Java app minimizes Web, WAP time for surveys
Australia-based Absolute Data Group is now offering Broadcaster, a Java-driven mobile phone application that allows companies to send updatable, menu-driven applications such as a survey to a consumer’s mobile phone, without using Web browsing or WAP. The application resides on the mobile device (cell phone, BlackBerry, etc.) after the user responds to an SMS message. The Internet is only accessed to download the application and to upload information (such as responses to multiple choice, numeric or text-based questions) back to the host company’s application. This saves the user both time and money and encourages participation. It also allows research to be conducted over a period of time if needed, with no hindrance to the mobile device user.
For marketing agencies or in-house marketing departments, marketers access a content-authoring program via the Web and create content for the consumer. They create a new application by inserting text and graphics or can make a new version of an existing application.
When a consumer sees the SMS code on marketing or point-of-sale material, for example, they send an SMS and within a few seconds they receive a link to an application that resides on their mobile device. Once the application is installed, SMS is no longer used. The application communicates with the content owner’s Broadcaster application via HTTP over GPRS. For more information visit www.broadcastermedia.com.
New online FG platform from Itracks
A new online focus group platform from Saskatoon-based data collection firm Itracks is designed to offer qualitative researchers greater flexibility and control over their online market research. The interface has been reorganized to make better use of screen space for a researcher’s purpose. The focus is on the chat frame, which contains the real-time discussion among research respondents and the moderator. Moderator tools for guiding the discussion are more readily accessible, such as quick mod guide posting, respondent demographic review and secure communications channels. Breakout sessions are now possible. Researchers can move subsets of their group to separate rooms to discuss concepts or stimuli and then bring them back to the main group. For more information visit www.itracks.com.
New retail analysis products from IRI
Chicago-based IRI has added two new solutions to its Consumer-Centric Retail Execution suite. The first, IRI Customer Analytics Suite, is a collection of offerings that marry proprietary modeling techniques with practical business applications. It relies on a collaborative process to develop an integrated segmentation framework that is customized for each business. The analysis addresses the following areas: behavioral segmentation, trip missions (information about different shopping occasions that shoppers take, from restocking to a fill-in trip to an emergency stop), trip opportunity (the why behind the buy), store clustering, investment analysis, roadmapping and key performance indicators.
The second, IRI Retail Drivers Suite, is a set of analytic solutions that measures consumer responses to various marketing levers to support retail decision-making. The suite is comprised of the following services: IRI Perimeter Drivers, which provides retailers with fact-based, analytically-driven insights to improve strategic understanding of perimeter-displayed products; IRI Perishable Drivers, which provides retailers with model-informed insights to improve strategic understanding of perishable products and insight into the core business issues of perishable managers; IRI Price and Promotion Drivers, a modeling and monitoring solution that quantifies price sensitivity and promotion response to support decision-making; and IRI Private Label Drivers, which assesses where private-label opportunities exist and then prioritizes the marketing and merchandising opportunities and attributes to increase the value of a retailer’s private-label portfolio. For more information visit www.infores.com.
Experian launches U.K. cultural classification system
Information firm Experian has created Mosaic Origins, a research tool designed to predict the ethnic and cultural origins of Europeans based on their name. Developed with the assistance of Professor Richard Webber from University College London, it is designed to help organizations in the public sector understand the cultural, ethnic and linguistic origins of their users, customers and employees.
Mosaic Origins has been developed using pattern recognition techniques to identify the ethnic and cultural origins of almost a million family and first names in use in the European community. Each name is linked to a part of the world where, based on a probability score, the holder, or the holder’s forebears, are likely to have originated. Mosaic Origins is available as a desktop software application that enables organizations to code, profile and target communications to their customer lists, users or employees. It can also be used at a postcode level to identify the communities where particular minority groups have established themselves. For more information visit www.experian.co.uk/business.
Studies spotlight customer experiences with credit card sites
San Mateo, Calif.-based Keynote Competitive Research is now offering two new competitive research studies examining credit card issuer Web sites, one focused on credit card customers and the other examining prospective customers. Each of the Keynote studies examines the customer experience (UX) and service levels (responsiveness and reliability) of credit card Web sites. Together, the studies offer detail on the performance and competitive positioning of leading credit card issuers.
The Keynote Customer Experience Rankings for Credit Card Customers examines the online experience of more than 1,600 credit card customers as they interacted with nine leading credit card Web sites. A separate study, the Keynote Customer Experience Rankings for Credit Card Prospects, examines more than 2,000 prospective credit card customers as they interacted with these same leading card sites.
The studies detail how each card site performs versus competitors across key business objectives, including online adoption and customer acquisition. Each of the studies captures more than 250+ metrics for each site and provides competitive rankings in multiple categories. The studies also outline the key areas of site performance, such as ease of exploring online services and ease of applying online, which have the most impact on a site’s success. Finally, the studies offer credit card issuers steps they can take to improve their online performance, with a particular focus on improving customer satisfaction, online adoption and customer acquisition.
The Keynote Service Level Rankings for Credit Card Web Sites examines the technical performance of leading credit card Web sites, including site responsiveness and reliability. The study uses Keynote’s Transaction Perspective product to measure and monitoring Web site performance. For more information visit www.keynote.com.
ESRI updates ArcReader
ArcReader 9.2 from ESRI, Redlands, Calif., is a free desktop mapping application that allows users to view, navigate and print maps and globes created with the ArcGIS Publisher extension. ArcReader 9.2 includes enhanced viewing of maps with ArcGIS Online services, which provides a series of ready-to-use online map, globe and other GIS services. With ArcReader 9.2, users can also print maps with customized titles. New features of ArcReader 9.2 include: tools to mark up maps; the ability to customize the map title for customization; 3D navigation tools for enhanced visualization of a user-defined location; 3D developer control for creating custom 3D applications; and a measure tool for one-button clicking to measure features and areas. ArcReader 9.2 is available as a free download for Windows, Solaris and Linux platforms. For more information visit www.esri.com/arcreader.
Assess concepts early with MarketTools test
San Francisco research firm MarketTools Inc. has added its new MPI (Market Potential Index) Concept Test, designed to help companies identify product ideas with the strongest business potential and increase the odds that those products will succeed. An MPI Concept Test is conducted early in the concept development process, before marketing plans and traditional volume estimation models are done. Additionally, interactive text analysis helps to refine high-impact ideas by gathering consumer reactions to specific components of the concept description. For more information visit www.markettools.com.
TNS platform combines qual and quant online
London-based researcher TNS has launched TNSInsightTvLive, a live and interactive online research platform that uses video to combine qualitative and quantitative survey capabilities. TNSInsightTvLive is an online survey in which respondents can see a survey moderator via a real-time video link. The use of video allows the moderator to show a range of visual material - such as new product concepts or trial advertisements - and to investigate responses to uncover the whys behind the data. For more information visit www.tns-global.com.
Briefly
Evansville, Ind., research firm ARSgroup is now offering its ARS Impact Campaign testing and diagnostics system, which assesses and breaks down consumer persuasion and recall and their drivers across any touchpoint, e.g., TV, radio, cell phones, print, Internet, etc. For more information visit www.ars-group.com.
London-based Research Now has expanded its online fieldwork service, the OmniTaxi, to the Nordic marketplace. The Research Now Nordic OmniTaxi has been designed to provide clients with a flexible alternative to omnibus research. Coverage includes Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland plus the option to extend to further European markets including Russia. For more information visit www.researchnow.co.uk.
Australian research software developer QSR International has partnered with Tokyo firm Hulinks to deliver qualitative research software programs in Japanese. Japanese versions of QSR’s XSight and NVivo 7, along with Japanese training material, marketing collateral and a technical support service will be available in Japan later this year. Hulinks will also provide training and technical support to QSR’s Japanese customers. For more information visit www.qsrinternational.com.