allAfrica.com: South Africa: Gaining Control Over Your Brand (Page 1 of 2)

The consumer research industry has been turned on its head in the past decade, having to apply research to new mediums which were not there 10 years ago, and in an environment where marketers have lost a measure of control over their brands to consumers.

Rosie Hawkins, recently appointed global head of brand and communications research for global market insight and information group, TNS

One of the biggest challenges facing brands globally is the change that the digital media environment has brought about through the Internet, according to Rosie Hawkins, recently appointed global head of brand and communications research for global market insight and information group, TNS. Hawkins was in South Africa recently to meet TNS research partners in South Africa and address a networking session on the TNS research Conversion Model.

"It has created a whole new channel to connect with consumers, but also for them to connect with one another... saying what you don't necessarily want them to say about your brand.

"Brands need to be aware of and understand the whole brand experience. Marketers have experience of 'controlled media' - what you put out there. Now they need to understand that what you put out there is also fair game - consumers are making your content theirs, taking ownership of that content and that creates a whole new conversation about brands. And it is not always positive for your brand."

Global brand challenges

Hawkins agrees that some brands do subscribe to the old adage that 'all publicity is good publicity' and 'no publicity is bad publicity', etc, but many brands are running scared and trying to close down sites that take their brands to task or poke fun at them, or suing bloggers for negative campaigns, and so on. Hawkins advises first understanding the medium and its impact thoroughly, before going on the attack.

"Consumers have power globally to express opinions and force change and clever clients are those that are listening," she says.

Consumers are empowered like never before and the challenge for the research industry is to be able to apply research to new environments that weren't there 10 years ago. TNS researches all industry sectors, globally in 75 countries, from the health sector to automotive. "Clients are looking to us for solutions, too, the consumer research industry has been turned on its head in the past decade. We need to know how to think about these challenges, drive product innovation... and look at the tools that enable us to read what is going on in blogs."

TNS also specialises in retail and shopper insights from a global perspective with unique local idiosyncrasies in each country added. Apart from advising on innovation and the whole new product development process, shopper development and insights form a large part of its research business - from actually following consumers around in store to evaluate the shopper experience, to fitting shoppers with cameras to track eye movement. The most common brand mistakes they have found brands making, include:

Assumptions about consumers. Don't assume, make sure. Do continuous research.

Becoming obsessive about functional differences. Says Hawkins: "It is so easy to copy, so you can't build a brand or sustain it on functional differences. It really is about understanding the emotional difference.

The same brand message across categories. In each category, consumers have different needs. Brands need to understand the real dynamics of a category and build brand positioning around that to reflect the emotional connection of variants, packaging, advertising, etc, Hawkins advises.

Consistency. Brands need to have a really consistent way of expressing their strategy through every single touchpoint of the brand. That brings the strategy alive, Hawkins advises.Research savvy

As Hawkins says, market research is all about numbers and facts. The real challenge is to translate research into something meaningful, telling a story and creating value for the client to enable them to make better decisions, create a stronger brand and produce more impactful advertising. That getting to the heart of client issues, what TNS terms the '6th sense'.

The Conversion Model conference in South Africa was TNS's 10 000th project. It was hosted in conjunction with TNS's partners in South Africa, TNS Research Surveys. It is primarily a networking event to update on new developments, share case histories and get feedback in what is a core TNS innovation market. The Cape Town team, Hawkins says, is a centre of excellence for the brand globally and many research innovations are tested here.

It may sound obvious: one of the key things a marketing manager or brand manager needs to do is understand the relationship between their brand and consumer. So you would think. Research is done, results analysed, but the way that research is applied to the brand is key. In a punt for the Conversion Model, Hawkins emphasises that it is a way of understanding the strength of that relationship between the consumer and the brand.

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