In the (post-)crisis era, challenging the status quo through innovation will be critical to restore profitability in the financial sector. The commoditisation of products within the industry is making it very difficult to compete on price. Moreover, a whole array of non-banking entities is entering the market to close the gap between the offerings of banks and the needs of customers. Suddenly, banks face competition from telcos, supermarkets, tech firms and innovative start-ups, all experienced in building online relationships and developing and marketing transparent products.
In this paper we explain how financial institutions can install structural collaboration trajectories with key stakeholders (consumers, employees, management) in order to develop true value propositions consumers are willing to pay for.
Social media compared to other known forms of media primarily differs on the interactivity and engagement process. This paper presents the process of building a successful social brand.A detailed understanding about what are the steps to be followed from the vision statement to the review has been provided.A list of recommendations has also been enlisted.
Co-Creation is a powerful concept: engaging broad stakeholders in a design or problem-solving process as co-designers. But where did it come from? Here’s a brief history of the idea, which remains emergent and evolving still today. (by Stephanie Gioia, Director of Consulting at XPLANE)
Social media compared to other known forms of media primarily differs on the interactivity and engagement process. This paper presents the process of building a successful social brand.A detailed understanding about what are the steps to be followed from the vision statement to the review has been provided.A list of recommendations has also been enlisted.
Co-Creation is a powerful concept: engaging broad stakeholders in a design or problem-solving process as co-designers. But where did it come from? Here’s a brief history of the idea, which remains emergent and evolving still today. (by Stephanie Gioia, Director of Consulting at XPLANE)
The events of the last two years constitute more than an economic recession. Rather, they shape a global realignment -- "The New Normal." This position papers describes four fundamental areas where change has occurred in society and provides recommended responses for service brands and service marketers.
Moving Beyond Customer Experience Towards Customer EngagementSeymourSloan
In a changing market, we need to look at how customers are managed within businesses. For too long the debate was around experience, which ignored the richness of the opportunities available to really build relatioinships with customers. Rather, we suggest looking at the model from an engagement perspective and understanding how to make the relatioinship multi-way.
How to grow your marketing agency in tough times - GuideKahootz
This guide will help you seize understand client’s demands on agencies and avenues to:
• Maximise Client Revenues
• Improve Client Retention
• Grow Your Agency
• Create an Agile Working Environment
• Improve Your Internal Processes
2010 Outlook: Doom and Gloom for DTC? 10 Points for Winning with PatientsAdvanceMarketWoRx LLC
Now is the time to re-think DTC marketing in the 21st Century. With all of the new ways to engage with patients, here are 10 prescriptions that can help marketers improve their DTC efforts in 2010.
(As originally published in DTC Perspectives, December 2009)
The Changing Nature of the Customer Relationship by North HighlanddBrooke Novak
Things have changed with the way the customer experience is enacted. Success has less to do with big strategic decisions and more to do with practical, everyday operational decisions – and then getting them implemented. Customers have more control – much more. Product information, peer reviews and ratings, even competitors are all just a click away. This increased transparency puts brand promises to the test. And, whether you are B2C or B2B, your customers have become accustomed to personalized services, relevant and personalized offers, and customizable capabilities. All on demand. How do you meet these demands – let alone exceed them? This paper explores considerations on how to harness the power of digital information on the front line of the customer relationship to power your competitive edge through to your bottom line.
The customer-centric theory may, at first blush, seem a backwards approach to profitability. The focus is not on the customer's wallet, but the customer himself. Learn how successful businesses have increased share of wallet and generated fiscal growth by putting the individual customer's needs before the company's.
More CRM and Loyalty Marketing Resources
Loyalty Blog: http://www.customerinsightgroup.com/loyaltyblog/
eBooks: http://www.customerinsightgroup.com/white-papers
Loyalty Workshops: http://www.customerinsightgroup.com/custom-loyalty-workshops
Systematic New Loyalty Program Development: http://www.customerinsightgroup.com/systematic-new-loyalty-program
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/engagekeepgrow/
Who is Customer Insight Group?
Customer Insight Group, Inc. leads the way in the evolution of how companies engage their customers, positively motivate them and earn their long-term loyalty. Our extensive client work is testimony to our depth of knowledge and ability to apply strategic insight and solutions to a wide variety of business objectives. Our team’s client experience includes: NHFA, Thomasville Furniture, The Maxim Group Carpet Franchise, Ashro, A&P, The Bon Ton, Crate & Barrel, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Edwin Watts Golf, GE Consumer Finance, Monroe and Main, Swiss Colony, Midnight Velvet, MySwingle.com, The Great Indoors, G.H. Bass, Golf Galaxy, Helzberg Diamonds, HSBC, Kohl’s, La-z-boy Furniture Franchise, MCI, Payless ShoeSource, Pier 1 Imports, Petco, Proflowers.com, Regis University, Ruby Tuesday, S&K Menswear, Sierra Trading Post, Stein Mart, Tommy Hilfiger, Ulta, as well as various other leading companies.
Getting answers without asking questions at BHBIA WorkshopInSites on Stage
Getting answers without asking questions: Using social media netnography with patients (by Robert Dossin), presented at the BHBIA Workshop in London (UK) on Thursday January 17, 2013.
Why every company needs a Chief Consumer Officer: 5 steps towards becoming a ...InSites Consulting
Have you ever heard of the Chief Consumer Officer, the new board member every company should get in the near future? In the new paper of our Head of Consumer Consulting Boards Tom De Ruyck, you'll discover five steps to become a consumer-centric thinking company, where the Chief Consumer Officer plays a central role.
The events of the last two years constitute more than an economic recession. Rather, they shape a global realignment -- "The New Normal." This position papers describes four fundamental areas where change has occurred in society and provides recommended responses for service brands and service marketers.
Moving Beyond Customer Experience Towards Customer EngagementSeymourSloan
In a changing market, we need to look at how customers are managed within businesses. For too long the debate was around experience, which ignored the richness of the opportunities available to really build relatioinships with customers. Rather, we suggest looking at the model from an engagement perspective and understanding how to make the relatioinship multi-way.
How to grow your marketing agency in tough times - GuideKahootz
This guide will help you seize understand client’s demands on agencies and avenues to:
• Maximise Client Revenues
• Improve Client Retention
• Grow Your Agency
• Create an Agile Working Environment
• Improve Your Internal Processes
2010 Outlook: Doom and Gloom for DTC? 10 Points for Winning with PatientsAdvanceMarketWoRx LLC
Now is the time to re-think DTC marketing in the 21st Century. With all of the new ways to engage with patients, here are 10 prescriptions that can help marketers improve their DTC efforts in 2010.
(As originally published in DTC Perspectives, December 2009)
The Changing Nature of the Customer Relationship by North HighlanddBrooke Novak
Things have changed with the way the customer experience is enacted. Success has less to do with big strategic decisions and more to do with practical, everyday operational decisions – and then getting them implemented. Customers have more control – much more. Product information, peer reviews and ratings, even competitors are all just a click away. This increased transparency puts brand promises to the test. And, whether you are B2C or B2B, your customers have become accustomed to personalized services, relevant and personalized offers, and customizable capabilities. All on demand. How do you meet these demands – let alone exceed them? This paper explores considerations on how to harness the power of digital information on the front line of the customer relationship to power your competitive edge through to your bottom line.
The customer-centric theory may, at first blush, seem a backwards approach to profitability. The focus is not on the customer's wallet, but the customer himself. Learn how successful businesses have increased share of wallet and generated fiscal growth by putting the individual customer's needs before the company's.
More CRM and Loyalty Marketing Resources
Loyalty Blog: http://www.customerinsightgroup.com/loyaltyblog/
eBooks: http://www.customerinsightgroup.com/white-papers
Loyalty Workshops: http://www.customerinsightgroup.com/custom-loyalty-workshops
Systematic New Loyalty Program Development: http://www.customerinsightgroup.com/systematic-new-loyalty-program
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/engagekeepgrow/
Who is Customer Insight Group?
Customer Insight Group, Inc. leads the way in the evolution of how companies engage their customers, positively motivate them and earn their long-term loyalty. Our extensive client work is testimony to our depth of knowledge and ability to apply strategic insight and solutions to a wide variety of business objectives. Our team’s client experience includes: NHFA, Thomasville Furniture, The Maxim Group Carpet Franchise, Ashro, A&P, The Bon Ton, Crate & Barrel, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Edwin Watts Golf, GE Consumer Finance, Monroe and Main, Swiss Colony, Midnight Velvet, MySwingle.com, The Great Indoors, G.H. Bass, Golf Galaxy, Helzberg Diamonds, HSBC, Kohl’s, La-z-boy Furniture Franchise, MCI, Payless ShoeSource, Pier 1 Imports, Petco, Proflowers.com, Regis University, Ruby Tuesday, S&K Menswear, Sierra Trading Post, Stein Mart, Tommy Hilfiger, Ulta, as well as various other leading companies.
Getting answers without asking questions at BHBIA WorkshopInSites on Stage
Getting answers without asking questions: Using social media netnography with patients (by Robert Dossin), presented at the BHBIA Workshop in London (UK) on Thursday January 17, 2013.
Why every company needs a Chief Consumer Officer: 5 steps towards becoming a ...InSites Consulting
Have you ever heard of the Chief Consumer Officer, the new board member every company should get in the near future? In the new paper of our Head of Consumer Consulting Boards Tom De Ruyck, you'll discover five steps to become a consumer-centric thinking company, where the Chief Consumer Officer plays a central role.
The Digital Explosion—Driven by the Cloud: What’s Your Enterprise Strategy?Capgemini
Capgemini’s research with MIT demonstrates that the digital enterprise enjoys major competitive advantages—not only does it grow faster but it is also more profitable.
So what is a digital enterprise? How do you embrace business technology? How do you make the cloud your business cloud? How do you digitally transform?
This presentation the new roles of digital technology for and with business.
Originally presented at Oracle OpenWorld 2014 by Capgemini Fellow Pierre Hessler.
A Guide to Data Innovation for Development - From idea to proof-of-conceptUN Global Pulse
‘A Guide to Data Innovation for Development - From idea to proof-of-concept,’ provides step-by-step guidance for development practitioners to leverage new sources of data. It is a result of a collaboration of UNDP and UN Global Pulse with support from UN Volunteers.
The publication builds on successful case trials of six UNDP offices and on the expertise of data innovators from UNDP and UN Global Pulse who managed the design and development of those projects.
The guide is structured into three sections - (I) Explore the Problem & System, (II) Assemble the Team and (III) Create the Workplan. Each of the sections comprises of a series of tools for completing the steps needed to initiate and design a data innovation project, to engage the right partners and to make sure that adequate privacy and protection mechanisms are applied.
This document - specifically for the international development and humanitarian communities - is a synthesis of a growing body of research on mobile phone data analysis in development or humanitarian contexts.
Research examples focus on the indicators which can be extracted through analysis of de-identified call detail records (CDRs). In particular: mobility, social interaction and economic activity. Published by the United Nations' Global Pulse initiative, which is exploring how new, digital data sources and real-time analytics technologies can help policymakers understand human well-being and emerging vulnerabilities in real-time. www.unglobalpulse.org
This primer - or "Big Data 101" specifically for the international development and humanitarian communities - explains the concepts behind using Big Data for social good in easy-to-understand language. Published by the United Nations' Global Pulse initiative, which is exploring how new, digital data sources and real-time analytics technologies can help policymakers understand human well-being and emerging vulnerabilities in real-time. www.unglobalpulse.org
The ultimate banking and financial sector with cloud computing machine ! Sai Natkar
Banking and financial sector basically operate over the vast IT infrastructures that deal with Big amount of data on a day-to-day basis.Banking organizations and the financial sector as a whole has been relatively slow in adopting the cloud. Their strategy has been to wait and watch on how the cloud performs both from a security as well as robustness of infrastructure point of view.
The Power of Co-creation: working with consumers to win in marketBrand Genetics
The challenge for all marketeers is to make the audience care – which means developing a message that is meaningful, relevant and remarkable – this is where co-creation can help. Co-creation is about collaborating with people outside your organisation (eg. consumers, customers, experts) to develop ideas that add real value to their lives.
At Brand Genetics we believe it’s crucial to understand how to collaborate, with whom and what ‘developing ideas’ really means in this context. This presentation shares insights and practical tips on how – done right – co-creation can help you grow your business by being more consumer relevant, and draws on Brand Genetics’ experience of developing innovative new products and brands.
This was the keynote presentation at the Nutraformulate conference 2014
Public Sector Digital: What Does The Future Hold?Chris Yiu
A short overview of the big trends and themes in digital and how these are colliding with government and the public sector. Presented at Scottish Public Sector and Digital Technology, March 2014.
Presentation by Vincent Tophoff, Senior Technical Manager, IFAC, for the Institute of Internal Auditors International Conference, in Vancouver, Canada, July, 5-8 2015.
Public sector innovation is both an imperative and an opportunity for governments today. This OECD conference brought together public sector practitioners, researchers, civil society and businesses to discuss how innovation can help solve today's complex challenges.
For more information: https://www.oecd.org/governance/observatory-public-sector-innovation/events/
Trends in Outsourcing & Offshoring in the Financial Services Industry 2008-20...newtonsa1
Financial Services companies continue to face headwinds in the global marketplace. Whilst outsourcing activity has not returned to the levels it enjoyed pre-Credit Crunch we are starting to see signs of strengthening demand across North America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. The third edition of Elix-IRR’s report on Trends in Outsourcing and Offshoring in the Financial Services Industry examines developments in the market since 2011 and the key deal activity which has taken place. We once again assess the health of outsourcing in Financial Services by geography and by domain as well as applying particular scrutiny to the ever-increasing pressure of global regulation and the role of service management in ensuring that outsourcing contributes to the achievement of strategic goals. And because of our longstanding commitment to Africa we return to the continent with fresh insights to the health of the market there, particularly supplier activity in the region.
Co-creation is a hot topic these days. Involving customers in the decision flow of a brand/company is one of the cool, new ways of doing marketing. In our research we found that some companies go a few steps further. Some succeed in intergrating the voice of the customer in ALL their decision flows. This paper describes the different steps to evolve from a one time co-creation project to structural collaboration.
Why every company needs a Chief Consumer OfficerNatalie Mas
Have you ever heard of the Chief Consumer Officer, the new board member every company should get in the near future? In the new paper of our Head of Consumer Consulting Boards Tom De Ruyck, you'll discover five steps to become a consumer-centric thinking company, where the Chief Consumer Officer plays a central role.
Author- Rajul Garg
Rajul co-founded GlobalLogic, sold for $420M in 2013 to Apax partners in the largest deal of the year in India. Rajul built the operation ground up in India and then expanded through global acquisitions, until 2008. Rajul then consulted with top tier venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital and Aavishkaar, where he got exposed to the education sector.
Earlier, right out of college, Rajul founded Pine Labs, a leader in the Indian market in credit card transactions.
Rajul serves on several Boards, including publicly traded S Mobility, a leader in digital mobility. He is an active mentor to several startups, a sought after angel investor and a participant in several industry bodies such as TiE, NASSCOM, IIT Mentors and others
Rajul is a graduate from IIT Delhi.
Business Intelligence for Consumer Products: Actionable Insights for Business...FindWhitePapers
While historically consumer packaged goods (CPG) organizations have made significant investments in data collection and integration, much of the data stored in their IT infrastructures has not been analyzed or deployed to further the firms business performance.
Across sectors and regions, business leaders are recognizing the competitive advantage of
superior customer experience and the value that resides not only in what a company delivers
for its customers, but in how it delivers products and services. Where companies once
could differentiate themselves by product or efficiency, distinctiveness today increasingly
lies in creating a seamless, omnichannel customer experience.
As leaders of McKinsey’s Customer Experience Service Line, we are delighted to present this
volume of Customer experience: New capabilities, new audiences, new opportunities. This
compendium draws from the collective thinking of our experts and practitioners, and follows
by just 18 months our first volume of thinking on the subject. That in itself speaks to how
rapidly the landscape of customer experience is evolving, and how intently business leaders
are focused on it.
Every company, of every size, in every corner of the globe collaborates on one level or another. At one end of the spectrum lies tactical communication and coordination between people, teams, partners and customers. However, the other end of the spectrum is reserved for those who have established the tools, process and culture, and optimized their environment for Collaboration - those who are Collaborating with a "big C". White paper by Bill Haskins, Senior Analyst at Wainhouse Research.
Enterprise Relationships are fundamental to business
success. The research - conducted with Cambridge University Business School - shows how relationships lead to long
term mutual advantage, in which value is largely created by
the quality of interaction between the parties. The overall
performance of a company will therefore depend on how
well it is able to manage its own Enterprise Relationships.
Furthermore the White Paper starts to explore how digital communication can deliver value into these relationships.
New research conducted by Populus and Esteban Kolsky for Thunderhead.com presents the engagement opportunity, and a new model for building customer engagement.
This is the full slidedeck of our Best of Galvanize Smartees Webinar, with some inspiring presentations of our latest InSites Conference. This Webinar was hosted on Tuesday 25 October 2016 by Katia Pallini (Content Impact Manager at InSites Consulting)
Finding your edge at the edges by Kristof De Wulf at TEDxGhent. The future ain’t what it used to be. In today’s world of acceleration, automation and accessibility, we are expected to be ’relieved’ from working, learning and owning. But if we take away the very things that provide us with a sense of accomplishment and purpose in life, what is left for us humans? The more human-like machines take over our functions, the more we are left with a feeling of emptiness, says Kristof De Wulf. In his talk, he shares his thoughts on how we can overcome this feeling by going to the edges of our normal brain functioning. Kristof is co-founder and CEO of InSites Consulting, currently the world’s 3rd most innovative marketing research agency. He has won several awards and is a proud member of Switch & Shift’s League of Extraordinary Thinkers.
From validating to understanding: Why measuring insights strenght is not suff...InSites Consulting
In today’s business reality, decisions cannot be based on random, uncontrollable factors such as luck. The same goes for the assessment of which insights to take on in the innovation funnel. In this fast-moving environment the risk of failure is greater than ever. Figures reported by the Doblin Group show that 96% of all new product introductions and innovations fail to return their cost of capital. The current market space requires brands to validate each step of the entire innovation process, starting with the validation of insights.
Considering the importance of validating these insights for the innovation process, the need for accuracy is more present than ever. Can insight validation through surveys reclaim its position to provide consistent and rich data for decision-making by capturing the complex consumer reality, while at the same time increasing the engagement level?
An ever-increasing number of organizations is chasing the benefits of social collaboration. Unfortunately many of these initiatives leave participants behind with a hangover. Gartner estimates that throughout 2015 about 80% of social business efforts are not expected to achieve the intended benefits. Here are 10 tips to avoid a collaboration hangover. Enjoy the read!
It was 1876 and Alexander Graham Bell was pitching his start-up. He offered Western Union his telephone technology for a rumored $100,000. The company dismissed it as 'an electrical toy'. The quote, although recently challenged for its authenticity, is an accurate reflection of the factors that drive product adoption. What is recognizable speech if not product readiness, telephone devices in every city, a means of distribution and the question of why anyone would use it - that of shifting consumer habits? Fast forward 130 years and the questions are the same about video communications. Video communications are nothing new. The goal of making it easier to see the person you’re talking to is a consistent theme in telephony. And yet by far the fastest growing communication method in the last 50 years has been short, asynchronous text messaging, with WhatsApp alone generating 18.3 trillion messages annually and an aggregated SMS volume at 8.16 trillion. So why is video communication not mainstream yet and what can we do to accelerate its adoption?
10 quotes from Winston Churchill which have inspired and still inspire us to take our business forward, hope you find some inspiration in them as well. By Kristof De Wulf & Niels Schillewaert (of InSites Consulting)
Engage, inspire, act: Three stepstones towards developing more impactful prod...InSites Consulting
Great companies understand the importance of consumer insights when it comes to outperforming the competition. Engagement in learning and keeping knowledge up-to-date through a constant search for new insights, engagement in getting close to consumers and in getting immersed in their daily lives to inspire and understand their reality and the drivers of consumer value, these have proven to be some of the most critical corporate competencies. Engagement requires different ways of strategic thinking. It requires ‘co-ownership’ of the consumer insights within the organization. This article describes a valuable framework of how to engage and inspire an (R&D) organization via consumer insights, let them act upon the insights and move forward towards developing more impactful products and marketing. The last paragraphs look at how effective different elements of the framework have been in achieving a successful outcome, in order to learn and improve our initial way of working and to fine-tune our overall strategy.
Insight-Driven Innovation: Structural collaboration with consumers for breakt...InSites Consulting
Even iconic brands like Heinz have a need for innovation, and solid consumer insights are crucial for its success. The challenge here was how consumer insights could be leveraged to a maximum. How can we generate as many unique insights as possible which are also relevant for consumers? How can we engage both internal and external stakeholders to use the consumer insights? What human insights - related to understanding people’s daily tomato ketchup usage - can be linked to and used for optimizing (e.g. packaging) innovation ideas?
Synergizing natural and research communities: Caring about the research ecosy...InSites Consulting
Research panels are under a lot of pressure: for far too long we have treated panels as ordinary databases. As a result, response rates to traditional surveys are in decline and it becomes harder to motivate people to participate in research projects. As researchers, we have to look into alternatives that still allow us to learn about the attitudes and behavior of consumers.
Thanks to the rise of social media, a whole new stream of consumer information has become available and our industry is embracing it as the new Walhalla. By using methods such as ‘social media netnography’ in which online conversations and stories are observed, researchers learn from online sources of textual and visual information that are freely available (Verhaeghe, Van den Berge, Schillewaert, 2009). Instead of asking new input from research participants, existing information is recycled. Because consumers are free to talk about whatever they like, social media netnography does not only provide answers on research questions one already had, but it also gives answers to questions they did not ask and answers without asking questions.
User-generated content is a welcome new source of information for researchers. But unlike our research panels, we should treat this new ecosystem with caution and preserve it while we still can. We need to learn from the past when we experiment with new ways of doing research.
Exploring the world of water - The conversation revolution: brands & people d...InSites Consulting
Danone wanted to understand the use of water in daily life and highlight consumer expectations for water consumption in general, in order to determine the main consumer perceived benefits. It was important to focus on the scientific objectives (also afterwards in clinical testing) to prove and understand 4 certain effects of water. The final output Danone was looking for needed to confirm that water can bring real benefits for consumers and to show which benefits would be most impactful in the market when proven. In order to investigate water consumption from different angles, we implemented a ‘fusion research’ design. Fusion research is a research design where multiple (contemporary) research methodologies are combined in order to study a certain research question from different angles. By applying triangulation, a holistic view is achieved around the same solution or marketing problem. Each of the selected methods adds one piece to the final puzzle and serves as input for the subsequent phase.
Game on qualitative researchers: Using gamification to increase partipant eng...InSites Consulting
We believe gamification can be applied in 3 different phases of the research process; (1) during data collection, (2) during analysis and interpretation and (3) during reporting and presentation of the results. In this paper, we present an approach to gamification in online qualitative research. There is already ample research with respect to using gamification in quantitative research; however, a comprehensive approach for online qualitative research is lacking so far.
In this paper we will focus on using gamification during data collection and will briefly demonstrate how we apply gamification in the last 2 phases. At InSites Consulting, we identified 4 levels in an online community at which gamification can be applied to increase data quality, participant engagement and impact on the client side. From a question level to a community level, gamification helps, not only to increase participant engagement, but also to increase data quality.
The Art of Research: Using the power of images to increase the value of the D...InSites Consulting
DIESEL recognizes the need for social currency among today's increasingly digitalized Generation Y and is focusing its efforts on Pinterest as the ideal location to inspire and connect with females within their desired target demographic. DIESEL is known for tapping into subcultures with self-aware marketing, which is also the case on Pinterest. The platform allows DIESEL to build a unique look and feel by making it easy for them to bring the personality and DNA of the brand in an accessible magazine-like online display.
As a fashion company, DIESEL can use Pinterest as a brand-building exercise where they can tell the brand story, showcase DIESEL’s many facets, display individual collections and campaigns and where anyone can learn what the brand stands for. DIESEL launched its Pinterest page in the early days of the platform. Over the last year, they maintained their boards merely as a mirror of their Facebook content. The strategy was to showcase their collection as a lifestyle brand.
Early 2013, the growing popularity of the platform brought Pinterest into strategic focus in its own right. Additionally, considering DIESEL’s strategic decision to augment its focus on communicating with women and the fact that Pinterest is more used by women, DIESEL wanted to focus its efforts on Pinterest to use it as a valuable communication channel to connect with this female target group online. In order to optimize the platform for brand activation, instead of a repository of Facebook content, there was a strong need for insights on the best digital strategy for the DIESEL Pinterest page.
Think Big and Connect to the Max: How Pepsico (re)connected the Ruffles brand...InSites Consulting
PepsiCo wanted to (re)connect the Ruffles brand with the Turkish youth. For six weeks a ‘Market Research Online Community’ (or ‘Consumer Consulting Board’) was the central hub in which the dialogue between Gen Y, the Ruffles brand team and the advertising agencies of PepsiCo took place. In three sequential stages we moved from generating insights into Turkish youth’s everyday life and their aspirations over testing and fine-tuning activation platforms and campaigns to creating an understanding of the role of social media in brand activation today. To enhance decision making, we wanted to connect all stakeholders to a maximum extent with the target group. To realize that, we created several touch points between the consumer world (the research results) and the business world (the marketing team and their objectives) while sharing our research results: online and offline consumer immersion exercises with all stakeholders, intermediate debriefs and workshops, a creative brainstorming session and a live chat session with members of the community during that brainstorm. This paper gives insights into the power of using research communities to deeply understand a target group and in the value of ‘triangulation’ in qualitative research (tackling the same issue from different angles and with different eyes). It also illustrates how creating several touch points between the consumer world and the business world can deliver bigger impact on marketing thinking.
For IKEA, the yearly Catalogue is the main communication channel with existing and potential customers globally. This case study shows how the 2013 edition of the Catalogue and possible covers for the 2014 edition were evaluated qualitatively around the world, through Market Research Online Communities (or Consumer Consulting Boards) in five different countries.
Making things is part of who we are. With the possibilities provided by digital media, we’re shifting from random acts of creativity by everyday people to organized initiatives like crowd funding. As innovation challenges are evolving from product attributes to holistic brand design, service design and the experience environment, there’s a need to collaborate with users beyond co-creation. By involving them earlier in the process through observational research and also in the back end of innovation by testing beta products, users can become your partner in innovation.
Did you ever wonder how you can detect powerful consumer insights and set them apart from the ones that won’t be game changers? What is a good insight and how can it be a springboard for future marketing actions? The path we follow to uncover these deep and potent insights here at InSites Consulting is elaborated here. In this paper, the focus lies on insight validation, the often skipped but necessary step in the consumer insight process and how insight validation can help unlock the insights with the greatest innovation, activation or branding potential.
Running engaging Market Research Online Communities. Social media has gained considerable human relevance. User-created content, citizen journalism and online social interactions (e.g. conversation, collaboration, participation, sharing, connecting) are embedded into the daily lives of consumers. With the different semantic waves of the web, the entire market research process and industry has undergone clear changes. Market research has changed from asking questions to having conversations with consumers. Online Research Communities have proven to be a viable environment to engage with consumers as well as marketing executives in a connected and participatory way. What makes research communities unique is that they assemble consumers to interact in an asynchronous longitudinal setting by applying social media techniques. Companies outsource tasks to a crowd (e.g. product and service creation and testing) in an open call in order to bring consumers inside organizations all the way up to the boardroom. Research communities bring true consumer connect between marketers and their target groups as they use interactive tools to tap into social interactions between people, and allow a more equal relationship between researchers, brands and participants.
Doing more with less: Crossing the boundaries of qualitative research to increase business impact (by InSites Consulting and AirFrance KLM). Recession can prompt unusual levels of creativity. With constraints to deliver more impactful research within a shorter time frame and lower budget, qualitative researchers need to take maximum advantage of their creative skills by crossing the boundaries of their discipline. The staged innovation approach of Air France and KLM to develop new transfer concepts illustrates how to move beyond the barriers of time, methods and professions.
Research in the mobile mindset: Exploring the unexplored in the mobile research space (by InSites Consulting). 2012 finally seems to be the year of mobile. Smartphone penetration booms, mobile marketing budgets grow exponentially, and in the US alone, the app economy has created about half a million jobs (Mashable, 2012) in only 5 years time. In the slipstream of this, the market research industry has a close eye on the ball. Both on the technology and the methodology side, we see that our research toolbox is mobile enabled.
Most of the current research efforts are based either on mobile surveying as a tool (see, among others, Luck, 2011) or on mobile ethnography (see, among others, Atkinson & Conry, 2011). We miss a couple of dimensions in the discussion.
In this paper you can read more about the benefits of mobile surveying beyond the tool, the use of mobile in Market Research Online Communities (MROCs) and how research can help you with your mobile marketing. At the ESOMAR 3D Conference in Amsterdam (NL), the presentation by Annelies Verhaeghe & Anouk Willems was awarded Best Presentation of the 3D Conference.
3. In the (post-)crisis era, challenging the status quo
through innovation will be critical to restore profitability
in the financial sector. The commoditisation of products
within the industry is making it very difficult to compete
on price. Moreover, a whole array of non-banking
entities is entering the market to close the gap between
the offerings of banks and the needs of customers.
Suddenly, banks face competition from telcos,
What to expect? supermarkets, tech firms and innovative start-ups, all
experienced in building online relationships and
developing and marketing transparent products.
In this paper we explain how
financial institutions
can install structural collaboration
trajectories with key stakeholders (consumers,
employees, management) in order to develop true value
propositions consumers are willing to pay for.
4. Time to innovate is NOW!
So from a bank‟s point of view the competitive frame
of reference has expanded considerably and at a
frightening pace. “Customers judge across their entire set of
experiences rather than just comparing your
As a result, only
financial institutions which organization to others like it. We want our
invest in service innovations taking technology to be as intuitive and user-friendly as
Apple products, the service we receive to be as
advantage of a profound understanding of
thoughtful as we might get from Nordstrom, and
consumer needs and demands will be able to personalization and ease of payment as good as
outperform competition. (IBM Institute for Amazon’s”
(Forbes, Rita McGrath, Five Big Trends in Business Innovation in 2012).
Business Value 2010)
However…
…impediments to innovate are probably more persistent in the financial sector than in any other industry. Strict
regulations, low margins, legacy, long time to market, focus on short-term financial success, commoditisation of
services & products, IT-driven NPD, lack of organisational structures & funds fostering innovation… most often result in
banks embracing the opposite of an open-innovation-minded culture. (Accenture Research, 2010)
5. With the rise of web 2.0 and social media, new
tools are available for organisations to facilitate
open innovation and structural collaboration
Here’s the processes. In the next chapters, we explain why
and how to install structural
solution! collaboration trajectories with internal
and external stakeholders (consumers,
employees, management), what the keys to
success are and the implications for the
organization. We end with concrete cases in the
telco, aviation and financial sector.
7. When we talk about open In most cases, this
innovation or structural collaboration starts with a pilot
collaboration, we refer to the project. If the test is
integration of the voice of successful, the collaboration
the customer in all decision- can gradually be built up in a
making flows of your more structural manner. Less
than one out of ten companies
company. In most companies,
which co-create with their
customers are only allowed to
Power to give their feedback at the very
end of a decision-making flow
customers also uses this
collaboration for launching new
products or services. We could
through traditional market
the people research. This paper gives
insights on how to involve
say that the focus of co-
creation is mainly on the
initiation of new ideas. But
the customer in every single even if consumers are more or
phase of the decision- less continually involved in the
making flow on an on-going process of dreaming up new
basis. Currently, only 3% of all ideas, this is still not enough to
allow us to speak of „structural
companies have experience
collaboration‟.
with developing new products
and services with their
consumers.
8. Structural collaboration means that the customer is
involved in all aspects of your company’s life. This includes:
1. Getting new insights: Exploration of the target group. Listen directly to how
they perceive the product and service quality in order to optimize the commercial
portfolio. This also implies discovering new market trends and unmet needs from
your most relevant customers.
2. The development of new ideas and fine-tuning of existing ideas:
Create new commercial value together with the customer.
3. Key role during implementation: Include customers during the
implementation phase to make sure that your interpretation of their ideas is correct.
4. Continuous evaluation and optimization: Use the customer‟s voice as a
continuous flow of information to improve loads of smaller, tactical issues and to re-
shape the future of your company, your customer being your primary consultant.
9. Overview of structural collaboration and business issues
And it pays off: a recent article in the
„Harvard Business Review‟ claimed
that companies are more able to
solve all their main business
issues if they collaborate closely
with their consumers. The good
news is that consumers are also
willing to help companies out with
this: more than half of them want to
collaborate with one of their
favourite brands on one or more of
these issues. The goal of this paper
is to look into the necessary
ingredients for a company to
structurally get the consumer on
board.
10. The objectives of structural collaboration
Based on 17 interviews with senior executives of (global) brands from different industries, we came to the
conclusion that companies that are working on structural collaboration with their customers have four clear
objectives in mind with this approach:
1. Create better products, improve the 3. Add consumer feeling to the gut feeling. A lot of
customer service and communicate in a managers rely on their gut feeling, which is wonderful.
Structural collaboration should add „consumer feeling‟ to
more impactful way. This is by far the most
it. By collaborating so often, managers create the ability to
important objective for large brands in order to
put on the consumers‟ hat during a meeting and think as
collaborate with consumers. By succeeding in this
the consumer. Which helps them to make more
objective, the overall performance of the
consumer-relevant choices.
organization will increase.
2. Become more agile. By involving customers in 4. Marketing & PR. Companies that are listening and
every phase of a decision-making chain, things that involve consumers in decision-making are popular
move faster. Companies can make better nowadays. Tell all your customers that you take decisions
decisions more rapidly and have a better feeling of based on consulting other customers, and they will like
what will be needed to be equally successful in the you more. Leveraging the internal collaboration platforms
future. A big plus in today‟s fast-moving world. towards the external communication has an impact on the
overall perception. This is not the main goal, but a very
welcomed indirect effect.
11. It‟s clear that structural collaboration with consumers is
not about having the right technology to make it
happen. It is about a mentality shift for most
organisations. A shift from a „we know best‟ attitude
towards an open mentality. The most beautiful result
An evolution, of collaborating companies is the creation of what we
just called the „consumer feeling’. Adding the
consumer feeling to the gut feeling of companies is
not a revolution the biggest change one can achieve through structural
collaboration.
To reach this situation, a number of steps need to be
taken. Based on our research, we learned that all
companies started small and evolved towards bigger
and bigger collaboration projects. In the end,
collaboration was really embedded in their organization.
It was a process of change, not a revolution.
12. The evolution towards structural collaboration happens
in three steps:
1. Collaboration always starts with a first-time try out. Companies organize a co-creation project in which
they allow the customer to participate in one specific project. Most frequently occurring examples are co-
creation of a new product, a new package or new marketing communication.
2. If this try-out is experienced as a success, the second step is to apply collaboration on a project-based
level in the organization. In this stage, companies have the habit to involve customers in every
important new project they work on.
3. After a while, it becomes hard for them to take decisions without the voice of the customer during the
process and they decide to collaborate structurally.
14. 1 Select the right participants
In our opinion there are two types of - meaningful - Companies that want to involve the customer in
structural customer collaboration : an open online more strategic decisions and that have a need for in-
platform where everyone can participate and a depth feedback, tend to work with a closed online
closed online community where you select the community with a limited number of relevant
people to join in. In the large open communities you customers. If you want to solve a specific
have little direct control over who joins and who management problem, it is better to discuss possible
doesn‟t.
The members come together in a solutions with a smaller, closed group of between 50
and 150 of people with a keen interest for your
very spontaneous way to discuss particular
category. It could also be a group of your most
subjects of their interest. Your role with ardent fans, fans you have carefully vetted and
regards to these people is simply to listen. This will selected yourself. The major advantage of this
allow you to discover a series of unfulfilled market approach is that you have everything in your own
needs, which may eventually lead to new products hands - and this is advisable if you don‟t want the
and services. Of course, you are also free to ask whole world to know what decisions are being taken.
them questions, but you should always remember
that these are open communities - anyone else
might be listening to their answers!
15. 1 Select the right participants
Having said that, it is important to acknowledge that not Research has shown that without this kind of
every customer will be able - or is suitable - to help you emotional commitment people seldom are
solve management problems. To give your company interested enough to contribute effectively to an
access to the right advice on a daily basis, you need to you need to
online community. In other words,
listen to the right (and relevant) people. For your talk to people who are interesting and
communities you should seek to attract people who interested. If they don‟t have an opinion or if
can offer added value. The minimum condition is the natural motivation to take part is missing,
that they have a clear commitment to the your community will not achieve what you want it
to achieve. But natural engagement is not
company and what it stands for. They may be experts
sufficient, in order to make your community a real
in the sector, knowledgeable and enthusiastic amateurs
success you need to manage it well. Several
in the sector or just big fans of your brand.
things are important: be open and transparent
about the goals of each project, listen actively
(allow participants to put their issues on your
agenda too), make it a fun experience (after all
people are doing this in their spare time) and give
enough feedback on what you did with their
answers.
16. 2 Internal communication is not enough
Internal = External
Managers show more interest in a project or Sharing your collaboration work with the whole
approach which gets external credits than in a organisation and the rest of the world has several
project with a sole internal focus. In other advantages. Next to an increase in motivation of your
words: make sure your structural management, it will also increase the motivation of your
collaboration is not completely taking communities‟ participants. Further, research has shown
that consumers have a higher trust level towards and a
place behind the scenes of your
better perception of co-creating brands. So, there is also a
organization. commercial benefit to leveraging your efforts externally.
17. 2 Internal communication is not enough
Internal = External
There are a few communication tactics you can apply to increase the internal and external impact of your
collaboration process:
Meet-up with participants: Go for tangible Bite-size & Apply content marketing
Collaboration occurs on a results: If you work creative techniques: Don‟t
digital platform but it is an together with your reporting: Share communicate once or twice
interaction between people. consumers on a about your collaboration, but
the results of your
To increase the interaction structural level, make talk about it more frequently.
collaboration in a
and the emotional bonding, sure you have concrete Use three levels of content: big
short, compelling
make sure your employees deliverables. These content campaigns (e.g. when
and creative way
meet up with these people in results (e.g. new you have BIG news: launch of
with your
the real world as well. Show products, insights, employees. Make an initiative or showing the end
them around in your company, advertising, result), content projects (e.g. a
sure it is easy to
tell them your challenges and packaging…) should be theme you talk about for a few
digest and to
treat them like part-time shared with the world in days/weeks) and content
share.
employees. order to make the updates (small, daily updates
collaboration aspirational with relevant information).
for the market and for
the manager involved.
18. 3 Measure impact
there is need for evidence that the approach works. Therefore
To keep the collaboration flow going,
we advise to use a number of clear success indicators that you can measure during the
implementation of structural collaboration in your organization. There is no standard list of KPIs
to use; they differ from company to company, as they are closely linked to the company culture and the
company‟s (long-term) objectives. There are a few KPIs that apply to all companies to follow up on the impact of
structural collaboration.
19. 3 Measure impact
Success of innovation, impact of Cost reduction: by integrating the voice of the
communication and improvement of customer customer in the entire decision-making flow, the cost
service: by involving customers early in the of ad hoc market research should be reduced. Next
process, your company will take better decisions. to that, by creating better products and services
Product launches, new advertising campaigns and based on the input of the market, the impact of
so on should have a higher success rate than before word-of-mouth will increase, which may lead to
the collaboration was implemented. lower media budgets.
Consumer feeling of the organization: you can Brand perception: listening actively will humanise
measure to what extent your management has a your brand and make it more popular.
better feeling of the attitude and behaviour of your
target market. The goal is that managers think as
consumers and improve their performance through
this newly acquired skill.
Define your KPIs, measure them and
celebrate success!
20. Need for changes in internal implementation
processes
Collaboration should lead to decisions that In other words: it is important to start with a try-out,
are taken through a between the market and but it is equally important to start with a long-term
view. Make sure you know where you're going. After
your company. The proof of structural
collaboration is in the implementation of the ideas. In the try-out, it is a matter of including collaboration
order to succeed in this crucial step, there is a need into projects where the fit feels right. People
to change the internal decision streams. The (internally and externally) get bored rapidly. Make
challenge is to integrate consumer feedback sure you have a flow ready in your collaboration
process to keep the conversations going. Plan with
and input into every phase of the decision
room for flexibility. Once you have completed a
cycle. Remember that structural collaboration does number of successful collaboration projects, the
not come overnight. It starts with a try-out that fits possibility to move forward to structural collaboration
within the existing culture. Make sure that as from the will arise.
start you know what your next step will be.
21. Make sure that, along the way, you take into account
these last tactical tips to make collaboration work:
Have clear objectives for each collaboration project
Involve all stakeholders early in the process
Manage expectations
Have a community manager
Create internal and external credibility
22. 1. Have clear objectives for each collaboration project. Make sure not to collaborate just for the sake of
it. To get the feedback of consumers in the decision flow, the objectives have to be very clear, and in line
with the business goals.
2. Involve all stakeholders early in the process. The higher the number of departments involved at the
beginning of the process, the better. In order to integrate the collaboration flow in the decision flow, it is
crucial to have a buy-in from the relevant teams.
3. Manage expectations. Collaboration won‟t lead to the next big idea for your company. Customers are
great sparring partners, but don‟t set your expectations too high. Make sure that during the integration of
their feedback in the decision flows, everybody is aware of what to expect from the collaboration.
4. Have a community manager. Make sure to have assigned somebody to manage the community. This
person is responsible for managing the conversation with participants in the collaboration process and for
sharing the insights internally. He or she brings the consumer‟s voice to life within the company.
5. Create internal and external credibility. By delivering results and integrating the voice of the customer
in your decision flows, you will gain credibility among the participants in the collaboration platform.
Credibility among employees will also grow as they will see that the collaboration adds value. Marketing
your collaboration efforts is not a bad thing, but it should not be the only thing.
23. Part 3 : Cases
how we applied the above framework
In this last chapter, we demonstrate
for important players in the (financial) services sector. We report on 2
successful co-creation pilots in the telecom and aviation sector that -eventually-
resulted in a long-term connection between all parties involved. We also show how
the financial sector is gradually opening up and starting to implementing their first true
co-creation trajectories surfing the waves of social media and web 2.0.
25. Telenet is the largest provider of broadband cable services in Belgium. Its business comprises the provision of
analogue and digital cable television, high speed Internet and fixed & mobile telephony services. By launching a
new service in Beta and integrating the voice of the user in the further development, Telenet co-created unique
value with customers.
With the purpose of securing (1) market leadership and (2) first mover advantage, Telenet‟s mission
statement comprises “generate impact through happy clients spreading positive word-of-mouth”, turning the
ground swell phenomenon to their advantage. Therefore, they launched a new service in Beta and different
internal teams (R&D, marketing, communication, management, even de CEO, Duco himself) collaborated with a
user group in an online pre-launch community on the further development of this application.
26. During the official (press) launch of By integrating the voice of the
Yelo, an application bringing customer in the development of this
new service, consumers were not
digital TV to mobile devices
only collaborating on improvements,
like the iPhone, iPad and
they actually co-defined the
(portable) computer, users were
development roadmap and the
invited to provide feedback on social
media. 100 participants were go-to-market strategy for the
recruited from the open community following years.
to join a 3-week closed pre-launch This roadmap is structured around a
This co-creation approach
community to allow in-depth model generated by consumer
resulted in highly satisfied users,
discussion of the uncovered themes, feedback, differentiating between
collaboration on improvements and basic expectations, satisfying with83% being satisfied to
to structure the development improvements and addictive new very satisfied, turning users
roadmap. After the community, features. 30 out of 45 user- into real brand
feedback was shared on social generated and prioritized
ambassadors. About 1 out of 7
media again, offering all users a improvements have already been
iPhone and iPad users in the
chance to join the dialogue. added to the roadmap, ranging from
Belgian market installed Yelo.
bugs and interface changes to
content features. More than 50% of
Recently, similar co-creation
the last update were user-generated
initiatives have been set up for a
changes.
large Belgian Bank and a
worldwide issuer of credit cards.
28. ING, a global financial institution of Barbera Van der Wal, Senior
Dutch origin, has the ambition to Research Manager, ING retail: “Our
become THE bank for students and marketing challenge was to gain
experience with an online community
wants to have full understanding
as a tool for structural collaboration
of the life of students and their
with key target groups. The goal was
banking needs. to generate relevant customer insights
In the 'ING Student House' community in the fuzzy front end of the innovation
the different marketing teams gained funnel, to test marketing ideas and to
insights into the daily life of 150 co-create with the target group”.
students by discussing, among Eventually, the community provided
others, themes such as income, ING with a rich and detailed view
expenditure, financial administration, of the life of students nowadays. Susanne Streng, Segment Marketer,
banking and insurances, during 3 In a closing workshop with the ING ING retail: “For me the added value of
months. The focus was on how ING Marketing-students team, over 100 the collaboration project was not only
can add relevance to student (smaller and bigger) ideas were the concrete outcome, but also
generated to better match ING to the installing a real dialogue with the
clients. In that perspective marketing
needs and wishes of their student
ideas were evaluated and co-created target and ACTING upon true
clients. The NPD department now has
with the students. customer centricity. Engaging
a clear view on the directions for the
development of the new student customers in structural collaboration
is the ultimate brand touch-point
positioning, and thecommunity
turning them into true brand
provided them with a rich source of
ambassadors”.
customer quotes, brand reflections
and unsolicited feedback.
30. To further improve the experience of In a second phase, another group of
travellers, Air France-KLM, the frequent travellers placed the
French-Dutch airline holding insights into perspective with their
company, wanted to connect with stories and came up with ideas on
their customers on an emotional the “My Transfer Idea” community, a
3-week creative journey. Analysis of
level. Transfer flights in particular
the ideas resulted in 32 concept
are complex situations, evoking a lot
boards; the 4 most feasible were
of emotions, mostly negative. To
integrated in a quantitative and
approach this situation as an
emotional concept screener.
opportunity and to demystify the
innovation process, InSites
This “My Transfer Idea” project does
Consulting and Air France-KLM
not only use the emotional
collaborated on a complete and
experience of travellers as a starting
staged co-creation project, point for innovation in service
centralised around the emotional
design, the emotional layer is
service perception. By connecting
present in the complete
with Air France and KLM frequent
flyers in an insightment community, innovation approach and
10 insight platforms were defined, connection with the frequent
emphasizing their needs, emotions flyers.
and expectations.
31. Also in the financial sector, a wide range of Both groups were followed for 3 months, with a
target groups and business challenges have meet & greet between the second and third
been tackled by long-term customer months. The results revealed different types of
connections using online platforms: autonomous investors embodying different
needs and insights on the dynamics between
- In the aftermath of the financial crisis, a 1- the investors and account managers. In the
year intensive collaboration process (via an end, quick wins, short-term actions and
online community) was set up between strategic projects towards the target group
different internal teams (active involvement were defined.
of the CEO) and customers of 2 large
banks facing a merger. The goal was to - Also in a more sensitive context, true
keep the finger on the pulse and generate customer-centricity is key - nothing makes a
customer insights on the integration, so that basher bash more than not being able to tell it
the teams could act upon them and control to your face - whether it is about how to
damage or loss due to the fusion. handle a compensation trajectory towards
investment customers or giving meaning to
- With the purpose of better servicing their your brand after re-branding.
autonomous investors, a large Belgian
retail bank installed a dedicated community
among autonomous investor customers and
account managers (with a sub-community
per profile).
32. Research team
Tom De Ruyck Delphine Vantomme
+32 9 269 14 07 +32 9 269 15 20
tom@insites-consulting.com delphine@insites-consulting.com
@tomderuyck http://www.linkedin.com/in/delphinevantomme
http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomderuyck
33. Want to know more about
research in the
financial sector?
Delphine Vantomme
Business Director Financial Services
+32 9 269 15 20
delphine@insites-consulting.com