Establishing reliable benchmarks and tracking the health of a brand and the success of marketing initiatives over time is imperative, but tracking research need not be limited to monitoring awareness, consideration, and stated intent.
W5’s approach to strategic tracking research goes beyond basic “brand funnel” metrics to explore an evolving marketplace, bringing depth and context to consumer behavior and attitudes. A more holistic and strategic approach to tracking research helps a company not only understand their relative brand health, but also how their brand is perceived and fits within the marketplace. In these situations, our clients have taken the time and made the investment to get their target consumers engaged in a survey…so why not dig a little deeper than the typical brand/ad tracking survey?
Here is an example of how we recently extended a brand health study into something more exploratory and ultimately, revealing:
REVEALING AND TRACKING CONSUMER ATTITUDES AND RETAIL BEHAVIORS
A category-leading CPG company partnered with W5 to better understand the state of their category and how to best position their products in stores. In addition to running brand health tracking research to map back to previously collected data, the study was extended to explore consumers’ attitudes and opinions about the category, brand and product, and examined consumers’ purchasing behaviors. The following year, a parallel wave of research was conducted to not only track the brand health but also the extended learning.
APPROACH
In addition to asking questions to compare back to the earlier waves of survey research, additional questions were included to derive a holistic view of the marketplace and the challenges facing the brand. These questions included exploration of consumers’ perceptions and expectations of the company, its competitors, and product locations in stores as well as opinions of new packaging options. Through in-depth tracking reporting, W5 illustrated new trends in the marketplace, communicated how consumers’ perceptions have changed over time, and highlighted shifts in consumers’ expectations.
RESULTS
The client used the study insights to guide branding and communications efforts to maintain their leadership role in the marketplace. The learning was also used as a resource for sales teams to inform communication with store management regarding the placement of products in stores. The information has allowed for the client’s products to be positioned competitively, and in the locations consumers expect to find them.
This is just one example of how W5 can do more with multiple wave tracking research than showing how brand and advertising health metrics have shifted over a time period. Contact us for additional perspective on strategic tracking research. We would be happy to share our W5 white paper on the topic or discuss your research initiatives.
Spotlight is a special feature of the W5 Blog showcasing W5 consultants’ approach to designing marketing research studies, creating engaging deliverables, and informing strategy. For more information on W5’s approach to strategic tracking or other quantitative or qualitative research, contact projects@w5insight.com
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