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Optimization Group is a marketing innovation and accountability firm. We remove the emotional and political barriers to produce better marketing decisions.

Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Optimization Group has members across the country working with clients like Hewlett Packard, Bank of America, United States Postal Service, Microsoft and United States Naval Recruitment. 

We have measured over 1,800 different marketing campaigns from over thirty-five product and service categories. We specialize in statistical data analytics, modeling, and survey research.

Optimization Group

United States of America

Optimization Group is a marketing innovation and accountability firm. We specialize in statistical data analytics, modeling, and survey research.

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Day Two at <a href="https://www.iiex-na.org">IIeX NA 2014</a> is in the books. The agenda had a special focus on practical, real-world examples. As we collectively keep our eyes on the future of research, we must be reminded that the best ideas often come from small modifications of what we&rsquo;re already doing and not a completely new approach. Here are a few things that stood out from Day Two:
The Influence of Social Sharing
Julien Beresford (Beresford Research) &amp; Andy Stevens (ShareThis) gave an excellent presentation on the impact a &ldquo;share&rdquo; has on sales. Their study showed that recommendations account for 57% of the purchase decision. Recommendations have more impact than brand or price. To take it a step deeper they looked at the impact of online shares (which include social shares) and found that positive online shares provide a sales lift of 9.5%, while negative online shares hurt sales by 11%.
The study they presented was an important first step in the journey of us better understanding the value of social sharing. The obvious next step is to drill down further into the different types of social shares (Facebook share vs. Tweet, etc.)
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Recommendations account for 57% of consumer purchase decision over brand and price. (Cpg, auto, personal electronics) <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23iiex&amp;src=hash">#iiex</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23returnonashare&amp;src=hash">#returnonashare</a>
&mdash; W5Insight (@W5Insight) <a href="https://twitter.com/W5Insight/statuses/478891145737420800">June 17, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
The Future of Market Research 
This topic has had many different opinions over the last few years but I think <a href="https://www.greenbook.org/insights/authors/schadwick">Simon Chadwick</a> (Cambiar) gave everyone a fresh look into where the industry is headed. Chadwick made two main points about the future:
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ol>
<li>Data collection is already established. It&rsquo;s about data acquisition.</li>
<li>As the number of data collection streams continue to grow, our future will reside in synthesizing data and telling stories.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
Several people spoke today about the need for a &ldquo;closed loop&rdquo; data platform that can combine traditional data streams with the ever-changing data streams from the likes of social media.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
&ldquo;Goodbye data collection, hello data acquisition&rdquo; says <a href="https://twitter.com/simonchadwick">@simonchadwick</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23iiex&amp;src=hash">#iiex</a>
&mdash; Bernie Malinoff (@berniemalinoff) <a href="https://twitter.com/berniemalinoff/statuses/478999217956868096">June 17, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
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The Ethical and Relational Role of Data Privacy
Data privacy is one of those topics that make people uncomfortable. With conspiracy theories and lawsuits in abundance, there&rsquo;s a feeling of violation and betrayal in the air. Jeffrey Resnick (Stakeholder Advisory Services, LLC) moderated a panel on data privacy in the modern era and how trust is our most valuable asset.
Reading between the lines of what was said in the panel, a couple things stood out:
<ul>
<li>In order to get the data transparency required to tell complete and accurate stories with data, we need to have the trust of consumers. There&rsquo;s no getting around it.</li>
<li>We have an ethical responsibility in what we do with data. This reminds me of a study several years ago that assessed the moods of New Yorkers based on their Twitter posts. The study suggested that Hunter High School was the &ldquo;saddest tweeting high school in New York&rdquo;. The report was devastating to the students, faculty, and alumni. A report later came out proving the study wrong. The original study picked the wrong location.</li>
</ul>
We may think that more data is better (and it may be true) but we must stop and think about what we&rsquo;re doing with the data and how it&rsquo;s affecting the lives of those around us.
If you missed yesterday, check out the <a href="https://greenbookblog.org/2014/06/17/day-one-at-iiex-na-2014-virtual-reality-mexican-food-and-more/">recap of Day One</a>.
You can follow the conversation at the conference via&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23iiex&amp;src=typd">#iiex</a>&nbsp;on Twitter.

Day Two at IIeX NA 2014: Influence of Social and #MRX Future

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Day One at <a href="http://www.iiex-na.org">IIeX NA 2014</a> was a packed day filled with research goodness, from the exceptional speakers all the way down to the wide diversity of research minds in attendance. I spent the day popping in and out of sessions and talking to as many people as I could. Here are a few takeaways I had from Day One.
The Market Research Industry is like Mexican Food
I like going to research conferences and listening to people talk about their company’s “unique” approach and how they describe their services. After several hundred conversations I’m starting to notice a strange resemblance to my favorite food type: Mexican food. Who doesn’t like Mexican food, right? If you really think about it, Mexican food has the same core ingredients in every dish; they’re just presented differently and given a different name.
On Day One I had at least ten people tell me about their “unique” approach to generating ideas. Each time I couldn’t help but think, “You’re simply describing a standard idea generation/crowdsourcing approach.”
Virtual Reality
If you haven’t experience the virtual reality room put on by <a href="https://www.greenbook.org/company/LRW-a-Material-Company">LRW</a>, you need to….TODAY. Spoiler alert: If you’re scared of heights (like me) please bring an extra pair of shorts. The applications of this technology are endless. I’d really like to see a study done on the emotional effects of a virtual reality experience. I think my heart rate is finally recovering 4 hours later….
Emotional Engagement
My favorite presentation of the day was by Rebeca Fucci of <a href="http://freshintelligence.com/">Fresh Intelligence</a>. Rebeca explained how emotional engagement relates to loyalty. Far too often we associate loyalty with frequency. She gave a simple example from her childhood to drive this point home. Rebeca grew up in a small town where the most convenient thrift store was a chain called Ames. She went to Ames almost every day when she was younger. If she were to ask one of the Ames employees if she was a loyal customer, they would have said, “yes” without hesitation. In reality, she despised the store, and by the time she was old enough to drive, it was worth it to her to drive 45 minutes to the nearest national department store.
Rebeca reminds us that if you want to look at true loyalty, you must look at emotions and not just behavior. It’s the emotional side of the decision making process that creates the immediate connection and interest.
Neuroscience is Top of ‘Mind’
Neuroscience was by far the topic brought up most in my conversations and in presentations. I think neuroscience is fascinating and I’d love to know more about it. However, my biggest concern is the learning curve associated with it. The “average” person, if they’re being honest, knows very little or nothing at all about neuroscience. Quite often, when a new methodology or strategy comes around, we spend a large amount of time trying to educate our clients. Neuroscience is not as easy to learn as Max Diff analysis is.
Here’s my concern: The learning curve may be too great and require too much time educating clients for the majority of research shops. If we “dumb” it down so clients can see the applications (so we can sell it), do we lose its value in the process?
You can follow the conversation at the conference via <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23iiex&amp;src=typd">#iiex</a> on Twitter.

Day One at IIeX NA 2014: Virtual Reality, Mexican Food and More

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By Isaiah Adams
Have you ever had someone try to explain something to you that didn’t make sense no matter how many times they explain it? Now, how many times has the “light bulb” turned on once they shared a good analogy with you? Analogies are a powerful way to explain complex ideas. Researchers and Marketers have long struggled over the communication of research methodologies and strategy. Marketers have a hard time understanding “Research-ese”. One of the best ways to bridge that gap is by using analogies. Below are some of the best marketing research analogies, shared by some of the brightest minds in marketing research.
A Strong Foundation
Using an analogy of a house foundation, marketing research can be viewed as the foundation of marketing. Similar to how a well-built house needs a strong foundation to remain sturdy, marketing decisions require the support of research in order to be perceived favorably by customers and to stand up to competition and other external pressures. Therefore, all areas of marketing and all marketing decisions should be supported with some level of research.
Application of Market Research
Some use research as the drunkard uses the lamppost, for support rather than for illumination.
&#8211; David Ogilvy
Marketing Research is like panning for gold. You must sift through the dirt in order to identify the golden opportunities.
-Heather Hinman – Salford Systems (<a href="https://twitter.com/salfordsystems">@SalfordSystems</a>)
Starting a business without doing market research is like stepping out onto a tightrope without bothering to check the tightness of the knots that are holding the rope in place. You’re halfway across when the knots loosen, the rope wobbles; you lose your balance, and fall to the ground with a splat.
The problem is they’re afraid their market research will tell them what they don’t want to know, that their big idea &#8211; their baby &#8211; ain’t so cute after all. They fall victim to what I call &#8220;Ugly Baby Syndrome.&#8221;
It’s a tough pill to swallow when market research tells you that your baby is about as attractive to the buying public as the south-end of a north-bound mule.
&#8211;<a href="http://www.businessknowhow.com/startup/market-research.htm">Tim Knox</a> &#8211; entrepreneur, author, speaker, and radio host (<a href="https://twitter.com/timknox">@timknox</a>)
Marketing Research is like having a root canal. No one wants to do it, but it is absolutely necessary. You’ll be glad you did it in the end.
-Heather Hinman – Salford Systems (<a href="https://twitter.com/salfordsystems">@SalfordSystems</a>)
 Importance of Quality Research
&#8220;Doing good research makes you like a one eyed man in the land of the blind.&#8221; and its corollary: &#8220;Doing bad research is like sticking a lawn dart in your eye.&#8221;
-Mark Moody
 Outliers
Outliers &#8211; the folk at the back of the hall who know something and you don&#8217;t want to listen to them.
-Dr. Brian Monger (<a href="https://twitter.com/SmartaMarketing">@SmartaMarketing</a>)
Stimulus-Response Measurement
A comedian does not simply walk on stage and say “I’m a really funny person.” They continually measure the crowd reaction as they alter different ways of delivering a joke. They may change how the punch line is delivered, the length of the pause before the punch-line, etc. By testing various ways of telling the same joke, the comedian is able to identify the best way to tell the joke.
Conjoint Analysis Methodology – Booking a flight
Every day we make a series of choices (or trade-offs). There are usually many elements involved in each choice and we typically don’t take the time to weigh-out each element in our decision process. We just choose.
To illustrate how we make trade-off’s in purchasing decisions, think of when you book a flight.  You don’t pick just the cheapest flight, you also consider the time, number of layovers, frequent flyer miles, baggage fees, etc.  The idea is that traditional surveys ask people rational questions to which they give rational responses (i.e., What factor is most important in choosing an airline? – most people would answer price).  However, purchasing decisions are far more complex and irrational. When you book a flight, you choose the flight that best fits your desires. By analyzing a series of choices during a conjoint exercise, the individual importance of each element is derived.
Conjoint Analysis Structure- Doughnuts
I like to think of Conjoint Analysis as a &#8220;doughnut shop&#8221;. The features (attributes) of a doughnut shop are the things it uses to make and sell doughnuts; such as ingredients, flavors, pricing, and time of day to sell.
A feature at the doughnut shop (e.g. Flavor) can be broken down into levels (e.g. powdered sugar, chocolate, cinnamon sugar, plain, or maple.)
VP of Client Services at Survey Analytics &#8211; Esther LaVielle (<a href="https://twitter.com/surveyanalytics">@surveyanalytics</a>)
MaxDiff and Food
MaxDiff is like a refrigerator full of food. There&#8217;s one thing in the refrigerator you love the most and can&#8217;t get enough of, and there&#8217;s one thing you wouldn&#8217;t touch with a three-foot pole.  For my husband he loves cold beer the best from the fridge and can&#8217;t stand my smelly homemade kimchi in a jar.
-VP of Client Services at Survey Analytics &#8211; Esther LaVielle (<a href="https://twitter.com/surveyanalytics">@surveyanalytics</a>)
Market Research – The Football Coach
The modern marketing researcher is the football coach: providing each of the team’s players with the right level of intel at the right time, before, during and after the match; so that all players can focus on what they&#8217;re hired to do: winning the game!
-Hans Lingeman- CEO / Partner at Winkle (<a href="https://twitter.com/hanslingeman">@hanslingeman</a>)
Crowdsourcing: Difference between closed and open innovation
Imagine that you are planning a big surprise party. You want it to be entertaining, spectacular, memorable and different. You could plan and project manage every element of the party yourself: the theme, venue, music, food, drink, entertainment, games, diversions etc. Or you could involve a number of people to help you with their ideas and their skills. One person could manage all aspects of the venue, someone else could design special decorations, another person could put together a music mix and so on.
If you do it all yourself then you are in complete control, you have sole responsibility and you can keep the whole thing a surprise but you have to remember to do everything and it is only as good as your ideas. If you bring in a group of friends and experts to help then you can harness their imaginations; you can bounce ideas off each other. You have to delegate tasks which involve collaboration, supervision, letting go and an element of risk. Keeping the whole thing a surprise is more difficult but can be done. The choice between doing it all yourself and doing it with a group is the choice between a closed and an open model.
-Paul Sloane – <a href="http://www.crowdsourcing.org/document/inexorable-rise-of-open-innovation-and-crowdsourcing/2209">Inexorable Rise of Open Innovation and Crowdsourcing</a>
Focus Group Facilitator (Moderator)
“To use the analogy of exploration, the facilitator is not so much the expedition leader; rather, a combination of navigator and cartographer, ensuring that the group heads in the right direction but happy to investigate new paths if relevant to the purpose of the expedition”
Bob Gates and Mary Waight (2007:113 – <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=AAcQW6EILYoC&amp;pg=PA60&amp;lpg=PA60&amp;dq=focus+group+analogy&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=G_yzdaw6Ld&amp;sig=FtNE-cWvLKV6eJ1v09EQRNwFAQg&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=BqIYU73GK6fv0gHI5oG4Bg&amp;ved=0CCUQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&amp;q=focus%20group%20analogy&amp;f=false">Focus Group Methodology: Principal and Practice</a>)
Data Mining
Finding the proverbial needle in the haystack.
Data Mining: The danger of the model “over-fitting”
“Say you are at the tailor&#8217;s, who will be sewing an expensive suit (or dress) for you. The tailor takes your measurements and asks whether you&#8217;d like the suit to fit you exactly, or whether there should be some &#8220;wiggle room&#8221;. What would you choose?
The answer is, &#8220;it depends how you plan to use the suit&#8221;. If you are getting married in a few days, then probably a close fit is desirable. In contrast, if you plan to wear the suit to work throughout the next few years, you&#8217;d most likely want some &#8220;wiggle room&#8221;&#8230; The latter case is similar to prediction, where you want to make sure to accommodate new records (your body&#8217;s measurements during the next few years) that are not exactly identical to the current data. Hence, you want to avoid over-fitting.”
&#8211; <a href="http://www.bzst.com/2010/02/over-fitting-analogies.html">Galit Shmueli</a>
How product innovations actually spread through a market
The chance that an individual tree will be consumed in a fire depends upon neighboring trees, how many of them burn, how long the tree is exposed to high temperatures, and if the tree is isolated without nearby burning trees to provide a source of ignition. In dense forests, most trees will burn, but in sparse forests, few trees will burn.
Translated into marketing insights, if potential customers are surrounded by people who have adopted a product innovation, and if this adoption is repeatedly brought to their attention, it&#8217;s likely they will also adopt the innovation. Multiplied over an entire market, this innovation will be a success. But if the reverse conditions prevail, the innovation will not reach a level of acceptance necessary to remain in production. It will fail.
Robert Winsor &#8211; (1995). Marketing Under Conditions of Chaos &#8211; Percolation Metaphors and Models. Journal of Business Research, 34 (1995), pp. 181-189.
Optimal Marketing-Mix
An optimized marketing mix is like a recipe for chocolate cake.  You can take a few basic ingredients (flour, eggs, milk) and mix them in one set of proportions – add some flavoring – put it in the oven and you get chocolate cake.  Take the same ingredients and mix them another way – put them in a fry pan, and you get pancakes.    There is no “one answer” – the recipe depends on what you’re trying to do.
-Jeff Ewald – CEO at <a href="http://www.optimizationgroup.com/">Optimization Group</a>
What are some you your favorite marketing research analogies?
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Here are some of the best marketing research analogies, shared by some of the brightest minds in marketing research.

Market Research Is Like… A Collection Of Some Of The Best Market Research Analogies

Optimization Group is a marketing innovation and accountability firm. We
specialize in statistical data analytics, modeling, and survey research. Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America.

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