“It was good at first. We saw a little bit of each other, and then more and more. You were exactly what I was looking for, and you fitted in so seamlessly with my daily life. But then you changed. I tried to talk to you about it, but you never listened. There’s no communication between us, what kind of relationship does that leave us with? I’m sorry – it’s over.”
That’s what your customers might say to you…if you’re not listening to them.
And according to a recent report by the Chief Marketing Officer Council that’s what as many as two …read more

Getting reliable market research that’s both relevant and reliable can be difficult…not to mention expensive.
What if you could get information fresh from your customers for free?
If you’re not already using social media – tools like blogs and networking sites – here’s some solutions to help you find out what people are saying about your products or industry.
Blog searching
To search actual content, Google’s Blogs search function is quite effective at finding posts on influential blogs. However, there is also a comprehensive search by Technorati, which sorts by time published and allows the search to be customised. It is easier to find …read more

A new study published in the Perspectives on Psychological Science based on 600,000 survey responses reveals the personality traits of each state in the U.S. Primary categories of personality traits according to the Wall Street Journal include:

Extraversion
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Neuroticisim
Openness

It seems there is a pocket of states in the midwest that are highly extroverted and a pocket of states in the northeast that is highly neurotic. Not only do these results create a brand personality for each of these states (some good and some not so good), but it could also aid brands in broad demographic research.
The question is whether or not these …read more

Eighteen months ago, market research firm Turnkey Sports and Entertainment began a project to analyze the brands of professional sports teams using the following methodology according to SportsBusinessJournal.com:
“In late May and early June, Turnkey polled about 12,000 adult sports fans in the 47 North American markets that are home to a team in the NFL, NBA, NHL or Major League Baseball, surveying at least 200 and as many as 500 fans in each market, depending on the number of teams in each town.  They asked 20 questions relevant to each team’s brand: 14 meant to measure popularity and six meant …read more

I was exchanging emails with Gabriel Goldenberg from SEOROI.com when he brought up the topic of color branding.  I love this subject.  There are so many ways that color can have a positive or negative impact on your brand and much of it has been identified and validated through research. 
Branding Strategy Insider published a great post earlier this year that provided some key facts from color research that apply directly to marketing and branding.  Some of the highlights of the research cited in that post include:

The Apple iPhone has been on the market for a few weeks now, and USA Today reports that initial reactions from buyers have been tallied.  Interpret, a market research company in California, conducted an online survey of 1,000 cellphone users between July 6th and 10th.  The survey shows that 3 out of 10 iPhone buyers were first time Apple product owners.  That’s a major coup for the Apple brand.  Not surprisingly, 90% of the 200 iPhone users surveyed were extremely or very satisfied with their iPhone and 85% would recommend the iPhone to other people.  That word-of-mouth advertising should make …read more

Earlier this week, eMarketer reported the results from a Jupiter Research study that analyzed consumers’ usage of television versus the internet.  The results show a continued shift among adults toward spending a greater amount of time online and therefore, a greater importance in companies’ marketing strategies related to that medium.

Gfk Roper conducted a study of consumers late last year to learn what influenced people the most when it comes to making purchase decisions.  The study showed that advertising, marketing and pricing are not the biggest factors that influence consumers’ buying choices.  Instead, prior experience with a brand is at the top of the list.   Here is how the top four factors shook out: