Quick List: Does Empathy Really Matter?

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Our newest issue of the Quick List, a bi-monthly summary of what’s happening in marketing research and new happenings at REPASS.

Our focus this week (and every week) #GoBeyond —
It’s an ongoing mission for us to “Go Beyond.” We are constantly searching and experimenting with ways to provide more value to clients. Sometimes this means taking risks to find breakthroughs. We believe that the only way to help you, and our clients, to move forward is for us to push the boundaries of our work. To not only help identify and explore problems, but find solutions and illuminate the path forward. In order to do this, though, we believe the most important part of our work starts with listening.

What we’re thinking about this week #Empathy —
Empathy. It’s certainly picking up steam as a marketing buzzword in 2017. We saw it in the election, it played out during the Super Bowl, and you can bet you’ll be hearing more and more about empathy marketing in the months to come.  But, we think it’s something that can be easily misused if not careful. Take a look at this Guide to Empathy by Kevin McKeon.

What we’re dissecting this week – 
Are you “connecting” with your customer base? If not, you might want to consider putting yourself in their shoes. When you try to see life from their perspective you’ll be able to approach solutions differently. That’s why empathetic content marketing is such a powerful strategy for businesses. Check out these 9 genius examples of empathetic content marketing in action.

Quote we’re pondering —
“Empathy is about connection; sympathy is about separation.” – Brene Brown

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Did you enjoy this Quick List? If so, please forward this email to a friend or follow us on Twitter @REPASSinc.

Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week.

To Your Success,
Will Krieger
SVP, Client Engagement

Will Krieger

Joining World-Class Collaborative of Boutique Research Firms

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Action

We are pleased to announce that REPASS® Research and Strategic Consulting is entering a new era.
REPASS recently accepted the terms to be acquired by Research America, Inc. Research America was founded more than 35 years ago in Philadelphia. REPASS is the 12th company to join the Research America family, creating a world-class collaborative of boutique research firms.

This does not change our relationship with you in any way— REPASS’ Founder and CEO, Rex Repass, along with all other employees, will maintain their relationships with existing clients. REPASS will continue to operate under its current brand and the entire REPASS team will remain in place to serve the firm’s client base.

This relationship will better serve our clients and their future market research needs. We are particularly excited by our expanded abilities to excel in mobile research, website usability, enhanced digital and social media analytics, new focus group facilities, and a fully-equipped test kitchen for sensory development and taste testing.

We look forward to continuing our relationship with you as we enter this new phase. Your business is very important to us, and we are excited to serve you with our enhanced capabilities and reach.

To Your Success,

Rex Repass
Founder and CEO

Rex Repass Blog Bio

Quick List: Harnessing Positive Energy at Work

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lean in

 

In case you missed our last edition of the Quick List, take a look…

What we are practicing this week —
Building positive energy. Because who doesn’t need more of this in their life? Outside of the day-to-day, the election, the news, the protests, and more have clearly created stress across the board. Stress can creep into our work and wreak havoc. Actively working to bring more positivity into your professional life (and your teams’ lives) will have a far-reaching impact. Check out these research-based tips on six ways to build a more positive workplace.

What we are thinking about this week– 
Polls. It’s virtually impossible to get through the last week and not wonder how in the world the pollsters seemed to get this election so wrong. It was a tight race, and polls were within margin of error. Rarely was there discussion of margin of error, typically in the 3-4% range. This margin has a great impact on presidential races, but it’s accuracy is perfectly good for marketing purposes. We really appreciated this article from AdAge taking a closer look at polling in the presidential election.

What we’re sharing with you—
Daily inspiration. You are what you think you are and you tend to think what you tell yourself. Feeding our minds with positive messages and motivation is a big part of our culture around here, and we want to share a little of that with you. Download our free mobile and desktop backgrounds here – When you’re done exploring, you’re finished.

Quote we’re pondering —
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” – Ghandi

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Did you enjoy this Quick List? If so, please forward this email to a friend or follow us on Twitter @REPASSinc.

Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week.
To Your Success,

Will Krieger
Vice President, Insights

Will Krieger

Quick List: Strategy Facilitation at your Service

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What we excited about this week —
We have many strengths at REPASS, but an area where we really excel is our strategy facilitation. Whether it’s a small advisory board or over a 100 people developing a task force, we enjoy the opportunity to help our clients strategize and see the future. Take a look to see if this service is something your team could benefit from.

What we are thinking about– 
The election. So much has changed in our society over the past decade. As we approach the election, we reflect on this article from Pew Research that examines demographic shifts impacting this election and beyond. When you triangulate that data with the idea of rising individualism – see article from Russ Klein, CEO of the American Marketing Association – we start to see our new reality. These are the trends we must anticipate for the future of our work and our brand(s).

What we’re working on—
Getting those “Aha” moments when doing qualitative research. Because without at least one of those moments, the research can end up feeling a little anti-climatic. We work really hard to get those nuggets, to tap into what, how, and why consumers are thinking a certain way. We stumbled upon this article by Jeffrey Henning which takes a look at 8 projective techniques, including many of our favorites, to get respondents talking.

Quote we’re pondering —
“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” – Albert Einstein

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Did you enjoy this Quick List? If so, please forward this email to a friend or follow us on Twitter @REPASSinc.

Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week.
To Your Success,

Will Krieger
Vice President, Insights

 

Will Krieger

Quick List: Ideation and Vision Casting

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What we’re excited about this week —
Getting the chance to spend time with other researchers and share our thoughts on using market research techniques for innovation and product development. We are presenting at a conference hosted by the Market Research Exchange this week and sharing 1) why market researchers should lead the way for consumer-centric innovation along with 2) our best practices on ideation. If you are in the Columbus area, we invite you to check it out.

Also, if you’re interested in learning more about our ideation and strategic visioning services, click here to see the PDF.

Why we celebrate life at work– 
Life is a series of choices. Do we go left or right? Jump forward or hold back? Sometimes our choices work out for the better…and sometimes they don’t. But there is one choice that always has a profound effect on how we feel about our journey: Do we go alone or do we go together?

Most of you are already familiar with Simon Sinek -author of Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last. His most recent publication, Together is Better, takes a close look at leadership and why the most effective leaders work collaboratively. Can’t wait to read this one!

What we’re talking about—
It doesn’t matter if you are managing an existing brand or launching a new product, gaining commercial success can be the most daunting part of the process. Sometimes you have to have insights before you can move forward, and this is where market research can be key. Despite what some might think, incorporating market research isn’t nearly as difficult as it might seem. Check out these 8 Common Market Research Myths

Quote we’re pondering —
“There is a difference between listening and waiting for your turn to speak.” – Simon Sinek

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Did you enjoy this Quick List? If so, please forward this email to a friend or follow us on Twitter @REPASSinc.

Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week.
To Your Success,

Will Krieger

Quick List: The Most Powerful Stories in Healthcare

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What we are savoring this week —

You know when you absolutely love what you’re doing, and you just feel pumped about it? That’s the type of week we are having. We are in the middle of a multi-phase qualitative project that includes an ethnographic study. There is something incredibly special about being invited into someone’s home. To learn from them, about them. To be a vehicle to help their story be heard. This particular project is in the healthcare industry, and the stories we’ve heard are remarkably powerful due to the intimacy of this method. We are touched by the individuals we met last week and thankful that we get to wake up and do this work day in and day out.

What we’re excited to share this week– 

Our new healthcare website. Yep, you read that right. We couldn’t be more excited to share this effort with you first. What many may not realize is that our very first client was a hospital. Fast forward 15 years, and our healthcare industry experience, including research with providers, payers, pharmaceuticals, and consumer health, makes up a significant part of our work. We have a “center of excellence” in healthcare consumer research, you might say, and the team here dedicated to this work is incredible. We’re honored to support some of the best-known healthcare brands to provide products and services that change lives.

What we’re talking about—

Customer analytics. We all are seeing the transformation take place in front of us. Products are increasingly commoditized, and in nearly all industries the real competitive differentiation is customer-centricity (heard of customer experience lately?). This is why the practice of customer analytics is growing as quickly as it is, and why it’s the key to creating value for the customer. This Harvard Business Review report agrees, using this data to improve the customer experience is key to creating a competitive advantage in today’s market. And what’s the biggest barrier? You guessed it. Silos.   Here’s another story (not in healthcare) about bringing customer-centricity to life in product innovation.

Quote we’re pondering —

“The best marketing strategy ever: care.” – Gary Vaynerchuk

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Did you enjoy this Quick List? If so, please forward this email to a friend or follow us on Twitter @REPASSinc.

Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week.
To Your Success,

Will Krieger
Vice President, Insights

Will Krieger

Quick List Tuesday: Knowing What’s Coming

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What we said “Wow!” to this week —

Now that’s what we call solid research! Stanford University is heading up a One Hundred Year Study on artificial intelligence (100 years! Yep, you read that right). The study panel reviews AI’s progress every five years to assess the current state of AI. The studies are expected to develop syntheses and assessments that provide expert-informed guidance for direction in AI research, development, and systems designs, as well as programs and policies to ensure that these systems broadly benefit individuals and society.

 

What we’re talking about – 

The iPhone 7. Since we regularly do research in the consumer audio space, we are intrigued by the wireless EarPods and the new design of the headphone jack. What do you think? What are you most excited about or did this announcement not do it for you?

 

What Pokémon Go players are talking about—

Location Data Sharing. All this fuss about Pokemon Go the last few weeks has led to many conversations about location data sharing. It’s everywhere, and almost impossible to avoid as a consumer. But what does in mean for marketers? Take a look at this article by Kate Kaye that explores how location tracking is on the brink of a total explosion. Especially interesting is the rise of location data tracking and analytics firms such as Placed (www.placed.com).

 

Quote we’re pondering —

“The secret of change is to focus your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates

 

Did you enjoy this Quick List? If so, please forward this email to a friend or follow us on Twitter @REPASSinc.

Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week.
To Your Success,

Will Krieger
Vice President, Insights

Lean In

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lean in

 

We all have hard days. And as with most things, it seems that often times, when it rains, it pours. When this happens in our personal lives, it’s a lot easier. We can stick our head in the sand (not that we would recommend that), but when it happens in our professional space, you have no choice but to lean in. Lean into the discomfort and push through.

Our clients look to us for our guidance and expertise when things get bumpy. When you panic, they panic. However when you are able to stay calm, provide guidance, listen to their concerns, and get them to the other side, it solidifies that relationship. Our job is to make their lives easier. To get them the answers that they need. To lean in and lighten their load when it becomes too heavy. We like to think that we create true relationships with our clients, we are in it with them. It’s not just a job. And that makes all the difference in the world.

 

Megan Popp Blog Bio

Quick List: When our customers grow, we grow

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500

 

Our newest issue of the Quick List, a bi-monthly summary of what’s happening in marketing research and new happenings at REPASS

 

What we are celebrating this week —

News that for the second year in a row, REPASS has made the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. This would not be possible without our dedicated team who go above and beyond day in and day out.  Our steady growth demonstrates our commitment to customers; and their commitment to us. We’re focused on helping customers succeed, to help their business succeed, and to see growth in the communities they touch.

What we’re blogging about this week– 

Projective techniques. It’s easy to only associate projective techniques with qualitative research. They kinda go hand in hand, right? But how do you cultivate that level of creativity to the quantitative landscape? See what one of our Insights Directors thinks about survey design in her blog post.

 

What we’re thinking about—

That we are pretty darn lucky we get to wake up every day and work hard for something we are passionate about. Life is hard, work is hard, but when you get the opportunity to put massive energy towards something that you truly enjoy, it’s an incredible experience. We agree with Seth Godin’s perspective and we are thankful that we get the opportunity to experience “the struggle.”

 

Quote we’re pondering —

“A ship is always safe on the shore, but that is not what it was built for.” – Albert Einstein

Did you enjoy this Quick List? If so, please forward this email to a friend.

Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week.

To Your Success,

Will

Vice President, Insights

Will Krieger

Handcrafted Insights

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handcrafted insignts

 

A good research company will make an insight appear as if it was out of thin air. Some presented so simply that teams wonder how they could have ever believed something different.

With the emergence of big data and automation (and, coming soon, artificial intelligence), I’m afraid many lose sight of the work and effort involved in uncovering insights. Amassing data doesn’t lead to insight.

Before going further, let’s define insight: My working definition – actionable information that drives business action.

Over the past several years, the speed of research has accelerated. What used to take months can now be done in days. There is much less value in amassing data. In many cases it’s done for us automatically. But, we must ensure we’re collecting and looking at the right data. Connecting the dots and finding the value. This process of planning and synthesis takes work. Lots of work.

Whether it’s cleaning or connecting databases, sifting through cross tabs, thinking strategically about the right questions to ask, or visualizing the data so it can have an impact, this all becomes the craft of a smart strategist – finding the actionable information (the needle) in reams of data (the haystack).

 

Will Krieger