They're not exactly new, but it feels like we’re seeing more and more QR codes now – in print and as part of out-of-home comms. They keep cropping up in conversation in meetings with clients, too, as more in media and marketing experiment with how to deploy them. It therefore felt like a good time to head out and to explore if the public is getting to grips with them...

There’s a general feeling that QR codes are 'the future'. Being able to scan an image that links you to more content, in theory, is what people want. However, there is a great deal of scepticism regarding their effectiveness - most are under the impression that it is as simple as a link to a website or see it as 'just another way of selling'. Not enough are informed of other options such as 'scan to buy' and seem genuinely interested when presented with it. Convenience is also an issue - most are put off by how exclusive it remains to those with smartphones and even smartphone users are put off by the lengths needed to go through to get to the content.

Brands need to push the idea that a QR code is worth more than a link, that it can lead to exclusive content, useful buyer information and easier options to purchase - this may sway the sceptics into trying it out.

QR codes are breaking through into the mainstream in a big way but the idea feels dated when compared to newer hyper-scan technologies such as NFC (Near field Communication) and AR (Augmented Reality). NFC does not require the user to fiddle around scanning a code in and AR is interactive from the go - ultimately, QR will probably be regarded as the pre-cursor to these new ideas, but anyone wishing to get involved should understand this first generation of hyper–scan technology in order to realise how best to serve consumers in the future.

If you’d like to learn more about hyper-scan technology, and how we can help you research it, get in touch: hello@crowdDNA.com

StrategyBehaviourSocial Media

‘Gamification’ – it’s definitely been a top buzz word for 2011. Gaming has always been a big deal, but when social media took off, gaming just got bigger – apps on Facebook, smartphones, tablets etc. People are always connected and, quite a lot of the time, they’re playing a game. But why the need for ‘gamification’? Brands are being told they need to add gaming elements to their offerings – whether through apps, their websites or even their advertising – like McDonald’s have done in Stockholm.

Back in Jan 2011, I viewed a New MR online conference, which looked at the implications of gaming in market research. In our qualitative work this is often a feature of focus groups (ie, making brand mapping into a game, or brand personification tasks). When it comes to quant, we’ve been, um, ‘gamificating’ for years… Back in 2006, we launched the Find Your Tribe survey as part of our UK Tribes work for Channel 4 – segmenting the youth of the UK. In 2008, we gave the survey a make-over and it has seen over 70,000 entries, providing results for many brands on media and purchase trends among young people. The reason for its high completion rate was the gamification of the survey. Engaging, interactive and highly visual, it allowed users to embark on a journey, selecting their favourite brands/media/hobbies/music in a game format with the output at the end presenting the tribe they belonged to (and if they disagreed with the youth tribe they were assigned to they could disagree and let us know!). Gamification works particularly well with youth sectors and the Find Your Tribe survey saw high pass-on rates with most users who participated – inviting friends to take the ‘challenge’ and compare the tribes that they were aligned to.

A lot of our work is often youth orientated – MTV, Nickelodeon, Red Bull, Nuts, Kerrang! Etc, and when it comes to quant for these types of brands we always ensure that the look, feel and language of the surveys have a relevant feel. If it looks good, and is fun to take part in, the respondents will take time to participate – thinking through their answers and therefore providing us with deeper insight. Take Play Respond - a bespoke survey we made with a gamification feel for Viacom. It needed to be visually creative for a youth audience interested in art to take part, and from a quant perspective we added ‘design’ questions that allowed the user to create their own watch (rather like a game). This design element ensured that the respondents took their time over their watch creation, providing some great visual results to present. To make the challenge greater still, we were tasked were producing this in different languages for deployment across a range of markets.

While making sure the look and feel of a survey helps provide a gaming feel, the language used is also key. Gamification language in quant – especially to a youth audience – sees us often use terminology such as ‘guess’ or ‘challenge’, which the audience is familiar with and makes them think a bit harder about their choice of answer (they don’t want to be wrong!)

Let’s be honest, not a lot of young people actively want to take part in an online survey, but through our understanding of what makes them tick, gamification has proved to be a highly successful metric to ensure we get them to take part, think about their responses and perhaps even enjoy the experience!

Dos and Don’ts of gamification in quant surveys

Dos

• Keep it highly visual, interactive and engaging – if it looks nice and flows well people will take the time to answer the questions
• Use it for the right audience and topic, works great for a young audience who understand gaming terminology
• Think about using an ‘output’/answers screen at the end of the survey, whether it’s knowing how other people have answered certain questions or providing an end ‘result’ (ie like Tribes)

Don’ts

• Know your target audience - gamification isn’t for everyone – eg, obviously if you’re talking about a serious topic such as finance
• Don’t go overboard, it’s good to have some gaming terminology/aspects to the survey, but not every question needs it
• It shouldn’t be overtly ‘gamified’ – just subtle enough to draw an interesting slant to the way a question is worded; no one wants to be patronised!

EffectivenessGamingMethodologyStrategyYouthUK Tribes

With Yahoo! announcing the imminent launch of its Livestand system in the US, and confirming the European launch for early 2012, it will be interesting to see the impact it has on the publishing industry. It already has the backing of two titles in the US (Forbes and Surf magazine) and similar support is being touted for Europe. But is there room for another player in the tablet publishing market and, if so, what kind of changes will it inspire?

For publishers, it may well come as welcome news, especially considering the recent ‘issues’ with Apple’s publishing apps. The prospect of publishers being forced to remove the in-app subscription mechanic has caused many to reconsider the best business model for tablet publication.

The current situation involves publishers writing two separate issues; one Android and one Apple. This is a time consuming gripe for many of the bigger titles and often proves a major obstacle for smaller titles, who end up having to choose between platforms. It has also led many smaller titles, and even some bigger titles, to hold back from launching a tablet app until they can be more certain of which channel to adopt.

So how could Yahoo!’s Livestand – already being pitched as a ‘game changer’ - readdress the balance? While details of the exact offering are still sketchy we can think of some pretty big changes that could come about as a result of its launch.   

One of the big points is that it will be coded in HTML5 – the new multimedia centric coding for the internet – promising the end user a richer, more integrated web browsing experience without the need for tertiary plug ins like Flash. This opens numerous benefits in terms of a more immersive experience with the title, including the potential to support articles/issues with video and audio. But this also proves a key question for publishers in how far should they go into the realm of the multimedia.   

Added to this is the potential for Livestand users to choose the media they receive, in terms of the publication, the article/author and potentially even the deliverable. This makes Livestand sound like many of the current aggregator apps’ bigger, faster, ‘roided up brother, which could well see a more modular aspect to publishing as a result, where titles will have to provide a strong, instantly recognisable voice/presence to hook their audiences to.

So, there are two key benefits for the consumer. However, what about business? Should publishers be rubbing their hands or holding their heads? It could seem that Yahoo! is arriving late for the party, if it were not for one key aspect - cross platform functionality. The need to create two separate issues is no longer a hurdle to overcome; in fact titles can now move seamlessly from laptop to mobile to tablet, which could potentially see smaller publishers, titles and as yet uncertain bigger titles developing a multimedia publishing product. The market place could become considerably more crowded and understanding who to target and how to target them will be a key challenge for existing titles looking to consolidate their position, as well as new titles looking to make an entrance.   

In addition to this is the promise of a faster and easier programming process behind the scenes, ensuring that the focus can be on what to deliver, rather than how to deliver it (a fact that will not go unnoticed by advertisers). The emphasis will become less about crowbarring current content into a workable format – much less about making it work and more about delivering a truly integrated brand experience to the consumer.

So, despite the relatively patchy information out there, there are some key developments that we could see coming into play on the back of Livestand. From a business point of view it offers a more level playing field with big and small titles alike able to offer electronic versions. The reader experience will also change  – where readers will be able to effortlessly access visual and audio content regardless of the platform they happen to have access to at that time. Finally the increasing level of choice offered to readers and publishers will mean that brands and titles will have to work harder to stand out.

And there could yet be more strategic questions to be addressed by publishers, including:

• Should titles consider delivering a modular offer and what are the ramifications of doing so?
• How can brand values be delivered and reinforced via this new channel?
• How to best meet the opportunity of launching a cross platform electronic version of the title – what are the must haves when turning electric?
• How can those already delivering electronic issues defend their position and what are their key brand leverage points?  
• To what extent will Livestand turn magazine publishers even further into multimedia content providers?
• What are the implications of HTML5 – how far should publishers push the multimedia tools on offer?

iPadSocial MediaStrategy

Nostalgia is nothing new. For time immemorial, we’ve chosen to distract ourselves and look for comfort in sights, sounds and ideas from the past. This is as familiar to people as it is to brands – some call it revivalism, some ‘retro’, often treading a fine line with heritage and tradition. But at Crowd DNA we’ve noticed a particular trend for nostalgia among young people and, given their tender age, this is mostly focused on the recent past of the 90s.

In underground youth culture there are good examples of how nostalgia resonates through movements and fashions. The London dance music scene is recycling sounds and ideas popular in the 90s – jungle and garage have rebranded themselves under the ‘future’ umbrella with very few changes to the sound itself. Voicemail ‘hotlines’ giving directions to warehouse parties, though never fading out entirely, have also shown a resurgence. There has been a slow but steady rise in ‘anti-Facebook’ promotion and flyers have become more popular again even though cheaper/free alternatives are available – people are after the personal touch.

Nostalgia is influencing purchasing too. According to Billboard, vinyl album sales are up 55 per cent in the first half of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010. Yahoo reported a 210 per cent year-on-year increase in searches of the phrase ‘blank cassette tapes’ and a 110 per cent rise in users seeking ‘music cassette tapes’.

Young people are the creators at the forefront of this nostalgia revolution. They are taking on the role of the tastemakers and innovators by making their own productions - collaborating with promoters, digital label owners/publishers and pushing their product in the form of their very own micro-brand.It has enabled them to promote their own version of nostalgia without the need for major brands/labels.

So what are the driving forces of today’s nostalgia and why is it so popular among UK youth? We’re living in uncertain times – the recession, the riots, unemployment – in many respects young people feel these more keenly than most. In our latest phase of research for Channel 4’s UK Tribes, we found that young people are feeling real fear that they won’t be able to find a job, let alone develop a fulfilling career. Nostalgia provides a welcome distraction.

But it’s not just today’s challenging times. Young people are actively creating nostalgia because little is really tangibly owned – films, music, photos etc are now digital. This makes them especially keen ‘memory makers’ who love to document everything.

Looking to the past also provides a steadying anchor. In our hyper-accelerated culture there’s a sense that trends are shifting too quickly, with music for example, obscure genres pop up on an almost a daily basis. In a recent study with influencers, we learnt that trends too often get confused with fads and that brands are too quick to jump on this ‘fad bandwagon’, sacrificing integrity for a quick buck – which is detrimental to a brand’s image in the long term. Looking to the past removes the uncertainty and unsettled feeling that myriad passing fads create.

So how do brands fit in? Clothing brands like Fred Perry have built a brand out of heritage and retro flavour and Nike is renowned for re-releasing classic trainers to its fan-boy collector market. The film industry often plays on this concept to profiteer from a successful brand – either ‘re-mastering’ classics or releasing CGI laden pre-/sequels (a few spring to mind). The gaming industry thrives off it too, with re-releases of popular retro games on an almost daily basis to accommodate the new mobile platforms.

However, times are changing and the brands are not in control as they once were - an individual working in his bedroom has taken on the role of the innovator, undermining some of the power that brands and labels have over trends. These innovators are successful as they recognise nostalgia thrives because it is selective – we don our rose-tinted spectacles and pick and choose the elements from the past that make us happy and comfort us. Not everything was good back in the day, but we curate the best bits and mix them up with today’s. Savvier brands will recognise and assist with this curation.

Related articles and further reading

How brands use nostalgia to comfort us

Nostalgia and 70s-90s dance music reissues

Ori Schwarz, ‘Good Young Nostalgia. Camera phones and technologies of self among Israeli youths’

Simon Reynolds ‘Retromania’ – examining the retro industry

BehaviourStrategyYouthMusicGaming

As Jane Norman fell into administration last June, observers speculated which high street fashion brand would be next.  In recent years, we have been inundated with news stories reflecting the dire state of the high street.  New research from the British Retail Consortium reveals that a tenth of shops stand empty, where high streets across the UK are experiencing significant reductions in footfall. The decline has been attributed to falling consumer confidence, high inflation coupled with minimal pay increases and the general, all-round climate of uncertainty.   

Yet, during the very same period some online-only fashion retailers (OOFRs) have posted incredible results.  ASOS, for example, saw its international sales jump by 160% in the first quarter, while sales at Net-A-Porter in 2010 were up 60% on the previous year.  Could it be that consumers have just changed the way that they shop? 



In a recent report, we analysed seven OOFRs in particular: Net-A-Porter.com, ASOS, ShopStyle, Arcadia’s Style 369, FarFetch.com, eBay and Etsy.  We looked at each retailer’s strengths, recent innovations, (purchasing through Google enabled TVs come to mind), as well as potential challenges on the horizon.

We can confidently say that the future of fashion retail is by no means dead – it’s perhaps just not how you envisioned it.

Exciting times ahead for the OOFR landscape… Take a look at our work here.

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BehaviourSocial MediaStrategyFashionRetail

As campaigns become increasingly complex, taking in more media channels and connecting with audiences in new ways, it becomes even more difficult to measure the success.

At Crowd DNA we have tested over 75 campaigns and brand partnerships across TV, online, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines and events over the last couple of years. In addition to standard effectiveness measures like awareness, comprehension, loyalty and participation, we have developed Impact DNA to test campaigns in a more comparable and actionable way.

Impact DNA’s combination of normative measures allows for the tracking and comparison of campaigns, or brand partnerships, regardless of media mix or sector.

Impact DNA uses six easy to understand, but highly powerful measures to assess the success of campaigns. It utilises tried and tested measures alongside innovative metrics that take into account online and offline performance.

The results are presented as a single-page PDF using the Impact DNA performance dashboard, as well as in a full debrief document, making the results easy to access, share and act upon.

For more information on using Impact DNA, or about any of our other work, please contact Paul Allen

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EffectivenessStrategyword of mouthBehaviour

Having created an online community to hang out with Influential Londoners for an alcohol brand, we’ve been busy unearthing some key rules for staying ‘in’ with the trendsetters online.

With fashion designers, advertising directors, journalists, event promoters and even the odd cocktail mixologist in the blend, our Influencer community is diverse and a forum for conflict as much as consensus. 
 
It turns out that engaging high-maintenance, super-busy, hyper-discerning Influencers is a far cry from facilitating mums with a passion to gabber online. 
 
So how does online community management change when your members are busier and more powerful than you are?
 
Know your Influencers

Go for quality over quantity and don’t compromise on your definition of an influencer – you are looking for distinct, opinionated individuals who stand out from the pack. Keep expectations high on the community by replacing Influencers who don’t pull their weight, and keep it fresh by routinely introducing new members who fill gaps in the collective knowledge.
 
See your community as a dynamic and evolving – sure, some Influencers will leave, go AWOL or move to another continent; but some will form a valuable core to drive conversation, contribute valuable opinions and welcome in new members. These Influencers ultimately become brand ambassadors with real social cache and if you pick right and treat them well, they could spread vital WOM on your behalf.
 
Woo your Influencers

Influencers are too-busy-to-think-let-alone-join-an-online-community so the incentives need to be genuine and high. Beyond cash, will they be meeting other people they like or admire? Influencing real brand activity? Or even be finding work opportunities?
 
Influencers’ need to know they are valued and not just ‘participants’ in a research project, so be their friend and ditch the research language. Banish group e-mails and instead have one personal contact, apply gentle pressure to keep them on task but be flexible to their schedules - Influencers will not appreciate you taking a hard line or respect a soft touch.
 
Reward your community. We like to send our members monthly cases of booze and invite them together to chat over drinks (NOT a focus group) in a members’ club a few times a year to maintain momentum and keep things exciting.
 
Steer your Influencers

Influencers are adept at cutting through the bullsh*t and get bored very easily – which makes them hard to impress! 
 
We mix up nine (and counting) different question formats to engage our Influencers and direct their conversations, constantly reviewing our success and adapting our approach. 

We’ve found -
 
- Photo tasks are convenient for SmartPhone wielding Influencers and great for storytelling and building rapport

- Simple questions can run for just a few hours for quick insights – we use ‘twitter style’ answers for opinion snapshots

- Group tasks can simmer for weeks as Influencers drive the discussion and share fresh ideas, engage in debate and reach their own consensus

- Playing with question style, time frame, individual or group activities, content and stimuli keeps engagement high

- Controversial statements are a great way to ‘freefall’ a topic 

- Influencers ‘own’ the community – it’s their space to post content and interact ‘off topic’ too

- Stay quiet - thorough question planning should keep the client’s priorities on the agenda without needing to ‘direct’ the conversation

Influencers are experts in their field, brand savvy and understand the market; so make sure they are free to do what they are good at and make sure that you listen, as you may hear something unexpected…

BehaviourStrategyCommunity

Google+ launched on June 28 to mainly upbeat reviews, making a positive start in establishing a credible social media presence for the company. It reached the 10 million-user mark in just 16 days while it took Facebook 852 days and Twitter 780 days to reach the same number of users.

Google+ has blended many of the most popular and established features of Facebook and Twitter along with a few new features of its own. One of these new features is Hang Outs, a development that offers a fresh and exciting tool for researchers.

Hang Outs lets up to 10 people come together in a video conference. This might not seem like anything new, but a few features make it standout from a research point of view. The interface is simple to navigate, allowing everyone in the Hang Out to be seen in small windows below a larger window that changes to show the user speaking. There is also a chat feature and the ability to invite new people in, mid-Hang Out.

It also allows YouTube videos to be viewed within the Hang Out, chosen by one user and seen by all. It is this, along with the interface and way that users are linked through Circles that make Google+ Hang Outs an exciting research tool.

Hang Outs is well equipped to host online groups, allowing participants to contribute to discussions and complete tasks using both video and chat. The YouTube feature allows the testing of visual content in a simple and effective way. This would work for the testing of a film, ad or a game, just as it would for a pre-made film introducing a new product, service, website or brand. Visual, voice and chat reactions can then be recorded and responded to, just like in a real-World group.

We have tested Hang Outs internally and we don’t think it’s going to be very long before we are running our first online group for a client through Google+. We don’t think it’s going to replace the traditional focus group, but we do think it offers a new way of conducting small groups online. 

Social MediaBehaviourStrategyEffectiveness