Uncharted Territories for Prestigious Summer Art Exhibit

ABRG BLOG

Jeffrey Johns of Northstar consulting recently presented on “Using Insight Innovation to Re-Invent a 247-Year Old Institution” at the 2016 QRCA Worldwide Conference on Qualitative Research. His investigation piqued our interest and made us want to dig deeper to understand his methods and findings. The Summer Exhibition at London’s Royal Academy  is one of the most significant and unique visual experiences in the world due to the combination of works from emerging and established artists. However, since its inception in 1769, the structure of the exhibit has remained largely unchanged. But for the upcoming 250th Summer Exhibition, London’s Royal Academy intends to make changes that incorporate the needs of a new generation of visitors as well as other trends from our changing world.

Consulted for their expertise on customer-related research, Northstar was brought in to help The Royal Academy as it moves forward with its redesign. Northstar’s undertaking of this project was unique because The Royal Academy had never consulted with researchers before, thus making the collection and presentation of findings original and unfamiliar. In fact, Northstar’s insights were reflected in the 247th Summer Exhibition in 2015 and visitor volume and art sales were noticeably higher; a good indicator of the impact they will have on the 250th anniversary. The study itself was unique because of its short timeframe and methods used, unlike those commonly used in ethnographic research where experiments are long and data collection is extensive. Northstar’s goal with this immersive research was to provide consumer insights that could make the Summer Exhibition more popular and enjoyable.

Northstar conducted its research within the institution and yielded 16 hours of data and 400 photographs. Their qualitative, ethnographic approach included methods such as listening in on visitors’ conversations, observing gestures/interaction of visitors with art, and conducting ‘non-interview-like’ conversations with visitors. The research uncovered trends such as “Visitor control”, “family”, and “divergence” which rose to the top across many exhibit visitors. But how does this help the London Royal Academy? What do these trends mean? “Visitor control” meant that visitors liked that they weren’t guided through the exhibition and were free explore on their own. “Family” referred to the fact that the exhibition has become well known to families who have made visiting the exhibition a tradition. “Divergence” showed that the combination of both emerging and establishing artists is a positive for the exhibit because it reflects inclusivity. By understanding these trends, the Royal Academy will have a better understanding of what is needed for the redesign of the Summer Exhibition.

Northstar’s innovative research methods provide d actionable insights for an institution that did not formerly utilize qualitative research. Utilizing qualitative research may be something that the London Royal Academy will continue to do given its increase in art sales and visitor volume since changes reflecting the trends of control, family and divergence were made. Entering uncharted territory was a success for Northstar because this unique methodology resulted in positive outcomes for their client; indicating that innovative methods could be advantageous and should be implemented in other non-typical areas.

Online Qual Methodologies

Is online qualitative research as effective as in-person research? We’ve had some of our long-term clients wanting to explore different ways to “replicate” in-person focus groups online. Surprisingly, this is being driven not only by time and money constraints but also by scheduling conflicts. Although in-person qual facilitates the kind of rapport and connection that is challenging to replicate online, we also believe conducting online qual can give insight – if you use the right methodology and platform for the objective.

We currently have a great bulletin board platform (Recollective) we use for gaining in-depth exploration into consumer’s habits and practices – it’s a great tool and we use it often as a supplement to in-person.

But finding the right tool to “replicate” an in-person experience – where stimuli can be shown and feedback can be given in context requires a synchronous platform (not a bulletin board – asynchronous platform)

So we recently renewed our discovery process to review new platforms and we were pleasantly surprised by how advanced the technology has become. Although not perfect, it’s clear that many of them have become more “researcher friendly.” So, while it can seem overwhelming based on the number of options available, we found the following process can help narrow the choices in order to choose the best platform for your needs.

Envision the Experience: With so many bells and whistles, it’s easy to get swept away with a lot of the features available. We found as we were doing demos, that clarity was found if we focused on what the experience would look and feel like as we were conducting the study.

Decide: Asynchronous or Synchronous?  There are pros and cons of each but both can be beneficial based on what you are trying to learn. For example, Asynchronous is great for “exploration” or “going deep” with individual consumers while allowing flexibility for both the researcher and respondents; however, the analysis is typically more disjointed and time-consuming. Synchronous platforms, on the other hand, require a specific “meet up” time. They work well when you want group feedback (ex: stimuli) because they allow data to flow in context – and the analysis is easier.

Decide: Text only or Webcam? This is an important step when determining which platform to use because some platforms are better at conducting Webcam interviews/groups (Intervu by FocusVision) while others provide a great Text Chat Group feature (Inside Heads and Visions Live). Again, there are pros and cons to each method that should be carefully evaluated based on your client team’s wishes. For example, Text Chat Groups do not allow you to see and hear respondents while Webcam groups require much more technology requirements.

Creating an “evaluation process” not only helped us identify the right platform for the need, it also helped us overcome technology “overwhelm” and create excitement for a shiny, new research tool!

Using Improv Principles when Ideating

“I’m not creative”,“I have a hard time brainstorming in a group”. So many people, including me, feel this way. In the increasing number of new product development ideation sessions we conduct with our clients, we are finding that the “set up” process is just as important as the actual ideation. “Using improv principles” helps us guide the team to think outside the box and successfully build off one another’s ideas. Here is a list of Improv Principles that we regularly use and believe help create successful ideas during an ideation or brainstorm session:

1. Yes And…
2. Be Present
3. Have Fun
4. Be Open to Failing
5. Adapt
6. Justify Other’s thinking
7. Trust the Process…and yourself

The first and most important principle to follow is justifying others thinking by continually saying “yes, and….” We have found that by using this technique, it allows team members to build ideas, not kill them. It makes each team member feel comfortable and open to sharing his or her ideas – no matter how outlandish they may be. In an article titled 4 Improv Principles That Could Skyrocket Your Career, the founder of Improv on the Job, Taren Sterry states, “this principles is about accepting and building on what is offered. It’s about listening fully, then responding. It’s about investing in what’s happening in the now.”

Another similar principle we try to encourage during ideation sessions is “justify others thinking”. Most of our clients spend a lot of time having to justify their own thinking but when we brainstorm, the opposite is needed. Justifying others thinking helps everyone to get into the spirit of opening up so that ideas flow more freely.

To Build off this principle, another important thing for teams to remember is to “be present and in the moment” when ideating. It is hard for employees to shut off for an entire day, but if they are distracted by their phone or answering emails it negatively impacts the ideas generated and doesn’t help to solve the problem at hand.

Lastly, “openness to failing” is a very important principle. If members are worried that their idea will be mocked or dismissed, they are likely to retract and not offer additional ideas. If everyone is in agreement that “there are no bad ideas” the ideation session will have a positive spirit that encourages sharing and building ideas.

While all the improve principles listed above are important, we have found that the few described in detail have the biggest impact on successful sessions and help create an atmosphere that best fosters brainstorming. The key is getting team members to open up, trust the process and most importantly HAVE FUN! Once the team does this, they will trust themselves and produce better ideas.

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.

Advice You Would Give To A College Freshman

Recently, we conducted an ideation session with one of our corporate clients to help them create promotional concepts for their next media campaign. We began the session with a practice brainwriting topic on “advice you would give a college freshman”.

All teams had 3 minutes to write as many ideas as possible on Post-its. After the brainwriting exercise, each group converged the ideas, narrowing them into themes. Below are some of the key themes based on the team’s ideas:

1) Don’t Lose Who You Are:

• “You are smart enough…”
• “Do the right thing”
• “Don’t worry about what others think”
• “Do what makes you happy”
• “Be present”

2) Don’t Forget Who Got You Here:

• “Call your mom”
• “Call your dad”
• “Take your laundry home”

3) Practical Tools To Get You Through:

• “Learn to powernap”
• “Coffee”
• “Don’t buy books- rent”
• “Join groups on campus”
• “Find a mentor”

4) Be Adventurous:

• “Travel overseas for class”
• “Live in the moment”
• “Seek out people not like you”
• “Go where others are not”
• “Meet different people”

5) Stay Motivated And On Track:

• “Keep your eyes on the goal”
• “Be honest about real goals”
• “Look ahead”
• “Don’t procrastinate”
• “You can change the world”

This practice brainwriting session was a great way to get the participants thinking creatively and helped lead the group through a successful ideation session. We also came away with great advice for those entering their freshman year of college. Now that I’m thinking about it...this advice would have been valuable to know when I was a college freshman!

Making the Connection

As my economics professor likes to say, “economics is the study of making good choices.” While most people consider economics to be relevant only in financial markets, in reality, economics impacts everything around us. Economics explains why we choose to go to work each morning rather than stay home and lounge all day: in theory, we have more to gain by what we can accomplish at work than what we can accomplish at home, be it financial, social, psychological, or personal gains. Economics explains why we eat just one (or maybe two) pieces of cake instead of consuming the whole thing: because the pleasure received from each additional piece of cake decreases as more and more is consumed. Economics also explains why we choose to buy one product over another: if we are behaving rationally, the product we choose to buy will bring us a higher level of utility per dollar spent than the product we do not purchase.

Being a student of economics, I am a rational and logical thinker (or at least try to be). I enjoy trying to understand why consumers make the decisions they make. But for me, there has always been a disconnect. I have always understood that there are factors which change the consumer demand for a product (income, changes in consumer preferences, or changes in the price of related goods). I also understand that competitive markets will respond to this demand. Firms will increase production of the good as demand increases and decrease production of the good as demand decreases. But how do companies predict these changes before they happen? How do companies respond to changes in the market demand before they find themselves out of business?

This is where marketing research comes in—it connects consumer’s wants and needs directly to the company’s business strategy and operations. It provides a means for companies to continue to grow, develop, and stay ahead of the competition. Marketing research is the link that has been missing from my understanding of the consumer-producer relationship. This internship at April Bell Research Group has allowed me to explore the relationship between uncovering consumer wants and the business strategies companies employ in response. I definitely have a lot to learn!

QRCA Event - Think like a "Futurist"

When I saw the topic for this month’s QRCA event in Houston, “Think Like a Futurist,” I was immediately intrigued. Since this topic was unique from other QRCA meetings and I was not too familiar with the subject, I was very curious to learn more.

The event was hosted by Connexion Research, a full-service research company with a boutique facility in Houston. Prior to the meeting, I got the chance to take a tour of their new office space. April and I have definitely been inside a lot of research facilities, but this one has a more modern flair to it. Danelia Argueta, the Marketing Director at Connexion, explained that the company strives to promote an environment of creativity, and has the latest video and audio technologies available for its clients. I was thoroughly impressed with the staff and the facility, and am definitely interested in conducting research using their space in the future.

Dr. Andy Hines was the renowned guest speaker for the event - he is a futurist and Program Coordinator at the University of Houston’s Graduate Program in Foresight. He has written five books on the topic, and to say he is well-versed in the field is an understatement. The 4-hour workshop helped me gain a high level understanding of how to anticipate and influence future changes. To help teach the methodology, he guided us through an activity where we selected a specific topic and mapped out the different possibilities of future change within that topic.

Throughout the workshop, it became clear how closely marketing research and foresight go hand in hand. In much of the research we conduct at April Bell Research Group, our job is to help clients understand new possibilities for product development through the lens of their consumers.  Some of the methods Dr. Hines teaches are very similar to our current brainstorming techniques (mind mapping, design thinking, etc.) where we help clients create new visions for the future.  I also learned some new methods that will help facilitate learning with our clients.

Overall, the experience was a memorable one. It was great connecting with QRCA members, and most importantly, getting a glimpse into the study of Foresight.

Qualtrics RoundTable 2014

We had the pleasure of attending the Qualtrics Roundtable in Dallas for the second year in a row. It was nice to see some familiar faces, as well as meet others who are just getting started with using Qualtrics. There were some great speakers throughout the day. Allison from the American Heart Association started off the Customer Spotlight sessions, by discussing how she uses Qualtrics at her organization. AHA’s use of the survey platform is very different from ours since they are in the medical field - they use it for program evaluations as well as tests for healthcare providers. Brad Boeke from SMU was another customer who was featured, and it was interesting for me to see how Qualtrics can be used in an educational setting. SMU uses the platform to conduct performance reviews of its staff and for school-wide voting. Listening to both of the speakers helped us gather ideas on new types of surveys we can conduct for our customers.

The most exciting presentation of the day, for me, was listening to Steve Brain discuss the Qualtrics Product Roadmap. Having used Qualtrics for over a year, I have already seen improvement in the survey and reporting functionality, so I was definitely eager to learn what else they have coming up.

A few new solutions Brain mentioned that I am especially looking forward to:

- Ability for text (SMS) surveys

- Improved mobile responsive surveys

- Vocalize - live reporting dashboards

- Ability to create different “projects” to help categorize different types of surveys (Customer satisfaction, employee insights, market research, product development)

The event was a success overall, and I’m looking forward to the new features Qualtrics has coming out in the near future.

Mayuri Joshi isResearch Magician at April Bell Research Group, a boutique, full-service marketing research firm, committed to delivering fresh insights you can act on! Learn more at aprilbellresearch.com.

Millennials vs. Generation Edge

I came across some interesting research from The Sound over the weekend – the differences between Millennials and Generation Edge and how to market to them. First, let me define. Millennials are described as those born between 1981 and 1996 who grew up during the dotcom boom and the global warming crisis. Generation Edge is the group born between 1995 and the present, who have only known a world on the edge of collapse (economic, political, environmental and social). The research describes how vastly different these two generations are, and I found it very interesting. Unlike Millennials, Generation Edge is being forced to grow up quicker than their predecessors and they know that nothing in life is guaranteed. The last quote of the deck was especially interesting from a marketing standpoint - "Marketing to Millenials resulted in an endless quest for brand authenticity. Generation Edge will be engaged by another 'A' word. The alternative."

The generation after Millennials are NOT like Millennials: We call them Generation Edge

from The Sound.

Live from #TMRE13 Keynote: The Pragmatic Brain

Stereotyping is a natural human tendency. Brands are stereotypes. When you think of Disney, what comes to mind? Nike? BMW?

Brand stereotypes create reality. For example, Coors - cold activated cans, Rocky Mountains in the background, frosted bottles. You've seen all the commercials. They create the idea in your mind that Coors' beer is actually colder and more refreshing than other brands. They are tapping into your unconscious and making you believe it.

Stereotypes resist change, but CAN change. In research studies, most people won't change their minds, even after contact itself. Those ideas are so deeply embedded in their minds, that actual proof which negates it, doesn't affect them. However, a few of those who came in contact, actually did change. In order to change your brand's stereotype, you must first make small, significant changes to tap into your consumer's unconscious.

The interactions must feel cooperative. If consumers feel you have the same ideals/goals they do, you will see positive change. For example - Guiness. Not a beer you normally associate with sports. If you saw a commercial of a bunch of guys sitting around watching sports, eating chips and drinking Guiness, nobody would believe it. In this commercial, they associate themselves with loyalty, friendship and having the same values you do, which sets the context for their desired change.

You must drive change with the right type of contact - it must feel authentic. Stereotypes are part of who we are. Find out how people see themselves and how they see your brand. You will then be able to align the two and position your brand the way YOU want people to see it.

Bottom line for market research professionals. Think of your brand as a stereotype and strive to understand the full stereotype. Then you will be able to affect change.