Shaping The Future Of Your Company Using Online Research Communities. Presented at the 2009 Marketing and Consumer Intelligence Conference, Sydney

1. Beyond Web2.0
y
Shaping The Future Of Your Company
Using Online Research Communities
February 27th 2009
Peter Harris
National President AMSRS, Managing Director Colmar Brunton

2. 2

3. What is
Wh i a
market research
online community
3

4. “It’s research Jim
but not as we know it ”
it.
Well said.
4

5. +
Private, branded, online space , where 100’s or 1000’s of invited
consumers or prospects regularly spend time generating ideas, offering
p p g y p g g , g
advice to you and to one another, sharing experiences and feelings,
discussing trends, and helping you figure out your marketing and
business issues.
5

6. Simply Put....
“Ongoing dialogue with the people that will help
you shape the people future of your company”
Forrester Research
6

7. All departments from A private branded online Your communities
your company can engage community i a di l
it is dialogue ffocused
d conversations with your
ti ith
and benefit from the on improving your offering brand
community
Marketing Innovation
Research Retail
Brand
Strategic
Sales
Planning Community
Customer
HR
Service
7

8. 8

9. What are the features
market research
online community
9

10. Member Qualification
10

11. Branded
11

12. Discussions
12

13. Polls
13

14. Surveys
14

15. Activities
15

16. Online Focus Groups
16

17. Analysis & Reporting
17

18. Why
Wh
market research
online community
18

19. MROC can lead to new ideas, better products and
more relevant messages
19

20. Dells IdeaStorm Community
Community results at a glance
• 1 Customer has saved Dell $1million in support costs
• 9,000 ideas contributed
• 4 000 comments
4,000
• 120 ideas put into practice
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0SOXW_K56w
20

21. Starbucks
Community results at a glance
• 50 000 ideas submitted in first 4 months
50,000
• Thousands of blog posts and customer conversations about the brand
21

22. Mini-USA
Community results at a glance
• 75% of mini owners in the US are part of the online community.
• 50% of all sales leads are generated through the social media marketing.
• Cost per lead on site is $15‐20; in the showroom it’s closer to $800
it s $800.
• In 2003 the site generated 12,000 qualified leads (target through all avenues was 25,000).
• 53% of the growth in consumer advocacy was realised in growth in revenue from sales.
22

23. Obama
Community results at a glance
• 500 million blog postings mentioned Obama vs. 150 million mentioning McCain
• Obama had 844, 927 MySpace friends vs. McCain’s 219,404
• Obama gained over 10,000 new MySpace ‘friends’ in the 24 hours leading up to election day.
23

24. Case Study: Easy Jet
Europe’s 4th largest airline
Low cost + customer
advocacy proposition
165 aircraft / 400 routes /
28 countries / 38m+
passengers (2007) / 1,050+
daily departures
Vision T be the best low
Vi i ‐To b th b t l
fares airline in the world
24

25. “Our whole brand is created out of customer contact and the
experience customers have with us – therefore our success is
based on listening to them”
- Stelios Haji-Ioannou, EasyJet founder and Serial Entrepreneur
25

26. Situation
Insights to innovate more rapidly and keep up with the fast
evolving airline market place
Harness customer intelligence to inform better decision
making
Low cost / efficient / real time tool required to support
business model
26

27. Actions
Developed private brand community
2,000 participants
p p
Customers who have flown easyJet in the last 12 months
New Topics introduced each week
90 topics i l 6 months
i in last h
Recent topics include:
27

28. Example Topic: Boarding Processes
Challenge: easyJet had seen year on year improvements
across the majority of key customer satisfaction measures
with exception of the boarding process.
There was a need to understand customer perceptions of the
boarding process in more detail, what is preventing improvement
and how should easyJet be addressing these.
28

29. Example Topic: Boarding Processes
Online
post in Discussion
community
Analysis &
feedback
report
prototype
29

30. Conclusions
Blueprint for ongoing dialogue with easyJet customers
Cost benefits of approach ‐ re‐assessment of research
pp
planning process
More opportunity for research coverage/dialogue
Indication of how we will talk to customers in the future
It has further highlighted the need for client and agency
research teams to work differently.
30

31. Operating in a silo without customer input can lead
to problems
31
Adapted from Forrester Research presentation ‘Customer Collaboration’

32. Marketers today still do not collaborate enough with
consumers throughout innovation processes
32

33. But wait! Consumers don’t know what they want!
“Had
“H d I asked end customers, all
k d d t ll
they would have said is that
they need a faster horse.”
Henry Ford
33

34. Marketers have a variety of tools and techniques
beyond simply asking a question
34

35. Consumers are willing to participate in online
company communities
Of online adults say they are
willing to participate company
online communities to develop
p
products & services
Your Source; Australians 18+; online users
35

36. Willingness spans a variety of areas
Interacting with Having a direct
other community impact on the
members company Getting a behind‐
48% 58% the‐scenes
the scenes look at
the company
61%
Interacting with
company d i i
decision
What would be makers
of interest if you 49%
joined a brand Giving input on Previewing/Input on
community? advertising/marketin
g/ new product's/services
product s/services
g campaigns before anyone else
68% 84%
Other
4%
Your Source; Australians 18+; online users; say they are willing
to participate in company online communities
36

37. MROC Pays Off
Better products Customer Customer
More efficient
engagement,
& services innovation / NPD acquisition
advocacy & loyalty
• Understanding • Testing ideas • Showing loyal • Learning why
customer earlier i the
li in h customers that
h non‐customers
challenges, needs, development their opinions aren’t buying
and ideas process to get matter from you
• Gaining new cheaper and more • Empower people • Engaging new
perspectives on real time
real‐time through the target segments
the overall feedback ability to impact early to transition
experience • Understanding decisions through them to future
interest levels to ownership in the buyers
p
prioritize new p
process
innovation
initiatives
37

38. How does it compare
to other forms of
market research
38

39. • More research, for less (rule of thumb: twice the research at half the cost)
• F t responses
Faster
• Reduced surveying costs
• Richer quality of responses
• More brand contact with marketing partners / stakeholders
• Refocus and realign the organisation around the customer
39

40. Focus Group Online Community
Medium In person Online
Participant Size
p 8‐12 100s‐1000s
Respondent Bias Medium Low
Time Frame 2 hours Years
Turnaround Time Weeks‐Months Hours‐Days
Geography Metro Worldwide
Cost Variable Fixed
Cost per Response High Low
Methodology
M h d l Qualitative
Q li i Qualitative
Q li i &
Quantitative
40

41. What Works
1. Clear communication
2.
2 Active company participation
3. Engaging content – rich media
4. Showing impact of participation
5. Ceding some control of the agenda
6. Regular contact – weekly or fortnightly
g g
7. Using a variety of tools
8. Company wide involvement & partner support
9. Rewarding the community – discounts, invitation to special events
41

42. What Doesn't
1. Not having clear objectives
2.
2 Being absent You must show‐up
absent.
3. Not recognising contributions
4. Not being conversational
5. Not being transparent
6. Not demonstrating action
g
7. Treating people as respondents to research
8. Not having the Your Community platform and team in your corner
42

43. Research communities offer
fresh insights for
accelerated innovation
innovation.
At the end of the day, it
should connect you with
y
your community y
43

44. Your Community
Join the Conversation
44

45. 45