Using research to understand, develop and promote your brand

Our research gives our clients the independent and robust analysis needed to support, measure and implement their communication and promotion activities.

• Assessing the effectiveness of your marketing

Case Study: Price cuts or advertising spend: which boosts supermarket sales most?

Many supermarket chains aggressively cut the price of staple food items in an attempt to improve market share — but is price the real driver of shopping behaviour? Our detailed econometric analysis of sales and revenue data from all the major retailers demonstrated that aggressive price promotion failed to deliver either more customers or higher revenues — customer loyalty can’t be bought for a few pence off the price of baked beans. But spending on advertising did have an impact: increasing market share and receipts. Indeed, we were able to quantify the extra sales achieved for every £1 spent on advertising.

• Consolidating market position

Case Study: Making the biggest the Number 1 expert

As the country’s largest DIY retailer, B&Q wanted to consolidate their position by demonstrating their expert understanding of the industry. We provided a range of research — including identifying the top 10 projects to improve the value of your home, forecasting DIY sales and showing how the industry is an excellent barometer of consumers’ confidence — to help them produce the definitive ‘market report’ on the sector. The report as a whole, plus each of the individual strands of research, provided the basis of a highly successful media campaign over several months.

• Owning your market segment

Case Study: Showing you understand your customers

Saga Financial Services wanted to demonstrate their understanding of the issues facing their market: the over 50 year-olds. Despite government statistics showing record low levels of inflation, we helped our client demonstrate that the price rises facing the typical over 50s’ household were much higher than the officially reported average. With the purchasing patterns among this age group very different to the national average, inflation has been placing a greater burden on the home finances of the so-called ‘grey market’. Our research enabled Saga to raise the media’s awareness of issues facing the over 50s.

• Building and extending your brand through research

Case Study: Using the Europe debate to support a consumer financial services brand

Bradford & Bingley wanted to reinforce their reputation as an authoritative and independent voice within the financial services industry. We helped them compile the only comprehensive comparison of households’ finances across the major European countries. The report highlighted the different patterns of income, wealth, spending, indebtedness and saving across Europe, and formed the basis of a successful public relations campaign — with coverage across the full range media from the Telegraph to the Sun, plus broadcast.

• Broadening awareness

Case Study: Poll of polls places accountancy at the heart of the economic debate

As the fourth largest accountancy practice, BDO Stoy Hayward wanted to make an ongoing and heavyweight contribution to the debate on the state of the UK economy. Instead of conducting costly primary research, we devised for them a monthly index of business confidence that combines the results of a wide range of existing monitors into an economics “poll of polls”. The reports have achieved significant coverage in the business and economics pages of the press, as well as high profile broadcast media.

• Establishing a new brand

Case Study: Understanding real consumer concerns

As developers of an innovative website to help bring private healthcare companies and patients together, our client wanted to demonstrate their understanding of what really matters to people in need of health services. We developed a quarterly monitor of National Health Service waiting statistics; it showed how much time people would have to wait for NHS treatment in different regions and with different medical conditions. At the time, the government only published details of how many people were waiting — and not how long patients were typically waiting. Our report not only produced excellent material for the client’s public relations campaign, but also plugged a real and important gap in consumers’ information.