Invoke Solutions

It’s not very often that we get to see how our qualitative research work move forward.  So much of the research we do is during the beginning stages of product development but recently, we were able to see some of the ideas we helped create move forward into further testing via an Invoke Live Session. Invoke Live is a large scale online focus group that allows researchers to interact with 30-300 participants for 45-90 minutes to gain in the moment insights. This methodology provides real-time feedback from target consumers in a hybrid qualitative/quantitative fashion.

For me, one of the highlights of this experience was that we were able to have the moderator, client and advertising agency together in one room, simultaneously viewing the online discussion. I was intrigued by the interaction of these parties and their ability to immediately extract useful insights. It was beneficial to have multiple eyes on the data because different people can pick up on different responses. I also found it interesting to see how specific questions worked or did not work; as well as the clients ability to probe and/or re-ask questions in a different way to get more impactful responses.

Invoke has been used in the following ways:

1. Communications Testing
2. Package Testing
3. Name Testing
4. New Product Development
5. Website Usability
6. Shopper Insights
7. Employee Sentiment Program

This was an exciting experience for our team and we hope to use this platform in the future. The ability to gain such a large amount of qualitative and quantitative research through this portal would be highly beneficial for clients trying to reach many consumers at once. We look forward to seeing how the results of the session play out in our client’s media campaign.

Learning My "ABCs"

I never truly understood the meaning of “going from 0 to 60“ until I got to know April. That phrase is now the definition of my life every day, every week - and I'm loving every second of it!

This summer, April hired me as her Chief Wrangler, which is just a really awesome way of saying office/project manager. I was thrilled to be putting some of my strongest skills to work - I excel in organization, planning and keeping everyone calm, all in a super fast-paced environment. On top of that, we were working out of April's home. It's always an adventure when you are sharing an office with 2 dogs and a toddler running around. It was never a dull moment.

Although we all enjoyed our afternoon breaks to play with April's adorable little girl, the three of us were growing busier by the minute. In August, we decided to get a space of our own - a really cool, loft-style space in the West End with wood floors, exposed brick and a great view of the city. As an added bonus, we are in the same building as one of our long-time clients!

My first few months have been full of training, researching, assisting on projects and keeping track of ever-changing schedules. April, Mayuri and I are always on the go, while trying to coordinate our schedules and keep communication lines clear and open. Work days have been more on the longer side lately, which isn't so bad when your company promotes Friday afternoon fiestas! We always try to keep things fun and interesting!

Despite all the madness, there are some really exciting things happening in our company with some great opportunities ahead of us this fall. I can't wait to see where we are in the next few months and to help our company grow. I've had to do some adjusting on my part, since I've never had as much responsibility as I do now. However, I feel truly blessed to be a part of such a unique and talented group.

The next few months are sure to be a wild ride. Keep tuning into our blog and you will hear all about the exciting upcoming months and the everyday happenings in a small, yet extraordinary/dynamic company.

The Power of Oprah

Well, Oprah is officially on Twitter and in a matter of days, Twitter saw a 43% jump in new users. On April 17, the day of Oprah's first Tweet, her amount of followers went from 54,864 to an astounding 215,961...this all happened in less than 24 hours people! So now be prepared for a whole new demographic to join Twitter: the busy mom that every brand competes for. We're about to see an explosion of Twittermoms.

The busy stay-at-home mom is the largest portion of her following, usually watching the afternoon talk show, while doing laundry, making her grocery list or preparing dinner. We all know that the busy mom is what most brands market to, because they make the majority of purchasing decisions in the household. They listen and it's proved they act, time and time again.

She's launched the career of Dr. Phil, practically turned the famous book, The Secret, into it's own religion and some speculate that Oprah's endorsement of President Obama produce approximately 1,000,000 additional votes. So if you thought that Oprah's influence might start to decrease, think again, as the increase in Twitter has proved that Oprah's voice still has just as much clout as it ever did.