A few of us spent March 22 – 24 at the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) re:think 2010 conference here in NYC.  It was great to see all the amazing innovations and creativity that is going on in our industry.  From mobile research to neuroscience, re:think had it all.  Here’s my Top Ten facts, insights and quotes from the three days:

10.  25% of people delayed doing laundry because of the 2010 Olympics – Alan Wurtzel, NBC

9.    Web 2.0 and social media are the IN things.  Many researchers are still struggling on how to listen in these mediums.

8.    Researchers are being asked to do more and have more responsibility while having less money and time. – Stan Sthanunathan, Coca-Cola

7.    I have to be a mix of a business person and a marketing person in a power alley of insights. – Susan Wagner, J&J

6.    There is still a big need in the research world for practitioners with strong synthesis, communication and ownership skills.   Passion doesn’t hurt either.

5.    Are researchers figuring out the “So What?” in research? – John Forsyth, MicKinsey & Company, Inc

4.    Data < Information < Knowledge < Wisdom – Gary Flake, Microsoft

3.    Research should be thought of in terms of feedback and discovery. – Diane Hessan, Communispace

2.    It is the role of researchers to provide inspiration and provocation to drive transformational change. – Stan Sthanunathan, Coca-Cola

And finally…

1.    Never underestimate the power of n=1. – Diane Hessan, Communispace

NEW YORK – Luminosity Marketing, is pleased to announce that the company will exhibit two new proprietary services at Re:Think, the Advertising Research Foundation annual conference in New York City on March 22 & 23, 2010.

The Real-Time Lifestyle Map^TM is a research tool that utilizes mobile phone research technology to dynamically study consumer behavior. This new technique improves upon the best aspects of many research approaches. It is similar to an ethnography study, yet more quantitative and cost effective. And unlike panel studies and focus groups, Real Time Lifestyle Mapping is based on consumer responses that happen in a natural environment.

The Competitive Culture Map ^TM is a research tool in which Luminosity Marketing predicts future marketing maneuvers of competitors by analyzing the culture of their marketing organizations and what their key stakeholders have done in the past. Luminosity can answer not just the question of “what” competitors have done previously, but “why” they made critical marketing decisions.

“These products leverage the latest advancements in mobile technology and information availability to provide clients with sophisticated intelligence about their consumers and competitors,” said Lamont Swittenberg, Head of Brand & Planning, Luminosity Marketing.

Luminosity’s exhibit space will be located opposite the event registration tables.

To meet with Luminosity’s research team for a personal presentation, contact Elizabeth Dolinski, President & Strategy Director, info@luminositymarketing.com, (646) 213-4860.

Market research technologies are constantly improving and evolving to provide better information to research consumers.  Here at Luminosity Marketing, we love using the latest technologies to find the best research solutions for our clients.  Below is a brief on an emerging research technology that is showing great promise for gaining additional insight into consumer’s lives.

Mobile Research is using a participants mobile device (cell phone, tablet PC, PDA, etc) as the hardware to participate in market research. Mobile research started over 10 years ago, but due to the limits of SMS technology has not gained full functionality until now.  Given the increasing rate of cell phone only household (up to 23% according to NHIS)  and the increasing usage of Smartphones (currently at 15% according to Nielson),  mobile research technology has the potential to reach populations that are becoming increasingly difficult to include in research studies. 

Mobile Research benefits:

• Ability to include respondent populations that are currently missed by traditional phone and web studies
• High variety of question types, logic options and user interfaces
• Possibility of having qualitative elements embedded within a quantitative study
• Software packages and vendors available to serve nearly all types of Smartphones and web enables phones

Mobile Research drawbacks:

• Costs are still relatively high due to low usage by MR professionals
• Only valid for populations who have high Smartphone or web enabled phone penetration
• Could have high learning curve for those not familiar with mobile technologies

Mobile research works best for companies that have a customer base that is very technologically savvy and are difficult to research through more traditional research methodologies.  Mobile research can be of particular usefulness to companies that already have a high mobile presence through advertising, cell phone apps or by being in the telecom sector itself. 

For more information on how Mobile Research could help your company focus your research strategy, contact us at info@luminositymarketing.com.

Market research technologies are constantly improving and evolving to provide better information to research consumers.  Here at Luminosity Marketing, we love using the latest technologies to find the best research solutions for our clients.  Below is a brief on a research technology that is being used by organizations to gain faster and more insightful qualitative data from their customers.

Market Research Online Communities (MROC) are private online communities that target a particular group of consumers to participate in a larger breadth of research activities.  MROCs can include many elements of Custom Online Consumer Panels but have the added feature of member to member communication and qualitative research options.  MROCs are still in their infancy but have been used with various amounts of success.  They are generally focused around a particular objective (e.g. new product development, ad testing, general customer understanding, etc).

MROC benefits:

• Specific recruiting of targeted consumers
• Group can be active for any amount of time — from 1 week to a year or more
• Usually cheaper and faster than normal qualitative research methods
• Deeper understanding of community member’s opinions and profiles
• Only needs to be big enough to support the project type – from 25 to 250+ members
• Can internally manage or source a vendor to manage
• Can provide members with extra features – forums, photo sharing, games, etc.

MROC drawbacks:

• Initial planning and set-up stage before community can be launched could be more complicated than general qualitative studies
• Must have constant oversight of members interactions
• Complexity of development and management

MROCs work best for companies that have a need for more in-depth knowledge about a particular topic.  Good topic choices usually require that a specific group of customers need to be engaged in an on-going basis to gain a full understanding of the customer response to the topic.  MROCs can be of particular usefulness to companies that have a qualitative and quantitative need on a particular topic and have customers who are willing to engage on an on-going basis.

For more information on how Market Research Online Communities could help your company focus your research strategy, contact us at info@luminositymarketing.com.

Market research technologies are constantly improving and evolving to provide better information to research consumers.  Here at Luminosity Marketing, we love using the latest technologies to find the best research solutions for our clients.  Below is a brief on a research technology that is increasingly being used by organizations to gain faster and more reliable data from their customers.

Custom Online Consumer Panels (COCP) are online panels that are recruited to participate in research studies for only the panel owner’s company.  These types of panels are also known as customer advisory panels or proprietary panels.  COCPs started gaining momentum in the online research world several years ago and are now quickly increasing in usage among consumer facing organizations as way to maintain a constant source of sample for online research studies.

COCP benefits:

• Prescreening of panelists to demographics, habits, traits and lifestyle characteristics of the owners choice
• Quick turnaround of studies
• Lower costs in the long run than buying sample from general panels for every study
• Increased panelist and customer validation
• Only needs to be big enough to support studies – from 100 to 100,000 panelists
• Can internally manage or source a vendor to manage the panel

COCP drawbacks:

• High initial costs to build the panel infrastructure and recruit enough participants
• Must have constant recruit efforts
• If self managed, complexity of management

COCPs work best for companies that have a high frequency of online research studies and want to have control over the sample that is used for research purposes.  COCPs can be of particular usefulness to companies that have a high number of communications and touch points with their consumers (e.g. magazines, radio, television, and retailers) or any company that tends to have a cult-like following (e.g. H&M, Apple, Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma).

For more information on how Custom Online Consumer Panels could help your company focus your research strategy, contact us at info@luminositymarketing.com.

NEW YORK – Luminosity Marketing is excited to introduce the Little Luxuries Project—a series of marketing research studies that focuses on products and services that fall into the category of Little Luxuries. Defined by Luminosity, Little Luxuries are relatively small-ticket products and services that consumers WANT, but don’t necessarily NEED. Given the current economy and the evolving relationship consumers have with Little Luxuries, Luminosity began this project in order to help marketers better position and communicate their product benefits.

The Little Luxuries Project consists of three research streams:

• The Little Luxuries Perceptual Map: A useful tool for marketers to better understand where their Brands fall on the Little Luxuries scale and determine how to maximize their staying power in a tough economy.
• The Little Luxuries Roundtable Series: On-going, informal roundtable discussions with various consumer segments to gain deeper insights about each segment’s Little Luxury purchases.
• Little Luxury Surveys: A series of quantitative research surveys aimed at understanding Little Luxury purchasing decisions.

“The Little Luxuries project has shown us the breadth of emotions and rationale that consumers have for Little Luxury products, while confirming that the underlying reasons for purchasing them are consistent across products,” said Candice Seiger, Senior Research Manager, Luminosity Marketing. “By utilizing this knowledge, Little Luxury marketers will be better able to move their products from Little Luxuries to necessities in the minds of consumers.”

Brands interested in participating in the Little Luxuries Project should contact Candice Seiger, Senior Research Manager, info@luminositymarketing.com, (646) 213-4860.