Bureau West

Our clients are always looking for ways to understand how their customers truly interact with their product or service.  One way to do this is to go to where the customers live, work or shop and observe and interview them there.  This can be very effective, but we always have to consider how the researcher’s very presence could affect the respondent’s behavior.  In some cases, we’ve found another option that can be less intrusive: video diaries. 

We send respondents a webcam, ask them questions (either in a video clip or in writing), and when it’s convenient and appropriate for them, respondents answer by talking to the webcam.  They tend to be more natural, open and honest, since they don’t have a stranger in the room with them, and they’re participating at a time that makes sense to them, not on the researcher’s schedule.

Now we’ve started using a new method that combines the strengths of video diaries with the benefits of group interaction.  It works like an online bulletin board focus group, except it uses video.  Respondents answer questions by talking to a webcam, and then they watch the video responses recorded by other participants.  So we still get the benefit of participants’ unbiased responses, but we get the added richness that comes from the “cross-fertilization” of a group discussion (e.g., “oh yeah, now that you say that, I forgot to mention…”).

To find the optimal research method to learn about your market, give us a call at (818) 752-7210.

As we’ve mentioned in the past, when companies say they want to conduct “website usability testing,” they usually want to know about more than just usability.  They also want answers to questions such as what users think of the site and what would motivate them to use the site versus other options.  That’s why we typically include a qualitative interview along with our usability sessions.  But in some cases, clients want to focus on usability issues and gain a deep understanding of how users move through their website.  In these cases, we recommend conducting quantitative remote usability testing.

With remote usability testing, several hundred respondents interact with websites from their own homes or offices, and we record all their clicks and their paths through the sites.  We can also ask them questions about their experiences (both typical survey questions and open-ended questions).  Now in the old days (and by “the old days,” I mean 1999!), this required that respondents download special software.  But nowadays, it’s possible to record respondents browsing any website without downloading software and without any programming on the website.  That means that companies can even learn how users interact with their competitors’ websites!

Costs have come down, too.  Usually, a remote usability study with 200 respondents can be conducted for about the same cost as an in-person study with 15 respondents.  This provides a large enough sample to enable us to analyze the behavior of different segments, or what we call “personas” – that is,  different groups with distinct ways of interacting with a given website.

To discuss the best way to conduct research to make your website more effective, give us a call at (818) 752-7210.

There is a common belief that consumers hate advertising.  But in focus groups and interviews we conduct with consumers, we find that is not the case.  Rather, they hate ads that aren’t relevant to them, especially when they’re exposed to them with great frequency.  Consumers are remarkably open to advertising that speaks to them, ads they consider to be appropriate and timely.

But how can companies deliver that type of targeted advertising?  By effectively segmenting their target market.  And nowadays, that’s easier than it used to be.  Companies can utilize a combination of research with prospects along with data about customer behavior on company websites to define accurate market segments.

An article in Fast Company magazine explains how retailer Barneys delved deeply into the behavior of the people browsing their website and discovered patterns which led them to customer segments (for example, “fashionistas” who buy risky new designer products and “bottom feeders” who always buy sale items).  This has enabled them to achieve a tenfold increase in response rates to their email advertising.

Give us a call at Bureau West (tel: 818-752-7210) and we can discuss the best way to integrate your website data with customer research to define segments for your target audience.

Sources:  Bureau West research;  Fast Company, May, 2008

In his best-seller “The Tipping Point,” Malcolm Gladwell talks about a popular theory among marketers: that there are certain rare, highly-connected people (also known as “influentials” or “tastemakers”) who have a disproportionate influence over what becomes popular.  If your marketing can effectively target these people, they will trigger a trend and you will be wildly successful.

But in an article in this month’s Fast Company magazine, network-theory scientist Duncan Watts says this theory is wrong–and he has some rather persuasive evidence to support his position.  He conducted numerous social experiments and found that trends are far more likely to be started by an “average” person than by one of the rare, highly-connected people.  “If society is ready to embrace a trend, almost anyone can start one–and if it isn’t, then almost no one can,” Watts concludes. To succeed with a new product, it’s less a matter of finding the perfect hipster to “infect” and more a matter of gauging the public’s mood. Sure, there will always be a first mover in a trend. But since she generally stumbles into that role by chance, she is, in Watts’s terminology, an “accidental Influential.”  We have also seen this in our research: someone who is influential in one area may not be influential in another. 

What does this mean for marketers?  Get a feel for what’s going on in your prospects’ lives–and not just the hip prospects.  And consider what types of people are influential for your product and service and why they influence others.  At Bureau West Marketing & Research, we like to conduct focus groups that mix advocates of a brand with those who are undecided.  We ask the advocates to try to persuade the non-customers and listen closely to the discussion–both the persuasion points and the objections.  This type of research reveals characteristics of a brand’s “evangelists” and also provides insights into creating the most effective marketing strategy.

We can design research to uncover which ideas will resonate with your prospects.  Call Bureau West at (818) 752-7210. 

Sources:  Fast Company, February, 2008; Bureau West research