••• neuromarketing
Your brain on TV
EmoTV combines traditional research and biometrics to analyze TV viewership
New York research company Ipsos MediaCT and Innerscope Research Inc., Boston, have partnered to offer emoTV, an approach for evaluating TV shows that measures the conscious and unconscious responses of audiences. EmoTV combines three methodologies – biometric research, nationwide survey data and biometrically-informed focus groups – to evaluate how a target audience responds to a new TV pilot or recurring show and identify what can be done to increase engagement.
Innerscope’s Biometric Monitoring System powers the biometric data collection and analysis for emoTV. As participants watch TV content, four biometric indicators of emotion are passively collected on a moment-by-moment basis: skin conductance, heart rate, respiration and motion. Once quantified, this data shows the peaks and troughs in engagement for each show segment, as well as engagement with different elements within the show, such as a particular storyline or character.
Ipsos MediaCT is responsible for the online survey and focus group elements of emoTV. The survey uses a dial developed by Ipsos MediaCT to identify and then probe scenes that a participant likes or dislikes using open-ended questioning. The survey also has closed-ended questions to get reactions to the show and specific elements of it to identify strengths and weaknesses.
The results of both techniques are explored qualitatively through biometrically-informed focus groups. These sessions are designed to dive deeper into the audience’s conscious and unconscious response to key show segments and elements.
www.innerscoperesearch.com
••• new product development
'Bracket'ology for new product development
Tournament technique aims to keep product testing exciting
TRC Market Research, Philadelphia, has launched Bracket, a market research technique designed to aid marketers in new product development. Bracket aims to offer a method for prioritizing choices using a tournament-style structure that eliminates losing features to make the task more engaging and cognitively challenging. Bracket begins by grouping choices into sets. Respondents then choose their favorites from each set and these favorites progress onto the next round where they’re once again grouped (bracketed) and evaluated. Ultimately each person is given a final set of choices representing their unique best-of-the-best and is asked one last time which they most prefer. Bracket is designed to handle a large number (upward of 50) of features, benefits or positioning statements without inducing respondent fatigue or sacrificing data quality and analytic power.
www.trchome.com
••• research software
Updates across the board
Kinesis updates Survey, Panel and Community platform
Kinesis Survey Technologies LLC, Austin, Texas, has released new versions of Kinesis Survey, Kinesis Panel and Kinesis Community software solutions. Software updates for Kinesis Survey include additional capabilities for touchscreen devices, including conditional logic support and usage of matrix tables; enhanced analysis capabilities, such as dynamic target data weighting for both crosstabs and topline reports and expanded template options for PowerPoint exports; augmented survey programming and editing via enhanced drag-and-drop and right-click menu functionality; a new matrix table question type that reveals the next selection row once the previous row is answered; availability of mobile phone make/model specification for all mobile survey sessions; improved HTML question text editing via the automated interface; and additional mail server configuration options for enhanced e-mail deliverability.
Software updates for Kinesis Panel feature additional capabilities within the query tool, including the ability to share queries between projects; increased security and encryption tools to support privacy protection and extend industry privacy standards; expanded support for panel recruitment options; augmented branding and theme elements; and numerous enhancements for Kinesis Community Web sites, including new page templates and design features, support for embedded videos and display order randomization of quick polls.
Kinesis has also updated its Kinesis Community platform to include expanded social media capabilities and improved interaction with Facebook and Twitter. The integration with social media is designed to allow users to directly refer Facebook friends to join the community panel and to display real-time Twitter feeds on the community homepage.
Kinesis Community also includes other social media functionality, such as discussion forums and image and video sharing. The solution also provides access to available surveys, a review of participation history, reward tracking, friend referral via e-mail, account settings management and more
www.kinesissurvey.com
••• audience research
Help for Hollywood
Market Force debuts theater-monitoring tools for movie studios
Boulder, Colo., research company Market Force Information has released two theater-monitoring services to provide competitive information and advanced reporting to movie studios. Market Force’s weekly Syndicated Trailer Report includes data on trailer placements from nearly all Hollywood studios and aims to give studios the data needed to strategically market movie trailers.
Market Force’s Customer Intelligence Platform for Theatre provides various flexible and graphical theater reports and is designed to offer data and analysis on audit points such as trailer placements, theater and trailer trending and audience reactions, allowing for operational decision-making by delivering real-time data that allows studios to see results as they happen across North America or to drill down to the individual theater leve
www.marketforce.com
••• quantitative research
A Smart way to sample
Methodology aims to deliver better survey respondents
Dallas research company Toluna has launched SmartSelect, a methodology developed to reduce the risk of conducting survey research among respondents selected by means other than probability sampling. SmartSelect is designed to allow researchers to select potential survey respondents with demographic, attitudinal and behavioral characteristics that match those of the target population. SmartSelect is available to clients that run projects with U.S.-based respondents and will be available in multiple geographies in the coming months.
www.toluna-group.com
••• b2b research
B2B segmentation expansion
Research Now takes D-U-N-S integration international
Research Now, Plano, Texas, has further developed its B2B screening tool, allowing clients in North America to collect additional Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S Numbers on B2B respondents from Research Now’s existing B2B panels in Canada, France, Germany and the U.K. With an international scope, the tool is intended to work in conjunction with the pre-screening process to provide clients information they can link back to their own data, uncovering further segmentation attributes for analysis based on the respondents’ given company or industry. If a client does not currently have the D-U-N-S Number integrated into their data, they can work with D&B to cleanse and match their data to D-U-N-S Numbers.
www.researchnow.com
••• retailing research
Taking in the AudienceView
Audience targeting service helps marketers identify and segment consumers
New York research company Experian Hitwise has introduced AudienceView, an audience targeting service designed to provide retailers with a comprehensive view of demographic, psychographic, transactional and behavioral insights on their target consumers or advertising audiences.
Using AudienceView, retailers can track and trend the online behavior of existing and potential consumers to optimize online media planning and target their messages to reach and retain the most profitable and relevant segments. AudienceView combines anonymous data from the Hitwise online sample of users in the U.S. with the offline Experian Marketing Services ConsumerView database.
www.experian.com/hitwise
••• sales forecasting
Product planning start to finish
Research companies partner to deliver product forecasting solution
Research companies MarketTools Inc., San Francisco, and Top Box Associates LLC, Wilton, Conn., have collaborated to offer a product forecasting solution combining MarketTools’ concept testing and shopper research with Top Box Associates’ volume forecast modeling capabilities in a one-stop shop approach.
The solution is designed to forecast performance for new product launches, line extensions and relaunched products and provide transparency into the product forecasting process with product concept screening in a competitive context; shopper testing in a virtual store environment; launch plan analysis; and a forecast of consumer sales volumes.
www.markettools.com
••• social media research
Putting listening to use
NetBase introduces real-time social media monitoring tool
Mountain View, Calif., research company NetBase has debuted monitoring solutions designed to operationalize the use of social media data and insights, allowing clients to understand consumer opinions and monitor product campaigns and competitors in real time. The solutions combine real-time monitoring and measurement with insights into the underlying drivers of customer opinions, emotions and behaviors.
The NetBase monitoring solutions include campaign and product launch tracking, issue tracking, brand analysis, competitive intelligence and custom dashboards, all powered by NetBase’s natural language processing (NLP) engine. NLP uses text analytics and machine-learning tools to provide data to support the business uses required, processing content in English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese.
www.netbase.com
••• reporting software
Presentations at the ready
Beacon dashboard delivers customizable reporting for non-researchers
Fresno, Calif., research company Decipher Inc. has added an interactive, custom dashboard reporting module to its Beacon research software suite. The dashboard is designed for executives and non-researchers to view and manage key metrics in presentation-ready formats. The reporting dashboards are available to all clients using Decipher’s research services or software products. Features include customizable tables and charts that can pull from multiple data sources and variables; numerous chart types and flexible layouts; the ability to incorporate corporate branding; and public or restricted dashboard access.
www.decipherinc.com
••• ad research
Measurement for media planning
Companies collaborate to help advertisers plan cross-media campaigns
New York media investment company GroupM and New York researcher The Nielsen Company have partnered to create Nielsen Cross-Platform Campaign Ratings, a measurement service designed to integrate media planning and measurement across television and the Internet. The goal is to overcome challenges posed by separate media planning, buying and analysis processes for TV and the Internet and to provide advertisers with cross-platform measurement tools to help streamline marketing strategies.
Nielsen Cross-Platform Campaign Ratings uses the Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings product, as well as its existing television audience measurement capabilities, to provide clients with total and overlapped reach and frequency of their marketing campaigns.
www.nielsen.com
••• online research
Want to makeitbetter?
A social approach to online research platforms
Austin, Texas, research software company icanmakeitbetter has debuted its social innovation and market research offering designed to provide online focus groups, surveys, recruitment, panel management and innovation in a single platform. Icanmakeitbetter uses its DirectFlowResearch approach to recruit users directly within idea discussions, profiles and predefined site actions to create screening and recruitment insight.
The company has also launched a new home page along with widgets and a Facebook app, allowing researchers to connect with fans on Facebook.
https://icanmakeitbetter.com
••• qualitative research
Take Notes!
FocusVision integrates note-taking functionality
Stamford, Conn., research technology company FocusVision has launched Notes, a note-taking service designed for note-takers to type detailed comments into the live videostream of focus groups. The notes are delivered at the end of the session and synchronized with the video to speed up review and analysis. Notes are not verbatim but rather detailed comments regarding the research. Notes can also be added after the research and will be available within 48 hours in the archive of the project. The cost is $130 per hour of research.
www.focusvision.com
••• social media research
Tracking trendsetters
Cision offers solution to follow Influencers’ social media activity
London software company Cision has launched the Social Influencer Search feature, designed to allow Cision users to discover what Influencers are talking about in real time. Through the tool, users can search for Influencers who are tweeting, sharing or blogging about a specific topic. Results can then be drilled down and filtered by topic, publication focus, location, country, market and more. Cision’s Influencer Search then provides detailed profile and contact information for each Influencer, including pitching preferences, social media accounts and Cision’s Influencer Rating. Cision’s Influencer Rating takes into account over 40 measures of influence, such as Facebook likes, retweets, unique visitors and inbound links, to provide each contact with a score quantifying their impact.
www.cision.com
••• hispanic research
Open for business
Hispanic consumer platform takes beta live
After a six-month beta, San Francisco research company Tu Cuentas LLC has opened its Hispanic-targeted online platform for online surveys, discussion forums and sampling campaigns to new clients. Tu Cuentas’ platform is designed to integrate Latinos’ adoption of social media with the value they place in word-of-mouth recommendations when making purchase decisions. The platform combines user-generated product reviews, moderated discussion forums and community polls of registered members to allow marketers, researchers, agencies and content producers to access Hispanic consumers for fast research and peer-to-peer advocacy.
www.tucuentas.com
••• Briefly
Orem, Utah, research company Sawtooth Software has released Menu-Based Choice (MBC), a tool for menu-based conjoint analysis studies designed to provide discrete choice modeling possibilities for Sawtooth Software users who are trained in econometrics and discrete choice modeling. MBC offers an automatically-generated, Excel-based simulator to clients.
www.sawtoothsoftware.com
San Jose, Calif., software company Adobe has debuted the Adobe Digital Marketing Suite, a collection of Web analytics and Web site optimization products designed to provide insight into the performance of online marketing initiatives. The solution is powered by Omniture, Adobe’s Orem, Utah, analytics arm.
www.omniture.com
Mountain View, Calif., software company Mozilla has developed Collusions, an experimental add-on for its Firefox browser, designed to allow consumers to pull back the tracking curtain to see the third parties who are tracking their movements across the Web.
www.mozilla.com
Atlanta research technology company ActiveGroup has lowered the cost of its videostreaming to $995 per day.
www.activegroup.net
Civicom Marketing Research Services, Greenwich, Conn., has added Active Archive to its online bulletin board focus group and forum solution, Civicom Chatterbox. Active Archive is designed to offer multiple options for accessing respondent data, moderator postings and uploaded multimedia after a project is complete.
www.civi.com
Encino, Calif., research company uSamp has debuted TheWhiteboard, its invite-only B2B panel. TheWhiteboard is an online panel intended to engage business decision makers in market research studies.
www.thewhiteboard.com
Borderless Access, a Bangalore, India, research company, has launched a consumer panel in Taiwan.
www.borderlessaccess.com
Phoenix consulting company Cambiar has launched the Cambiar Capital Funding Index, an annual review and analysis of the inflow of new capital into the market research industry. It tracks the amount of new capital coming into the industry, where it comes from and to which types of venture and company it flows.
www.consultcambiar.com
EPM Communications Inc., New York, has released the Research Alert Yearbook, a 380-page report that addresses consumer spending, attitudes and demographics. The Research Alert Yearbook is available for $329 in print or as a single-user searchable PDF.
www.epmcom.com
Research information company Market Connections Inc., Chantilly, Va., has released the fourth-annual Federal Media and Marketing Study, a syndicated study that aims to combine actual media usage of mid- to senior-level federal decision makers with their demographics, job function and purchasing habits. New to the fourth edition is data regarding mobile usage; handheld and desktop tool usage; blogs; and social media.
www.marketconnectionsinc.com
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Arlington, Va., has launched Consumer Outlook on Tablets, a quarterly tracking report on the tablet market. CEA has issued the first report for first-quarter 2012.
www.ce.org
Chicago research company Mintel has released the first consumer research report in a monthly series examining Chinese consumer behavior.
www.mintel.com
Shanghai research company Data Driven Marketing Asia has released its China Market Research Report, based on interviews with 9,000+ Chinese consumers.
www.ddm-asia.com
Best Practices LLC, a Chapel Hill, N.C., research company, has released its Best Practice Database subscription service. The Best Practice Database is a research, analysis and decision-support service for professionals. This insight-and-advisory service aims to deliver on-demand access to performance benchmarks and best-practice research findings.
www.bestpracticedatabase.com
Farmington Hills, Mich., research publisher Gale has released DemographicsNow: Business & People, an online business and residential reference tool designed to provide demographic data on over 23 million businesses and 206 million consumers.
www.gale.cengage.com/demographicsnow
Catalyst Healthcare Research, Nashville, Tenn., has released its free e-book, Five Ways to Drive Creativity and Innovation in Healthcare: How to Use Bulletin Board Focus Groups to Make Confident, Cost-Effective Business Decisions. The e-book is available for download at www.catalysthealthcareresearch.com/bbfg-ebook
Dallas research company Parks Associates has released a free white paper titled Mobile Payment - Stepping into Uncharted Territory. The white paper is available for download at www.parksassociates.com/mobilepayment.
Elkins Park, Pa., language services company CETRA Language Solutions celebrated its 15th anniversary in March 2012.
www.cetra.com