Custom Communications Research

Advertisers frequently communicate with their markets through unconventional means or have objectives that cannot be met with standardized methodologies. That's where custom research comes in. Approximately one-quarter of our surveys are totally custom projects that employ new and unique research techniques.

Conducting such projects requires imagination, flexibility and skill. Our team of project directors has had years of client and agency-side experience working with scores of product categories. This enables them to identify the research objectives of unique custom projects and develop methodologies that precisely meet them. We have the resources to employ every known data collection technique and invent new ones when necessary. We have the contacts required to work in every domestic or international market. No two custom projects are alike. Frequently they employ solutions that break totally new ground. All are solidly grounded in the realities of the marketplace.

Just a few of the issues we have recently addressed on a
custom basis are:

• What does the "Made in America" label mean to customers?
  (for a Federal agency)

• How do size and color impact the effectiveness of newspaper ads?

• How best can an international sports organization protect its sponsors from ambush advertisers who imply that they are its sponsors?

• Which potential name for a new telecommunications service most effectively communicates its intended attributes?

• What genre or prime time television programming is most effective for advertising technology-related office products?

• How does music influence consumer response to advertising?

• How do young people use and consume healthcare-related communications?

• What combination of engagement measures are most predictive
  of sales?

These are not issues that advertisers face every day and the methodologies we employed to address them often required considerable ingenuity. We believe that no marketing problem is so unique that it cannot be addressed with a unique solution.