For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Updated Q3 2010: The Consumer Product Strategist's Guide To Segmentation Analysis

Don't Leave Segmentation To The Market Research Department Alone

by J.P. Gownder, September 1, 2010

Early last year, we introduced consumer product strategy (CPS) pros to the power of segmentation analysis. We found that designing new products, innovating existing products, and messaging their value proposition was made easier with audience-specific . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Latin American Social Technographics® Revealed

How Can Companies Leverage Latin Americans' Love of Social Media?

by Roxana Strohmenger, August 9, 2010

Forrester's Social Technographics® profiles reveal that online metropolitan Brazilians and Mexicans are voracious consumers of social media and are the most active across every level of social engagement in all of the markets we survey. Companies trying . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Segment Social Media Behaviors To Improve Tech Vendor Marketing Plans

by Peter O'Neill, July 27, 2010

Forrester's Social Technographics® survey, now in its second year, depicts the social media behaviors of more than 1,000 tech buyers from around the world. Tech marketers can use this data to plan marketing programs, campaigns, and collateral, each of . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Case Study: How KLM Expanded The Influence Of Market Research With Its "In Touch" Community

In Touch Significantly Increases Efficiencies In KLM's Multicountry Research

by Tamara Barber, July 6, 2010

In 2008, Dutch airline KLM worked with Communispace to launch its first market research online community (MROC) — called In touch — to better understand the Elite members of its Flying Blue frequent flyer program across five different European countries. . . .

For Market Research Professionals

A Market Researcher's Introduction To Owned, Paid, And Earned Media

by Reineke Reitsma, July 2, 2010

The terms "owned media," "paid media," and "earned media" have become very popular in the marketing space today. Marketers need to understand the benefits of each medium and how to identify the role each should play based on their objectives. Ultimately, . . .

For Market Research Professionals

A Market Researcher's Introduction To The Future Of Online Customer Experience

by Reineke Reitsma, June 30, 2010

The types of devices people use to connect to the Web are proliferating. Portable devices are rapidly getting more powerful, and as a result, the tradeoff between mobility and capability is shrinking. And as the hardware evolves, the interfaces on the . . .

For Market Research Professionals

How Can Market Researchers Get Social?

Growing Trends And Current Challenges In Social Market Research

by Tamara Barber, May 10, 2010

As consumer adoption of social media increases and companies expand their use of social media across the organization, market research professionals must consider if and how they can use social media in a way that adds value to their work. Forrester sees . . .

For Market Research Professionals

The Marketing Of Market Research: Prioritization Of Work

by Reineke Reitsma, February 10, 2010

Market researchers deal with a constant stream of requests from multiple departments and internal clients, which often results in too much to do in too little time. In such an environment, it's easy to serve the one who bangs the loudest first. Introducing . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

For B2B Tech Companies, Demographics Shape Adoption

Technographics® Data Depict Critical Differences Among Target Audiences

by Tom Grant, Ph.D., January 28, 2010

Technology companies must appreciate the critical differences among customers. Each demographic dimension — geography, industry, company size, and role — affects customer adoption paths. For tech marketers, choosing the right channel of influence requires . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Predictions 2010: What Will Happen In Market Research

Ten Trends That Will Shape Consumer Market Research In 2010

by Reineke Reitsma, December 22, 2009

Like so many people, market researchers have been through a lot in the past year. They saw their workload change significantly in 2009 because of an increased need for information, with higher expectations but with fewer resources. Simultaneously, they . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Social Media Offer Some Relief For High-Quality B2B Market Research Sample

But It Will Take Time For The Solutions To Mature

by Brad Bortner, December 9, 2009

Online survey research is fast, relatively inexpensive, and the default for many market researchers today. But, business-to-business (B2B) market researchers have a unique challenge in that getting enough good sample to execute effective research is hard. . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Predictions 2010: What Lies In Store For Market Research Tech Vendors

by Brad Bortner, December 3, 2009

It's been a tough year in the research industry, but not for all vendors. While full-service firms have languished, online tool vendors have seen strong growth driven by enterprises in-sourcing some aspects of their research in a quest to do more with . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Best Practices For Community Research Success

Successfully Managing MROCs Requires Measurement And Collaboration

by Tamara Barber, November 24, 2009

More and more companies are adding a market research online community (MROC) to their research mix. But to make community research a valuable addition to the company, consumer market research professionals need to master tactics they are less familiar . . .

For Market Research Professionals

The Impact Of The Recession On Market Research Professionals' Workload

by Reineke Reitsma, November 23, 2009

To better understand how the recession has changed market researchers' lives in the past year, we've conducted a survey of Forrester's Research Panel For Market Research Professionals about workload, the recession, and prioritization. The outcome shows . . .

For Market Research Professionals

The Online Panel Quality Wars: All Market Researchers Benefit — Especially B2B Tech

by Brad Bortner, November 20, 2009

At the same time that online quantitative research has taken off, dubiousness abounds about the representation of the online panel sample. Buyers ask: Are panels representative of the markets researchers use them for? What can we do about the moral hazard . . .

For Market Research Professionals

What Type Of Market Research Online Community Vendor Should Tech B2B Market Researchers Use?

Three Choices Exist, Dependent On Budget, Usage Pattern, And Support Needs

by Brad Bortner, November 19, 2009

Market research online communities (MROCS) are the next wave in qualitative research, due to their combination of new qualitative research capabilities and ability to provide cheaper faster results. There is, however, buyer confusion about what type of . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Case Study: How Fox And Microsoft Used Mobile Research To Measure Movie Advertising Impact

Mobile Research Helped Gain Insight In The Buildup Of Movie Promotion

by Reineke Reitsma, November 10, 2009

Fox and Microsoft Advertising collaborated on a project at the end of 2008 to better understand the impact of and the interaction between the different media channels used to promote movies. They used MESH Planning's mobile research methodology, called . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Assumption Personas Help Overcome Hurdles To Using Research-Based Design Personas

by Jonathan Browne, November 4, 2009

Forrester recommends that customer experience professionals use personas founded in ethnographic research to guide the design of products, channels, and messages. However, some organizations struggle to use personas effectively. To overcome common barriers . . .

For Market Research Professionals

The Marketing Of Market Research: Successful Communication Builds Influence

by Reineke Reitsma, November 4, 2009

One of the biggest challenges that market researchers face is to show the added value of market research to the company and to gain influence at the executive level. To increase visibility, market researchers need to communicate constantly, consistently, . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Do B2B Customer Satisfaction Right In Tech

Implementing Four Key Disciplines Will Save You Time And Money

by Brad Bortner, October 27, 2009

Business-to-business (B2B) customer satisfaction research is not some sort of rare, exotic research. The same benefits of highly satisfied consumer customers will come to those who execute on actionable B2B customer satisfaction research, including enhanced . . .

For Market Research Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Full-Service Market Research Online Community Vendors, Q4 2009

Communispace And Vision Critical Lead In A Space That's Heating Up

by Tamara Barber, October 22, 2009

In Forrester's 46-criteria evaluation of six full-service market research online community (MROC) vendors, we found that Communispace and Vision Critical led the pack because of the former's commitment to high customer service and deliverables and the . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Targeting Small Business Tech Buyers: The Power Of Owner Personalities

Factoring For Small Business Market Heterogeneity

by Tim Harmon, October 15, 2009

The siren call of the small business (SB) market's sheer size, along with its propensity to lead technology investment in an economic recovery and its increasingly advanced technology adoption patterns, is a compelling target. But the small business market . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Market Research Online Communities Gain Visibility And Uptake

Demand For Flexibility And Quality Opens The Door To New Vendors

by Tamara Barber, October 7, 2009

Market researchers are aware of and interested in using market research online communities (MROCs). However, according to results from Forrester's Q3 2009 Global MROC Online Survey, many don't know exactly how to bring online communities into their research . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Use Online Communities For Strategic Insight

Member Opinions Will Strengthen Your Marketing Strategies

by Lisa Bradner, August 12, 2009

Community input offers marketers an intimate &mdash and continuous &mdash understanding of brands, but only if you're willing to listen closely to what members have to say. If you're ready to improve your brand strategy using community insights, . . .

For Market Research Professionals

The Opportunities And Challenges Of Mobile Research

Mobile Research Adds "Anytime, Anywhere" To The Research Mix

by Reineke Reitsma, July 20, 2009

Mobile research is still limited in uptake, but it will gain momentum in the years to come as mobile Internet penetration grows. Its mobility and flexibility offer consumer market research professionals new ways of setting up research and gaining insight . . .