Archive for the ‘Business’ Category

Press Release:  London/Los Angeles - 27th June 2011

Dub appointed online qual technology partner to Decision Analyst following extensive review online qual technology partner to Decision Analyst following extensive review.

Dub, the leading provider of online research software and services, today announced a new partnership with Decision Analyst, a global marketing research and analytical consulting firm. The agreement sees Dub provide online qual technology for the coming year and provides new innovation opportunities for both companies.

A vastly experienced team of online qual researchers, Decision Analyst conducted a lengthy review of research technology partners and selected Dub having had extensive hands-on experience.

Stephen Cribbett, Dub co-Founder and CEO, comments ‘We are delighted to have been selected by Decision Analyst to support their global online qual research work. We share many beliefs on where online qual is going and our tools have a good fit with their team of experienced online researchers’

”Dub’s advanced technology and capabilities enhance Decision Analyst’s qualitative research and ideation services.  The services we perform for our clients demand the highest quality, flexibility, security, and integrity. Dub is a major contributor in helping Decision Analyst achieve those goals,” according to Gwen Ishmael, Senior Vice President.

Dub and Decision Analyst’s partnership comes soon after the announcement of Dub’s expansion into the U.S. market, with a new office in LA.

To find out more, contact Stephen Cribbett, +44 (0) 20 7247 3327 or email stephen(at)dubstudios(dot)com

(Press Release)

Dub expands its online research software and services offer with the opening of a new office in Los Angeles

Dub, the leading provider of online research software and services, today announced the opening of its first US office in Los Angeles. The focus for their new office will be to support existing clients in North and South American markets, and to extend its client base through  direct relationships and new strategic partnerships (to be announced).

Stephen Cribbett, co-Founder and CEO, commented that ‘at a time when the number of software vendors is increasing, Dub continues to achieve cut-through with its range of innovative, well-priced and intuitive online qual  and collaboration solutions. Our global clients are increasing demand and we have tailored our support to meet their needs in all markets, the US being one of the most important’

Kerry Hecht, formerly of Hall & Partners and Added Value, will head up the new office, bringing with her expertise in online qualitative methodologies as well as recruitment, project management.

The interest in online qualitative research is continuing to grow, with demand for both ad-hoc and longer-term research community methodologies expected to grow further beyond 2011. An increase in DIY research has also seen a rise in demand for Dub’s best-in-class software by brands, with continued growth in global markets helping push Dub’s revenue further.

With the addition of knowledge management and research collaboration tools to it’s product range, Dub is well positioned to support the market research industry with intuitive web-based solutions that are both cost-effective and localised to meet their needs.

To find out more, contact Stephen Cribbett, +44 (0) 20 7247 3327 or email stephen@dubstudios.com

I had the honour of spending three days with some of the market research industry's leading brains recently in Malta, at Merlien Institute's Qualitative Consumer Research & Insights 2011 conference. Among those attending were MR legend Ray Poynter, Di Tunney of Live Insights, Frank Geers of InSites, Jochum Stienstra from Ferro Explore! and Will Goodhand, Juicy Evangelist from BrainJuicer.

You can see a selection of the presentation here for yourself, and in particular I'd draw your attention to a fantastic presentation and discussion lead by Aaron Reid of Sentient Decision which centred on 'free will' and the science of neuroscience, an area that is clearly becoming much lauded within MR circles.

My presentation is also here for you to see in glorious technicolour (below). As you will see, I challenged the role and approach of MR agencies as the onslaught of social media led methodologies continues to encroach on old-world techniques. Tell me what you think, join the debate....
Research communities an agency proposition or brand asset

We were very pleased with ourselves and feeling proud when we received this testimonial from one of our Australian clients in our inbox today. I think you'll see why when you read it...

It’s a combination of simplicity and sophistication that makes IdeaStream from Dub one of the best market research software packages that we’ve used.

Simplicity is for the participants – the ease of registration, the ability to customise the design of the platform and the user friendly interface means it’s easy to quickly establish a relationship with the people you need to engage with and ensure they are comfortable with your objectives and needs.

The sophistication is the back end and the research expertise that has so clearly gone into the design of the product.  From project management to reporting, IdeaStream allows researchers and their clients to have access to a powerful live platform.

Our company has evaluated and used competitor offerings and IdeaStream is by far, superior in all aspects.

If you'd like to find out what makes online qual tick and have the same experience as our friends around the world, contact Stephen Cribbett on +44 (0) 20 7247 3327 or email us@dubstudios.com

Whether you are new to the world of online qual and collaborative innovation or not, you might  be tasked with creating company or department-wide adoption of your new software. The range of  social software available to you, including our own IdeaStream online qual solution of course, can drive productivity and efficiency in terms of delivering qualitative research. What's more, exposure to the range of features available is key if the opportunity is to be optimised within the organisation.

Software can fail because it doesn't get adopted by a wider group of users, so it's imperative that, if you've had a positive experience, you share your experience with others and help them repeat your success. IdeaStream has a good range of capabilities and features designed by researchers for researchers. By working with Dub to create a roll-out plan, you will witness greater, faster adoption across your business, which in turn will experience greater research success, a more innovative approach and a burgeoning pipeline.

Here are just few pointers that you may wish to follow in order to generate greater adoption among your colleagues, but for more information, contact Stephen Cribbett on +44 (0) 20 7247 3327

#1 Assign 'Champions'

Successful roll-out of your new new software, be it IdeaStream or any other, is best drive by a core group of energetic and well-connected individual 'champions'. What typifies a champion is their ability to communicate with passion, their connectivity within the organisation and their early-adopter status. Champions spot the underlying benefits early on and discover ways to articulate these to the group. They are proponents of social software and heavy users of social media and online networks for their own personal purposes.

Dub has a range of materials to support the whorl of champions and aid the roll-out, including training videos and written documents, webinars and presentations.

#2 Get hands-on

Key to adoption is the first step of getting your colleagues to 'try it' and get hands-on. To enable this, the 'whats in it for me' question is always an important one to answer, so why not consider creating an internal project which may glean insight that helps them with a current project or challenge. Internal communities are a very valid and powerful way to deliver fresh insight and new perspectives, so don't take them lightly. They can be created in a very short time given the strong connectivity that already exists among the group, not to mention the shared interest in using the new tool and delivering fresh insight around the chosen topic.

To make initial introductions to the software, encourage your colleagues to come to an initial presentation with their laptops. Get them to sign up to your trial project and  kick start involvement there and then. Get them to complete their profile and take in a single, simple task. This will help them witness first-hand how easy the software is to use and how natural it feels to them to add content in a way they are familiar with from their own personal use of social networks.

#3 Build an internal research and innovation community

Following on from #2, after you have completed your introductory session with you colleagues involvement, continue the 'conversations' by running the project over a number of days. Beware not to overplay the trial - you don't want to overload your colleagues. Try and restrict it to no more than 4 or 5 tasks that last approximately 3 days.

Build a range of tasks using the full suite of tools so that your colleagues can experience what their participants may experience in the future. The at the end of the project, present them the Admin Centre and explain how easy it was to moderate the discussions. At this stage it may be pertinent to give your colleagues access to the Admin Centre so that they themselves can experience its feature set.

#4 Build a bank of support documents and training videos

Dub has a range of documents, presentations and webinars for you to access as you plan for adoption, but there's no reason why you can't create your own. These should be deposited in a central location, perhaps your intranet or via a wiki such as Google Docs (which allow document sharing and editing among a group via a web interface).

To get advice on how to plan your roll-out and adoption, contact Stephen Cribbett.

Thinking about using online qual research techniques for business-to-business research, then look no further. Dub recently completed a research community for a B2B supplier to the construction industry that enabled them to evaluate the potential for a completely new service offering. The iterative nature of the research community allowed the agency client to fully explore these respondents spontaneous wants and needs for additional services before introducing a series of prompts (covering the service concept, detailed aspects of the service, potential naming/identities and marketing communications).

The online research  approach pioneered by Dub enabled the client to generate a level of interaction between respondents that would not have been feasible using 'off-line' methodologies, as it would not have been practical to conduct groups with this geographically disparate, busy business audience. As a result of the study, the b2b client is now in the process of launching this new service offering that will represent a real breakthrough within their industry.

To find out more about how Dub's approach to online research can get you closer to your customers than ever before, contact Stephen Cribbett on +44 (0) 20 7247 3327

Dub has recently completed a great project with one of the UK's leading brand innovation agency clients, on behalf of a major own label ready meal producer.

Objectives
To explore consumer attitudes towards different ready meal cuisine types offered by one of the UK's leading supermarkets. The purpose of this online research community was to evaluate perceptions of several newer cuisines that had recently been introduced within the stores, understand how they impacted on more established cuisine offerings, and to identify any further opportunities/gaps.

Results
The extended nature of the online research community approach meant that we were able to dedicate discussion streams to fully explore consumer responses to a wide range of issues, and to respond/react to comments and insights.

A potential new range opportunity that only emerged in the final couple of days of the online research community is now being actively pursued by our client and is likely to lead to significant incremental business with a major retailer.

For more information contact Stephen Cribbett on +44 (0) 20 7247 3327 or by emailing stephen@dubstudios.com

Courtesy of our client, we've got another great case study to share with you. This time the study was for a salad dressing manufacturer and brand owner, to help them understand current consumer attitudes and dynamics within the sector.

Approach
The study was undertaken over a two week period in the summer of 2010 to coincide with the peak usage of salad dressings, thus enabling 'real-time' experiences to be conveyed. The ongoing nature of the online research community enabled continued probing and interrogation of consumer responses, as well as the introduction of positioning stimulus that helped our agency client to identify the most credible and appealing proposition for our client's brand.

Client comment
"This simply would not have been achievable within the more limited time constraints of a more traditional research methodology (ie; focus group discussions)", say no more!

For more information or to understand how your brand or organisation can benefit from online research communities, contact Stephen Cribbett on +44 (0) 20 7247 3327

As 2011 begins and we all  start to look forward (while trying to forget how much we’ve eaten or how much exercise we need to do to work of how much we’ve eaten!), we thought we’d give you 10 good reasons to work with Dub in 2011 if  you're looking to accelerate your online qual research or build an online research or innovation community.

#1 We’ve quickly become one of the world’s leading online research business, serving up smart software and clever people in over 14 countries to some of the leading market research, advertising and innovation agencies including Added Value, Flamingo, TNS, Ipsos, Incite, BBH, McCann Erickson and ORC International.

#2 We’re researchers and community experts, not just software geeks, so we understand how you deliver your research to clients

#3 We provide more than just great software; a range of essential research services including online research design, moderation, translation, recruitment and project management - all designed to help you get the absolute maximum from your online methodology

#4 For just a single (low) cost, our software allows you to deploy blogs, bulletin boards, brainstorms, surveys and polls as you wish. (Other vendors often bolt additional costs on!)

#5 We're thought of as online research partners rather than not just software suppliers by our clients! With our help they design engaging, creative research and always go beyond their clients' expectations.

#6 We've got global coverage, both in terms of localised software in over 17 languages, and offices in LA and the UK to support customers in all timezones

#7 It's not just helping you have conversations with consumers that we can help with, we've also got some great knowledge management and researcher/client collaboration tools to improve your working relationship and bring clients closer to the project

#8 As one of our client's put it, 'all of the functionality of the IdeaStream platform is geared towards an excellent participant experience as well as ensuring researchers can successfully and easily gather the insight they need'

(more to follow...)

Hurry, hurry, hurry!

To thank everyone for their continued support during 2010, we're offering a special 10% discount on new projects commissioned between today, 9th December 2010, and 23rd December 2010 (conditions apply). What's more, if you're a UK client then you also get to avoid the VAT hike! So if you're sitting on a new online qual study or are thinking of building an online research community, why not get in contact now christmasoffer@dubstudios.com or call us on +44 (0) 20 72473327 quoting the reference CHR10.

Conditions
-This offer applies to projects quoted for and commissioned on or after 9th December 2010 only
-The offer comprises 10% discount off the price of your first month's IdeaStream software license only, and not supporting services or consultancy
-This offer closes at midnight (GMT) on 23rd December 2010