Tools We Use

Quantitative Insights

Quantitative tools offer detailed insight into a desired market, customer base, competition and many other aspects that influence your brand.

AIM (Advertising Impact Measurement)

Value: AIM brings a multidimensional approach to the problem of advertising evaluation in a way that transcends standard measurement methods. It shows the interrelationship of traditional advertising effectiveness measures and correlates it to the customer relationship lifecycle.

Example: A large customer relationship management systems provider desired to understand how effective its advertising campaign had been in one of its key markets. Market Directions applied the AIM technique, and allowed the company to see where its advertising's strengths and weaknesses were, giving them a clear idea about what resonated with people and what did not. AIM helped the client gauge the value of its continuing campaign.

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ANGLE® (Analysis of Gain and Loss Estimator)

Value: ANGLE is a method that allows companies a better understanding of the purchase decision process for a product or service by helping them identify the brand attributes that predict whether a consumer will have a positive or negative disposition. It also provides a way for companies to measure a product's success rate at each step in the purchase process.

Example: Wireless service customers were asked to rate the client and competitors on a series of products and service attributes. ANGLE results showed which attributes were most predictive in getting consumers to consider changing their service carrier, which were quite different than those that predicted consumers that were heavy users of wireless services. Additionally, the estimation of upside gain and downside loss at the heavy usage phase aided the company in their customer retention efforts. ANGLE helped the client to identify the key issues for communications efforts in attracting new customers, as well as prioritizing areas for improvement that had an impact on customer loyalty.

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BEACON® (Brand Equity Analysis for Competitive Optimization)

Value: BEACON® helps a company know where it stands in relationship to other brands by measuring brand equity that ultimately affects ROI. Clients gain familiarity with how the brand is perceived by consumers as a function of its value, the image it projects to consumers in the marketplace and the relationship consumers feel they have with the brand. Through a scoring system and Brand Equity Mapping, companies will be able to pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses. The mapping displays what brand assets can be leveraged, what differentiates one brand from others, what values contribute most to brand satisfaction and what people value about the brand.

Example: A leading pharmaceuticals company sought to understand the amount of leverage their brand was creating in the small animal market. BEACON® was utilized in a research program and aided the client in determining the value of the brand by veterinarians, its image and what relationship consumers have with the brand in a competitive environment.

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BEARING®

Value: This method allows clients to understand both the mind set of their customers, their behavioral intentions regarding their advocacy of the product, as well as their future intentions when purchasing or continuing brand relationships. Data reduction methods cull the high number of issues down, which are then used to predict purchase intent. A mapping of companies based on the most important dimensions displays how firms stack up, and an analysis of the attributes that compose them allow for a more granular understanding of how to improve in the marketplace. The end is a clear visualization of what positions a company and its chief rivals hold in a product or service category.

Example: A large recreational vehicle manufacturer was interested in learning its position in comparison to competitors. Market Directions applied BEARING as a primary tool to aid in discovering how each product line is competitively positioned in the marketplace. BEARING aided the client in understanding their brand image and competitive position on the dimensions most related to purchase intent, and with this information they can address specific in need of improvement.

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CLAIM

Value: CLAIM is a technique for evaluating the effectiveness of an advertising claim. It helps bring a triangulated perspective toward claims assessment in a way that goes beyond a simple measure of believability. It gives Market Directions the ability to provide a holistic assessment that shows the interrelationship of traditional advertising effectiveness measures and correlates to the customer relationship lifecycle.

Example: A large customer relationship management systems provider desired to understand how effective its advertising campaign had been in one of its key markets. Market Directions utilized the CLAIM technique, and allowed the company to see what aspects of advertising were effective and ones that needed refinement and improvement. CLAIM helped the client understand the impact of its product claim.

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CLI (Customer Loyalty Index)

Value: Market Directions' customer loyalty technique provides a comprehensive measurement system that extends beyond customer satisfaction. It helps clients understand the determinants of customer retention by measuring attitudes, advocacy intentions and future purchase consideration. It also improves their ability to more effectively target marketing dollars against consumer perceptions, and allows management to focus on the strengths and opportunities of the brand's current positioning. Overall, it offers the perfect metric for tracking ongoing customer retention and brand advocacy programs.

Example: A large telecom company tracks satisfaction to the resolution of customer service contacts. The CLI helps the client gauge their customer satisfaction level in addition to how loyal customers are in a competitive arena. By measuring satisfaction, future intent and impact on referrals, operational improvements are made and loyalty programs developed.

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CLIMATE® (Commitment Loyalty and Image Measurement and Analysis Technique for Employers)

Value: This technique is the core organizational assessment tool that Market Directions uses to gauge employee loyalty and commitment. It provides organizations a means of assessing employee loyalty and commitment to core values, as well as the internal image of the organization. It is an invaluable tool for measuring the overall environment and atmosphere within the organization, both from the point of view of the employees, as well as the external viewpoint.

Example: A CLIMATE study was engaged with an organization as a part of a large rebranding and image effort. Market Directions analysts and strategists used CLIMATE to understand the internal-external alignment as it pertains to corporate value measurements against corporate strength from customers. It helped the organization gain insight into how it is perceived by employees in order to match customer expectations against human resource realities.

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Dynamic Segmentation

Value: Focusing on "share of customer" rather than "share of market," this needs-based segmentation allows us to identify ways to move customers to greater use of one's product or service by identifying the psychographic segments they are currently in, and showing ways to move them into segments that are high use segments. The result is obtaining a higher share of customer sales of your product or service.

Example: Members and non-members of a large association of professionals were surveyed. Respondents from each sample group were evaluated psychographically and behaviorally, with regards to:

  • Social preferences: Loners vs. joiners
  • Career commitment
  • Commitment to more learning about their career field
  • Preferred work environment
  • How they considered their job: An end or a means to an end
  • Current business practices and resources

Dynamic segmentation was used to evaluate responses to these measures and answer questions such as these:

  • Can the association membership grow?
  • What should we communicate to members? To non-members?
  • What new opportunities should the association provide to maintain current members? To attract new members?
  • What current business constructs may need to change?

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ELI (Employee Loyalty Index)

Value: This metric allows clients to look beyond employee job satisfaction into understanding what drives employee commitment and retention by measuring attitudes, company advocacy intentions and future retention. It improves the company's ability to effectively gauge employee perceptions and allows management to focus on the strengths and opportunities of the company from an internal perspective. Like the CLI, it is an excellent metric for tracking ongoing internal assessment, and employee retention and advocacy programs.

Example: As part of a comprehensive internal assessment, a major casual dining restaurant chain undertook a strategic corporate evaluation and installed ELI as a component of the internal assessment that would be measured on an ongoing basis. ELI helped the client organization understand the level of employee loyalty and commitment.

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IDEAL

Value: IDEAL helps to evaluate strengths and weaknesses in products by examining its attributes as more than just likes and dislikes from the consumer's point of view. It includes the examination of a number of metrics to determine how to improve the product to most increase consumer buying behavior. These attribute ratings are posed as ideal-point questions, that is, it is assumed that you can have too much or too little of an attribute from the view of the consumer.

Example: A nationwide pizza chain, responding to the increased demand for low-carb options from consumers, desired to offer a new pizza crust that would fit the consumers' view of low-carbs. Market Directions launched research to help them assess how well a number of new product configurations, using a lower carbohydrate crust would meet with consumers' approval and learn how the best options could be improved to optimize the new offering. Using an IDEAL approach, Market Directions helped the client determine the potential of a low-carb pizza and how current prototypes could be modified to ensure the best possible market impact.

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MAGNET®

Value: MAGNET® measures the appeal of brand communications such as logos, tag lines and names. It provides a clear system for identifying the overall appeal of a piece of marketing communications, as well as clear direction for addressing weak areas. It helps the client understand the appeal of its logo or tag lines compared to competitors or aids in the search of a winning one in a corporate re-alignment strategy.

Example: A durable goods manufacturer wanted to redesign the label for an important product and asked Market Directions to help. A MAGNET study was launched and findings indicated the best choice among a field of four competing label designs, as well as two competitor labels. MAGNET helped the client choose the label design that consumers thought was most effective, and one that was likely to be viewed favorably in the competitive landscape.

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MAP® (Multivariate Analysis of Potential)

Value: This method guides companies through the product concept phase by using a regression-based modeling structure that provides an estimated number of units sold per consumer household based upon consumer responses to key questions. It provides the insight into what concepts will be the most effective.

Example: A major fast food restaurant chain wanted to expand its menu and items for the drive-thru menu that have the highest appeal and best revenue potential. Market Directions applied MAP to help them arrive at the right new product mix for their menu. MAP allowed the client to add the items with the greatest profit potential and greatest appeal to customers.

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NEEDLE® (NEEDs Learning and Evaluation)

Value: The heart of our customer satisfaction and loyalty approach, NEEDLE offers a clear look into the unmet needs of a product or service category. It charts issue performance to compare against competitors through product, service and image attributes. This allows the company to react to the weaknesses and gain an edge on the competition in their market.

Example: A large press manufacturing company approached Market Directions with hopes of understanding how their customers viewed them in a number of areas, against a number of competing firms. At the end of the process, they had a list of action items to improve upon in their market, as well as a number of strengths to promote to consumers. NEEDLE helped the client prioritize its internal issues, as well as understand its competitive strengths and weaknesses by identifying and measuring the importance of key attributes and how well they and competitors are performing on them.

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PATHsm

Value: PATH shows the cause and effect relationship between multiple factors that work together to produce a certain key outcome in behavior or attitude. The interdependencies of product characteristics, service factors and marketing forces explain the strength of influence of various factors important to producing an outcome.

Example: Market Directions entered into a program of analyses utilizing PATH in order to understand the various factors influencing the loyalty levels of retail banking customers of a major financial institution. PATH showed the client the key influences on customer loyalty.

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PRICEMETER®

Value: This technique allows a company to effectively price their product or services by estimating how responsive consumers are. The information will help in the decision to implement skim pricing to gain market share in an emerging market or premium pricing to maximize revenue to enhance a brand image.

Example: A major pet products manufacturer was seeking information to help them form a pricing strategy for a new storage and feeding product they were ready to introduce in the small companion animal products market. With the product features and benefits solidified, the client wanted to know how to price this new product in a way that would maximize revenue and achieve the kind of sales volume that would fit their industry position. PRICEMETER® helped the client find the price level that optimized revenue and penetration in a way that fit within company strategic goals and helped maintain their brand image.

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SCOPE® (Strategic Choice and Preference Evaluation)

Value: This family of techniques exists for full-profile and hybrid conjoint, as well as discrete choice models. Conjoint studies give the information on the relative impact of each feature level of their potential product or service, as well as how each combines to affect purchase intent. Discrete model studies provide information on share and any interactions between variables such as brand and price. Regardless of the approach, complex simulations involving numerous subgroups, variables and competitors can be combined into a single deliverable that allows for the client to interactively run hundreds of "what if" scenarios. These simulators are invaluable to understanding the multitude of alternatives that can be present in a single research design.

Example: A national professional services organization approached Market Directions about how to best optimize their bundle of services and understand the impact of membership costs among a number of constituent subgroups. A SCOPE study utilizing choice modeling was undertaken in order to meet these goals, and as a result, the client was able to effectively compose an innovative membership services package in a way that optimized membership levels and revenue streams.

SCOPE was able to aid the client in understanding what services to combine in order to maximize the benefits for their members and lapsed members, while learning how to trade-off benefits against different price levels.

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SURE® (System for Uncertainty and Rational-Emotional Evaluation)

Value: SURE is a customer diagnostic system that measures the level of risk tolerance the customer base possesses together with the distribution of customers along the rational - emotional purchase decision spectrum. It gathers insight into the emotional selling proposition and rational decision factors that help produce more powerful selling messages and ultimately a stronger position in the market.

Example: SURE analysis helped the company learn about the ways of crafting communication strategy and positioning strategy that would allow the company the best opportunity to reach customers and gain usage.

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