On February 28, Febelmar (Belgian research association) joins forces with ESOMAR (global research association) to host a joint congress in Brussels. It looks like it will be a heyday for the Belgian market research sector, the perfect occasion for catching up and for meeting some of the top innovations in the sector. The theme of this first Febelmar Congress is Engagement. Read more
Now that organisations continue tightening their belts, the question on the ROI of marketing becomes more and more important. Market research feels the same pressure: more, quicker and more effective. Measuring the research’s ROI is far from easy. And it’s far from realistic to have your market agency’s revenues or your market research department’s budget depend directly on the achieved results. What is possible, however, is expanding the application field of market research and therefore increasing its strategic importance. In this article I describe three ways to increase your market research’s return.Read more
On Tuesday 23 October, Tom De Ruyck (Head of Research Communities) and Anouk Willems (Senior Research Innovator) will host a Smartees Webinar on how to connect companies with their consumers and inspire them by confronting them with their consumer’s daily lives. Do you want to know how you can create a mind shift towards an optimal connection with your customers and confront a whole organization with the consumer world? Then you should definitely join this Smartees Webinar! We kick off at 17:00 CET with a 45min presentation including the success factors of running an immersion communityand the practical challenges you’re confronted with when bringing the consumer to life within your organization. The presentation will be ended by some practical cases of Unilever and Heineken.Read more
You have undoubtedly already figured it out by now: consumers have become very powerful, a fact which marketers had better take into account. Unilever CEO Paul Polman already said: “If they can bring the Egypt government down in six weeks, they can bring us down in nanoseconds”. It is not only a matter of ‘being able to’, but also of ‘wanting to’. No less than 44% of consumers want to be actively involved in the development of new products or advertising campaigns for ‘their’ brands (InSites Consulting, Social Media around the world 2011). Therefore this entire evolution is not a threat but rather an opportunity. But what does it imply for market research? Should the research world also adapt? Which opportunities will emerge?Read more
Last week I had the pleasure to speak at the Stima #tweepshow on the KPI’s to measure the ROI of social media. Every CEO wants it, every marketeer is looking for it, there have been endless blogposts and discussion about the theme, but there is no general agreement on what the right KPI’s are and what exactly the ROI of social media is. I was invited to speak at the event and represent the researcher’s view on the matter. Read more
At InSites Consulting, we are proud to announce that we are among the 3 finalists of the Research Effectiveness Awards! ESOMAR launched the awards for the first time this year and it will become an annual award open for all clients of research who can demonstrate the ROI of their research. We feature in the shortlist with one of our Community Research projects, Bringing consumers alive within Unilever R&D – A staged approach for maximal impact. The full case will be presented at the ESOMAR General Conference (September 2011) by Stan Knoops of Unilever and Tom De Ruyck of InSites Consulting.
Would you like to find out more about our Community Research? Sign up for our Communities Smartees on September 29 in Rotterdam (NL). It’s free!
Great companies understand the importance of consumer and market insights when it comes to outperforming the rest. Superiority in learning and sustaining that knowledge through the constant search for new insights and better understanding of drivers of consumer value in the market place has proven to be one of the most critical corporate competencies.
Together with InSites Consulting, Unilever changed the hearts and minds of their R&D employees by bringing the consumer into the company’s product development. At the Annual ESOMAR Congress this September in Amsterdam, Tom De Ruyck (Senior ForwaR&D Lab Manager) and Stan Knoops (Group Leader Consumer Insights at Unilever R&D) will present the three stepstones towards developing more impactful products. Last week their paper ‘Engage, Inspire, Act’ has been approved by the Congress Committee.
Find out more about the congress at the ESOMAR website.
Over the past years, stimulated by the rise of social media, ‘conversational marketing’ techniques have gained tremendous importance. Lots of books have been published on the topic and a large number of companies have rolled-out a program to observe, feed and manage the offline and online conversations.
More and more, companies are trying to unlock the power of brand fans. Unilever Benelux decided to initiate a long term conversation with Ben & Jerry’s fans to leverage this idea. Together with InSites Consulting, Unilever Benelux set-up an online market research community with 225 participants in Belgium and the Netherlands. The community was actively used over the months June, July & August 2010.
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On 23 June, InSites Consulting organized a Smartees workshop on research communities.
Tom De Ruyck, Senior R&D Manager introduced the wonderful world of research communities. The results of the Meet the Joneses are clear: 2 out of 3 marketers claim to know what their customers want, but only 33% actually knows their customers when confronted with the test. Research communities are a good way to sense the life of your customers and get really connected with them.
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Smartees offer a blend of insights and practical solutions to the challenges you face every day as marketers and researchers. On Wednesday 23 June we’ll be focusing on communities and how to use them in new product development, marketing research and the interface with the consumer.
Check out the full program online!
As well as the experience offered by our speakers, Smartees offer the chance to network with colleagues and peers in a relaxed atmosphere and they’re free. Sign up right away to make sure your reserve your seat on 23 June in Rotterdam (NL).
