Consolidation in market research industry when Ipsos buys Synovate

I met with a research professional and good contact today and heard the interesting news today that Ipsos has announced the acquisition of Synovate. This means that Ipsos will climb the ladder to become one of the biggest three market research agencies in the world behind the likes of Nielsen and Kantar group (TNS, Millward brown).

It will be interesting to follow the next steps and to understand how these two businesses are planning to merge their respective cultures and processes into one whole, and to see what they are going to sell as their key propositions to customers like you and me...

Measuring Brand Equity

When you work with brands you sometimes need to identify the ones worth the marketing bucks. I googled the Y&R Brand Asset Valuator approach today which is a method I used years ago when working on this topic. And I came across this quite interesting slideShare presentation which worked as a useful reminder of the many different approaches out there... Some I believe to be better than others. Enjoy!

Measuring Brand Equity

View more presentations from Carol Phillips.

Integrated systematics for strategic brand tracking

Currently I'm intrigued by the thought of identifying some magic tool for 'Integrated Strategic Brand and Product Tracking'. Clever tracking is tricky - and I haven't come across a single company that have a strategic tracking systematics that's totally integrated with segmentation tools, brand platforms and strategic KPIs. And, on top of that - also cleverly reported via customised / tailored reporting systems. If anyone comes across the ultimate tracking device - do let me know!

Living Labs - consumer co-creation in the digital age

I recently heard about 'Living Labs' - a consumer co-creation methodology supported and promoted by Opinion, the rather quirky norwegian research agency. I love the name 'Living Labs' so of course I had to read more about it. And over the last few days I've explored the idea. The concept of consumer or customer co-creation appeals to me. Being a consumer centric professional it is certainly something that I encourage. I'm aware of the power of insights from these activities. And the idea of a web-based, digital community is also very interesting to explore when it comes to FMCG and service innovation. Just imagine how interesting and effective it could be to test a new food service concept in this kind of setting. Especially if you can create an environment that brings consumers into a real 'service reality' online. Community members could help you to evaluate the strenght of various food service concepts in a setting that becomes as close to 'real life' as possible. If anyone out there have got some experiences of 'Living Labs' - let me know, I would love to know more.

Youth boosts egg sales in Sweden

Fri Köpenskap reports today that it is the swedish youth who boost the latest sales increase. for eggs. Apparently last year swedes ate 71m more eggs than the previous year! That's a bloody lot of eggs! And it is a sales increase of 5%, the highest in many, many years.

So, what stands behind this development? Why on earth do the swedes eat more eggs? Well, You Gov were commissioned by Svensk Ägg (Swedish Egg organisation) to explore the reasons why in what appears to be an 'only' quant exercise based on 1024 interviews. The very quant answer is apparently that more and more swedes eat egg for breakfast. Almost one in four claim to eat more eggs today than a year ago (this is not the easiest thing to measure - since it is hard to put an estimate on past behaviours!). In the age group 18-29 23% of respondents claim to eat more eggs today than a year ago. In the older age group 50-65, 17% claim to eat more eggs than a year ago. I want to know more. So, do a couple of groups as well will ya and let us know the reasoning, behaviours and attitudes that lie behind!

Is Sweden facing an online food revolution?

Well, I asked myself that question as I read the summary of the Coop report - a usage and attitude consumer report with more than 43000 respondents, with data compiled and published by Coop, a Swedish retailer.
 According to the report the internet has become a highly important source of inspiration for Swedish consumers. Almost six out of ten consumers claim to use the internet as their primary source of food and dinner inspiration. And the most important thing is to compare these findings to the 2007 figures. In 2007, just two years ago, only 14% said the same thing! So, in two years the importance of the internet as food inspiration has increased by 43%... I must admit that I haven't studied the details of how the data has been compiled and analysed but I do find these findings interesting!

It makes me wonder if Sweden is facing an online food shopping revolution. Are Swedes ready for online food shopping too?  I used to love online grocery shopping. In London I used Sainsburys online. I miss Sainsburys by the way... lots! And I started doing online food shopping in its infancy... 2003 it was. In those days I must admit that it wasn't the most fraction free experience. I often received the wrong goods but... it still was far better than taking the bus to and from the supermarket with fifteen plastic bags of very poor quality in tow... This year Mintel reports that one in three (35%) adults in the UK shop online for food, but just one in nine (11%) do so regularly or exclusively. Mintel also estimate that online food shopping will reach £4.4 billion in 2009, which in turn means that the online grocery market has grown a massive 134% since 2005. I think that is a pretty impressive development.

Online grocery shopping in Sweden hardly exists. But lately several of my friends have woken up to the idea and some of them have started to do their grocery shopping online via NetXtra or Coop. Their main reasons for online grocery shopping are to make their lives easier (more convenient) and to become more inspired to try out new foods and meals... So, here we go... here's that big need for inspiration again. Maybe food inspiration is just the BIG benefit that the online grocery retailers should build their offer around! I'm in a massive need of food inspiration. And, with great benefits like that I might just soon do my grocery shopping online too.

The market research brief - spend your energy on it!

I have seen many market research and project briefs over the course of the years. Few are really good, some are OK and loads are rubbish! A good brief is highly important to ensure that you get what you ask for - a brilliantly run market research that answers your questions. And don't forget that you pay quite a bit of money to have those questions asked!

So, what's a good brief then? This is my very simplified content list of a good research brief. It's then up to the writer to ensure that all of the content makes sense in the end. But if you start what I've stated below you will be on your way to a good brief writer.
1. Market and project background
Provide the reader with a decent market and project background. Some things are secrets but the more you can tell the better. However, ensure to Keep It Simple Stupid! Be matter of fact with the background - no novel writing please.
2. Purpose / Research Objective
Clearly state the purpose of the market research - what is the big reason for you to spend any time or money on this project? What big question should it answer?
3. Questions (that this research should answer)
Include the big questions that the research must answer. Be very specific and clear here. I usually include a list of 10-15 questions. This helps the research agency to understand the scale of the research, the right methodology, the sample and more.
4. Timeframe
Include the timeframe and be very clear about at what different times you need your deliverables. Be realistic.
5. Methodology
Add your thoughts (if you have any) on what sort of methodology you have in mind. If you want the research agency to suggest a methodology - say so. Also, try to be specific about whether you and your organisation are interested in something very traditional (e.g you will only accept traditional focus groups) or if you are interested in something else and perhaps a mix of disciplines to ensure that you tackle the questions as well as possible.
6. Sample and target group
Include your thoughts on the sample and the mix. Clearly state the target group for the research - this is very important! If you aren't specific here the research agency cannot provide you with good information regarding the costing.
7. Other issues to consider
Here you include information on other things that may have an impact on the project. E.g. you may have a consumer segmentation that you want to research agency to use when they write the recruitment spec. You may also have another project that will have an impact on the research - to ensure that the agency allows time in the timeframe for you and the team to look into that data/information.
8. Team
State who's in the project management team and their roles.

I think that is all, but I might add to this list again. Don't forget to finish your brief with information regarding which day you expect an answer and how you would liek that answer (presentation in person, powerpoint, etc).
Good luck with your brief writing!