The Taylor Group

Our Approach

 

 

Creative/Message • Testing Research

Brand • Research

Customer • Satisfaction

Brand • Tracking

Educational • Research

Hybrid • Research

Loyalty • Retention

Project • Scope

Creative/Message • Testing Research

Message/creative testing research: We have for many years done message/creative testing research using qualitative (focus group) techniques—to gain insight on what certain messages/creative executions convey to the target audience:

  • What does the audience think when they see the message/creative? (the rational component)
  • What feeling is evoked by the message/creative? (the emotional component)
  • To what extent does the message/creative generate curiosity—if so, how so, and if not, how not?
Over the past five years, we have developed a quantitative methodology to test messages/creative executions across various industries, particularly in the world of consumer technology products and services. While qualitative testing is most effective in formulating potential messages/creative executions, bringing those ideas to life and testing them in quantitative setting drills down which is most likely to drive customer acquisition and retention. The methodology has four components. Translated for consumer technology products and services research . . . 
  1. Sample We screen a nationwide panel for prospects within the general target, along with other criteria like household decision-makers and/or influencers when it comes to the purchasing of technology products and services.
  2. Measures First, we’ll present the respondent with just one message being tested and typically ask two upfront questions such as (1) likelihood to seek out more information based solely on the message, and (2) likelihood to buy the product or subscribe to the service, again, based on the message alone (i.e., “what you see here”). Next, determined by the respondent’s score to one of the two upfront questions, we’ll ask why or why not the message resonates, asking the respondent to be as detailed as possible in their response; in some cases, of course, respondents don’t offer much, but we get more than enough quality responses to allow us to tease out key themes re: what works and what doesn’t work Then, we typically employ 6-8 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)—from the overall appeal of the message, to ease of understanding, to relevance, to uniqueness (i.e., new and different), to the extent to which the product/service described by the message offers meaningful benefits, etc. We have respondents rate the message/creative execution on each KPI on a 7-point scale, where a rating of 1 means “not at all” (appealing, easy to understand, relevant, etc.) and 7 means “extremely” (appealing, easy to understand, relevant, etc.).
  3. Test We use either of two approaches to compare messages/creative executions tested across the KPIs tested, either (a) a monadic test (only one title tested per respondent), or (b) a sequential monadic test (i.e., all titles are tested by every respondent, with the first message/creative execution presented randomized across the respondent base), followed by (c) a head-to-head test (all message/creative/executions presented together and the respondent either selects the top one, top three or ranks all in order of preference).NOTE: Monadic testing of several messages/creative executions (say 4+) has, as you would expect, a significant impact on sample size, and thus on study cost. The more messages/creative We also do correlation analysis among the KPIs for each message/creative execution, to determine whether some cohere better than others across dimensions. We also (again, depending on the application) sometimes weigh the dimensions—giving greater weight in the analysis to some rather than others. This is usually done if the client feels one or more dimensions are more important than others. Finally, we also include a demographics battery (to enable examination of the results across different subsegments) and (typically) a series of questions related to the topic at hand.
  4. Timing Naming studies can be turned around extremely quickly, often in 7-10 days from the go-ahead to delivery of the deck with findings.
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Brand • Research

One prerequisite for meaningful discussion about brands is a sense of clarity about the definition of the central term. The word “brand” is commonly used in at least three ways:

  • It can designate a name or a symbol identifying a particular product or service.
  • The word can also be intended to include the whole range of associations that the name and symbol arouse.
  • It is sometimes used as shorthand for the product or service itself, rather than as a term for the identifying symbols.
A leading theoretician of branding, David Aaker, defines the term in this way:

“A brand is a distinguishing name and/or symbol (such as a logo, trademark, or package design) intended to identify the goods or services of either one seller or a group of sellers, and to differentiate those goods and services from those of the competitors. A brand thus signals to the customer the source of the product, and protects both the customer and the producer from competitors who would attempt to provide products that appear to be identical.”

Aaker, then, uses the term in the first of the senses we have given, and we tend to follow him in this regard. The chief merit of this definition is that it focuses on the brand as a marker of identity. Broader uses of the term attempt to have the brand include elements of the relationship between producer and consumer. While this relationship is of course vital, we believe such a relation, in order to be successful, depends on the prior establishment of a clear, stable, and appealing identity. A brand, then, is a name and/or symbol that establishes identity and invites relationship.

Our experience conducting brand-related research encompasses research exploring all aspects of brand, including:

Brand image: How a brand is perceived and what images it conjured up in the minds of consumers is important because it helps the customer process information about the company in question, helps to differentiate the brand from the competition, creates a specific reason to use the brand-name company, creates positive attitudes toward the brand name, and serves as a basis for extensions into other product lines. Several aspects of brand image might usefully be measured:
  • Product/Service Attributes: Especially those defined as important by the campaign strategy.
  • Relative Price: A high-priced vendor or a low-priced vendor.
  • Corporate Reputation: Financial stability, longevity, likelihood to still be around in 10 years, etc.
  • Competitiveness: An aggressive competitor versus a monopoly provider, customer-oriented provider, etc.
  • Intangibles: Such as the perceived quality, technology leadership, perceived value, ease to do business with, innovativeness, etc.
  • Geographic Scope: The local company, a nationwide company, an international company, etc.
  • Personality: Honest, dependable, friendly, concerned about customers, out-of-date, old and traditional, not contemporary, not innovative, low-tech, etc.
Brand Awareness: The ability of a customer to recognize or recall that a brand name is a competitor in a certain product or service category is a critical ingredient for success. It is not enough that a customer be aware of a brand name; she/he must be able to link that name with the specific product/service class in question. There are five levels of brand awareness:
    • Dominant Brand Awareness: A brand name that is the only brand recalled for a given line of business by a high percentage of customers.
    • Top-of-Mind Awareness: The first named brand in an unaided recall task. This signifies that the brand has a special position ahead of other brand names in the customers’ minds.
    • Brand Recall: This is based upon asking a customer to name all companies that provide a certain type of service, asked on an unaided basis.
    • Brand Recognition: This is the weakest level of brand awareness, and it is based upon an aided recall test. After respondents have answered the unaided recall question, they would be given a set of brand names and asked to identify those they have heard of before as providers of the service in question.
    • Unawareness: When customers do not link a company brand name with the service in question, even in the aided recall test.

Brand Personality: We use a variety of projective (metaphor-based) approaches in studying brand personality: brand personification, brand/product sorting, collage, group perceptual mapping, thought bubbles, image/photo sorting (NOTE: we have 200 laminated photos we often use for this kind of exercise), to plumb brand images and associations. We seek to understand for our clients both the rational and emotional connections with their brand. And within any given projective technique, we use laddering-style probes to get as far beneath the surface of consumer response as possible.

Brand Positioning: Brand positioning is partly an extension of, and partly independent of, brand personality. We use the same techniques as those discussed just above to understand how our client’s brand is positioned in the consumer’s mind—both rationally and emotionally—against competing brands. There are two stages of qualitative brand positioning work: the first explores competing brand differences in the minds and hearts of consumers; the second tests alternative positioning concepts that have been developed (typically by an agency) from the first stage.

We have had the opportunity to be heavily involved in branding and positioning research for a variety of companies and organizations—ranging from large technology companies, to sports leagues, to television, cable, and satellite networks, to dot.com companies. We have been involved in both “image” and “brand equity” research, and in how the result of research can be translated into strategies that maximize the leverage inherent in a brand name.

Because brand is a prime means through which consumers relate to a company, a product, or a service, it is vitally important that a brand carry with it the types of associations for the public that will increase the likelihood of reaching and keeping the target audience.

Our goal in these studies, which have included both quantitative and qualitative research, has been to explore consumers’ current associations with corporate “brands,” determine how closely those associations fit the company’s preferred brand image, and identify the types of positioning approaches that will bring brand perceptions more in line with the company’s mission and goals.

Much of our brand-related work includes the testing of positioning statements. In fact, over the years, we’ve developed what we consider especially effective techniques—both qualitative and quantitative—for assessing the effectiveness of positioning statements. Our techniques are designed to not simply identify the most appealing positioning statements, but to explore reactions to statements across a variety of dimensions—believability, relevance, persuasiveness, associations engendered by the statement, etc. In some research studies we’ve conducted, we’ve found that the positioning statement considered most “appealing” among respondents is not necessarily the one that sends the most effective message—or that engenders the most positive feelings about the company.

We’ve had the chance to examine proposed positioning strategies and statements from a number of different perspectives. On one level, this work always includes an examination of consumers’ visceral reactions to positioning statements and strategies—the types of affective, emotional responses these statements engender among the target audience. Moreover, our positioning work also includes an exploration of the key dimensions that consumers use in assessing positioning statements. Essentially, we deconstruct consumers’ general reactions, examining the degree to which they find each statement relevant, believable, and compelling, and identifying individual concepts or themes within the position that are striking in either a positive or negative way.
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Customer • Satisfaction

Customer Satisfaction Work in the Communications Industry

Customer satisfaction measurement is some of 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.

One study for this client involved 400-500 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 rating results, urgent customer service situations, and changes in the designated decision-maker—all critically important information for our client’s organization. We transcribe each interview and summarize the findings on an account-level basis, 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 strategies to display this information to leadership, 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.

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Brand • Tracking

The Taylor Group has been involved in brand tracking for many years:  for the NBC Television Network and the National Basketball Association, and recently for DIRECTV and for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA—the lobbying arm of the music recording industry in the U.S.).  

The value of brand tracking research in the entertainment industry lies fundamentally in the following facts:

  • In the music industry, data on actual tract/album sales don’t tell the whole story.
  • In the sports industry, TV ratings and arena ticket sales don’t tell the whole story.
  • In the television network programming business, Nielsen ratings don’t tell the whole story.
Each of the above is the “end game” (what the business is all about), for sure, but to help ensure success in music sales, ticket sales for sports leagues, and Nielsen ratings for television networks, a strong brand is essential.  The strength of the brand is the foundation of success in these other measures.  The brand—its strength or weakness in the eyes of consumers—affects consumer behavior with respect to the business; and the only way to measure brand strength is to track it over time. Brand strength is measured by (1) awareness and (2) images, (3) attitudes, and (4) associations, and the brand is communicated to consumers through the consumers’ experience with the company’s product and through advertising and promotion (which are always based upon an explicit brand positioning). 

  • Awareness:  If a viewer isn’t aware that you exist, they aren’t likely to sample your product or service.
  • And the only way to measure growth (or not) in brand awareness is through tracking research.
  • Images/attitudes/associations:  A position statement is developed for a purpose—it’s designed to be an aspirational yet realistic platform against which “products” are developed and against which advertising and promotion are planned and executed.  The business question always is:  How are we doing in making progress on the positive attributes that make up our positioning, and on ridding ourselves of any negative image attributes previously associated with us?
  • The only way to measure progress on the attributes that make up your positioning is through tracking research.
  • Relative brand positioning:  You don’t operate in a brand vacuum. Brand positioning and strength is important to your competitors as well.  How your awareness and images/attitudes/associations stack up in viewers’ minds against your competition matters a great deal to your competitive success.
  • The only way to measure your progress against the competition in brand positioning success is through tracking research.
  • Brand strength by audience segment:  Especially for brands that have been repositioned to appeal to an expanded audience, it’s essential to be sure that as time passes two things happen:  1) the attributes of the repositioning do in fact appeal to the targeted audience, and 2) that expansion of appeal doesn’t come at the expense of alienating your core.
  • The only way to measure progress over time in achieving these twin repositioning goals is through tracking research.
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Educational • Research

Providing educators and tech providers the tools to drive educational excellence

From educators to students to providers of educational resources and technologies, Taylor works closely to help its clients in education and those developing new, innovative, educationally oriented technologies to understand the rapidly changing nature of education.

Both sides of the aisle readily acknowledge that to remain at the forefront in today’s highly competitive global marketplace, we need to ensure access to the best possible educational resources and technologies.  We feel the same and have worked closely over the years with state departments of education, administrators, and teachers, not to mention K-12 and higher-ed students and even lifelong learners and alumni, to help all make sense of rapidly evolving educational technologies and solutions and identify those that offer the greatest potential for success.

Our education research spans small-scale, targeted UX research among students and teachers, as well as large-scale quantitative segmentation studies to help educators and those that support them apply educational resources and technologies in the most effective and targeted way possible.

  • Methodology: We understand the methodologies of educational research—from probability sampling, to questionnaire design, to data collection alternatives, to statistical analysis and reporting.  
  • Educational Expertise:  We aren’t just methodologists. Having conducted dozens of studies among educators and students, we know education and how to talk to both educators and students.  And we know how to convey their needs and feelings to our clients, to help them make effective, data-driven decisions that will advance our nation’s educational system and resources.
  • Cross-Fertilization of Ideas:   We bring fresh ideas to each project we do from our work in a variety of industries, and we bring creative thinking from our background in the arts, natural sciences, philosophy, and politics.
Select Case Studies
  • Researching the challenges educators are facing in enhancing the quality of education:  This study focused on determining the types of issues educators are facing and possible technology-based solutions to address these.  
  • Examining the technology needs and requirements of 30 state departments of education:  A study focused on the needs, problems, requirements, perceptions, expectations, etc., of state departments of education.  This study addressed the application of technology as a solution to the challenges schools are facing.  It also determined the extent to which the states are taking the lead in driving the formulation of public policy as it relates to the use of technology in education.
  • Exploring high-school and college/university student interest in careers in accounting and business:  A comprehensive, ongoing study among high school and college students conducted on behalf of a leading public-relations firm, to assist them in developing strategies for encouraging student consideration of careers in accounting and business.  The study culminated in the development of a website for students and educators that employs business-oriented games, video presentations, and personal case histories to inform students about careers in business and accounting.
  • Researching the continuing-education needs of CPAs and CFPs:  A series of qualitative research studies conducted among CPAs and CFPs to a) explore their ongoing educational requirements in relation to obtaining and maintaining CPA/CFP certifications and b) test their needs, expectations, and interests in relation to various online educational resources designed to help them obtain and maintain certification.
 
  • Focus groups among college and university students:  Qualitative research to assess the market opportunity for advanced wireless communications services within the higher education (i.e., college and university) market segment.  This study was conducted for a communications and information technology company.
  • Educator segmentation research:  A large-scale, nationwide quantitative study among teachers/professors and administrators in K-12 and higher education to segment them into discrete, identifiable segments based upon their educational experiences and practices and attitudes toward education—and specifically, the application of technology in education.
“We need to ensure access to the best educational resources and technologies to remain at the forefront in today’s highly competitive global marketplace.”
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Hybrid • Research

What is Hybrid Research?  Hybrid research simply means mixing methodologies.  This most commonly means adding a qualitative element directly to a quantitative survey.  The survey is the primary instrument, but building in a qualitative element gives your quantitative research flavor and nuance—the “voice of the consumer.”

Why Should You Consider Conducting Hybrid Research? While quantitative research still plays a critical role in driving business decision-making—and having access to volumes of consumer data feels scientific, rigorous, and modern—too often it gives a flat, static view of what are actually dynamic, diverse, and evolving human beings.  Quantitative research is powerful because it’s driven by numbers, but increasingly companies are coming to realize that a singular reliance on quantitative data can be risky and even lead to false assumptions, if not rounded out with a qualitative perspective.  Hybrid research can be a powerful tool for overcoming these limitations, while adding significantly to the insight gathered from research. 

The Traditional Approach to Hybrid Research:  Traditionally, our hybrid research has involved simply blending in-person, online, or video focus groups; in-person video or phone IDIs; or online bulletin boards with online survey research as part of a multi-phased research effort.  The qualitative takes place either before the quantitative or after it.  If before, beyond simply giving the customer a voice, it can play a crucial role at helping to inform the design of the quantitative research, suggesting how best to approach lines of questioning and even specific questions.  

When conducted subsequent to quantitative research, it can help researchers and their clients dig more deeply into issues raised in the quantitative phase or explore possible solutions to customer needs that emerge out of the survey research.  In either case, a major benefit of traditional hybrid research is it gives the data from the survey a rich voice and personality that quantitative research alone cannot easily provide.  We at Taylor have done a ton of traditional hybrid research and continue to do this sort of work today. 

However, such traditional forms of hybrid research are not always easy to work into the research process.  Two immediate drawbacks to this older, more traditional approach to hybrid research are cost and timing.  The price tags that come from doing separate qual and quant research can become quite large rather quickly.  And doing this work in sequence inevitably stretches out the project timeline. 

A Newer, Better Approach: A newer, faster, and often less costly approach to hybrid research we at Taylor have been taking for a few years now involves building online one-on-one conversations or webcam interviews directly into our quant surveys, to explore key ideas in greater depth, probe on survey answers, or just hear the consumer’s own words.  Using the online survey as a vehicle for scheduling an “offline” one-on-one, in-depth telephone, or in-person interview at the end of an online survey is another possibility.  

Naturally, we do not expect or want all respondents to participate in both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of our hybrid research.  Rather, we work with our clients to select carefully the online-survey respondents who will be invited to add a qualitative perspective to their survey input. Selection can be done at random or can be triggered by the respondent’s characteristics (demographics, attitudes, etc.) or survey responses.  We sit with our clients during the study planning and carefully plot out a strategy for the selection of hybrid respondents that will ensure the client gains the most value and insight possible from the subsection of the larger survey base that also provides qualitative insight. 

Then we design our quantitative research with the qualitative adjunct specifically in mind.  The survey programming has built into it a trigger that pauses the quantitative data collection effort and asks the respondent about his

or her willingness to participate in a sidebar conversation of a more qualitative and in-depth nature.  With his/her agreement, the respondent is directed seamlessly to a separate data-collection platform, where he or she will interact with a fully qualified moderator who will probe his or her feelings about a particular topic or issue in detail, in a chat session, video IDI, phone conversation, or online bulletin board.  When this session is concluded, the respondent is seamlessly brought back to the original survey platform and either resumes his or her survey right where he/she left off or concludes the research effort and is compensated for the total time spent on this hybrid data-gathering foray.  In some cases, multiple breakpoints from the quantitative data collection can be built into a survey whereby the same respondent is directed to the qualitative tool multiple times throughout the course of the survey to provide shorter, more direct qualitative input on multiple issues. Alternatively, different respondents can be invited at different points to provide their qualitative input, so no one respondent ends up breaking from the survey more than just once.

Ultimately, this sort of modern hybrid research is more expensive than just pure quantitative research, as you need to compensate those who participate in both the quant and qual components more than those who complete just the survey.  Plus, marrying the qualitative facility with the quantitative survey platform introduces additional costs for technical resources and staff time.  It also takes a bit longer to plan and execute this sort of hybrid research.  In the end, however, modern hybrid research is typically both less costly and less time-consuming than traditional hybrid research.  Clients who employ this new approach to conducting hybrid research not only gather greater insight than is possible with just pure quantitative research, but also stand to save meaningful time and money over conducting more traditional forms of hybrid research.

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Loyalty • Retention

Acquiring customers is both hard to do and expensive, so it pays to know how to drive loyalty and retain the customers you have.

We have a solid background in research on the factors that most powerfully drive customer loyalty and defection.  This includes the product, service, and packaging strategies that are most likely to promote customer retention.

Our experience examining possible strategies for customer retention and loyalty is far-reaching. We have conducted studies ranging from qualitative research to explore a satellite-TV provider’s customers’ reactions to four planned executions for a customer loyalty advertising campaign to a major quantitative study for a national communications company to segment their customer base by the relative importance of key value drivers for customer retention and loyalty. And, we manage an ongoing customer satisfaction studies for a major financial services company to measure levels of satisfaction with service, the most important drivers of satisfaction, and the circumstances that lead to customer loyalty or defection.

We have a strong background in identifying those factors that most powerfully drive customer loyalty and retention. A primary focus of our work is the attempt to:

  • Understand what specific needs and expectations customers (and prospective customers) are looking for in a particular product and service category.
  • Determine the relative weights of those specific needs and expectations.
  • Assess how (if at all) those weights vary by market segment or by sales channel.
  • Gauge how our clients stack up to the competition on those specific needs and expectations that are most important to their customers.
Select Case Studies
  • For a large telecommunications company:  Research with current long-term subscribers to assess their reactions to a subscriber loyalty program that was under development.  The overarching purpose of the research was to help our client craft a rewards program for long-term, high-value subscribers to stave off potential competitive offers.
  • For a national provider of health and life insurance:  A study conducted for a large communications company designed to comprehensively examine the dynamics of customers’ decisions to stay with the company or switch, and to measure the effectiveness of a variety of strategies for promoting customer loyalty, ranging from enhancing overall satisfaction with service generally, to pricing discounts, rate guarantees, service bundling, etc.
  • For a national bank: A study to segment the customer base by the relative importance of key value drivers for customer retention and loyalty.
  • For a leading issuer of credit cards: Several qualitative studies for different service providers to identify reasons why customers switch to competitors or drop service altogether.  The approach taken was exploratory—to dig beneath surface opinions as to why customers switch service providers or drop service.
 
  • For an international provider of computer-networking services:  A study to identify and assess the relative effectiveness of various strategies to maximize retention of the existing customer base and attraction of users away from competing providers.
  • For a large satellite provider:  Research to understand the reasons why customers subscribing to subscription packages drop those packages.

"A primary focus of our work is the attempt to understand, determine, assess, & guage"

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Project • Scope

Custom-Designed Research:  All research projects The Taylor Group manages are 100% client-proprietary and custom-designed—from start to finish.  Most studies begin with an RFP from the client, to which we respond with a thoughtful, well-considered proposal detailing our understanding of the business objectives, our recommended approach to addressing these, timing, and fees.  From there, there is often back-and-forth with the client, during which we work together to refine the design and determine the ultimate scope, timing, and fee.  Building up from this foundation, we maintain this consultative approach through the design of the research instrument to the setup of the analytical plan and the reporting of the study results.  Clients can consult with us throughout (if they like) on what is the best approach to addressing their research objectives.  No project is considered complete until the client has reviewed the findings thoroughly and had the chance to tailor the insights provided to their particular interests and focus and those of their end clients.

Project Fees:  We conduct studies both small and large for our client companies, from just a few IDIs to large-scale tracking studies that span years and have annual budgets of $100,000 and up.  Research studies we have done in the past for clients have ranged from $20,000 or less for smaller-scale, one-off studies, to $250,000-$500,000 for the most intensive, ongoing efforts.  Whether the work involves just quantitative, just qualitative, or both can have a significant bearing on fees, as does the nature of the population within which the client would like us to sample.  All of that said, we are always willing to work with our clients to develop the most effective approach possible to addressing their most pressing research and important research needs while remaining mindful of the fact that research budgets are seldom unlimited.

Project Timing:  Project timing can vary from as little as under two weeks for smaller-scale, short-fuse studies to 4-5 weeks for more involved one-off studies.  It is challenging to say what a “typical” study would involve, in terms of timing, as we seldom undertake “typical” studies.  One-time studies involving a combination of qualitative and quantitative research phases (often conducted in sequence, with the findings from the initial phase informing the approach to the second) can require upwards of two months to complete.  Ongoing tracking studies can take 3-4 weeks to ramp up and last for months or even years, once fully implemented.

Consultative, insightful, and actionable:  Our reports are implications-based to provide our clients with a clear and actionable roadmap for applying the findings in the real world.  We never simply dump data on our clients.  We always try to take it one step further to provide insight enabling the clear application of results—to guide, advise, and consult. And, because we have broad experience across multiple industries, we can offer rather unique perspectives in our reporting by applying insights gathered in one industry toward informing the results of studies we conduct for clients in other industries.  Our clients often tell us this cross-pollination of ideas across industries broadens and enriches our reporting and offers value-added that provides them with a real advantage over their competitors.

“Typical” project workflows/timing:  The workflows for our qualitative and quantitative research we have provided below reflect “typical” engagements with our clients.  That said, many studies are atypical, and we are always prepared to tailor our approach and the project timing to suit our client’s needs and interests.  For example, simple, highly focused, fast-fuse projects can be completed in as few as just two weeks.  On the other end of the spectrum, some larger and more entailed projects can become much more involved than what is typical and can carry on for anywhere from eight to twelve weeks.  The bottom line is, we are prepared and willing to work at whatever pace and level of detail our clients require.   It is important to note that it is not uncommon for projects to consist of a hybrid approach, including both qualitative and quantitative phases.  In some cases, we recommend a qualitative phase up-front to inform the quantitative phase to be sure all topics are being covered.  In other cases, we recommend the qualitative phase follow the quantitative phase to further explore and do a deeper dive into what we learned in the quantitative phase.   When all is said and done, we approach our work on a project by project basis—everything we do is customized and tailored to meet our clients’ needs and expectations.   Qualitative flow (in-person or online video focus groups or IDIs)—total project timeframe of from 6 to 7 weeks, varying by project type/approach and scope 

  • Week 1:  Taylor receives RFP (or business goals, thoughts, questions, issues, etc.—we can, and often do, work from just the germ of an idea)
  • Week 1:  Taylor delivers a proposal with the most effective methodological approach to address the client’s business goals (we always offer the client the opportunity to consult with us regarding the proposed design, timing, fees, etc., based upon which we may somewhat refine the proposed approach)
  • Week 2:  Taylor submits respondent screener for client review to ensure we are targeting the correct audience (and revises screener within 24-48 hours based on client feedback)
  • Week 2:  Recruiting begins
  • Week 3: Taylor submits discussion guide detailing the line of questioning and flow of the focus groups (or IDIs) for client review (and revises within 24-48 hours based on client feedback)
  • Week 4:  Recruiting ends (depending upon the number of groups or IDIs, recruiting can take from just one to up to two weeks to complete)
  • Week 4/5:  Focus groups (or IDIs) are conducted (depending upon the number of them and respondent availability, IDIs can take up to two weeks to complete)
  • Week 6/7:  Taylor submits final report (and revises within 24-48 hours based on client feedback)

Quantitative flow (online survey to include advanced analytical approach, if necessary—i.e., MaxDiff, conjoint, etc.)

  • Week 1:  Taylor receives RFP (or business goals, thoughts, questions, issues, etc.—once again, we often work from just the germ of an idea)
  • Week 1:  Taylor delivers a proposal with the most effective methodological approach to address the client’s business goals (we always offer the client the opportunity to consult with us regarding the proposed design, timing, fees, etc., based upon which we may somewhat refine the proposed approach)
  • Week 2:  Taylor submits draft questionnaire for client review (and revises within 24-48 hours based on client feedback)
  • Week 3:  Survey programmed and tested
  • Week 3:  Soft launch (i.e., pre-test)
  • Week 3:  After making any programming/survey adjustments needed, the survey goes live and data collection begins
  • Week 4:  Data collection ends
  • Week 5:  Taylor submits final report (and revises within 24-48 hours based on client feedback)
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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.