|
|
Engage bolsters team with Brand & Communications specialist Independent consumer insight and market research specialist Engage Research, which works in the UK and across Europe with high profile brands across the drinks, FMCG and media sectors, has strengthened its team with the appointment of Alexa Arrowsmith as a director focusing on Branding and Communications research. Alexa joins Engage from her role as a partner at Hall & Partners, where she provided senior level consulting on both quantitative and qualitative research projects along with driving innovations and new ways of working within the company. Engage’s creation of the branding and communications role is a reflection of the increasingly complex nature of brand and communications research with multi-dimensional studies being required more and more to cover all the different brand elements and media within a campaign. “We are consciously very flexible as a company so that whatever the size of the brand or the marketing budget, we can design cost effective research that is sensitive enough to give learnings about that brand in its world and in an appropriate context,” explains Lyndsay Peck, director of Engage Research. “Alexa’s experience, track record and enthusiasm in this area will enable us to bring a fresh approach to the increasingly complex world of brand and communications and design something truly valuable to a client’s business, even on the most modest budget. That means championing the consumer and simplifying research with techniques suitable for brands of any size. It’s important that clients see that the research will be designed around their thinking.” Engage Research, which only employs senior, experienced practitioners to work on client briefs, can create studies that genuinely reflect a brand and its communications. If, for example, the ethical stance and behaviour of a brand is important then the research will cover this in detail but if it isn't an important factor precious time and funds will not be spent exploring it. “I’m delighted to be joining Engage Research,” comments Alexa. “I’ve been very keen to bring my skills in this sector to add value to and contribute to the future of a growing, vibrant company. I am confident we will be able to take research into new challenging areas, including the opportunities presented by digital and mobile, mixing qualitative and quantitative with other techniques such as eye tracking where appropriate. We will provide genuine rigorous research without rigidity delivered by experienced and thought-provoking people. This will help our clients make great, brave but informed decisions.” Engage Research offers a broad range of experience across brands, categories, markets & business issues using a wide range of research techniques in markets across the globe. The company has particular expertise in innovation, consumer & market strategy, pricing & conjoint research.
Independent consumer insight and market research specialist Engage Research, which works in the UK and across Europe with a number of high profile brands across the drinks, FMCG and media sectors, has announced the appointment of Andy Barker as a Director. Barker joins from YouGov where he has been Head of Qualitative Research since 2008 and where he has built the company’s qualitative business from scratch. Prior to that, he was Director of Spinach and Managing Director of Qualitative at Research International. "It is very exciting to be joining a dynamic company like Engage at this stage in its development,” explains Andy. “Its commitment to hands-on involvement by senior, highly experienced practitioners as well the new methodological ground it is breaking particularly appeals to me and makes the future bright. I look forward to playing my part in achieving our growth plans.” Engage Research director Lyndsay Peck added: “Andy is enormously experienced having worked both with UK and international clients across a range of product categories. His experience in consumer understanding, communication and brand strategy and product innovation supplements the existing strengths within the Engage team, underpins our commitment to providing senior input on research projects and further strengthens our offering to clients.” Engage Research offers a broad range of experience across brands, categories, markets & business issues using a wide range of research techniques in markets across the globe. The company has particular expertise in innovation, consumer & market strategy, pricing & conjoint research. General Election Polling With the forthcoming General Election potentially being the UK’s biggest ever exercise in predicting consumer behaviour, anything that undermines belief in the voracity of research into consumer behaviour is undesirable, says consumer research specialist Engage Research. 'Whilst we are confident our colleagues in the polling organisations will perform well in the forthcoming election, it should be remembered that polling – accurate or not – is not the be-all and end-all of predicting consumer behaviour'
'Engaged respondents will take spend 80% longer and give twice as much feedback as bored ones'
Engaging with online respondents - Phase 2 Further to our groundbreaking research in 2008 when, in collaboration with GMI , we
Since then, we have been investigating additional ways in which to engage with respondents
Initial findings are looking very exciting and the research will be completed in March, with some findings being presented at the ARF Conference In New York
We are very happy to present our most up-to-date
findings to interested end users! UK consumers now 'poles apart' in their spending habits, according to new research Consumers are taking dramatically varied approaches to their spending during the economic downturn, with a significant number determined to maintain their previous spending habits, according to a new study carried out by Engage Research. While nearly 40% of the population have cut back heavily on their spending across the board, 21% have actually cut back very little or not at all. The research has shown that consumers can be typified by four distinct groups, driven by their willingness and ability to spend and their confidence about the future. 'Scared Down Shifters' - (39%) have made deep cuts in their spending, are very cautious and pessimistic about the future. 'Cash strapped Realists' account for 15% of the sample and have not cut back much on current spending but remain pessimistic about the future. 'Cautious Optimists' made up 25% of the sample, and this group have cut back on current purchasing but remain optimistic about the future. But 21% of the sample take a 'Carry On regardless' approach to their spending, and have not only have not cut back, but are optimistic about the future. The study examined purchasing habits for luxury and everyday goods, and saw a marked overall decline in spending on a range of luxury items from over 25% of respondents. The biggest cuts are being made in areas such as eating out (-37%), drinking/eating in pubs (-36%), trips to the cinema, theatre and family days out (-29%, -29% and -31% respectively). Key luxury items still 'too important to cut' In contrast, people are currently less willing to cut back on other areas such as drinking at home (down only 8% overall), going on holiday (-14%) and gym membership (down by 11%). The 'Cash Strapped Realists' and 'Carry On Regardless' groups who together account for 36% of respondents actually plan to increase their spending on holidays, and gym membership, and will cut back less on other things. "Those consumers making the biggest cuts in their spending are driving the overall behaviour of the population - the financial and employment difficulties being experienced by increasing numbers of people are of great concern to most people," explained Engage Research. "But it is also interesting to see a significant number of people who for their own reasons are ignoring the general trends, continuing to spend and who are optimistic about their ability to keep spending." For further information about this study,
contact us on: +44 (0)20 8819 5532 Ground breaking research into respondent
engagement
The research covers
We are very happy to present
the findings to interested end users
|
