Back in the dark ages when I was studying for my undergraduate degree at university, I took a job doing market research for a well known car manufacturer, who will remain nameless of course, to try and earn some extra money. They gave me the thankless task of interviewing as many people as possible to find out what sort of cars they drove, how long they kept them, what specifications they preferred and the list went on! The questionnaires were so long I originally refused to do the job; however being a poor student, I took the temporary contract and lived to regret it. If there’s one thing that experience taught me, it was how not to do market research. No one likes being approached by a complete stranger when they’re going about their business on a Saturday morning in the supermarket, or being called at work, right when you’re in the middle of finishing something important. Worse still, was the number of questions I had to ask these unsuspecting passersby; if 20 plus questions was enough to drive them to distraction, try asking them 500 times.
So what’s the moral of my story?
If you’re anything like me, you’ll agree the days of cold calling people right in the middle of their dinner to ask … “a few short questions regarding your bank and to get your feedback”… should remain firmly in the dark ages (when I was still at university). Luckily for us, companies like Nextplora are paving the way in Social Market Research. Nextplora is a full service market research firm for companies throughout Europe that have perfected the use of both traditional and social market research strategies. It engages more than 50,000 consumers online to refine brand strategies, generate product ideas and gauge customer satisfaction for leading companies, including Kraft, L’Oreal, Danone and McDonald’s; all without having to disturb someone while they’re having their dinner – Impressive!
Nextplora’s new approach to market research focuses on getting product ideas and customer feedback via new, innovative social means. Their solution is built on the Telligent platform and uses the InnovationCast™ application to gather new ideas. Ideas are grouped into products or services designed for everyday consumption, with categories like dress, work, study, fun, food and learning, and many others. Participants can then earn small incentives when they make comments, ratings and reviews on different ideas and are also incentivized to post new product ideas to the community.
Now, if proof were in the pudding, these stats would be chocolate cake! Since October 2011, members have been actively participating and contributing new ideas, including:
So with that in mind, I leave you with one suggestion, why not read the full case study and also check out our page dedicated to Interactive Marketing – you never know, you might learn something new that will turn your productivity stats into chocolate cake!