While COVID-19 disrupted supply chains worldwide, it also disrupted consumer shopping habits. Product shortages deprived many shoppers of their first-choice brands, forcing them to go without or consider the next available option.
In many ways, consumers have been forced to change the way they consume products and have, almost unwillingly, entered the world’s largest brand taste test—trying products from brands they would have never tried before. What will happen when distribution normalizes?
Loyalists and Substitutes – One of these Groups is Guaranteed to Return
Let’s focus on the two main types of buyers you can expect to emerge from the taste test: loyalists and substitutes. Loyalists are those buyers who are so attached to their favorite brand that they’re frustrated when forced to buy an alternative. While these buyers are participating in the taste test like all the rest, they’re likely to be yearning for their old dependable. If these are your buyers, they’ll return to you when supply chains recover.
Substitutes are those who are willing to go without their favorite brand if it’s not readily available. They can handle a little sacrifice and are open to discovering a better alternative. When the supply chain returns to normal and their original top choice returns to the shelf, they may revert to it—or they may decide they’ve been just as satisfied by the alternatives and see no need to return to the previous status quo. If your consumers are substitutes, only time will tell if they’ll stay with you when this is over. With 50% of consumers purchasing based on choice or value, now is the time to reel in this audience.
Did you Come out of COVID-19 Ahead? Or do you Have Work to Do?
No one can argue, COVID-19 has been a great opportunity for some. Challenger brands, for example, should be eager to capitalize on this situation. People are coming to you now who might never have had the impetus before. You’re seeing people who are willing to substitute their preferred brand. Advertising, and keeping top of mind, can help to ensure that you remain in the consideration set as people’s behaviours normalize.
We’ve seen many product brands flying off the shelves and others are only beginning to be tried out by curious consumers—retailers are watching their portfolios closely. If you anticipate scaling down operations or inventory, pragmatic choices come in. You won’t want to stock what might sell, but what will sell.
How can you stay ahead of consumers’ needs? Behavioural data.
You need to understand what consumers are doing online, and how they are engaging with your brand or category. By monitoring how online behviour is changing, you can quickly pivot your strategy to accommodate new consumer interests. With Toluna’s permission-based Digital Tracking technology, you can track online behaviour to learn more about your target audience—understand the search terms, time and duration spent online, websites visited, panel demographics and more.
This is the first time that many countries have had supply constraints. The question is whether consumers will go back to their brand loyal ways after playing the field, or whether this will permanently alter their behaviour. Make sure you know how consumers’ preferences have shifted and adjust your strategy in real-time.
Stay ahead of what’s next. We’ve created a global barometer to better understand changes as they happen. Click here to access our report.
For consumers and brands alike, these have been truly unprecedented times—and the challenge of connecting with audiences in the right way can feel particularly difficult. Now, more than ever, it’s critical to pre-test your ads to ensure they will resonate with target audiences. As circumstances and sentiments shift rapidly around the globe, speed is critical.
Pre-test your ads quickly and efficiently
You can easily gather insights to fine-tune your messaging, imagery, and music prior to launch to ensure maximum in-market impact. In this case, speed and timeliness are critical, again as consumer sentiment and circumstances change faster than ever.
In less than 24 hours, you can have the insight you need to refine your ad–or change it entirely. Ensure all components of your ad are well perceived and impact your audience in the way you intend them to.
Testing two similar ads: How will they measure up?
Marketers have been changing advertising to better connect with consumers during the coronavirus pandemic. However, some have been more successful than others. We have tested two commercials that launched during the lockdown, measuring how consumers responded to each ad and how they perceived the brands:
How were the commercials perceived?
Considering overall Likeability, brand Linkage, and brand Impact, Cathedral City scored higher in all three. While similar proportions of people strongly liked both ads, the “neutral” contingent was far greater for Uncle Ben’s.
All key messages were taken clearly, but respondents perceived other messages, as well. Cathedral City conveyed concepts such as comfort at this time, reassurance and joy to the table and family life is important. For Uncle Ben’s, the messages were Helps bring family together and People’s lives at the moment. Both commercials scored high in terms of clarity, believability, meaningfulness, and relevance, but Cathedral’s performance was again somewhat higher.
Emotional Engagement
Every commercial’s aim is to trigger some strong emotions. Here, the ideal is a positive tone that will lift people’s spirits during lockdown. The testing revealed that positive emotions are scored similarly for both brands, though more respondents noted a sense of sadness from Uncle Ben’s. Cathedral City also created a much higher desire for the brand–as many as 68% claimed that they would buy Cathedral City, compared to 50% for Uncle Ben’s. Respondents also reported a stronger emotional bond to the brand than before viewing the ad. The Dan Croll song, used as the main emotional driver of the ad, struck viewers as catchy, recognizable, memorable, and appropriate for the brand. The Uncle Ben’s ad relied more on the dialogue between family members, and the music did not register as pivotal for audiences.
With these insights, it’s clear that the Cathedral City ad reached people’s hearts, created positive feelings, great brand linkage, and very high desire. All in all, it’s a commercial worth getting on the air. Uncle Ben’s, while a success in several ways, does not measure up to Cathedral City in its overall evaluation and also strengthened a feeling of sadness.
Take the guesswork out of your next ad
Finding the right tone for the time is a tricky endeavor, and it takes more than simply creating a good advertisement. This is not the time for guesswork when it comes to meaningfully reaching consumers. Our templated solutions can ensure that advertisements are bringing people closer to your brand.
Get started on pre-testing your next ad by connecting with us today.
1.Why is it important to stay close to your consumers during these unpredictable times?
Staying close to your consumers helps you understand them better, so you can make better-informed decisions to provide them with products and services that better fits their needs. This greater engagement strengthens your brand’s relationship with its audience/customers, helping build deeper connections and brand loyalty, and ultimately driving increased sales.
Amidst the Covid-19 crisis, the need to maintain customer closeness is greater than ever. With the huge impact the pandemic has had on our everyday life, the consumer landscape is nothing like what it was at the start of the year. Online grocery deliveries have been struggling under the weight of huge demand. Restaurants have had adapt to expand takeaway services and socially distanced tables. Gyms are now focusing on offering online classes.
Consumer needs and behaviours are changing rapidly and unpredictably, often due to factors outside of their control such as lockdowns. Due to such widespread and fast-moving changes, you need to be aware of what consumers are thinking and how they are behaving in-the-moment. This helps you understand how to stay relevant with them and pivot your business successfully.
2.How can an insight community help with customer closeness?
Insight communities provide a digital environment where you can quickly speak to your customers and strengthen your brand’s relationship with them. You can go beyond your typical one-way conversation you get in ad-hoc research, where you are asking your customers for feedback. With communities, you also provide feedback to your customers on how their opinions have been helping shape the decisions you’ve been making. This two-way dialogue is far more effective at relationship building.
Communities can also facilitate a wide range of conversations, such as through discussions, live chats, depth interviews, polls or surveys, and this variety helps keep things interesting for the customers on the community. Furthermore, this means more ways to understand your customers. You can for example, use the community for (but not limited to):
You can use these insights to make proactive, informed actions, that will ultimately help build a more positive customer experience, such as refining messaging in your customer communications so that they are sensitive to the current crisis, addressing pain points in the purchasing journey in your website or creating new customer segments for more relevant, targeted marketing.
3. I want to get closer to my customers, but I don’t have the time/money…
Whilst there is initial investment required in setting up and recruiting for your own community, with sufficient research volumes, the initial investment is offset by research cost savings. We frequently see clients executing 2-3 times more research in a year. You do not need to pay for sample costs each time, as your relevant audiences are already pre-recruited on your community, ready for you to use. This readily available pool also means greater agility – you’ll be able to speak to your customers much faster than having to find them through panel providers, or having to wait for lists pulled from your CRM team.
To build a successful community it does require some changes to your day-to-day tasks. However, we frequently take on a lot of this workload which does make this transition easier for our clients. We are seeing a lot more clients in recent months wanting to take on the smaller DIY projects to get answers back more quickly, but still wanting the full-service best practice advice to ensure credible and actionable results for those key projects. There are also additional benefits of communities that come with an end-to-end platform like ours, such as being able to centralise all your research on the community platform for easier access, leading to better efficiency and greater democratisation of insights across your business.
4. I already have a community. Do you have any advice on how can I maximise engagement on my community?
There are number of elements to look at when maximising community engagement. It is important to have a clearly defined engagement plan and schedule; one that balances the optimal frequency and variety of relevant activities for the members alongside meeting your research needs. You should ensure you’re building and maintaining a positive two-way relationship with members, giving them regular feedback into actions you’ve taken as a result of their feedback, and setting crystal clear expectations from them on what to expect from the community and its activities.
Having a rewards system that encourages contributions is another key aspect of engagement – monthly prize draws for gift vouchers are the most common form of rewards on a community, although there are many ways you can reward members without spending a penny. You could select and recognise a ‘member of the month’ who has provided particularly valuable contributions, or create ‘VIP’ members who can access sneak peek content on the community before anyone else. We have worked on communities before where the client would invite these ‘super-engaged’ members to come into the client’s offices to be part of a co-creation session, as well as recording a video about their experiences of products, to treat them as an extension of the brand team and help bring the insights to life for stakeholders.
Ultimately, an engaged community is one where the members are enthusiastic and interested to participate in its activities. Addressing the points above helps achieve this, although every community and its membership is different, and you may have your own unique considerations and challenges around engaging your audiences. We’ve barely touched the surface; please click here for a more in-depth consultation.
Stay safe!
What’s been happening out there
What started out as weeks has now evolved into months of unprecedented disruption in consumer behaviors and priorities. Driven by product availability and other dynamics of COVID-19, many consumers have:
Current market dynamics have driven many consumers to buy categories and brands that they might never normally have used, and this shift has occurred in a very short window of time. When shelves return to a more natural state, what impact will these brand experiences have on your category or brand?
Will consumers stick with the new brands or categories they’ve tried or revert to what they were buying previously? Now that consumers have been able to evaluate a larger proportion of the category, will they base their future choices against brand loyalty, an out-and-out value proposition, or other factors? Will selection criteria change, and how?
What we’ve learned about consumers
Through our COVID-19 Global Barometer, we’ve seen many signs of the disruption. Globally, about one-third of consumers report buying new brands or categories. Across various CPG categories, anywhere from one-third to one-half of consumers are open to buying a different brand if their preferred brand were not available.
Around the world, people are less concerned about excess packaging and environmental impacts and more concerned about their own safety. People also report that they are recycling less overall. In cleaning products, people have been less interested in them being eco-friendly vs. efficacy.
Other market data suggests that challenger brands are having a tough time meeting demand and are losing share to larger, more established brands, who had previously been under pressure to remain relevant.
What clients have been asking as they contemplate next steps
As we’ve been speaking with a variety of clients over the past several weeks, while articulated in different ways, consistent themes have emerged in terms of what they are most concerned about. What has become clear is that many clients are seeking answers on:
How to move forward
Now is the time to understand what the future holds for your category and your brand specifically. Our Research Services team has been working with many clients to understand the impact that COVID-19 will have on their business.
The team has developed a customizable quantitative survey approach to enable you to dive deep into your category of interest and understand the implications for your brand.
The approach explores category purchasing dynamics, segments category buyers by their primary motivations, measures recent brand purchases, what drove those purchases, and future purchase interest, as well as measuring the importance of category drivers, how they may have shifted, and if these are changes that are likely to remain. Contact us today to see how we can help you understand what the future holds.
We’ve entered an unprecedented age. People have abruptly changed their spending and consuming habits, disrupting the revenue streams of many businesses and even entire industries. We have been tracking consumer trends both globally and regionally through our ongoing research study, “GLOBAL BAROMETER: Consumer Reactions to COVID-19” to get an assessment of how consumer behavior has changed on a global level due to the COVID-19 virus.
Businesses need to understand their consumers, their sentiment and their behaviours during “normal” conditions, but it is essential during this pandemic because of how quickly perceptions and habits are changing. If you are not tracking consumer behaviour and the trends, your business is going to miss a huge opportunity at best or suffer consequences.
Pivot Quick, Pivot Smart
Businesses need to pivot in a smart, efficient manner. If they hadn’t already, traditional media and entertainment studios are engaging with streaming services. Restaurants are moving to home delivery only and in certain cases meal prep services are starting to offer grocery delivery. Opportunities abound, and with the proper insight and data, you can make smart decisions. And make them quickly.
Because during volatile periods, it is more important than ever to gauge the views of your audience. The faster the pace, the more frequently you should consider listening to your audience, testing messages (and not just once – frequently), understating behavior changes, and possibly learning which competitors they’re using.
Here are just a few examples of the different approaches we’ve taken for clients in various sectors given the information from our Barometer on consumer habits:
Knowing that consumers are spending more time (and money) at home, we’re able to help our clients determine:
How to Move Forward
Now is the time to reevaluate your research strategy. While it is not the time to extrapolate and project for all of 2020 how people will spend their time, shop for or consider new products, or consume media, there are certain projects that should be started or continued. And anything that projects normalcy now needs to be treated with caution. But the ability to stay connected to customers and take faster, more impactful decisions that make a positive difference in daily lives has never been more important.
Our team of researchers and strategists can work with you to figure out what’s working, what needs to change and where new opportunities arise. Here is what you should continue.
We can help with all of the above whether it is self-service, full service or in-between. And now is the time to act. Contact us today to see how we can help you pivot your business towards success.
1. In the coronavirus crisis, how engaged are panelists? What should researchers expect from response rates?
So far, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen both an increase in panel engagement and new panelists that have signed up to participate in surveys with us. In each country where a lockdown was imposed, panel engagement increased between 10-15% and new panel sign-ups have increased by up to 15%. In addition, the use of mobile devices during this time period has increased by nearly 2X.
We expected an increase in panel activity as people are looking for ways to fill their day. The result of this increase means that projects are completed faster (at Toluna, on average 500 survey responses can be collected in less than 1 hour, in most major markets).
During this time, people are far more likely to be on their mobile devices than traditional desktop and laptops so it’s critical that your surveys and research projects are mobile-friendly or that you target specific devices to ensure the highest quality research.
2. Is there a difference in response rates before and since the lockdowns in Europe and the U.S.?
Due to the increase in volume and traffic, we are seeing higher response rates, especially for traditionally harder to reach targets and demographics. New panelists are fueling this increase in volume. During the pandemic, we are seeing a 20% increase in survey activity from new joiners – which is exciting. As is always the case, every new panelist goes through a thorough screening and profiling process which weeds out any poor quality or potentially fraudulent behavior while allowing us to collect rich profiling attributes for targeting.
3. What about response rate quality? A frequent question is that with the increase in responses, how is quality being assured?
A rock-solid quality strategy and many layers of checks are critical to ensuring research quality. In times like this, quality measures are even more critical due to significant increases in traffic and volume. Verifying quality is not as simple as implementing a single solution like bot detection, IP verification, or double opt-in. It’s multi-layered as there are many potential threats and ways to defraud a panel. The quality checks that we use begin during the registration process and carry through the lifetime of the panelist. We leverage a combination of internally developed technology and multiple 3rd party software solutions that are applied throughout the registration process and include checks pre, during, and post-survey quality measures.
Nearly 99% of all fraud and poor-quality panelists are caught before or during the registration process to ensure the research is not affected. In addition to our automated checks, we conduct a significant amount of human checks such as panel health and profile confirmation. Quality is a moving target, new threats come up all the time and we have invested heavily in stopping them before they affect any research.
4. Why is Toluna’s panel still so strong?
Toluna is uniquely positioned in this market due to owning and managing one of the industry’s largest consumer panels while also supplementing that asset with a large network of specialty panel partners to supplement our respondent reach when needed. Our panel is more active than most of our competitors because it is simply not a database or managed list of people. Toluna provides members with a social environment where panelists can engage with each other and join sponsored quantitative and qualitative research studies. A big reason why we have not seen any negative effect on panel activity due to the pandemic is that our panelists don’t have to wait for an email invite to join a study. They simply open the Toluna app or log into their Toluna.com account and start engaging and influencing brands, products, and solutions. We collect over 1 million survey responses a day across 68 markets through our proprietary panel asset.
5. Should people even be engaging in online research now? If so, what type of research has validity during a crisis? Do the research results have a lifespan post-crisis?
Research, and understanding consumers is important, especially during uncertain times. Consumer behavior and sentiment have changed — and in times of change, it’s more important than ever to better understand thoughts, opinions, and potential trends. How else would you know about changes in sentiment without asking questions?
For example, brands are now communicating often about how they are supporting and assisting in the pandemic relief. Understanding your brand perception pre, during, and post an event like this has never been more valuable. Are consumers appreciative, and now more loyal, due to a brands relief effort? Or do they feel the brand is simply taking advantage of the situation to promote themselves? I saw a hilarious meme the other day where an airline was promoting their relief efforts and under the heading was the note “Yea, but where were you when my bag was .01 lbs over the limit??”. Obviously, this is just one example, and one person’s response (although liked and laughed at by many), illustrates the importance of understanding how your message will resonate with consumers. Your brand needs to know if your target audience cares about your COVID response, has heard enough about it or would simply rather hear about your cool products and helpful services.
6. How do panelists feel about being asked questions about typical new product development questions like bottle shapes? What is the appropriateness with countries in lockdown? Some questions might seem frivolous in the current situation.
We’ve conducted research on research to ensure that we are sensitive to our panelists and our approach to communications during this time. We’ve seen panelists excited and eager to participate in research studies and help shape future products and provide their opinions.
Our participation and engagement levels have increased by 10-15% in most regions. We are seeing more and more people log into their accounts and join the panel than ever before. In some cases, people have a lot of time on their hands and are looking for something to do and wouldn’t mind making a little extra income. This is where research and survey participation can be a fun distraction.
We are all hoping to get to a new normal as soon as possible and offering your opinion is one of the most normal things to do.
Stay safe and stay strong!
In Support of the Recent Need to (Quickly) Migrate to Online Research
Interview with Mathilde Lelièvre
Digital technology forever changes market research with expanded access, greater efficiencies and more data points than had ever been available before. But there were perceived limitations of technology and the digital environment that prevented even seasoned researchers from moving all efforts online. Recent global events and the rise of employees almost exclusively working from home, has researchers hurrying to move entirely online, without sacrificing any offline benefits.
Toluna has invaluable assistance to offer built on two decades of innovation in digital research. Our teams have created tools and developed expertise that equals the privacy, security and data delivery found in the offline research experience. Toluna EVP of Global Operations Mathilde Lelièvre is here to answer questions on digital research and data needs.
Why hasn’t everyone moved their research online?
Mathilde: Moving online is easier said than done. Clients are used to certain methodologies and certain providers. Even in our most mature markets, like the U.S., where online research is a given, there are still some clients who hesitate to move all research online as there are perceived concerns around security and data quality.
However, we have developed tools including concept testing, shelf testing, virtual shopping, image protection technology and sampling methodology that allow us to deliver data with the same confidence and quality as if it were conducted offline.
What is the hesitation about going online?
Mathilde: Whatever the hesitations were, the current reality requires clients to move online if they want to continue conducting research. Clients who were accustomed to a certain methodology are suddenly forced to quickly adjust.
We identified three main concerns:
What are the best ways to address the challenges?
Mathilde: Toluna was born online. That’s where our knowledge and expertise lie. We felt uniquely qualified to design a program and learning modules, providing the keys, best practices and methodologies to move online. Researchers may be pleasantly surprised to find that they can safely continue their work without learning everything from scratch.
What are the biggest or the most common concerns?
Mathilde: Hands down, the biggest concern is around quality. People are using research to address important business decisions. They need to ensure the quality of the panel, survey and data protection.
Should there still be concerns with online research?
Mathilde: I’d say that most concerns and questions regarding on line research have now been addressed, through technology and service excellence.
We are a technology company so we can address client needs through our proprietary tech.
But
we also pride ourselves on our ability to offer service that quell concerns.
For example, we’ve
had clients used to doing shelf-testing asking us how we can recreate this
experience online. We created virtual shops where users can have the full in
store experience in digital environments. In other words, we work with our
clients to make the impossible possible.
Since concerns around on line research seem similar, is there a one-size-fits-all solution?
Mathilde: Certainly not. We provide a wide range of services and offerings, depending on needs. We can offer services to help with the process for data collection or enable clients to do it for themselves. We leave our clients free on how they want to access online respondents. However, we are always available to ensure that they get the level of service needed to achieve their goals.
Toluna and Harris Interactive have executed the inaugural Coronavirus Barometer, surveying almost 2400 consumers in the U.S. and UK between 25-27 March on how they are coping during the global pandemic. We will update you every two weeks as perceptions change.
The global Coronavirus pandemic has led to shelter-in-place and social-distancing rules in the U.S. and UK for much of the month of March and all of April. It is a challenging time for almost everyone. We are worried about our health and well-being of loved ones, financial security and the ability to get essential supplies, making the situation even harder for most people.
Two things are clear from our first Coronavirus Barometer: Consumers expect that these rules will be in place for a while to come – in most cases, much longer than the current timelines which run through the end of April. Consumers feel supported by heath care providers, employers and retailers.
How Long Will This Last?
Despite restrictions, just over a quarter of Americans say they are comfortable booking an event or a vacation to take place this Spring (through 31 May). Another quarter feel confident booking an event (28 percent) or vacation (24 percent) for the Summer (1 June – 31 August). By Autumn only 15 percent feel confident enough to book an event and only 16 percent would book a vacation. Fewer than 10 percent say they feel confident planning either for the winter, and about a quarter say the date is further out.
In the UK, consumers are more cautious, with only 14 percent saying they would book an event for the Spring and only 11 percent would book a holiday. About a third of UK respondents would not feel comfortable booking either even after the Autumn and Winter of 2020.
Consumers Feel Supported
Across the board, consumers feel supported by the major institutions that shape their lives. This includes healthcare services, retailers and governments, among others.
Consumers in the U.S. and UK rate the healthcare services as the most supportive of all organizations. Rating their support at a 9 or 10 on a scale of 1-10, a whopping 45 percent of U.S. respondents and 57 percent of UK respondents said they felt extremely supported by their healthcare services. Healthcare professionals, who risk their lives daily, are clearly heroes in the eyes of our respondents.
For most of us, the only place we go is to buy groceries or to pick up prescriptions. Retailers in both countries are seen as being extremely supportive, second only to healthcare. Most respondents, 58 percent in the US and 52 percent in the UK, say retailers rank 8-10 on a scale of 1-10.
About two-thirds (66 percent) of UK respondents said their national government is supportive, while a solid majority (61 percent) of US respondents agreed. In both countries, governments have passed extraordinary measures to assist consumers with cash payouts and extension of unemployment benefits.
Employers, many of whom are experiencing extreme distress in terms of record drop-offs in business, are viewed as supportive in the U.S., although this is not the case in the UK. In the US, 54 percent of respondents say employers rate at least a 7 out of 10 for support, while only 42 percent of UK respondents would rank their employers so positively.
Shifting Emotions
In such challenging times, we expect people’s sentiments could change rapidly and we want to be here for our clients and our community. Given how fast things changed for most people, we expect attitudes and sentiments towards the situation to change rapidly. We will be there to report on it.
First and foremost, we are grateful to the brave men and women who risk their lives to protect our health or to bring us essential supplies. Our governments and employers are seen as supportive as they are dealing with unprecedented change.
I’ve gotten emails over the past few weeks about business continuity, messages of assurance and moving businesses forward. But for those in the Insights industry, should it be business as usual? There are massive changes in consumer behaviour that can have real consequences on the work we do. My team and I have had many conversations with clients over the past couple of weeks. Many questions have been asked about the impact of the current situation, but one thing is clear: the greater market volatility, the more relevant, up to date insights are required.
Here are five points for researchers to consider during these times of uncertainty:
Research is a must in times of change
In fast-moving, volatile periods, it is more important than ever to gauge the views of your audience. The faster the pace, the more frequently you should consider listening to your audience. Brands need to be empathetic, ensuring comms and other activities are in tune with what is going on. At Harris Interactive, we are a digital consumer research agency, delivering insights on demand aligned with audiences’ needs with the goal of helping brands make the right choices in uncertain and confusing times.
Continue brand tracking but reconsider frequency
Continue to collect data. As we have seen with other significant market events, it is more important than ever for clients to monitor and track perceptions before, during and after events. This enables the measurement of changes in perceptions, opinions, and behaviours and informs decision making to accurately reflect the new environment in which they are operating. And the frequency of tracking is important. Quarterly measurement is good, but monthly or weekly measurement will be more relevant at this time to enable brands to capture what is happening and course correct. Consider doing a quick pulse in the market if you don’t already have an on-going programme in place.
Pretest, Pretest, Pretest
Pretesting communications and advertising is a matter of good practice. Today it is crucial to avoid mistakes that could lead to a communications crisis. Pretest all messaging and advertising. Ensure alignment with audiences, so advertising strikes the right note and your brand is not tarnished. And while a sense of urgency may tempt the testing of messaging or communications in market, always test pre-launch. With self-service platforms (you can DIY or we use Harris 24 — a flexible, quick, serviced alternative to omnibus), pre-testing messages, communications, and advertising campaigns happens quickly and efficiently.
If this is the new normal consider how findings are projected.
Now is not the time to extrapolate and project for all of 2020 how people will spend their time, shop for or consider new products, or consume media. We are in unusual times. Anything that projects normalcy now needs to be treated with caution. This is a time for research on a more frequent basis and in some cases it will mean deferring studies exploring longer term more strategic decision making.
New Product Development is a Go. In most cases.
When it comes to the NPD cycle, there are some industries that should absolutely continue with development cycles as products and services must meet consumer needs even if those needs change. Products need to be optimised to take changes in consumer needs and behaviour into account in the short and medium term, what was not a relevant in the past may be extremely relevant now and going forward.
It’s crucial to know and listen to your audience in fast-moving times. The ability to stay connected to customers and take faster, more impactful decisions that make a positive difference in daily lives has never been more important. At Harris Interactive, we help you do just that.
Sentiment and needs change quickly; brands need to be aware of what people are thinking ‘in the moment.’ Digital communities provide a timely, ongoing way to connect with people who matter most to brands.
For any brand, tapping into a group of people who care enough to give ongoing feedback, well, that’s beyond valuable, especially now. In today’s environment, public opinion and requirements are changing on a dime, and digital communities are an ideal means of getting feedback in real-time, over-time. Communities make it possible for marketers to make rapid-fire decisions about messaging and more, with a clear picture of consumer attitudes backing up their decisions.
Within days, brands can recruit for and build a digital community bringing together your most important constituencies, even when travel is impossible, or they’re geographically distributed. And as communities are highly flexible, brands can assemble target audiences quickly and easily – be they current customers or prospects.
Communities provide a dynamic and engaging forum for members, encouraging continuous sharing, posting, and on-site activities. Given communities couple this type of qualitative feedback with the ability to conduct quantitative survey work, brands use communities to identify consumer needs – even early stage and follow through with quantitative surveys used to test those ideas and bring them to fruition. In our world, brands have used communities to evaluate messages that may not have otherwise been tested using traditional consumer insights.
Few things change consumer behavior more than uncertain times. It affects how people shop, the brands they buy, and the way they live. It is important for brands to be proactive in understanding how consumers feel, and to address challenges as they develop. The good news is that in today’s digital environment brands can adapt in real-time, making sure messages are in tune with most current consumer sentiment.
Plus, there are tangible and intangible advantages for members of a branded community. Consumers benefit by having a direct link to the brands they favor, as well as being able to speak to other community members. In times of change, this direct communication with consumers becomes constructive and relevant. Brands can offer messages of support and address pressing issues. This type of dialogue can strengthen mutual empathy, building deeper brand connections.
Digital communities make it fast and easy to speak to the consumers that matter most to your brand and optimize decision making at all stages. Communities are non-linear. They are adaptable, just as consumers are, and its this adaptability that no doubt, is the reason our communities platform is growing rapidly and why our clients regularly tell us how valuable they can be.
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