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MRS Workshop

Last chance to register for our MRS Workshop: From co-creation to structural collaboration

Online research communities are key to a company’s toolbox in order to reach structural collaboration. On Friday April 19, Tom De Ruyck and Anouk Willems will elaborate on what’s next for research communities in terms of new tools and new possibilities in an MRS workshop in London. They will pay special attention to how to really engage with consumers, how to report results in an impactful way and how to embed this voice of the customer within all departments of the organization. In other words, how to give consumers a seat on the board of your company via a Consumer Consulting BoardRead more

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How structural collaboration leads to value propositions in the Financial sector

In the (post) crisis era, challenging the status quo through innovation will be critical to restore profitability in the financial sector. The commoditisation of products within the industry is making it very difficult to compete on price. Moreover, a whole array of non-banking entities is entering the market to close the gap between the offerings of banks and the needs of customers. Suddenly, banks face competition from telcos, supermarkets, tech firms and innovative start-ups, all experienced in building online relationships and developing and marketing transparent products.Read more

Smartees

Structural Collaboration Smartees Webinar

Last week we launched our brand new Smartees website, today we’d like to highlight our first upcoming Smartees Webinar which is also our first US hosted Webinar. On Thursday October 18, two of our Managing Partners Niels Schillewaert and Filip De Boeck will host a Smartees Webinar on structural collaboration with consumers, live from our US office in New York. Your chance to find out why your key customers are key to your company and why you have to give them a seat in your board. The Smartees Webinar kicks off at 1pm EST with Niels Schillewaert presenting ‘The Consumer Consulting Board’ on what’s next for online research communities, how to really engage with consumers, how to report results in an impactful way and how to embed the voice of the customer within all departments of your organization.Read more

Collaboration

Consumers prefer market research communities for co-creation

Last week we launched the results of our ‘Social Media around the World 2012′ study. The study contains loads of facts & figures about consumers and social network sites. One of the topics we included this year, is the role of social networks in structural collaboration between consumers and brands. The results are clear: consumers love to be involved in co-creation and crowdsourcing projects. More importantly: they have a very high preference for using a market research community as a co-creation platform.Read more

Social Media around the World

Social Media around the World 2012

This morning we officially launched our Social Media around the World 2012 report. We organised this study for the third time and the results are ready. The full report offers 5 eye-catching insights on the status of social media and more than 2.000 facts and figures about social media in 19 countries. Topics cover main adoption and usage, interactions of consumers with brands, impact of branded conversations, evolution of mobile and the opportunities for structural collaboration between consumers and brands. The 2011 edition got the most favourites on SlideShare worldwide and was the most frequently downloaded presentation. We’re excited to see if we will do the same this year!Read more

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The consumer as consultant

Usually I appreciate most marketing co-creation cases which I encounter as an excellent PR campaign. There is nothing wrong with that, of course, but consumers and the options of new media have more to offer. I recently realized some research with my colleague Tom De Ruyck on the options and limitations of structural collaboration between company and customer. One of that survey’s conclusions is that the consumer is an excellent consultant. Just like when you hire a ‘typical’ company adviser, the art here also lies in involving the right people as consultants.Read more