2. Customers will tell you everything you need to know.
If you let them.
Now is the time to listen—to view the world from the customer’s perspective.
When they realize they can have a direct impact on the decisions you make,
they work harder to help you make the right ones. What’s right about your product?
What’s wrong with it? How can it be better? Give them a chance to help you solve
problems and drive innovation, and guess what? They will.
Communispace is a proven way
to wrap your company’s future
around those who ultimately
have the most control over it:
Your customers.
3. Why Communispace?
We are the leader in providing customer collaboration and insights—325 communities
created, 100+ current clients across numerous industries, and a 90% client renewal
rate. As the pioneer of private online communities in 1999, Communispace is the
only full-service provider to deliver game changing insights by connecting clients
with customers.
communispace
Unmatched
Pioneered
10 years
in 1999
of experience
Recognized Award-winning
Proven ROI
leader innovation
Scores of
Industry leading A talented
Global expertise blue-chip
best practices team of 200+
references
4. Private online communities deliver more relevant
and higher quality insights.
Private, online communities are changing the way marketers learn from customers.
When expertly built and facilitated, each one becomes an invaluable resource for
testing ideas, generating feedback, and exploring customers’ mindsets.
YOU
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da
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PRIVATE
lic
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rs
ONLINE
un
24
/7
ive
COMMUNITY
ce
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CUSTOMERS customers talk with each other CUSTOMERS
From recruiting through facilitation and insight mining, every action we take will directly support your learning agenda
and business goals. This disciplined approach differentiates the work and the results of a private online community.
We begin by carefully recruiting the Your dedicated client services team Because the conversation is ongoing,
people you want to talk to the most will fully immerse themselves in your you can check-in on the action anytime
and invite them to become a part of your business to ensure a successful and and members can contribute when it’s
inner circle. 300–500 Members—just the vibrant community. convenient for them.
right size for intimacy and honesty while
Our process for planning and creating And if you need fast answers, your
providing a diversity of voices—can share
the ongoing work of the community members are primed and ready,
and discuss ideas, perspectives, and
keeps members highly engaged, giving you a means to get feedback
feelings about your product or service.
working on the projects that matter literally overnight. Imagine being
Members are asked to participate in most to your organization. able to adjust to changes in your
the community weekly, but many marketplace as they happen.
Your client services team will comb
become so engaged by the different
through community activities, weaving
types of activities, they log-in more
together trends and insights and
often. They value the chance to share
surfacing new ideas, serving up
their thoughts and ideas with you.
actionable, customized reports to
A secure and private site, members
help your organization truly “hear”
agree to maintain the confidentiality
the voice of your customer.
of what they work on for you.
5. True insights come from honest exchange.
Engaging on a continuous basis with the same community of dedicated customers
literally puts them to work for you. At all times, they are more compelled to say exactly
what they’re thinking or feeling. And because the feedback is pure and unfiltered, you
can have complete confidence in its ability to help you make better-informed decisions.
Discover customer insights you never would
have thought of. And get the answers you need,
when you need them.
Customer feedback and insights are only as good as a company’s
ability to listen to them. Communispace best practices and
processes will help your organization take advantage of the
benefits that come with listening to customers. Every step
along the way, our knowledge and creativity will be your
guide. Together we can make the community your resource
for driving customer first decisions from the get-go.
6. A broader, deeper set of tools and approaches
deliver insights from different angles.
Your private Communispace community provides a host of interactive experiences
—each one has its own way of eliciting rich, actionable insights. No other provider,
online or off, gives you so many ways to tap your customers for fast and thoughtful
responses and ideas.
UP FOR DIsCUssION IN THEIR OWN WORDs
start discussions on topical news Diaries, scrapbooks, and collages
events or a new product line. provide an intimate look into how
behavior changes over time.
THE sURVEY sAYs LEARN BY COMPARIsON
A survey tool makes it easy to Mystery shopping lets
test a concept or ad campaign— you view competitive
even overnight. customer experiences.
FINDING THE AHA! FEEDBACk IN A FLAsH
Brainstorming sessions generate Twitter assignments capture
blue-sky ideas that can lead to fast, “in the moment” reactions
breakthrough products and services. and perspectives.
WHAT sAY YOU? WIDENING THE LENs
Online chats put senior managers An immersion project gives
and community members directly you a 360-degree look into
in touch with each other. your customers’ lives.
VIsUAL sTORYTELLING sEE YOU THERE
Video and photo upload tools In-person member events help
allow community members to you dig down even deeper.
share images of their experiences
and daily lives.
7. Our behind-the-scenes analysis is your secret advantage.
Behind every Communispace community is a dedicated team of highly-skilled
professionals. Not only do they become intimately familiar with your business,
over time they also come to understand your community members. Who better to
comb through the feedback to identify patterns and emerging customer behaviors?
Moxup Shoppers’ Community
Getting Away: Travel Planning
Project Objective:
Gather feedback about member perceptions and behavior regarding travel plans this summer, as well as determine
which external factors are having the most effect on their decision-making. Results collected in summer 2008 are
compared to those from spring 2008.
Summary:
As oil and gas prices have continued to rise, members of the Moxup Shoppers’ Community have become more
conscious of how they budget their money when it comes to vacations as well as how they spend their money while
on vacation. Many elected to stay local for the 2008 Memorial Day and Fourth of July weekends. Members with
higher incomes ($200K+) have made fewer changes to their vacation plans, though they recognize that the state of
the economy is affecting their vacation planning process.
How are members changing their vacation plans?
Members more affected this summer; affluent still want their vacations
Since March, more members across all household incomes
have had their vacation planning influenced by high gas/oil
prices and the state of the economy. Most notably, members
are making more changes to budgets and their dates of travel.
Most high income members cited that gas prices and the
economy have negatively impacted their vacation planning process and plans even though they are increasing the
length of their stays and upgrading their accommodations. Almost all members cited finances as a main inhibitor to
vacation planning.
– “[We’ve been affected by] the economy. We found out that it is better to go mid-week to mid-week rather than
our usual concept of incorporating two weekends.”
– “The cost of oil is a setback, that will increase our trip by a couple hundred dollars, easily. We may drive longer for
two days and decrease the hotel stays along the way to help economize, but we won't stop our family vacation.”
Changes being made Member Difference in
to vacation plans count past 3 months
Are members planning to go on
vacation in the next 12 months?
Mode of transportation 8
100%
Decrease in budget for trip 33
Decrease in length of vacation 15
80%
Change in type of accommodations 12 60%
Number of people in travel party 21 40%
Dates of travel 45
20%
Travel destination 17
0%
Q2 2008 (n=137) Q3 2008 (n=155)
Yes Not Sure No
sNAPsHOT 1 Continue
Provides a quick hit on what members
are thinking about or a current hot topic
from your community.
FRONTPAGE
Provides a more condensed report
of activity-specific customer
insights and perspectives.
CLEAR Insights Report
Gauging Member Tolerance for Advertising
February 2008
As trends, “aha! moments” and insights are
discovered, your Communispace team will
INsIGHTs REPORTs
Identifies emerging customer trends keep you continuously updated. Our custom
from across a set of Communispace reporting gets you the information you need,
activities connected by a theme. as it happens.
8. A world of global insights.
We embrace the global marketplace, offering full-service capabilities for both single
region and cross-regional communities. Our dedicated client service teams and global
best practices are designed to support multi-national firms. This, combined with
comprehensive member recruitment services and expert facilitation in many languages,
helps bring alive the voices of members from 84 different countries.
LANGUAGEs: GLOBAL COMMUNITIEs: HEADqUARTERs:
English, Spanish, Publishing, software development, Boston
Portuguese, French, hospitality, fitness & apparel OFFICEs:
Dutch, German, manufacturing, airlines, Atlanta, Austin, Chicago,
and Chinese consumer electronics, London, New York City,
and personal care products San Francisco, San Remo,
and Sydney
9. Who else relies on Communispace to enable
a truly customer-driven future?
10. Three client stories bring the promise of Communispace to life.
some of the world’s most recognized consumer brands draw their inspiration
and direction from their private Communispace communities. No matter what
industry you’re in, a Communispace community will generate results that lead
to a breakthrough of your own.
Kraft GlaxoSmithKline: alli® Charles Schwab
Kraft Foods was looking for the next alli is a first-of-its-kind, over-the-counter, Charles Schwab wanted to reach
big idea. The cookie and snack market, weight loss drug that prevents the body Gen-Xers whose approach to their
always highly competitive, had become from absorbing fat ingested from food. finances is fundamentally different
saturated with healthy alternatives that GSK Consumer Healthcare realized than their core customers? For Schwab,
were beginning to erode share. that a successful launch depended on tapping into the mindset of Gen X
positioning the product correctly. consumers could create huge
dividends for their business.
What we did: What we did: What we did:
Communispace created a private online Over the years, Communispace created Communispace built Charles Schwab
Kraft community of 300 women. Half of five private online communities that a 350-member Gen-X community of
them wanted to lose or manage their became the center of gravity for the non-Schwab customers.
weight, while the other 150 were “Health entire multi-faceted market launch of alli. We explored their perceptions about
and Wellness” opinion leaders. These two investing and financial services firms,
What GSK learned:
spheres provided a yin and yang dynamic life priorities, savings goals,
Consumers needed reassurance that alli
that led to very open and rich exchanges. and significant messaging cues.
was safe. They also revealed the rational
What Kraft learned: and emotional tugs-of-war overweight What Schwab learned:
Community members told us they were adults face every day. Activity-surfaced insights revealed that
torn between the increasing pressure Gen-Xers weren’t ready to think about
What it inspired:
to eat more responsibly—driven by the retirement and are more focused on
A new behavioral model that gave
healthy snack industry—and their loyalty solving the here and now.
consumers hope of success while carefully
to their favorite cookies and crackers.
managing consumer expectations. alli was What it inspired:
What it inspired: positioned as a healthy weight loss partner. The Schwab Bank High Yield Investor
The 100-calorie, portion control pack. A solution that “Doesn’t do it for you. Checking™ account with Companion
Repackaging Kraft favorites in 100 calorie It does it with you.” Brokerage account. This short-term/
packs gave consumers more control over long-term combination lets Gen-Xers
Bottom-line results:
their caloric intake—they could still enjoy deal with their bills and short-term
• Launched in June 2007, sales hit
their favorites without feeling guilty. financial obligations while incenting
$155 million in the first six weeks
Bottom-line results: • By October 2007, more than 2 million alli long-term saving.
• $100 million in sales in the first year starter packs had been sold at retail Bottom-line results:
• Highest BASES score ever • 65,000 new accounts in 8 months
• 55% increase in Gen-X customer base
11. Your customers are ready to be heard. Are you ready to really listen?
No other online environment offers more ways to engage and listen to customers as
they think, react, and respond to your product or service. No wonder our clients say
that we are their secret weapon, and our communities have quickly become the
“must-have” online resource for some of the world’s most respected brands.
Contact us today for a demonstration.
Find out how quickly and easily we can get
your Communispace community built,
and change the way your company
works with those who hold your
future in their hands.
Communispace Corporation The Communispace blog has become a go-to
Headquarters: resource for unique perspectives on customers
and the world they live in. We invite you to stop
100 Talcott Avenue
by at http://blog.communispace.com.
Watertown, MA 02472
Telephone 617. 607.1400
Fax 617.923.3446
