Market research has always been a fundamental way for brands to improve the services and products they offer consumers. From gathering data online and via mobile, listening and reacting is crucial. With this in mind, we at The Practice were interested to look at the brands using market research most creatively. 

First up, we were interested to read about Heston Blumenthal’s latest innovative approach to customer marketing. Just recently, the experimental chef announced plans to tailor make his customers’ dining experiences- by Googling them and their favourite dishes. Prior to visiting his restaurant, The Fat Duck, Heston revealed that he will look to social media and other public forums in order to research his diners’ culinary preferences. He stated that he will then use this information in order to surprise each customer with dishes relating to their nostalgia towards food, and food memories from childhood. Market research will not only be conducted online, but also via a selection of questions asked over the phone when a customer calls to make a booking. And now that Google Maps is set to launch a feature that will allow diners to upload their images to restaurant locations, Heston’s task should be made a lot easier and more precise.

Brands understand that customers prefer to participate in market research when they feel as though they are making an impact. Burberry, for instance, is one such company who seamlessly integrate market and product research with customer opinion. For instance, the brand allows its customers to digitally interact with fashion shows, order straight from the runway, and even suggest future designs. Its online feature, “Burberry Bespoke”, for example, offers users the chance to customize a coat based on hundreds of fabric options, colours, trims, linings and buttons, which, while entertaining customers, allows Burberry marketers insights to their data and style preferences. Likewise, Coca-Cola has put a fun twist on market research via mobile. The brand created a stand-alone app entitled “Freestyle”, letting users create and save any customized flavour blends, such as unique mixes of Fanta, Dr Pepper or Coca-Cola. Users can also share and sample their creations by scanning the app’s QR code with a Freestyle fountain machine, situated at thousands of locations across the US. This unique flavour profiling ultimately allows the company to listen and respond, helping them to plan and develop future products- a great example of innovative mobile market research.

And we all know that taking part in traditional market research questionnaires can be dull and time-consuming, but by asking the right questions in the right environment, brands can easily get customers on their side. This is what Microsoft did last year in order to create new and compelling online adverts. The tech firm held a series of “co-creation” workshops, where they worked with consumers to understand the purchase process, barriers to buying, and solutions to meet audience requirements. The Microsoft Advertising team invited customers across the US and Europe to have conversations with the company’s designers, and get creative with the kinds of experiences they wanted to see from marketers. Microsoft described this as their “Consumer-first” marketing approach, which ultimately enabled them to transform collaborative ideas into reality.

How do you feel about participating in market research? Would you reveal data to brands if you felt it impacted future services and products in a positive way? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your comments on our Facebook page.