Welcome to Brilliance@Work, a series of profiles about stellar marketing professionals and their best practices at work. During the next couple of months, we’ll feature market research experts.
Organizations that put customers’ needs at the center of their brand marketing and advertising strategy will strengthen their overall business performance. Danny Blatt knows this first hand as Director of Market Research at Prudential. He’s also a presenter at The Market Research Event(TMRE) on Nov. 5-7, 2019 at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Danny Blatt
As a preview to his presentation, Danny shares his perspectives on “Redirecting a Big Ship: How an Enterprise Segmentation Can Drive Brand Marketing and Advertising Strategy.”
Peggy L. Bieniek, ABC: How can leveraging an enterprise wide needs-based taxonomy help shape an organization’s future success?
Danny Blatt: We use the enterprise wide taxonomy and segmentation to enable the organization to move faster and be more focused. This data-driven approach to customers allows us to use a common language internally and focus on customer challenges in both development and communication.
PB: What are some examples of how you leverage an enterprise wide needs-based taxonomy at Prudential?
DB: We are using the segmentation in a variety of ways. First of all, we made tough decisions on which segments to focus on for each business, based upon market size and attainability, among other factors. We then mapped our solutions to the segments allowing us to understand from the individual’s perspective how our solutions help them achieve their financial wellness. We are now developing customized messaging based on solutions and need to appeal to our audience. We will then target our customized needs based messaging to our target customers.
PB: How does this approach help tell a compelling marketing story?
DB: We are using personas to bring the needs to life for our marketers, product developers and customer experience professionals to truly understand the challenges and needs of our customers. When they understand this, it builds empathy and real connections. This understanding is key to helping us be customer-focused and consumer-centric.
PB: What will people gain from your conference presentation?
DB: People will see how a using a data-driven, customer-centric approach as opposed to a top-down company based approach can help to align efforts across a huge organization.
Want to hear more from Danny? Join us at The Market Research Event(TMRE). Learn, network and share best practices with the most influential leaders in market research. Stay connected at #TMREVENT.
What’s the one skill we can all learn to master that applies to any job in any industry?
It’s collaboration.
Collaboration is one of those “sink or swim” things when it comes to organizational success. Leaders who encourage collaboration within their organizations succeed. Those who don’t -won’t. But how do leaders learn to build their collaboration skills? Through mastering public speaking.
Paul Barton, ABC
Arizona Business Communicator Paul Barton of Phoenix Public Speaking says that “all the world is a stage, and life is a series of presentations – networking, job interviews, pitching an idea to a client, even trying to get your colleague to try a new place for lunch – they are all persuasive presentations.” Mastering your life’s presentations is about mastering public speaking, which leads to improved collaboration skills to help ensure your personal and professional success.
Paul’s highly interactive workshops and real-world methods are about more than traditional public speaking. They are geared toward everyday business situations to promote collaboration with easy to remember tips, tricks and formulas to stand out from the crowd. Topics include:
Business presentations that turn heads, win hearts and get results.
Powerful storytelling techniques to make a lasting impact.
Making powerful first impressions.
Crisis Communication: Be Your Best When Facing the Worst
Improved collaboration using active listening skills.
Paul has been connecting minds of organizational leaders with the hearts of their audiences for more than 20 years. His successful career includes being one of the top communication thought leaders and collaboration strategists in Phoenix, Arizona. Paul also led internal communications at six successful brands including PetSmart and Hawaiian Airlines and authored the book Maximizing Internal Communication: Strategies to Turn Heads, Win Hearts, Engage Employees and Get Results.
He’s also a frequent guest speaker, blogger and workshop presenter on the topics of crisis communication, internal communication, and HR communication strategies. Paul also teaches courses in public speaking and business communication as an adjunct faculty member.
Put your public speaking fears in the rear-view mirror! Contact Paul to learn a unique and fun approach to “owning the room” while mastering your life’s presentations.
Welcome to Brilliance@Work, a series of profiles about stellar marketing professionals and their best practices at work. During the next couple of months, we’ll feature market research experts.
Organizations that focus on improving the customer experience will strengthen their customer relationships and their overall business performance. John Copeland knows this first hand. John is Vice President, Marketing & Consumer Insights at Adobe. He’s also a presenter at The Market Research Event(TMRE) on Nov. 5-7, 2019 at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
John Copeland
As a preview to his presentation, John shares his perspectives on “The Customer (Experience) Is Always Right: Adobe’s Data-Driven Operating Model.”
Peggy L. Bieniek, ABC: How can leveraging a data-driven operating model help shape an organization’s future success?
John Copeland: Using a data-driven operating model like the one we use at Adobe gives a company a customer-journey-centric view of the key performance indicators across the business. By understanding business performance at the key stages of the customer journey (e.g., “Discovery,” “Trial,” “Purchase,” “Usage”) leaders of the different functions of the company (Marketing, Sales, Product, Finance) can align on the most pressing issues and biggest opportunities and work together to address them.
PB: What are some examples of how you leverage a data-driven operating model at Adobe?
JC: Among the many use cases we have, we use DDOM (the Data Driven Operating Model) to help us understand if, when, and where we need to adjust what we’re doing with our marketing to do things like: increase traffic to our website (and for which products and in which regions); increase the number of people trialing our products; or increase our efforts on engagement marketing to increase the percentage of our users who are using one of our products.
PB: How does this approach help tell a compelling marketing story?
JC: With DDOM, Adobe has the ability to understand the impact of marketing throughout the customer journey (because we can see marketing’s impact at each stage of the journey and on different groups of customers across their lifecycle). We can, for example, demonstrate which marketing activities are more/less responsible (i.e., effective) for attracting customers to our business, and also which of those customers turns out to be more (vs. less) engaged in our products, are more likely to have higher loyalty and lifetime value.
PB: What will people gain from your conference presentation?
JC: Attendees will learn about the benefits of integrating their siloed customer data and applying a customer-journey framework (and operating model). We’ll discuss how aligning cross-company operations to this framework creates better focus, alignment and performance for the business.
Want to hear more from John? Join us at The Market Research Event(TMRE). Learn, network and share best practices with the most influential leaders in market research. Stay connected at #TMREVENT.
Welcome to Brilliance@Work, a series of profiles about stellar marketing professionals and their best practices at work. During the next couple of months, we’ll feature market research experts.
Creating an effective customer story starts with empathy. Great storytelling evokes emotion, which causes your customers to take action. Help your organization build customer relationships that matter through empathy like they do at PepsiCo. Nick Graham is VP, Insights at PepsiCo. He’s also a presenter at The Market Research Event(TMRE) on Nov. 5-7, 2019 at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Nick Graham
As a preview to his presentation, Nick shares his perspectives on “Hearing the Heartbeat Behind the Data: The Power of Empathy in a World of Big Data.”
Peggy L. Bieniek, ABC: How can leveraging empathy help shape an organization’s future success?
Nick Graham: In a world of big data, it’s important to remember that marketing is more than just a series of faceless transactions. There’s a real human heartbeat at the end of all those 1s and 0s, a person we can build a meaningful, lasting relationship with. And that’s where empathy comes into play. In building a deeper understanding of the people who buy our brands, we elevate our marketing beyond the generic and create products, programs and communications with the power to make people feel heard, moved and inspired. The time we invest in understanding their lives and what truly matters to them is time invested in building long-term customer value.
PB: What are some examples of how you leverage empathy at PepsiCo?
NG: At PepsiCo, consumer centricity (or should I say “people” centricity) is at the heart of everything we do. While we continue to invest in big data solutions, we’ve also made a conscious effort to invest in building empathy programs that help our teams really get to know the people who buy our brands.
This year, for example, we paired every single marketer in the North American Beverages marketing team with a consumer “pen pal.” Through a year-long program of video calls and online discussions, our marketers build a deeper relationship with their consumer pen pal and get to know them as an individual, not just numbers on a page.
We also get out and meet people on their own turf, experiencing the world the way they do. The Gatorade team, for example, routinely spends time with athletes and has discovered there’s a huge difference between hearing about the competitive spirit and witnessing it firsthand.
Mountain Dew Amp Game Fuel, which we launched earlier this year, was inspired by the time we spent with the gaming community, watching them game and hearing them talk about what drives their performance. Everything from the ingredient benefits to the package design came from a deep empathy for this consumer. Above and beyond these specific initiatives, a focus on empathetic thinking encourages our teams to break out of their bubble, change their perspective and inspire more human story-based discussions.
PB: How does this approach help tell a compelling marketing story?
NG: We believe that marketing has the power to move and inspire people at a deep, human level. Empathy helps our marketers break out of their blind spots, open their eyes to the human side of the consumer and flips the conversation from brand-led to people-led. Instead of starting with our brands and looking for ways to insert them into people’s lives, we start by understanding real people: their likes, dislikes, values, motivations, daily struggles, and everything else that makes them human. And that is the starting point for any great story, one that will truly connect with the listener.
PB: What will people gain from your conference presentation?
NG: There’s no doubt that the future of marketing will be shaped by big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning, but I hope people will find this a compelling reminder to find the human heartbeat in the data, the deeper why that can elevate our marketing and build consumer relationships that last a lifetime.
Want to hear more from Nick? Join us at The Market Research Event(TMRE). Learn, network and share best practices with the most influential leaders in market research. Stay connected at #TMREVENT.
Welcome to Brilliance@Work, a series of profiles about stellar marketing professionals and their best practices at work. During the next couple of months, we’ll feature market research experts.
Help your organization transform the value they create for customers, employees and other key stakeholders by providing accessible digital experiences for everyone, like they aim to do at United Airlines. Breanne Abo is Senior UX Researcher at United Airlines. She’s also a presenter at The Market Research Event(TMRE) on Nov. 5-7, 2019 at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Breanne Abo
As a preview to her presentation, Breanne shares her perspectives on “The Role of UX in Creating Digital Experiences for All.”
Peggy L. Bieniek, ABC: How can digital accessibility help shape an organization’s future success?
Breanne Abo: As digital experiences become more and more focused on allowing people to engage with an organization or brand in a personal way, it is critical for companies to ensure these experiences reach as many customers as possible. I believe there is no better way to build trust and loyalty in a customer base than to make people feel heard, seen and acknowledged. In order to serve and reach the greatest amount of customers, you have to ensure your products and services are accessible to all customers.
PB: How did the Digital Accessibility Task Force help transform or contribute to United Airlines’ culture?
BA: When we began the Digital Accessibility Task Force at United Airlines we already had passionate employees, working hard to provide digitally and physically accessible experiences to our customers. Since forming the task force, we have been able to come together to learn from our experiences working in the space and working together on additional ways to continue to serve all customers. One of the most important aspects of the task force has been to bring heightened awareness to the importance of this work and creating new advocates within our teams. In order for digital accessibility to be successful, it has to be integrated in the daily work of everyone.
PB: How does this transformation help tell a compelling marketing story?
BA: Making meaningful personal connections with customers is critical for companies and organizations. Making accessible products is one of many ways that you can say to our customers of all abilities that we understand you are an important contributor to our company’s story and success.
PB: What will people gain from your conference presentation?
BA: At our presentation, my co-worker and I will be sharing our experience as part of the Digital Accessibility Task Force at United Airlines. We hope to provide tips for how you can bring more awareness to accessibility work in your organization, no matter how far along you are in your efforts, as well as provide examples from recent success stories from United. Most importantly we will share the sentiment that accessibility is not an end point or a check box to complete; it is an ongoing journey that we invite you and your organization to take in order to provide meaningful experiences to all users.
Want to hear more from Breanne? Join us at The Market Research Event(TMRE). Learn, network and share best practices with the most influential leaders in market research. Stay connected at #TMREVENT.
Welcome to Brilliance@Work, a series of profiles about stellar marketing professionals and their best practices at work. During the next couple of months, we’ll feature market research experts.
Analyzing data is only part of conducting marketing research. Putting that data into context is what creates new knowledge and insights to support your organization’s success in the marketplace. Lindsey Clawson is Director of Knowledge Strategy at USP. She’s also a presenter at The Market Research Event(TMRE) on Nov. 5-7, 2019 at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Lindsey Clawson
As a preview to her presentation, Lindsey shares her perspectives on “Scanning the Horizon with Secondary Research.”
Peggy L. Bieniek, ABC: How is USP’s Secondary Research team helping to shape the organization’s future success?
Lindsey Clawson: The Secondary Research team helps USP see trends in context. For example, we may be on top of the opioids crisis in terms of knowing the latest statistics and interventions, but what is the scale of that versus pollution-related illnesses? We need to be responsive to hot-button, pressing public health needs, without losing sight of the global landscape. The secondary research discipline maintains that awareness, surveying the global health environment and placing new findings in relation to others. This approach empowers informed, proactive decision making at USP.
PB: What role does USP’s Secondary Research team play in helping to measure brand performance?
LC: Brand performance is something many teams at USP investigate and support. The unique approach from secondary research is tracking down additional, sometimes surprising, outlets which offer unique insights. In the past we’ve looked at citations of USP’s work in academic literature as one measure of performance, search engine results and where USP ranks compared to other standards providers, mentions of USP in trade press, and even comments made by relevant stakeholders such as regulators, public health organizations, or aid organizations. At a high level this might play out in an overall balance of positive versus negative mentions, but also pinpoints recent changes in the context of long-term brand recognition and performance.
Follow-up secondary research then investigates what factors may have led to a performance surge or decline. By understanding USP’s history, its major milestones and interventions, we can piece together the context surrounding that performance in order to paint a complete picture and thus inform our leadership and staff.
PB: How does USP’s Secondary Research team help tell a compelling marketing story?
LC: We’ve found that time and again, evidence and quotes from those impacted make a story stick. The team works to find credible data as well as expert quotes from news outlets or their own works, and weaves those into the research reports. Our primary research teammates are great counterparts in this regard, as both thought partners and sources of original survey findings with qualitative and quantitative content. With both the primary and secondary teams, we can look at prior survey results and secondary materials and piece together new takeaways. Once we develop these insights, the secondary research group finds different ways to highlight compelling points. We’ve studied layout and design, and taken tips from our marketing group to use elements such as pull quotes or enlarged, high impact data points to drive a point home. For example, in past work we anchored a slide on the number of people prematurely killed by pollution each year (7 million globally).
The data also needs to be pulled into a story that connects a trend or problem to stories about people. Dry data and complex charts are great for backup Appendix documentation, but within the report we try a more narrative format. The team will use headers that advance the narrative, which is then fleshed out with slide text and charts. Together these elements present the secondary sources in a way which leads to a novel insight. We take the reader along on this path of discovery.
PB: What will people gain from your conference presentation? LC: They will learn about what a strong, nimble secondary research team can accomplish. I’ll be sharing approaches we take, from methodologies to collaboration and internal consulting, to how we overcome common challenges in the B2B space where information is not as consistent or comprehensive as in B2C. Attendees will learn about the approaches and takeaways which resonate best with different audiences – C-suite executives down to front line staff –with a sharp eye to the end benefit of such work when it resonates with those stakeholders.
There will also be a discussion about what the way forward may be, integrating different resources such as contract or temp-to-hire and globally dispersed researchers, refining our skills and reflecting on opportunities to improve, and utilizing new digital capabilities to amplify the impact of our work within the organization such as through Knowledge Management and Communities of Practice.
Want to hear more from Lindsey? Join us at The Market Research Event(TMRE). Learn, network and share best practices with the most influential leaders in market research. Stay connected at #TMREVENT.
Welcome to Brilliance@Work, a series of profiles about stellar marketing professionals and their best practices at work. During the next couple of months, we’ll feature market research experts.
Creating an effective customer story starts with empathy. Help your organization transform the value they create for customers, employees and other key stakeholders by understanding your audiences’ key emotional drivers, like they do at Zillow.
Laura Eddy is Senior Director, Consumer & Customer Insights at Zillow. She’s also a presenter at The Market Research Event(TMRE) on Nov. 5-7, 2019 at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Laura Eddy
As a preview to her presentation, Laura shares her perspectives on “My Insights Journey from Packaged Goods to Technology.”
Peggy L. Bieniek, ABC: How did your experiences in consumer insights shape your character and career?
Laura Eddy: Working in Consumer Insights over time makes you empathetic to the people around you. You begin to really internalize that everyone has a unique story and it is likely not just the story that they may present on the surface. That leads to listening more closely to what people tell you, and almost more importantly, what they don’t say.
I like to think this skill set has been applied to my job and career in a way where I can hear the deeper questions and needs that leaders have when facing critical decisions to drive business forward, even if they can’t always fully articulate them. This leads to stronger solutions that address the underlying issues and can significantly change the strategic direction of the organization.
PB: What role does technology play in the performance of a brand?
LE: Technology works on many different levels. First, we use technology to gain insight. It should be no secret that new technology is enabling us to understand our customers in new and interesting ways. For example, we listen to social chatter to learn about topics that we did not think to ask consumers about, and we leverage new tools like AI to determine consumer needs and wants without having to constantly ask. Second, we use technology to better access our customer and every bit as importantly, let them access and interact with us. We need to be where the customer is and as they get deeper into new technologies, we need to be there to deliver the very best context appropriate content. Third, we use technology to create better communication. New technology is allowing our marketing teams to create new and stimulating communication with improved media devices, enhanced graphics, and new voice technology.
Finally, we use technology to build better products and services to meet our customer’s ever-changing needs.
Zillow was built on the idea of data transparency and giving people the power of that data to make decisions for themselves in the real estate space. Keep in mind, as recently as 15 years ago, if you wanted to know what your house was worth, you were dependent on a real estate agent or your city’s tax department telling you that information. With technology, people now have that kind of information easily accessible. We continue to push the envelope in helping people stay informed.
PB: What are some of your most notable projects?
LE: There have been a few projects over several employers that I have been very proud of:
In 2010, Walmart became one of the first major companies to leverage Facebook to make social and local connections with customers – while there is a lot of value to this from a brand building perspective, the question came up of whether this drove actual business revenue. My team developed one of the first analyses for determining the value of a Facebook fan, even before Facebook themselves did this kind of analysis. I remember presenting that work to Sheryl Sandberg in a converted warehouse office at Walmart. Once Facebook developed their protocols, we went back and checked the results – it turns out we were off on our estimates by less than 10% of actuals, which felt pretty awesome.
At Amazon, one of the really cool insights we produced was around the idea that Alexawas seen by customers as a beloved member of the family (in fact, at the time, one of the top questions asked was “Alexa, will you marry me?”), which drove a step-change in how Amazon marketed some devices. Rather than focus on the hardware or on the device and ancillary features directly, the Marketing team pivoted its attention to Alexa and the AI. This idea helped create the idea of a device ecosystem all connected via customer-favorite Alexa for Amazon to interact with consumers.
Zillow, though, has been the place where I think I have had the greatest impact on the brand and business. We have delivered foundational work that showed just how painful the home selling process is for consumers, which led to the creation of a new business called Zillow Offers – this business now accounts for over 40% of Zillow’s revenue and is growing by leaps and bounds. Some of our new projects include envisioning the future landscape of the real estate marketplace – we are combining a series of methodologies like customer journey mapping, futuring and war gaming to construct an ideal customer experience. We are incredibly fortunate that hunger and willingness to embrace the needs and wants of the customer are the guiding principle at Zillow.
PB: What will people gain from your conference presentation?
LE: Insight, of course! Great insight is often generated by real emotion, and making a major career change from one industry that you are familiar/comfortable with, to an industry that is new, different and constantly changing can create many meaningful emotions. We want to shine a light on the process of transitioning from one industry to another, and share what you might expect and how to prepare for it.
We want to try and answer the questions that might be keeping you up at night about making this kind of move – the risks, the reward, the effort. It is no secret, companies are not as loyal to their employees as they once were, you must be prepared for an ever changing future.
If you have been wondering if you should make this type of move and just want to learn more, please join us.
Want to hear more from Laura? Join us at The Market Research Event(TMRE). Learn, network and share best practices with the most influential leaders in market research. Stay connected at #TMREVENT.
Welcome to Brilliance@Work, a series of profiles about stellar marketing professionals and their best practices at work. During the next couple of months, we’ll feature market research experts.
Looking at user experience from a holistic viewpoint is critical to help grow your organization and change the way you innovate for your customers. Once you understand your customers, you can design experiences they will strongly identify with.
Jordan Girman
Jordan Girman is Senior Director, User Experience Research at Glassdoor. He’s also a presenter at The Market Research Event(TMRE) on Nov. 5-7, 2019 at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
As a preview to his presentation, Jordan shares his perspectives on “Designing Connected Experience with the Context of the User in Mind.”
Peggy L. Bieniek, ABC: How did your experiences in UX design shape your character and career?
Jordan Girman: When I started my career, there wasn’t really a field called UX. There were the beginnings of it, but most people were termed as information architects and the field was still getting defined. I think that what really drew me to it was that I could be a part of that definition, and I liked the “wild west” feel of developing process and seeing what worked and what didn’t. So, the first thing that UX taught me was to say “I can do that,” and then realizing I could actually figure out how to do it. It felt empowering and made me feel valuable.
The second thing I learned was how to separate myself from my work. When I first started to design, I would look at how I did something, then apply that to my design. Very much “I like the color blue, so everyone else must like this color too.” Changing my approach from “I think it should be this” to “What would the user do in this situation” radically changed not just how I design, but how I approach leadership and problem solving. Research and understanding context or the problem and people I work with are all major parts of why I have been successful.
Additionally, as I advanced in my career, I really learned how to step back from the item that I was working on and then view the project from a holistic perspective. Being able to see how what I am working on extends to a larger world, being able to zero in on small interaction and zoom out to a larger view of the experience translated into strategy and vision work.
PB: What role does UX play in the performance of a brand?
JG: Really any touchpoint plays into the user experience for someone interacting with your product. What that means is that someone who sees a YouTube video, listens to a radio advertisement, talks to a CSM or has an interaction with your website plays into that person’s perception of the company. Too often companies ship their org chart and think their users perceive their product the same way as the company does internally. But to a user, they are not interacting with ‘the mobile channel’ or ‘the brick and mortar,’ they are just interacting with the company, and it’s one thing to them.
Because of this, UX is tied to the brand, and the brand is tied to the UX. If the advertisements and overall design of the marketing assets are vastly different from the product design, then experience of transition from buying to using suffers. Same goes true if the user experience is poor on the product, then the perception of the brand suffers.
At Glassdoor, we are working on ways that brand design and product design collaborate to make a seamless experience throughout every touchpoint for the job seeker and employer. It’s not easy, but we will get there.
PB: What are some of your most notable projects?
JG: In my early days, I was a big part of redesigning the Mercedes-Benz USA site (MBUSA.com) for an agency called Critical Mass. From there, I was part of starting a UX agency working with a variety of clients. Eventually, I transitioned to product design working on large scale video games for Electronic Arts. There I did redesigns for NHL and the first iteration of UFC, and eventually building design systems for the overall EA online marketing experience. Currently at Glassdoor, we are looking at how to radically change how people search for jobs in the future.
PB: What will people gain from attending your conference presentation?
JG: I hope to see people change their perspective of how their users interact with the internet and they can take the learning and apply it to their product. As we transition to mobile devices, user experience has so many more influences outside of the screen and every company needs to start thinking about how to accommodate those outside influences.
Want to hear more from Jordan? Join us at The Market Research Event(TMRE). Learn, network and share best practices with the most influential leaders in market research. Stay connected at #TMREVENT.
Welcome to Brilliance@Work, a series of profiles about stellar marketing professionals and their best practices at work. During the next couple of months, we’ll feature market research experts.
Bringing technology to life includes having the creativity and imagination of an artist. It also requires having the insights and analytics to ensure sustainable success in the marketplace.
Antony Barton
Antony Barton is Director, Global Insights and Analytics at Intel. He’s also a presenter at The Market Research Event (TMRE) on Nov. 5-7, 2019 at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
As a preview to his presentation, Antony shares his perspectives on “Leveraging Insights to Drive Intel’s Future Vision of the Laptop.”
Peggy L. Bieniek, ABC: How is Intel’s Insights & Analytics team helping to shape the organization’s future success?
Antony Barton: Our insights function is focused on driving insights into product development (e.g. 12 to 36 months) and marketing strategy (e.g. 0 to 18 months). This includes helping our business unit (focused on the development of next generation PCs) to bring forth the best products as possible; and support our marketing strategy team to develop effective marketing campaigns that communicate the benefits of Intel’s new technologies. We deploy a number of different types of insights methodologies to drive our insights into decision making including ethnographic studies, more traditional qualitative techniques, quantitative approaches including feature prioritization and optimization, pricing studies, audience segmentation, and message testing.
PB: What role does Intel’s Insights & Analytics team play in helping to measure brand performance?
AB: Measuring the health of the Intel brand among our target audiences (both B2B and consumer) is a key part of our insights function. From time to time, we also deploy more in-depth methods to better understand what our brand means and stands for; including looking by different age groups. This is important as perceptions of technology brands are constantly changing as new products and services arise.
PB: How does Intel’s Insights & Analytics team help tell a compelling marketing story?
AB: Helping our marketing colleagues bring our technology to life in an easy to understand and compelling fashion that encourages our target audience to buy a new PC is a super important part of our job. We are also often working with our eco-system partners to ensure we are coordinated in our approach (e.g. Microsoft and Dell and HP), including sharing insights.
PB: What will people gain from your conference presentation? AB: Today the ability to impact significant decision-making with insights is often dependent on how you can best bring together multiple streams of insights into a coherent story that executives can quickly understand and take action on. My talk will center on what I believe are best practices as its relates to leveraging multiple research methodologies (e.g. deep ethnographic, synthesizing secondary research, and traditional qualitative and quantitative) and the resulting insights that significantly impacted Intel’s most important mobile computing innovation decision in the past 10 years.
Want to hear more from Antony? Join us at The Market Research Event(TMRE). Learn, network and share best practices with the most influential leaders in market research. Stay connected at #TMREVENT.
Welcome to Brilliance@Work, a series of profiles about stellar marketing professionals and their best practices at work. This month, we’ll feature market research experts.
Elizabeth Sloan
Understanding consumers and how they feel about television content has been the focus of The Disney-ABC Television Group’s efforts in measuring the non-conscious reactions to their programs and integrating these insights with traditional market research methods.
Elizabeth Sloan is Senior Vice President, Consumer Insights at Disney-ABC Television Group at The Walt Disney Company. She’s also a presenter at The Market Research Event (TMRE)on October 16-18 at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona.
As a preview to her presentation, “The Notion of Emotion: Measuring Non-Conscious Response to Content,” Elizabeth shares her insights on understanding the complex role emotions play in consumer behavior
Peggy L. Bieniek, ABC: What is the science behind the role that emotion plays in consumer behavior?
Elizabeth Sloan: Neuroscientists, psychologists and sociologists have long-studied the physical impact that emotions have on our bodies. When we experience emotions – even within the fictional context of a television show – our body produces chemicals that keep us engaged and activates parts of the brain that make those stories more memorable. From other research conducted internally at The Walt Disney Company, we know that higher levels of emotional engagement make you more likely to stay tuned during commercial breaks, which is tremendously important for our ad supported networks.
PB: How can marketers and market researchers benefit from understanding this science?
ES: While our work has primarily been focused on understanding the emotional impact of long-form content, marketers can certainly benefit from understanding the level of emotional engagement generated by their content, especially as an added layer to other key performance indicators. Observed emotional responses, in addition to ad recall or purchase intent, may help them hone in on the best strategy or content execution. Market researchers across industries can benefit by seeing how the combination of non-conscious reactions and self-reported data can give us a more complete picture of potential behavior.
PB: How does Disney-ABC TV use this science to support their content creation efforts?
ES: Our team works closely with the creative executives who develop new series each year and shepherd those shows through the production process. Our observed emotional research is becoming an integral part of our pilot testing process, and we’re working to make it a staple across all of our primary research.
PB: What will people gain from attending your conference presentation? ES: I think attendees may be surprised by some of the innovative techniques and technological advancements our “traditional” media company is utilizing to make business decisions and optimize content. Our journey from idea to innovation has been a long and winding road filled with interesting obstacles and opportunities, so they will at the very least enjoy an entertaining (and emotionally impactful) story!
Want to hear more from Elizabeth? Join us at The Market Research Event(TMRE). Learn, network and share best practices with the most influential leaders in market research. Stay connected at #TMREVENT.
Starry Blue Brilliance 