Trend for 2022: Meet the New Brand Tracker

Brands that invested in consumer insights outperformed the broader market by 3x, according to Watermark Consulting.

One of the themes we are seeing in the consumer insights industry is tech-enabled research. Why? Because it automates the operations of research. By reduction, we can perform more research with fewer resources and allow decision-makers to build empathy with their consumers.

More and more brands are looking to their agency partners to incorporate ResTech that offers continuous improvement of better, faster, and cheaper consumer insights.

What does a ResTech-powered arrangement look like?

There are literally limitless possibilities. Here is an example of one we are working on right now.

The client is a major health care insurance company. Through the shelter-in-place mandate, their agents have encountered many challenges, and new challenges continue to pop up.

These challenges impact both buyers and sellers. For example:

1. What do customers care about when considering a carrier?
2. Disruptive carriers and insurance marketplaces are changing the purchase process. So, what are the current stages in the purchase journey?
3. Within each stage of the purchase journey, what are the factors and how important are those factors to move the consumer through the funnel?
4. What other carriers are in the consideration set?
5. What words should agents use when talking to prospective buyers?
6. Finally, what marketing creative will have the biggest impact?

You get the point. And new questions about consumers emerge with great frequency for brands.

It used to be the case that brands would treat each business question as a unique project. But ResTech plus an Agency Partner offer a time- and money-saving alternative.

Now, the brand creates a private community of both agents and consumers. There is monthly research done against the population that mirrors a lightweight tracker. It keeps the customer close and builds empathy.

Additionally, this community is used for quick-turn surveys and qualitative projects.

This hybrid offering creates a new type of financial arrangement that closely mirrors the brand trackers of old. These brand trackers offered stable income over time and served as a way for brands to identify issues and conduct research accordingly.

Through technology, the brand gets answers to their business questions within 24 hours from their valued partner.

We are seeing this shift across the industry. As consumer insight agencies recognize the impotence of owning their own tech stack, more and more mergers will take place.

One company that is capitalizing on this is Onclusive.

Last week, Kantar Reputation Intelligence merged with PRgloo and Onclusive.

You are probably asking, “Why?”

The merger seeks to unify technology and consulting at a global scale to help companies optimize media spend.

In short, brands are struggling to keep pace with their customers. We are in uncharted territory at a global level. Winning brands will love their customers in order to be loved by their customers. And, the only way brands can build a relationship at scale is through research automation coupled with agency expertise.

This is a space we’ll all be watching over 2022.

Happy researching! 😊

A version of the preceding article was originally published on the Happy Market Research Podcast.