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Archive for the ‘Online Research’ Category« Previous Entries Next Entries »Continued Internationalisation Behind B2B GrowthMonday, March 16th, 2009
Bucking the current environment of economic doom and gloom, leading business-to-business market research agency B2B International (with offices in the UK, US and China) recorded its twelfth consecutive year of growth between 2007 and 2008, to an annual turnover of £3.3m ($4.7m). Business Development and Finance Director Matthew Harrison puts this continued success down to a number of factors: Key to this growth has been our expansion into the huge US and Chinese markets over the past three years. This has brought us nearer both to our customers and to our research respondents, increasing our client service and product quality alike. We have also placed increasing emphasis on specific growth sectors. For example, renewable energy and environmental research now make up around 20% of our revenue and we expect growth in this area to continue. A further growth factor is the emphasis B2B International places on collecting information in ways that suit its target audiences. Telephone interviewing continues to be the most common data collection methodology employed, but the range of online techniques continues to expand, as do the regions across which online research is conducted. This year B2B conducted online surveys across Europe, North America, and 12 Asian countries; it added Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese and Italian to its suite of online focus group languages; and most notably, online recruitment and in-depth interviewing was introduced in China, profiting from websites such as QQ and their increasing take-up amongst young people and professionals. So will B2B continue its impressive growth record in 2009’s increasingly challenging economic environment? Managing Director Nick Hague remains cautiously optimistic: It would be unrealistic to think that we would remain completely unaffected by this economic downturn, which is impacting upon many of our competitors and target industries. However, we remain extremely optimistic that, by continuing to listen to the needs of our clients and respondents alike, we will come through the recession and be well placed for impressive growth in the future. Understanding Value Is KeyFriday, March 6th, 2009
In this week’s Thursday Night Insight, Nick Hague assesses how valuable social networking really is today. In the last week I have been bitten by a vampire, had a sheep thrown at me and been poked by numerous people I don’t even know! No, I am not talking about the strange life of a researcher; I am talking about the wonderful life of social networking on Facebook. Under the duress of other friends linking up with old school acquaintances and not wanting to miss out on this new phenomenon I joined Facebook two years ago. Since the very early frenetic activity of trying to get as many friends as possible, my account has laid dormant for a good 18 months after my circle of friends reached saturation point (note the term friends I use loosely as I have over 100 friends but the majority are more distant connections that I have never really known). Facebook and social networking have grown dramatically over the past few years from Friends Reunited through to Myspace, Bebo and now Twitter. However, my question for this week’s Thursday Night Insight is how valuable is social networking and with the number of people who visit Facebook leveling off over the past few months in the USA, are we facing Facebook fatigue? When something is growing, everyone feels like they are part of something valuable but what about when the growth stops? Are people losing sight of the importance of what value social networking delivers as opposed to focusing more on the dramatic growth it has experienced and valuing it at astronomical amounts (On October 24, 2007 Microsoft announced that it had purchased a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million, giving Facebook a total implied value of around $15 billion). I believe that, similar to what happened in the 1990s with the dot com bubble bursting, the market valuation of some social networking sites has been blinded by myopia of the thought that growth is directly related to value when actually the whole concept is "built on sand" and without any real substance the market value is actually a lot less. If Facebook doesn’t figure out what the real value is that it creates and figures out a way to capture it, they may be at great risk of collapse over the next few years. Maybe they can take a leaf out of Linkedin’s book? I have been a member of Linkedin for over a year and although I haven’t used it that much I can definitely see longevity in the notion of business networking as opposed to social networking. One recent development of Linkedin is the creation of a research network that enables over 28 million b2b professionals (15 million within the US and 13 million across the world) to be targeted worldwide. Once the luxury of consumer marketers, now b2b research can be utilized effectively online across difficult to reach industries, geographies and job functions. Another advantage of Linkedin we have found at B2B International is that people have a vested interested in keeping their details up to date. This allows us as researchers to actively source named contacts that were previously inaccessible before from within large corporations because we couldn’t get past the receptionist who polices the front desk with a no name policy. It is clear that "panels" of one kind or another are the future of research and online networking will help deliver that benefit to research companies. However, will Twitter, Facebook and other such sites continue to evolve? If not, they could well go the way of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzie Scheme over the next few years. For more information on how B2B International can help you with e-surveys and your e-research click here or phone one of our UK, US or Chinese offices and speak to our team. B2B Deliver Client Value Through Software InvestmentTuesday, March 3rd, 2009
Specialist business-to-business Market Research agency B2B International has become the first organization to select the new Confirmit Horizons platform, which will support all of its Web and telephone interviewing activities. Launched on January 31st this year, Confirmit Horizons is the first fully on-demand, multi-mode platform for Market Research, Customer Feedback, and Employee Feedback. B2B International was looking for a new research software solution as part of its continued effort to use the best research methods to deliver strategic advice to clients for future business development. It selected Confirmit Horizons for the time savings it brings, the security measures it provides, and the service enhancements that the agency will be able to offer to its clients. These benefits are a result of Confirmit Horizons’ ability to support all of B2B International’s telephone and Web research through a single solution; its On-Demand delivery model, which removes the need to install software on the agency’s own servers; and the sophisticated reporting capabilities of the Confirmit Reportal module. The platform will replace two separate tools that B2B International has been using for telephone interviewing and Web surveys. Nick Hague, International Research Director of B2B International, explains: Many of the projects we run combine Web and telephone interviewing activities, but our existing CATI system wasn’t as fast as it could have been, meaning several days are spent preparing surveys for telephone interviewing. We then have to repeat the survey creation exercise for the Web portion of the project. Confirmit Horizons removes the need for us to duplicate work for our telephone and Web project. This will not only save us time and effort in the creation and delivery of surveys, but will also speed up our service to clients. The reporting capabilities of Confirmit Horizons were a key factor in B2B International’s choice of platform. With the Confirmit Reportal module, the agency can carry out sophisticated analysis and reporting of its combined Web and telephone survey results, presenting detailed insight to its clients in a variety of methods, including dashboard reports. The availability of Confirmit Horizons as a Software-as-a-Service solution was also critical to the deal. With no requirement to install software on B2B International’s own servers, this answered many of the agency’s concerns regarding security. This model also provides the agency with a cost-effective investment, since there is no hardware cost involved, and guarantees system availability through Confirmit’s uptime guarantees. The Software-as-a-Service model also provides a future-proof solution by offering instant scalability to B2B International via the Internet. Once up and running with the platform at its UK operation, the agency plans to roll out the system to its staff and field workers in China and the US. Pat Molloy, Chief Strategy Officer at Confirmit, concludes: We are delighted that B2B International has instantly recognized the benefits of this new, revolutionary platform. Even before its launch, Confirmit Horizons has been generating a great deal of interest among Market Research organizations and enterprises alike. With an organisation of the stature of B2B International on board we anticipate many firms to follow and experience the cost-savings, time-savings, and performance improvements that Confirmit Horizons delivers. About ConfirmitConfirmit is the world’s leading SaaS software vendor for Customer Feedback, Employee Feedback, and Market Research applications. The company has more than 200 employees and offices in Oslo (headquarters), Guildford, London, Moscow, New York, San Francisco, and Yaroslavl. Confirmit’s software is also distributed through partner resellers in Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Santiago, Sydney, and Tokyo. Confirmit targets Global 5000 companies and Market Research agencies worldwide with a wide range of software products for feedback / data collection, panel management, data processing, analysis, and reporting. Customers include British Airways, Countrywide Financial, Credit Suisse, Dow Chemical, Experian, GlaxoSmithKline, Halifax Bank of Scotland, Intrawest, Ipsos, Nielsen, The NPD Group, Safeco Insurance, Statoil Hydro, Symantec, and Virgin Media. About B2B InternationalB2B International is a leading market research consultancy specialising in business-to-business research. With more than 30 years’ direct experience and expertise covering the whole spectrum of industry sectors, B2B International are in a unique position to be able to help you and your business. Housing their team of specialist business-to-business consultants conversant in dozens of languages, their Manchester (UK) headquarters is at the heart of their operations in Europe. The New York (US) office looks after the North and South American markets whilst their Asia-Pacific research projects are managed out of their Beijing, China office.
Modern Market Research Methodology Successful In ChinaWednesday, February 4th, 2009
In response to the opportunities created through the development and increasing adoption by Chinese business people in work-related communication of web 2.0 applications, particularly instant messaging (IM) and the online forum or message board system BBS, B2B International’s Beijing office has introduced IM applications into its range of methodologies offered in China. It is particularly suited to interviewing middle and junior management positions, usually those aged under 35, among whom IM is established as a principal business communication tool and, although there will always be a place for telephone and face-to-face methodologies, offers a useful complement to these. Alaric Fairbanks, head of B2B International in Beijing, has found many advantages:
Initially trialled as a recruitment and screening tool, IM has now been applied to data collection on recent b2b projects in the packaging, waste water treatment and construction industries. Sustainability is here to stayThursday, December 18th, 2008
Being green is growing in importance, and it’s an issue companies should ignore at their peril. According to new research commissioned by Yahoo, more than three in four consumers (77%) define themselves as "green". 57% claim to have made a green purchase decision within the past six months. At present, green consumers are most likely to make sustainability a factor when buying cleaning and personal care products. Yet impact on the environment is expected to grow in importance for larger purchase decisions, with 71% of respondents stating an interest in buying an environmentally sound car in the future. Yahoo’s survey was conducted face-to-face with 1,500 18-to-54-year-olds in Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland, Oregon. Respondents taking part in this study were initially recruited online. « Previous Entries Next Entries » |
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