Brand Central Station

This is from a great post directed to freelancers on the Freelancefolder blog.

Freelace writer Laura Spencer provides a list of 45 questions for every freelancer to ask a new client (the entire list is posted after the jump).  Looking over that list, though, it occurs to me that many (if not all) of these questions are relevant things for an account manager to ask an agency – or internally – for a marketing manager to ask a new “client” inside their own company.

Some of these questions might be considered a bit mundane.  In my experience, new client relationships are often filled with the excitement of the “win” for the agency and the high expectations of a client who has been wooed by great creative and charming personalities. 

Questions like “Which is more important, quality or speed?” seems to have the potential to take all the romance out of the relationship right away.  (Double entendre intended.)

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Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to tell a client: “I know you know the answer to this question, but we really need to hear it from the customer to see what they actually know and understand.”

In fact, in my experience, this has been the single, largest impediment to market research when it comes to “selling” the service to a client. They just don’t want to do it because they don’t think they’ll learn anything new. The fact is, usually, just the opposite.

But let’s take a look at the objection and figure out the best way to make your case:

First off, clients are often in the position of having all the answers when it comes to dealing with account managers – especially new ones. Decisions and requests made by the client often go unchallenged early on in the relationship which may be respectful but often creates a bias that can work against the AE later on in the relationship.

The best thing to do is to concentrate your questioning in three specific areas – at least early on in the relationship with a new client. Keep them focused on the three areas where they have the most influence and, as you’ll soon see, concern: project scope, budget and deadlines. If a new account manager is to get off on the right foot with a client, the AE has got to become a “credible expert” when it comes to making and keeping promises related to what work will be done, when it will be done and how much things will cost.

These three things are vitally important to a client for one, simple reason. Failure in any of these areas reflects directly on his or her ability to manage the account manager and the agency. These are, in effect, personal performance standards. Failure to perform could be cause for termination – of the agency, the AE or the client!

As an account manager, you have to establish your credentials and credibility in these areas first before you can start digging in to the issues that will lead to opportunities for insightful market research that could make a difference to your client’s brand.

Once the client is comfortable with your ability to perform on the things that matter most to their job security, you’ll find you have an opportunity to start thinking “proactively” about their business. And that, eventually, leads to a realization that both the client and the agency need to know more about the client’s customer than what is readily available at the client’s office.

In fact, it’s during this second step – getting to know the customer –where an account manager can create a long-term bond with a client and make the move from “supplier” to “counselor.”

Start first by investing some time and effort of your own into getting to know the people your client needs to convince. If you’re working on a consumer product, use the product yourself or visit the retail locations where the product is sold. Once you’ve seen the kind of people who use the product, find some friends, family or neighbors who “fit” the apparent demographic of the customer. Ask them why they would consider using that product, what it does for them, how it makes them feel.

Similar insights can be gathered on B2B clients, as well. You might not be able to spend time with members of the target market, but you can certainly call trade associations and magazines and talk to people who are intimately involved with the business. Take notes and try to put yourself in their position. Try to understand and identify the possible obstacles that might stand in your client’s way when they try to convince the customer to buy.

These insights, no matter how crude, are vitally important to your long-standing relationship with the client. Because you took the effort to get to know their customer, your stock will go up with 99+% of all clients. (The other 1%, we’ll deal with in another blog post.) The quality of the insights you share will have an effect on the client, too.

If you’ve been an astute, observant student, you are bound to make some observations that are valuable to the client. This breaks the ice so you can enter the third, and final, piece of your argument in favor of market research.

As soon as the client realizes that you might know more about his customer than he does, his attitude will change (usually for the better). If you can show how this knowledge can be used to create both a manageable project (where you have already established your credibility) and an expected result (to determine “return” on the marketing investment), you’ll be a star.

More importantly, you’ll be at a place where both you and your client have a better understanding of the value and importance of market research.

Market research isn’t all about identifying customers. In fact, the better and more rounded the market research available to managers, the better the decisions that wind up being made in the C-Suite. (more…)

Media properties have found that the information they collect about their readers can be a tremendous value to their advertisers. But you have to know when and where to ask.

In the never-ending quest to improve profit margins and steal budget from competitors, media properties – especially trade media – have found new opportunities in the areas of market research and customer knowledge. They’re often in a prime position to gather input, opinions and other critical data from customers. That data, when combined with insights provided by reporters, editors, staff researchers and others, can be turned into useful information advertisers can use to make their messages more relevant, identify new market opportunities and (ideally, in the eyes of the media) justify increased expenditures with the media property to secure a larger share of the market.

There are sources of data available to a media property that may be of some value – and some, if not all of it, is available for purchase. Subscriber and/or reader information is very helpful in determining the qualitative nature of the audience who picks up the magazine. Editors and publishers often use this data (as well as information received from interviews and reader service cards) to determine editorial features and other elements of the annual calendar they assemble each year.

Marketers can use similar data to fine tune the offering they intend to present to the public. When it comes to developing creative and sales messages, information on the buying tendencies of the market receiving a certain publication can help determine both the creative angle. The same data may also prove helpful in determining possible sales promotion opportunities.

There is a difference between subscriber data and reader data, however. Marketers – especially clients – need to understand the difference. If a publication provides subscriber data, the general rule of thumb is that the subscriber data is verifiable (because subscribers pay to receive the magazine, it is assumed the information they provide at the time of subscription is correct). This data is collected (to a small degree) at the time of enrollment in the subscription and to a much greater degree through opt-in surveys (which indicate an interest in the subject matter and a willingness to participate openly and honestly).

Reader data, however, is typically gathered off “free” subscription efforts, reader service cards and a host of other methods. Because the person filling out the card is not paying for the publication, there seems to be less concern over the verifiable quality of the data received. For example, if someone wants to receive a free technology publication, they’ll be more inclined to claim a greater responsibility for technology specification and purchases than if they were paying for a subscription.

Some broadcast medias conduct in-depth market studies (using any one of a number of companies that specialize in this kind of research). These general surveys serve three, main purposes: 1) they provide interesting insights into Top-Of-Mind Awareness for a variety of local brands and in a selection of local business areas; 2) they generally reinforce the idea that television is the strongest media to build TOMA; and 3) they generally solidify the media’s claim that a long-term ad buy on their station is the best way to buy television. Even considering the self-serving nature of the research, there is still some value in reviewing the results of the survey from a market awareness standpoint.

Finally, most media properties can provide some kind of statistical information on the utilization of their web site and, more importantly, the measurement of your ad presence on their web site. To be honest, if you’re talking to a media representative who claims his employer can’t do that – stop talking. There’s no excuse for the absence of web analytics anymore.

As with the broadcast example above, almost all of this research (usually provided for free by the media property) is intended to convince you of the value they bring to your marketing program. If you can get involved with the media property before they conduct their study, however, there is a chance you can create a very worthwhile research partnership.

One last piece of advice about unsolicited research – specifically ratings and rankings. Almost every media entity can present their magazine, newspaper, broadcast station or web site as #1 in their market (usually given a very tight set of conditions). Don’t be fooled. While this information is somewhat useful (if you know what to look for), you’re far better off getting the assistance of an advertising agency or media buying firm to evaluate the audience numbers and ratings, if that’s a big concern for you.

Realize, also, that media reps can be a source of research for you as well. Many representatives from local and regional media participate in tip clubs, community activities and special promotions involving their employer that can generate tidbits of information of value to you. Get to know your local reps and learn what they do and how they get their leads, then see if there’s a way you can work that connection. Reps are used to it and will probably do the same with you.

Welcome to the world of marketing.

The first dividends you reap from your investment in market research should be in the form of re-crafted (and much more effective) message statements about your brand and your products/services. Research gives Bob LeDrew and his communications team from the University of Ottawa a critical look at what their publics think. “We’re abe to understand the perception of our brand (as opposed to OUR perception of our brand),” says Bob. (more…)

If there’s one, key distinguishing factor between big companies and small ones, it’s the amount of time, effort and attention the large companies dedicate to market research. Market research, as most companies view it, can be an expensive undertaking even when managed by the most proficient of facilitators. In the wrong hands, the combined costs of lost opportunities, incorrect conclusions drawn from data and inept management of the research process can force client companies to re-consider doing any research at all.

That may explain why in a recent poll conducted by Brand Central Station, barely more than half (50.3%) of the corporate communicators participating in the survey said their companies conducted marketing research projects frequently or all the time. “It helps us to manage our brand structure, the advertising messages and images and it allows us to connect our advertising to our sales teams,” explained James Lauteri of Mellon Financial Corporation in Pittsburgh.

“We are able to focus our time on developing products with a high probability of success as opposed to blindly developing products that don’t fit our customer’s needs,” wrote the San Antonio Express News’, Merrell Ligons.

Clearly, you have to establish the value of the information gained in order to justify the cost and time associated with conducting research. But while management may understand the benefits of research when it comes to developing new products or clarifying the relationship between advertising and sales, there are far greater costs managers need to consider when they decide to forego market research.

Adam Hayes, owner/manager of AH Digital FX Studios conducts his own market research in order to stay one step ahead of the competition. “Without feedback from the market you will never adapt quick enough to changes and new challenges in the marketplace,” he says. “Staying ‘ahead of the game’ is critical in our business.”

One of the major obstacles most companies face when it comes to research is cost. And big research costs are most commonly associated with primary research. Understanding the difference between primary and secondary research could save your company a bundle.

Primary research is best described as information that comes straight from the source. If you want to know what customers think, you ask them; document their responses and then draw your conclusions. It’s as simple as that, really.

Secondary research is best described as information you collect and the insights you draw from other peoples’ primary research. There are many sources of secondary research materials to draw upon ranging from your local library to your favorite media representatives. In fact, your regular media vendors can be a wealth of information on market trends, competition and more.

Realizing you have several sources of information to draw upon, it’s vitally important to clearly define what you want to know at the end of your research project. This may take some digging on your part, but keep in mind that the better the job you do defining the problem at hand, the more likely the research you conduct will identify solutions.

If you’ve never conducted a market research project before, here’s a handy guide that tells you what to do. There are also hundreds of research consultants who can help you walk through the process as well. And, I suppose, this is as good a place as any to suggest you visit the Brand Central Station web site and check out our new Market Research Inventory Page. It’s a page full of links to helpful “hacks”, service providers and consultants. It’s as good a place to start as any.

Good luck.

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