Author Archives: Esther LaVielle

Free Webinar Event 12/14: Market Research Trends 2012

Posted on December 10, 2011 | Leave a comment

Wed 12/14/11 at 10AM PST

Market Research Trends 2012

Click here to sign up!

The world of market research has experienced tremendous change over the last few years.  Last years’ trends of mobile surveys and analyzing social media chatter have evolved to higher levels that now include gamification; turning the feedback process into a fun and engaging experience as well as the growth of private panels and communities that can provide on-demand feedback within the hour!

Join us for a free webinar on Wednesday December 14th at 10:00 AM PST where we will explore the top trends that will impact how you will gather information and make decisions in 2012.

SurveyAnalytics is proud to be a part of this free live webinar featuring panelists: Romi Mahajan, CMO of Metavana, Leonard Murphy, CEO of Brandscan 360 and editor in chief for the Greenbook Blog, and Vivek Bhaskaran, founder of SurveyAnalytics.  This will be a discussion style webinar where our speakers will share their opinion on what trends to look for in 2012, and audience member are encouraged to ask and share opinions as well.

In this fast paced session, we’ll be exploring:

- 2012’s Top research trends that have influenced how we collect feedback

- Resources where you can see examples of these trends in action.

- Tools that you can use today to get started

Register today  for this exciting discussion to discover how your peers are leveraging insight into defined opportunities to innovate via today’s technologies for tomorrow’s research!

Click here to sign up today!

About the speakers:

 Romi Mahajan, CMO of Metavana

He comes to us from Microsoft where his last role was  WW Director of Sales and Strategy for the Digital Marketing & Search team at Microsoft Corporation.  In this role, Romi focused on growing the Digital Marketing business for the company as well as helping define Microsoft’s increasing role in Internet Business.

Before this stint at Microsoft, Romi Mahajan was founder- President of KKM Group, an Advisory company focused solely on Strategy and Marketing in the Technology, Media, Agency, and Luxury Goods sectors.  Prior to founding KKM, Romi was Chief Marketing Officer of Ascentium Corporation, a leading digital agency with 96M in Sales in 2008.

During this first tenure at Microsoft, Mahajan spent over seven years in the company’s US business where his last role was as Director of Technical Audience & Platform Marketing. Earlier in his career, Mahajan started two boutique consulting companies specializing in technology and finance joint ventures between U.S. and Asian companies.

A well-known speaker on the technology and media circuit, Mahajan serves on a variety of Advisory Boards and speaks at over a dozen industry events per year. In addition, he has been published prolifically in the Technology press.

Mahajan graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, at the age of 19 with a Bachelor’s degree in South Asian Studies. He also received a Master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

 Leonard Murphy, CEO of Branscan 360 

Leonard Murphy is a seasoned and respected market research industry leader with an entrepreneurial drive. He has been called a visionary and am renowned as an innovator.

His credentials include:

-Editor in-Chief, GreenBook Blog, GreenBook Research Industry Trends Study, GreenBook Newsletter atGreenBook Marketing Research Directory

-Chairman at 2011 & 2012 Chairman & Co-Producer of Market Research in the Mobile World Conference series

-2011 Chairman, 2012 Co-Chairman at IIR Market Research Technology Event (formerly TDMR)

-Co-Host at Radio NewMR & Advisory Board Member at NewMR Virtual festival

-Event Advisory Board Member: Qualitative Consumer Research and Insights 2011 at Merlien Institute

-Board of Advisors at InsightPool, Kontrol, Decooda, and Market Research Global Alliance

-Principal at LMC Group Consulting

Vivek Bhaskaran, founder of SurveyAnalytics

Vivek Bhaskaran is the founding member and CEO of Survey Analytics, one of the industry’s leading providers of web-based research technologies. As Chief Executive Officer, he plays a key role in defining the company strategy and using technology and innovation continuously to maintain its leadership in the industry.

He has played a pivotal role in the Survey Analytics journey. In 2008, Survey Analytics made Inc. magazine’s list of the fastest-growing private companies, ranking 172nd overall and 25th among business-service providers.

Puget Sound Business Journal recognized Survey Analytics as one of the 100 fastest-growing private companies in Washington State.

Vivek completed his primary education in India before moving to Russia and then US. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Brigham Young University, Utah.

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Posted in Webinar

How Market Research Could Have Saved Netflix From Losing Over 800,000 Customers

Posted on October 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

In a land where founders and CEO of large successful companies are the new celebrities, many of them are faced with pivotal decisions that will likely shape their legacy…or at least make an interesting chapter or two in their future autobiography.

As a longtime Netflix customer and die-hard Roku advocate, I  was shocked at Chief Executive Officer Reed Hasting’s  aggressive decision to split it’s DVD rental and video streaming business into two separate entities in addition to doubling it’s current rates. Many thought Quikster was a stupid name to describe their DVD rental division and in this economy many customers had a hard time justifying the additional cost that were forced on them.

According to a recent New York Times post, Hastings told a friend about his ideas a couple of month ago, and his friend warned him that it was a really bad idea but Hastings ignored the feedback. When asked if they conducted any market research or focus groups on the idea, he simply “assumed” it had been conducted. The average person can clearly see through his “assumptions” that the data  collected (if there were any data collected from his customer base) were skewed, and perhaps some over-confidence played a big role in this major mistake. Another possible mistake on Netflix’s part is that maybe their marketing department carried out market research projects that were biased to the pre-made decision to increase prices anyways. The result of not listening to their customers prior to making a decision caused the mass exodus followed by a severe beating on their brand in the media.

Before I continue,  we need to understand the  three main drivers that resulted in Netflix’s aggressive decisions:

1) Online streaming is a very competitive field. Amazon, Apple, Hulu, and all of the networks have joined in to grab a piece of that pie.

2) Expansion overseas. Netflix wants to be the first global online streaming company.

4) Redbox is kicking serious tail feathers in pay-per-day rentals and growing extremely fast in the US. These things are everywhere now!

After reviewing these reasons, you can almost justify Netflix’s decision to act as aggressively as they did, right? Well, kind of. Many large companies tend to think they have enough clout to influence their customers to stay on board with their goals. Unfortunately for large companies the average customer are not thinking about what is best of the company. Instead, they are thinking what’s going to make them happy right now at an effective price. If they are not happy with the service, they can take their money and go somewhere else. With movements like Occupy Wall Street happening all over the world and access to social media it’s evident that listening and taking into consideration the voice of your customers is more important than ever.

Now that the damage has been done, what can Netflix do? Here are a couple of recommendations that can possibly change their brand image around and start winning back some customers.

1) Conduct Voice of the Customer or customer feedback research in a non-biased environment. It’s important to get an even mix of current customers and former customers to find out what’s keeping customers so loyal while asking former customers what made them cancel.

2) Run Pricing Analysis projects and customer opinion on pricing features. If they would done some choice-based conjoint analysis projects in addition to some following up pricing questions, Netflix may have avoided losing 800,000 customers since June.

3) Set up an online panel of Netflix customers and ask them questions about new product or service ideas and their thoughts in real-time. Offer these panelists an incentive or a reason to give honest opinions that can help shape the future of the company.

4) Instead of focusing 100% on growth, focus on customer retention and increase satisfaction levels with the services Netflix provides. Everybody knows about the 80/20 rule. Based on some news outlets, Netflix is planning to slow down growth and only expand in the UK in the next year or so and scrapping their plans to expand into Asia until down the road.

5) Netflix needs to fix their brand image in the media quickly! I’ve seen new nicknames like “Quitflix,” “Cancelflix,” “Threatflix,” and “Buh-byeflix” floating around in the media. It is time to do some branding research and work on repositioning themselves back to the time where streaming Netflix was an enjoyable, convenient, and economical experience for all.

It’s going to be interesting to watch and see what Netflix will do next. Based on what’s happened here I think we can all agree a little bit of market research could have gone a long way for them.

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Posted in Essay, News

Webinar Recording and Slides: How to Run a Field Research Project with SurveyPocket

Posted on October 6, 2011 | Leave a comment



Thank you to everyone who joined us today for the webinar on “How to Run a Research Project with SurveyPocket.” We had a great turn out with many helpful question and tips throughout. the session. Please review the slides and recording available on our blog. Thank you!

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Posted in Case Study, Webinar

Free Webinar Thur 10/6/11 at 9AM: How To Run A Field Research Project with SurveyPocket’s iPad App

Posted on October 3, 2011 | Leave a comment

Thursday October 6th, 2011

9:00AM PST

It’s no secret that smart phones, iPads, and other mobile tablets are changing the way people keep in touch, reach books and news, and collect data. In market research, the prediction is that field teams will be replacing the pen and pad for one of these devices soon enough.

“The benefits of collecting and sharing data via the iPad call for a revolution of the field research design methodology-“ Andrew Jeavons, Chief Operating Offer, SurveyAnalytics.

If you’ve heard the hype and want to join in on the action, but are a bit overwhelmed on how to get started, then join us on Thursday October 6th, 2011 at 9:00AM PST for a free webinar hosted by Esther LaVielle and John Johnson from SurveyAnalytics. With over 12 years of combined experience in project management, market research, and software application training, we are here to train you and offer free guidelines how to:

- Create and manage your own field project

- Train and manage your field research team

- How to synchronize/organize all data into an online report

- How to quickly share your field research results with your clients faster than ever before with dashboards and alerts

- Follow a case study we are currently fielding about pro sports fans!

A Q& Session will conclude our 45-minute webinar. A recorded video and slides will be available to all who signs up for the webinar and subscribed to blog.surveyanalytics.com and blog.surveypocket.com.

Sign up here today: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/360043990

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Posted in Training, Webinar

Free Webinar Thur 10/6/11 at 9AM: How To Run A Field Research Project with SurveyPocket’s iPad App

Posted on September 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

Thursday October 6th, 2011

9:00AM PST

It’s no secret that smart phones, iPads, and other mobile tablets are changing the way people keep in touch, reach books and news, and collect data. In market research, the prediction is that field teams will be replacing the pen and pad for one of these devices soon enough.

“The benefits of collecting and sharing data via the iPad call for a revolution of the field research design methodology-“ Andrew Jeavons, Chief Operating Offer, SurveyAnalytics.

If you’ve heard the hype and want to join in on the action, but are a bit overwhelmed on how to get started, then join us on Thursday October 6th, 2011 at 9:00AM PST for a free webinar hosted by Esther LaVielle and John Johnson from SurveyAnalytics. With over 12 years of combined experience in project management, market research, and software application training, we are here to train you and offer free guidelines how to:

- Create and manage your own field project

- Train and manage your field research team

- How to synchronize/organize all data into an online report

- How to quickly share your field research results with your clients faster than ever before with dashboards and alerts

- Follow a case study we are currently fielding about pro sports fans!

A Q& Session will conclude our 45-minute webinar. A recorded video and slides will be available to all who signs up for the webinar and subscribed to blog.surveyanalytics.com and blog.surveypocket.com.

Sign up here today: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/360043990

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Posted in Uncategorized

Excel File Upgrade

Posted on September 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

We would like to notify you that SurveyAnalytics has recently upgraded our Excel download to the .xlsx format. Earlier the files were .xls.

What this means: The numerous limitations on the .xls files are now a thing of the past. Files in the format of .xlsx can generate and accommodate a lot more data and there are almost no limitations (Columns / Rows / Contents).

Please Note: The File Format has not changed. Just the file type has changed to .xlsx.

If you are a client who may have some process already set up for reading just .xls files make sure to your system can also read .xlsx files as well.

Excel file has changed for: Export Data, Excel export for Grouping / Data Segmentation, and FTP Reports.

Banner Reports still are in .xls format.

If you have further questions or comments please contact your dedicated account manager for assistance.

Thank you!

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Posted in Uncategorized

Recording & Slides Now Available: How To Set Up A Panel Management Solution in 30 Minutes

Posted on August 24, 2011 | Leave a comment



Slides from the webinar

Micropanel Webinar 8 24-11

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Posted in Uncategorized, Webinar

Free Webinar Wed 8/24/11 @ 8AM PST: How To Create Your Own Panel Management Solution in 30 Minutes

Posted on August 10, 2011 | 2 Comments

Wednesday August 24th, 2011

8:00 AM PST

Click here to sign up now

Panel management solutions are popping up everywhere for companies to explore. The main objectives to getting started is that it’s too difficult to learn, It’s too time consuming, or it requires to much dependent on the software company and slowing down the panel debut. With SurveyAnalytics solution, MicroPanel,  implementing your own panel management solution doesn’t have to be difficult and require 2-3 months of set-up time to get started. The webinar “How To Set Up a Panel Management Solution in 30 Minutes” will help familiarize you with the following:

-Trends & Advantages of creating and managing your own panel solution

-How to get started : 5-point focus to kick off your panel solution

- Customized site behavior: Get Your panel & Panel Portal the way you want it to

- Profiling Surveys: Capturing panel info while you ask questions in your survey

-What Are Knowledge Bank Questions: How to Implement them and connect them to your Panel profiles

- Sampling Portal: Pulling specific data for your surveys

A Question and Answer session will follow prior to the conclusion of the webinar.

A recording and webinar slides will be posted on this blog in the afternoon. Make sure to check back and download your copy to view.

To learn more about http://www.micropanel.com

Click here to sign up now

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Posted in Feature Enhancements, New Features, Uncategorized, Webinar

Tagged , , , ,

SurveySwipe Launches Mobile Research Communities Pilot Program

Posted on July 19, 2011 | Leave a comment

Survey Analytics Offers Companies Three Months of Free Beta Testing

 

Seattle, July 19 2011 – SurveySwipe, a subsidiary of Survey Analytics is introducing a free three-month demo of the Mobile Research Communities pilot program to companies who sign-up for beta testing on the SurveySwipe website. SurveySwipe Mobile Research Communities allows companies to reach out to specific audiences with questions relevant to their brand and to receive feedback from that audience in real-time – via smart phones.

SurveySwipe serves as both a social and a business application. Users who download the app can earn points for answering questions related to their particular communities and those points can then be redeemed for various kinds of prizes like iPhone applications, gift cards, and other deals. The information obtained from SurveySwipe Mobile Research Communities is highly targeted, hyper-local, and easily obtained from users who are incentivized to respond in a convenient manner.

Like other Survey Analytics solutions, SurveySwipe is accessible and developed to be user-friendly. Companies can easily adapt each survey to their research needs and create a branded survey experience for subjects. SurveySwipe is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad devices as well as being the only app to support all four major phone platforms.

“SurveySwipe gave our conference the ability to garner immediate feedback in real-time,” says Brian Dowdy, Director of Research, PSAMA. “Through their comprehensive reporting mechanism, we were able to quickly identify the pulse of the conference and adjust resources appropriately. SurveySwipe is the premier choice when building private communities for real-time.”

“As the industry continues to trend more and more towards mobile interaction, it is essential to gather feedback from this source,” said Vivek Bhaskaran, President and CEO of Survey Analytics. “SurveySwipe offers companies unlimited surveys and responses, full control of users and data, customizable points and rewards systems, and 10,000 users from a variety of communities that reflect the needs of diverse target audiences. But because of our commitment to innovation, we will continue to add more features and augment the already-successful program as we move forward.”

Survey Analytics is working on several other new products, including SurveyPocket, developed for the iPad platform. Companies wishing to sign up for the SurveySwipe Mobile Research Communities demo, should visit or click on the SurveySwipe Logo below.

http://surveyswipe.com/application/surveyswipe/mobile-research-communities.html

Link to SurveySwipe Press Release: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/surveyswipe-launches-mobile-research-communities-pilot-program-125821118.html

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Posted in New Features, SurveyAnalytics - News

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What’s New on SurveyAnalytics: Recording and Slides Now Available

Posted on May 27, 2011 | Leave a comment


Thank you to all who attended “What’s New on SurveyAnalytics.” This was a 30 minute presentation on new tools currently available for all clients to use. If you missed the webinar you can view slides & recording here. If you have questions, contact your account manager & we will follow up with you.

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Posted in New Features, Webinar