The way we shop has changed forever. The purchase funnel has become more complex. Today’s shoppers increasingly rely on a growing number of online tools to inform their purchasing decisions. Consequently, marketers are scrambling to understand all these new touch-points that influence consumers and where and how consumers are accessing product information. In a world in which there is a higher and more urgent need to get accurate consumer insights at every step of the shopping journey, how can researchers gain access to a 360-degree Read more »

Denver, CO – Just in time for back-to-school, students have sent researchers back to school by driving home the point that it’s not just technology that enables companies to learn about their buying habits, it’s also the ability and flexibility to walk a mile in their shoes to experience the process they go through when deciding on major purchases for college.   In a study that challenges the conventional wisdom, Hewlett-Packard and Qualvu partnered to accompany soon-to-be college freshmen as they considered, evaluated and purchased Read more »

The greater the ability to follow the natural inclinations and habits of the consumer, the better insights we gather. Innovative qualitative research trends and technology deliver better value only if they allow you to truly get into consumers’ lives and get to know them in their element. Qualvu’s John Williamson and Hewlett-Packard’s Sterling Jackson will challenge how you think about mobile research. They will discuss why you should be focusing on the desired outcome and objectives of the study, rather than obsessing on the technology Read more »

I had the opportunity to speak to a couple of hundred business owners and decision makers at the Digital Summit 2011 (Twitter #DSUMM11) this week, and I came away with some invigorating impressions. First, small businesses are aggressively embracing online video, in many cases more so than their larger enterprise counterparts. Small to mid-sized firms (SMB) realize the need to execute lean, effective and innovative strategies to connect with their customers, and virtually all the SMB’s I talked to see online video as the critical Read more »

Messaging matters, as this sign from an entrepreneur clearly shows.  But do your clients clearly understand what you’re saying?  What we think we say isn’t always what the consumer hears; what we write isn’t always what a consumer reads.  When a meat market advertises a special on “ground hog meat,” will a consumer think that it’s advertising “groundhog meat”?   Often times what you need to do is connect visually and verbally with your customers – ask them to take a look at your own Read more »

…It’s time for you to start seeing more about your customers. Most consumers would never describe themselves as “promiscuous,” but the influence of the Internet and changes in technology, content and the way consumers send and receive information have made them much less loyal to familiar brands and much more open to new influences.   The result is that the traditional marketing practice of spending the majority of marketing dollars into building brand awareness and closing the sale at the point of purchase just doesn’t Read more »

If, as the lyrics of the song go, Santa “..knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, he knows when you’ve been bad or good…” well, that makes Santa the envy of all retailers trying to gain insights into their customers at Christmas. If only they knew what Santa knows, they might have to work only one day a year, too!  That’s because knowing what’s in the mind of the customer leads directly to what’s in the bank account of the retailer.   Read more »