InSites Blog

Part two of my take-aways from The Vlerick Informeel Lecture (16 June 2009)

Why people prefer Coca-Cola over Pepsi?

Unconscious thoughts have clearly a big impact on our actions. Neuromarketeers try to study this impact in different ways. On the one hand they make use of psycho physiological measures: they study eye movements and the size of the pupil in the eyes and measure if a certain stimuli evokes a reaction in the skin or voice. The problem with those psycho physiological measures is that they do not reveal any information about emotions.

A second type of measures come from from neuroscience. With the aid of fMRI scans, neuromarketeers look at the activity of the brain structures when seeing marketing stimuli. Depending on the region of the brain that is activated, they can tell what the person unconsciously thinks. Neuromarketing is used for solving all types of research questions: to detect what your most popular brand is, how attractive you find packagings, what you think of the price, why you buy a certain product.

The most common example of neuromarketing is the Coke-Pepsi challenge. In a blind taste test, most of the people prefer the taste of Pepsi above the taste Coca-Cola. Whenever the research participants know what they are drinking, they prefer Coca-Cola. Neuromarketeers have investigated this strange phenomenon and they came to a remarkable conclusion: Pepsi activates indeed the ‘taste’ centre in our brains but Coca-Cola shows a strong activation in our emotional brain. The marketeers from Coca-Cola have clearly done a good job in branding!

Why a cow drinks milk?

Neuromarketing does not always involve the usage of complex machinery. One way in which they study also the unconscious brain is through reaction time tests. By measuring the speeds of reacting to a certain stimuli or putting participants under time pressure, the association with a certain brand, product, advertisement are measured. A small test can make it more clear. Please answer as quickly as possible on the following questions:

• What is the color of snow?
• What is the color of paper?
• What color is a doctor’s lab coat?
• What is the opposite of black?
• What does a cow drink?

The majority of people will have answered ‘milk’ on the last question, not immediately realizing that a cow actually drinks water. How can we explain this common mistake? As you have noticed, the answer to all the previous questions was the word ‘white’. Since we have repeated this word several times, it has unconsciously been activated in our heads. It is however also the case that the words that are associated with ‘white’ are also a little bit activated. In this context, ‘milk’ is thus a word with a greater level of activation. When we finally ask the question about ‘a drink’ and ‘a cow’, two words that are also associated with ‘milk’, the threshold of this word is exceeded and people incorrectly answer ‘milk’.

The neural networks in our brain are clearly a powerful tool for marketers who can use common associations with their brand in their communication. The associative networks in our brains influence our behavior more than we think. Still not convinced? Have a look at this movie that illustrated how brain associations even influence marketeers.

In March 2009, we organized our ‘Responsible brands around the world‘ – event at Living Tomorrow in Brussels. The eye catcher of this event was our Longest Day: Online Discussion Groups around the world in 24hours. We dove into the consumer’s mind, all over the globe during 12 online discussion group sessions.

On Thursday July 9, we’ll present the results of these online discussion groups in a mini-event in our offices in Ghent-Wondelgem, starting at 15h45.

Which sectors are perceived to be CSR? How credible are CSR campaigns? Do consumers and companies define CSR in the same way? How relevant are CSR campaigns to consumers?

Find out more on www.insites.eu/csr-results and register online for your free invitation!

Tomorrow InSites Consulting will be exhibiting at the Insight Show in London (UK). Come and visit our stand (D115) and we’ll treat you with Belgian chocolates. This year, Insight Show is part of Marketing Week Live, a unique concept which brings together three dedicated marketing exhibitions, focusing on online marketing, data marketing and in-store marketing.

Hope to see you there!

Talktochange and InSites Consulting have set up the Ultimate Twitter Study, tracking how people use Twitter. The study consists out of a qualitative and quantitative part. The qualitative part is already finished. You can find these results on http://www.ultimatetwitterstudy.com. The quantitative part starts right now, please join us!

With the Ultimate Twitter Profiling Tool you are able to get a profound view on the people in your Twitter network. You are able to find out why they are on Twitter, how many followers they have (even in the second grade!), how active or inactive they are, what type of content they are looking for… and much much more… Once you have filled out the Ultimate Twitter Profiling Tool you can retweet the tool to the people in your network, so that you can start comparing & benchmarking. The more people that use the tool, the more information you get ! These data will be used for the quantitative part of our Ultimate Twitter Study. Afterwards, the results will be shared on our blog.

Participating is easy. Visit www.ultimatetwitterstudy.com/profiling.

What are you waiting for

Cheers,
The UTS team

A half-day event that brought together people from multiple disciplines around one topic: co-creation.

Co-creation is a buzz word, that is a fact. Everyone, from every discipline (including market research) is preaching about it. But my feeling throughout the event and the chats I had during the breaks was, that it is ‘cool’ to tell that you co-create as a company and that co-creation is rather a goal than a means to innovate better. I sometimes doubted whether co-creation is supposed to contribute to corporate reputation rather than to better innovation, and whether decision makers truly believe in the added value of it for ultimately getting more return on innovation investments.

The first keynote speaker, Martijn Staal, was a consultant that gave an overview of different co-creation philosophies and the evolution and trends in the current market. The second keynote was the Innovation Manager of Sara Lee, Johan Sanders, who talked about how to organize and nurture co-creation in a global company like Sara Lee. Many challenges, but even more opportunities to involve stakeholders throughout the innovation process in an open platform. What struck me is the degree of open innovation. ‘Real innovation‘ (radical innovation that goes beyond line extensions) is still conducted in a closed platform, for obvious reasons (TOP SECRET).

I assume the consecutive workshops were also very interesting, but I had to give 2 workshops myself. In the workshop, I presented our framework of innovators and gatekeepers. This was received quite well both among innovation managers, product developers and marketers. I even received very positive feedback of our competitor BLAUW.

Tom De Ruyck showed the results of our R&D study we conducted with Heinz. The study provides proof that our way of involving consumers in the ideation phase of innovation works.

During the event I met several interesting people. One of them is the inventor of the storm-proof umbrella (Senz). He co-owns a small company of 16 people centered around 1 single technological innovation. A very interesting story!

In retrospect (after being able to discuss with Tom when queuing in the traffic jam on the E314), I now understand better that connected research as such provides a very good platform to co-create. But this should not only be restricted to front-end innovation research. In each phase of the innovation process, co-creation should be fostered and not only in innovation research. Throughout our total portfolio, we should use open platforms that allow to co-create with our consumers. Hallelujah!

BTW: The reception was typically Dutch, with the obligate ‘bitterballen’ and Dommelsch beer

For more information, you can contact Filip De Boeck, Filip.DeBoeck@insites.eu

The ESOMAR Congress takes place in Montreux this year (15-19 September). Theme of the congress is ‘Leading the way, ethically, responsibly, creatively’. This theme explores the challenges ahead and how research provides ethical, responsible and creative food for thought, recommendations and guidelines to help lead the way for better decisions, better results and a better world.

InSites Consulting, and more specific Niels Schillewaert (managing partner) will be presenting our paper on wednesday 16 september. His session will cover “The longest day, Cultural differencens in CSR”, following up on our “Responsible brands around the world”-event earlier this year. Authors of the paper are Tom De Ryck, Niels Schillewaert, Annelies Verhaeghe and Michael Friedman, all members of the ForwaR&D Lab team of InSites Consulting. The full paper will be published on our site and this blog after the congress.

For more information on the program of the site,  click here.

Tim Duhamel, our CEO, stays a  Board member of IAB Europe, just like the previous year. The Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe (IAB Europe) is pleased to welcome new members to its Board. Following its highly successful Interact Congress earlier this month, the trade body for the digital advertising industry is delighted to have the support of these key individuals .

Corporate representation on the Board has increased to eight: next to InSites Consulting, Hi-Media and United Internet media, 5 new members joined: comScore, Google, Microsoft Advertising, News Corporation and Orange.

While there were few changes to personnel, there was an increase in the number of corporate members, reflecting the need to reinforce industry representation during the current challenging economic climate. The Interact Congress was also the backdrop for the release of the eagerly awaited 2008 figures for online advertising: the AdEx Survey revealed that annual growth in the previous year had slowed significantly to under 20% across Europe, but when all forms of advertising where having one of their worst years, members were heartened that online advertising had managed to show growth, even in mature markets.

IAB Europe, Europe’s leading trade body for the digital and interactive marketing industry now has a dedicated team of seven staff who work together with the national IABs, corporate members and other key stakeholders to promote the growth of Europe’s interactive advertising markets, protect the interests of the industry, regulate practices in the market and educate the players in the digital landscape.

Alain Heureux, President and CEO of IAB Europe, says: “Warm congratulations to all the elected candidates. We have an impressive team of commercial experts and public policy specialists whose advice and guidance will be crucial. I know that this is a Board that will relish the challenge of helping to shape the future of the dynamic industry we represent. The opportunities are there for the taking if we can continue to balance vital innovation and creativity with the need to work within a legal and moral framework.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported the Interact Congress this year. We had 300 senior executives from across the globe debating the crucial issues facing our industry. Our speakers provided inspiring and thought-provoking opinion, insights and commentary that delegates continued to discuss during the many networking opportunities.”

About IAB Europe
IAB Europe is a federation of national Interactive Advertising Bureaux (IAB) across Europe. Its mission is to promote the growth of the interactive advertising markets on behalf of its clients and national members. Supported by every major media group, advertisers, agency, portal, technology and service provider, its voice represents the interest of more than 5.500 company members. IAB Europe coordinates activities across the region including public affairs, benchmarking, research setting standards and best practices. The member countries are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK. The members include Alcatel-Lucent, BBC.com, BusinessWeek, comScore Europe, Goldbach Media Group, Google, Hi-Media, InSites Consulting, Koan, Microsoft Advertising, Netlog, NewsCorp, Nielsen Online, Nugg.ad, Orange, Publicitas Europe, Sonnenschein, Truvo and United Internet Media. More information on www.iabeurope.com.

InSites Consulting was the big winner at the MOAwards last Thursday in Amsterdam. InSites Consulting, the only marketing research company, was nominated for 2 awards and won both: ‘Marketing research company researcher of the year 2009′ (Bureau onderzoeker van het jaar 2009) and ‘SPSS Feedback Innovation Award of the year 2009″. The Dutch MOAwards are an initiative of the MOA, Center for Marketing Intelligence & Research.

The ‘Marketing research company researcher of the year 2009′ award was won by Christophe Vergult, one of InSites Consulting’s managing partners.
According to the MOA: “As InSites Consulting’s face in the Netherlands, Christophe Vergult was a breath of fresh air in research land. With an innovative research approach the established order was shook up on the principle that: good research can be different and made to be more fun. Analytically, Christophe likes to go a step further; he decides on his own initiative to present or immediately carry out the less obvious analyses. This innovative approach can also be found in the preparatory phase of new research. At an early stage he shares innovative research ideas with clients. This distinct fanatical willingness to help clients, combined with his rapid and crystal clear communication about running projects makes him a challenging sparring partner. He is also actively involved in MOA initiatives and goes to great lengths to strengthen InSites Consulting’s position in the Netherlands.”

Christophe Vergult, managing partner: “Winning this Award is a strong confirmation of where InSites is heading, our vision of marketing research and how we view the research company – client relationship.”

The SPSS Feedback Innovation of the year 2009 Award was won thanks to the RTL Nederland case:
According to the MOA: “‘So You Think You Can Dance”. This is the name of the popular television programme that RTL Nederland and InSites Consulting monitored every week based on a webcontent analysis. Using webscraping technology and text mining techniques they analysed opinions of viewers about the programme. They were able to determine plenty of time in advance what parts of ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ needed adjusting and how. The case is a gripping illustration of a new research paradigm in which answers ‘already exist’ and the challenge lies chiefly in creating insights from unstructured data. It fits within an experimental marketing and research domain. At the same time, and that is the striking part of this case, it follows a very structured process and all academic standards are complied with.”

Annelies Verhaeghe, ForwaR&D Lab consultant managed the project. “As InSites Consulting we connect with the participants in our research. Really connecting means we don’t just ask questions ourselves, but also listen to what consumers spontaneously tell us on social media. This principle was applied to this project using SPSS software. And we’re over the moon with our award.”

InSites Consulting in Rotterdam
The InSites Consulting Rotterdam office was established on 1 August 2008 and is managed by Ramon Pardo, Country Manager for the Netherlands. The Rotterdam team will be strengthened from 1 August by Martijn van Bijnen, an experienced marketing researcher and ex-Research International employee.

The Dutch client portfolio includes Unilever, Heineken, Albert Heijn, Heinz, Danone, PepsiCo, Koninklijke Peijnenburg, ING, RTL, Sara Lee, PON, PCM uitgevers, Agis, Coca Cola, Pfizer, MSD ….

“The unthinkable has happened”, according to Ramon Pardo, Country Manager for the Netherlands. “Being nominated for 2 MOAwards was more than we ever dreamed of. For a new marketing research company in the Netherlands to be nominated twice is a great honour. And to then actually go on and win both categories was beyond my wildest dreams. It underlines the appreciation for all the efforts we have gone to as a team over the past year.”

The MOAwards are an initiative of the MOA, Center for Marketing Intelligence & Research. The aim is to put the marketing research sector in the spotlight more. For every award there’s an independent jury and all jury members are external. The jury’s opinion is based on what the nominees produce and what is made available to the juries.

16th June 2009 – MTV Networks presented for the fourth year in a row the awards for the coolest brands, chosen by young people.

Last April InSites Consulting (in collaboration with MTV Networks) polled the views of 1.500 young Belgians between the ages of 13 and 29. The findings from this survey not only identified the coolest brands but it was also able to demonstrate a direct link between the coolest factor of a brand, on the one hand, and the brand loyalty of young people towards this brand, on the other. Over four years ago MTV Networks and InSites Consulting launched their investigation into the coolness of brands. This annual presentation of the Cool Brands Awards was accompagnied by a more in-depth investigation into coolness. The idea was to find an answer to the question of what young people exactly mean by cool. It was found that the coolness of a brand is determined by three different parameters: originality, attractiveness and popularity. In 2008 the ‘Cool Sneaking Formula‘ was launched or how to represent coolness in figures. Cool = 22% originality + 23% popularity + 55% attractiveness. This not only demonstrates that brands that want to be cool score pretty high on all three parameters, but also that in certain sectors some parameters seem to weigh heavier.

Cool today, gone tomorrow?

This year, we went a step further by looking for the link between cool brands and the brand loyalty of young people towards a particular brand. Research has shown that, as far as young people are concerned, there is not only a strong link between coolness and brand loyalty in the short term but also in the long term. In the short term, no less than 73% of all brand loyalty is about the coolness of the brand. In the long term, the coolness of a brand also appears to have an influence on its market share. Young people today buy twice as many cool brands than uncool brands, while the future purchase intention of these brands is no less than three times as high. This is definitely an incentive for all youth marketers to communicate the coolness of their brand to young people as best as they can. Anyone who manages to convince young people of the coolness of their brand will be guaranteed of a long-term relationship of the target group with their brand. Important to remember: faking the coolness is the last thing you should do and will immediately be punished by the people you are targetting.

Who’s cool, who’s not?

• Overall Coolest Brand: Coca-Cola
• Coolest Mobile Phone Brand: iPhone
• Coolest Soft Drinks Brand: Coca-Cola
• Coolest Mint Brand: Mentos
• Coolest Denim Brand: Replay
• Coolest Bank: Axion (Dexia)
• Coolest Game Console Brand: Wii
• Coolest Ready Made Meals Brand: Dr. Oetker
• Coolest Woman Beauty Care Brand: Nivea
• Coolest Men Beauty Care Brand: Axe

For more information, contact Joeri Van den Bergh (Joeri.vandenbergh@insites.eu)

BAQMaR conducted (with the support of the Vlerick Marketing Alumni) a survey among marketers, about the perception they have of marketing research and research analysts. The results were presented at the event ‘Market Research’ (… but not as you know it ) in Antwerp last week, hosted by BAQMaR and the Vlerick Marketing Alumni.

These were the main conclusions:

- The spontaneous associations marketers make with ‘market research’ are very much focused on data, about the market and their consumers. On the other hand, if we ask about their most positive experience with the domain, they talk about getting insights and being inspired (e.g. getting new ideas for marketing strategies). ‘Getting the voice of the consumer in the board room’, is also heard a lot!

- The 3 most negative experiences marketers had with research can be summarized into 3 underlying dimensions:
1/ They get frustrated by the fact that less and less consumers want to take part in research projects because they got bored by too long questionnaires with more of the same questions. We need to adapt the methods we use and find new ways to get insights from consumers!
2/ Some of the marketers get lost in translation when they are confronted with research results. Market researchers need to guide them through the results/figures. They need to come up with clear conclusions and recommendations. In short: researchers need to become better consultants!
3/ It seems like there are a lot of communication issues between marketers and researchers: objectives are not always that clear and the reason why we choose for a certain methodology could be explained better.

- There is little knowledge among marketeers about: Ethnography, Neuro, Co-creation, Volumetric and Sensory Research. On the other hand Communities, Text Analytics and Social Media Tracking are methods and techniques they all talk about, but almost none of the marketers have experience with it.

- Taking a look at the perception marketers have of us -analysts – the people working in the industry, we learn that the see us as ‘geeks’ – or even ‘nerds’ – who are doing their tricks with numbers. If we ask how researchers should evolve towards the future, all answers go in the direction of ‘dynamic consultant who are able the translate figures and insights (gathered via a mix of traditional and new methodologies) into concrete conclusions and recommendations’.

Here’s the full presentation

For more information, contact Tom De Ruyck, ForwaR&D Lab Consultant and co-founder of BAQMaR.
tom.deruyck@insites.eu, +32 9 269 14 07.