Case Study: Market Research Company
Challenge:
A market research company wanted to help their client gain input into consumers’ mattress buying preferences. To do so, they needed to conduct sophisticated analytics. Specifically, they wanted to provide their client with insight into consumer perspectives (both conscious and unconscious) about the value of sleep and the role that mattresses play.
Solution:
Monalco Marketing conducted sophisticated analyses of survey data designed to tap into three primary areas:
- A typology of sleep mattress consumers was determined using a combination of analyses including Cluster Analysis. Sleep mattress consumer types ranged from those concerned with the mattress as a means to good health to those who were skeptical about mattress quality and resistant to messages suggesting mattresses varied much or had much influence on the quality of sleep.
- Consciously held motivations as well as unconscious ones affecting mattress purchases (and choices among mattresses) were determined after conducting a Factor Analysis of myriad survey questions concerning interests, beliefs, reasons for purchasing a mattress, and amount of effort expended in learning about the ‘best’ mattress and others,
- Relating mattress consumer types to matching motivations. Tests of statistical significance were conducted to determine how consumer types differed in their motivations.
Results:
The analyses uncovered an emerging set of motivations related to sleep mattress purchase and comparison: the perception that a good mattress equals good sleep with salutary (health-promoting) consequences. Consumer types were identified who related to the salutary benefits of sleep mattresses for use in related targeted marketing campaigns.
Case Study: City Business Group
Challenge:
A downtown business group wanted to increase the number of visits to the area. Awareness of the area was already shown via survey to be high and repeated television and radio advertisements and promotional spots had assured it would stay so. Visits to the area however had remained fairly stable and had not increased with increasing awareness. The business group needed help with increasing visits and spending.
Solution:
Monalco Marketing conducted a survey that focused on understanding who was visiting, who was not and preferred activities and services for various types of visitors and would-be visitors.
- A Five visitor types were identified ranging from those dubbed ‘estranged’ (little or no interest in visiting the area and mostly negative perceptions of the area) to the ‘loyalists’ (those who gave downtown high ratings and visited frequently). In-between were those who had specialized interests or tastes, to which downtown could respond.
- Visitors types were found to have specific collections of interests as well as ‘non-interests’ that could be bundled in promotional efforts.
Results:
The analyses pinpointed those visitors and prospective visitor types who were best candidates for visiting downtown. Messages and programs were generated to increase involvement with downtown among these groups. Ongoing campaigns based on the survey and analyses resulted in the formation of an online loyalist group who receives regular notices of upcoming events (already 6000 members in one year), national recognition for a week-long downtown employee appreciation extravaganza, and a restaurant promotion that netted overwhelming business for the eateries. Promotional packages relating to those interests were put together. Business leaders found the packages served to make downtown a destination and were met with great success.
Case Study: International Software Developer
Challenge:
A large international company specializing in the software for healthcare and other industries such as banking, was suffering a bruised public image and lagging sales. New management was brought in to effect change. Metrics were needed to help understand how current and prospective customers perceived the company and its products. A new approach for marketing was also a need identified.
Solution
Earlier work had suggested that a specific type (functionality) of software was well positioned for growth in the healthcare industry. The company was interested in understanding how likely the software was to be adopted in general, and how likely their company’s software version was to be adopted specifically.
A series of focus groups were conducted, laying the groundwork for an online survey. Monalco Marketing was brought in to assist with survey development and to conduct high-end analytics designed to provide the crucial understandings.
As recommended by Monalco, the survey was developed with a behavioral model in mind that included assessment of attitudes, beliefs, norms, facilitators and barriers to software adoption. Further, extant and prospective customers were segmented into groups based on their ‘readiness’ to adopt the software (whether or not provided by the client).
Results:
The various analyses revealed that the software was in fact primed for adoption particularly among certain key groups but that the client company had strict competition in part because of its qualified reputation. Several key barriers to adoption were identified that will generally affect all relevant software sellers unless messages are adopted to our findings. A two-pronged marketing approach is currently underway in which the brand image is being mended, while marketing messages are being developed to target the specific groups most likely to adopt the software as identified in the focus group and survey research.
