A number of years ago, a famous public service spot announced the time just before the late night local news and asked parents the question, “Do you know where your children are?” If marketers were asked this question today about their customers, how many could confidently answer “yes”?

Of course, understanding your existing customers is absolutely critical to business success. That’s why Empower MediaMarketing uses a number of tools and techniques to help our clients gain a deeper understanding of their customers.

Target Insights^sm – A Deep Dive Into Your Target
Empower’s exclusive Target Insights process examines consumer behavior by using a number of syndicated data resources. However, there are times when it is necessary to conduct primary research to assist the process and Target Insights uses a variety of techniques to obtain a detailed analysis for better understanding of a brand or category’s customer base:

• Demographic variables such as: age, gender, education, income, employment, presence of children and ethnicity
• Geographic variables such as: urban, suburban, rural, regional population distribution and city size
• Shopping and behavior variables such as: leisure activities, buying styles, shopping and eating preferences
• Media usage behaviors that explore levels of media use and engagement levels

Syndicated Tools
Whenever possible, Empower starts with syndicated information. We currently have full access to both leading national syndicated research studies; MRI and Simmons National Consumer Study. In addition, Empower purchases the Simmons Hispanic Study for access to information on the fast-growing Hispanic marketplace. On a local market level, Empower can access all 77 Scarborough full-market studies and 38 mid-tier studies. While these syndicated studies offer access to hundreds of products, brands and categories, they clearly can’t measure every category or brand. In cases where a client’s category or brand is not adequately covered, primary research can be conducted.

Primary Quantitative Research
When it comes to conducting primary research for our clients, there is no “one size fits all” approach. That’s why Empower offers several options; including our own online survey software solution that can survey an internal email list of customers to learn more about why they select a brand. We may also recommend a short omnibus research survey where several questions are included in a large sample of U.S. adults, as part of an ongoing larger survey. While an omnibus survey is limited in the number of questions that can be asked, it offers a lower-priced alternative to a full study. Finally, a full study can be conducted whenever it is necessary to completely understand a client’s customer. Empower uses several leading national research partners and can recommend the best one for your needs.

Primary Qualitative Research
While it can’t be projected to a larger audience, qualitative research can yield great insights into customers’ motives for category and brand selection. Depending on the need, Empower may recommend this as an initial step or as follow-up to gain deeper insights beyond syndicated research. As with quantitative research, there are a number of options with qualitative research. Empower has several experienced focus group moderators on staff that provide expertise on everything from internal discussion groups to extensive, formal focus groups held in multiple cities nationwide. If time is of the essence, Empower also offers online video focus groups that can be conducted with a video summary provided to our clients in a matter of days.

The Consumer Insights team at Empower is ready to assist you with these and other research initiatives to better understand your customers. To reach Empower’s Consumer Insights team, contact your client strategy representative or Julie Pahutski, Senior Vice President of Consumer Insights, at 513-719-6213.

By: Kirby Thornton, Director of Consumer Insights