competitive benchmarking/tracking
- Market assessment/penetration
- Needs assessment
- New plan/product measurement
- Subscriber satisfaction (qualitative and quantitative)
OTC and Rx Medications
- Ad campaign testing (print and TV)
- Consumer panel development
- Message testing
- Needs assessment
- Pharmaceutical industry image assessment
- Positioning effectiveness
- Product rebranding
Conditions
- Diabetes
- Human papillomavirus (HPV)
- Insomnia
- Obesity
- Overactive bladder
Healthcare Providers
Insurance Plans
OTC and Rx Medications
Conditions
Healthcare Providers
- Ad (concept) testing
- Brand image/positioning
- Corporate positioning/re-positioning
- Customer advisory panel development
- Employee segmentation
- Executive engagement evaluation
- Market share assessment
- Medical device assessment
- Product testing (current and concept)
- Service benchmarking
- Subscriber satisfaction
- Wellness program measurement
Insurance Plans
- Benefit manager perceptions
- Broker/agent perceptions
- Business development strategy assessment
- Competitive benchmarking/tracking
- Market assessment/penetration
- Needs assessment
- New plan/product measurement
- Subscriber satisfaction (qualitative and quantitative)
OTC and Rx Medications
- Ad campaign testing (print and TV)
- Consumer panel development
- Message testing
- Needs assessment
- Pharmaceutical industry image assessment
- Positioning effectiveness
- Product rebranding
Conditions
- Diabetes
- Human papillomavirus (HPV)
- Insomnia
- Obesity
- Overactive bladder
