Business-to-Business and Consumer |
Serving the following Markets:
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Brand Development: Defining Brand Drivers |
| Information Need | A major telecommunications firm wanted to better define their overall brand driver profile in order to ensure that they were delivering product and services in alignment with customer expectations in the "new world" of telecommunications marketing. It does no one any good if the marketing department is convinced that a brand value is X, your service department is emphasizing Y, and your hardware / software products are perceived as providing Z by the buying public. Companies cannot assume that all brand and product elements continue to be aligned as markets or product mixes change. |
| Target Population | Mobile phone users, both B2B and consumer |
| Research Methodology | Customer focus groups and internal 1-1 interviews held across North America. The goal was to re-establish those product, service and company characteristics that were most important to wireless users, and how these differed from population to population, whether B2B or consumer. |
| Methodological Challenges | One needs to be a little inventive when wading into the "me too" waters of brand value research. It is so easy for respondents to throw out the standard lines about a product or service, and it is easy for moderators to allow them to do so. It is inevitable for them to start talking about timely service, competitive pricing, and so on, so you might as well allow them to do so, even if it is just to get it out of the way. Brand value is especially tricky for both respondent and moderator because most companies realize the importance of doing the product and service basics correctly and (hopefully) well, so there is not much that can differentiate companies on these more typical drivers (timely service, competitive pricing, for example). You need brand value differentiators, and that is where story telling comes into play. When using focus groups as a qualitative means to nail down those product, service or company characteristics that make a difference at the buyer's next Competitive Moment™, try "story telling" as a technique to get respondents beyond the ordinary and the "group think" mode. Having respondents tell stories is not only very helpful at teasing out the brand value drivers that often make a difference in purchasing or loyalty behavior, story telling can be fun and entertaining, making an otherwise dull topic come to life. Embedded within the stories will be those brand value gems that often differentiates one company or product from another. |
| Outcome | Successful project. Successful in that the qualitative research effort did yield value drivers unique to various subpopulations, and because the quantitative study was able to use the qualitative input to better frame the questions used. Results of both studies opened the eyes of many researchers and clients alike. |
| Contact: John M. Jessen |
| Copyright © 2006 Soundings Research |
| Last update: 04 / 2010 |