The Buzz

We don’t often have news to share but when we do we will add it to this page. We will also aim to update our spotlight project from time to time, which provides examples of work we have been doing. Government clients we are now on East Shires (and East Midlands) Purchase Order roster, this roster is fully enabled for any government department or associate organisation to be able to buy our services.  In addition we have been given access to Greater London Procurement Portal.

Mapping Industry

Recent Project

The challenge: Public sector client: The client wanted to make a substantial change to their offering, that could massively influence their entire industry and its future, for many years to come.

The research: An accelerated turnaround of new service development, due to submission deadlines for funding, which included: mapping the industry, concept development and multi stage qualitative and quantitative research with business employees, their stakeholders and public sector organisations. This work required complex sample frames and a mixture of methodologies.

We are no strangers to delivering work quickly if required and in this project, the speed of execution had to be managed fastidiously, to ensure our client had time to make decisions. To achieve the timescale, we adapted the sample frames mid project as a better approach evolved. We developed a range of concepts that were explored and developed with appropriate audiences (that were fine-tuned throughout) with final testing and evaluation conducted in the markets that were going to be influenced. Lastly, our client now had sufficient information for the development of a business case, which gained substantial government investment.

Service Extensions

Recent Project

The challenge: Public sector client: The client wanted to know if adding a café to their existing offering would increase customer footfall and frequency of visits. The client, was an employer offering support for people with learning difficulties.

The research: Qualitative and quantitative research (with both client and competitor’s consumers) and consultancy relating to the operating environment, including shop floor.

Our experience told us a café would be desirable and easily generate a profit for the cost of operation change, but was not motivational enough to increase footfall. We therefore suggested the development of a calendar of ‘promotional events’ that would attract new customers.

The client pitched for the additional money for the café and developed a calendar of activities as part of the implementation. The client also made our suggested changes to their customer journeys.

Launching a New Product/Service

Recent Project

The challenge: Public sector client: the client had a new product and service aimed at meeting industry need. The challenge was to test the product appeal across a number of different stakeholders and customers. The product was a polished prototype, which had experienced an onerously long development time and we needed to understand how this product had become ‘stuck’ in the NPD pipeline.

The research: Qualitative, quantitative and insight consultancy – Our work demonstrated that the product and service was ultimately very good, but that the client team were relatively new to NPD and as such were in the process of increasing customisation, instead of launching the product.

Our experience told us that the challenge was internal and that a standard product and service were suitable to launch. We conducted a small internal exercise, which demonstrated that unless the launch process was streamlined, the objective would take more than 100 years to achieve. We also made recommendations on how to adapt the product to mass market, very simply and efficiently.

The client was advised to streamline the product and launch it with limited customisations, effectively a mass market approach.

Launching a Brand New Product

Recent Project

The challenge: FMCG/global pharma brand: OTC product wanted to provide a one stop solution for Athletes foot, the new product was a premium solution, and they wanted to test the product appeal, marketing, and price point, the latter prove contentious.

The research: We were invited to help our client understand key messages in research that had previously been conducted . Initially, we identified flaws in the research process. The research had provided data on appeal and marketing messages but the price point research was limited in a variety of ways, and the research said launch at a far lower price than desirable. The product was extremely effective offering, and wanted to be launched at a premium.

Our clientside experience meant we also considered the work in a wider context and we could see that which was not evaluated within the research process – that the research had not factored in economies of scale in production.

We recommended launching the product at a higher price point (a worthy premium for a highly effective product) and to use marketing tools if sales were not as expected. This meant the product had to sell far fewer units to make the same profit as the initial quantitative research reported.

The client took our advice and the product launched at a premium within several European markets and eventually more globally, providing significant additional profits over time.

Restaurant – New Product

Recent Project

The challenge: FMCG/global pharma brand: OTC product wanted to provide a one stop solution for Athletes foot. The new product was a premium solution for the ailment and the client wanted to test the product appeal, marketing, and price point, with the latter proving contentious.

The research: We were invited to help our client understand key messages in the research that had been previously conducted . Initially, we identified flaws in the previous research process, as despite providing data on appeal and marketing messages, the recommendations on price point were limited in a variety of ways. The initial research proposed a launch price far lower price than desirable. The client disagreed with the initial price point recommendation, as they felt the product was an extremely effective offering, and warranted a launch at a premium value.

Our client-side experience meant we could consider the work in a wider context and identify flaws and gaps in the previous initial research process (e.g. that research had not factored in economies of scale in production).

We recommended launching the product at a higher price point (i.e. a worthy premium, for a highly effective product) and to use marketing tools if sales were not as expected. Our recommendations meant the product needed to sell far fewer units than the previous initial quantitative research reported, to make the same profit.

The client took our advice and the product launched at a premium price point within several European markets, eventually expanding more globally and providing significant additional profits over time.