Jon Puleston & Amy Cashman

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Jon PulestonVP InnovationLightspeed GMI

Amy CashmanMD Technology & FinanceTNS

It’s not business

It’s personal

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Today’s session coverage

A new approach to survey design

Our SME surveyThe story the survey told

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Survey design seen as a functional process

Surveys by and large are simply a long list of things we want to know

Evolved out of spoken interview

methods

We use a set of rules to write

them

?

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We forget…

Whether or not anyone wants to read the questions we write

....and if anyone want to answer them?

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What can advertising teach us?

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A survey question

This is a message I want you to read and think about and respond to

And I want you to read this bit

And this bit

And this bit

And this bit

And this bit

And this bit too

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An advert

This is a message I want you to read and think about and respond to

And I want you to read this bit

And this bit

And this bit

And this bit

And this bit

And this bit too

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Same challenge but…

Their focus is on motivating you to consume their messages

They reward you for consuming them by making the process pleasurable /fun /intriguing /surprising

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We take pleasure from looking at this ad

Visual reward

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Humour

I am entertained by reading this ad

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Titillation= mild sexual pleasure

Double entendre= mental puzzle

Sexual and intellectual rewards for reading this ad

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Mental challenge

Intellectual reward for reading the copy

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Surprise

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Wallpaper

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Learning from what advertisers do?

The art of copywriting is all about making a connection with the consumerUnderstanding who you are talking to and adapting the message

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Learning from what advertiser do?

Ads fail when advertisers focus purely on what they want to tell you

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What can we learn from advertising?

A change of mind-set about a survey

Focus on making it

pleasurable

Using visuals more

effectively

To communicate

question content

To help motivate people to

think

Reworking questions:

More surprising and challenging

Using a language that connects with the consumer

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Here is how a typical survey might start

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Think about the first page of a survey as the ad for that survey

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Treat the opening page as the ad for the survey

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Be more surprising:Please rate your bank?

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Is your bank perfect?

YES NO

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How close to perfect is it?

No where near Close to perfect

Perfect Bank

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Making better use of visuals

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Think of icons as ads for the options!

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Think of icons as ads for the options!

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Average option selection rate

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Making the whole survey a pleasurable experience

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The challenges we face as researchers are in many ways more complex than the challenges of advertising

We have to hold people’s attention not for 30 seconds but for several minutes

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Film makers manage to keep our attention for hours

So what can we learn

from them?

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What can we learn from what script writers do?

Good scripts grab your

attention from the off by posing a great question

Narrative structure is key

They construct Heros through which the story

is told

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Recommended reading matter

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At the heart of a good film script is a really good question

What if every day was the same?

Groundhog day

What if a nun was made to be a nanny?

The sound of music

What if a really smart innocent person went to prison?

Shawshank redemption

What if dreams and reality were inter-changeable?

Matrix

1

2

3

4

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A survey can be built around a really good question

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What is the secret of a really great shampoo?

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A life of hair washing… what have you learnt?

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Learning from script writers

Narrative structure is the key to good surveys

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The trial narrative

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The trial narrative

Case for the prosecution

Case for the defence

Jury discussion

Verdict

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Learning from publishers

The techniques of mix advertising and editorial content

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Content readerswant to look at

Content publisherswant you to look at

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Survey questions researchers want

respondents to answer

What brands of toothpaste are you

aware of?

Survey questions respondents want to answer

Your nominations for the toothpaste

of the year awards

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The challenge of survey design more complex than film making too…

Not asking people to passively consume but actively think and respond

This is where understanding game play becomes important and we have taken a huge number of learnings from the computer gaming industry

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What we learn from what game designers do?

They challenge us by asking really difficult questions! - forcing us to think really hard

They deliver rewards

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Prediction gamesThis is an example of how this betting approach is being used in practice to copy-test book cover designs

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Improved enjoyment

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Less sample to get stable answer

60 v 40

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Tests/quizzes

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Tests/quizzes

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Test/quiz

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Personality testsA repetitive set of attitude statements can be transformed into a more rewarding experience for respondents by positioning it as a personality test. This technique can be applied in virtually any survey but does require some setup and thought.

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Key Learnings

Think like an advertiser

Structure your story like a film marker

Suspend your agenda about what you want to know

Think like a gamer and make things more fun!

1

2

3

4

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Treat them like a human being

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Our SME survey

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A survey built around a really good question

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A more visual approach

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The respondents became the hero of their own story

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Built around a strong narrative structure

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Injecting some fun: thinking about these business people as human beings!

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The fact it was all about me and my life! ;-)

I felt the person who wrote this survey really understood me and my business concerns

It challenged me to really think about me and my business objectively

What did you like about this survey?

“”

“”

“”

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And the results speak for themselves

highest

B2B survey score

enjoyment score of

8.25

in the top

10% of all surveys

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The story our survey told

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In the beginning

24%To earn money

24%To be my own boss

17%Saw an

opportunity/gap in the market

16%Broader social

purpose

13%Control of my future

65

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People are seen as critical drivers to achieving their ambitions

22%

Businessemployees

15%

Personal/family contribution

15%

Businessimprovement

18%

Business reputation

66

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Business is personal: 85% see themselves, their family, friendsor employees as the biggest contributors to success

%

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23

Me and my family

Staff

Businessimprovement

Clients/customers

Bank /Gov

19 16 9 6

Myself Determination

Family Friends

67

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Family/friends are seen to play a more important role than any professional body in their business success

16

22

20

56

69

43

44

35

22

18

9

6

Family / friends

Bank

Accountant

Govt agency

Non-bank lender

Solicitor

Large role No role

%

68

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Whilst family/friends are important for all SMEs, they are of greatest importance to Micros

Role played by Family/friends

44

67

43

46

37

Whole sample

1 to 10

11 to 50

51 to 100

101 to 250

16

9

16

18

22

Large role No role

%

69

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Introducing Micro Managers and Bullish Builders

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Micro Managers & Bullish Builders show diverging characteristics

Bullish BuildersMicro Managers

Spontaneous and chance taking

Practical and affirmed in their ways

Empathetic and affable

Organised and systematic

Creative and curious for innovation

Calculated and goal-driven

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Snapshot of Micro Managers

Numerically important

1 million

Motivated by independence

47% Be my own boss

Friends and family are key Technology not seen as main success driver

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For micros, family/ friends play a broader strategic role in terms of…

55%Idea

generation

52%Financial support

48%Networking

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Snapshot of Bullish Builders

33%

High potential/high growth companies

Investing heavily in their businesses

Equally motivated by opportunity and money

invest over 100k

21% To earn money

20% Saw a gap in the market +65%

+79% time put in

effort made

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They are intent on growth

+55% Productivity

+33% New products

+38%New customer acquisitions

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“I want to bethe dominant force in

English wine.”

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The story of our survey told us SMEs want to be…

…the same is true of respondents, be they consumers or business people

RecognisedValued Understood

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Business Personality Tests

Access at:http://question-science.blogspot.co.uk/

Copyright © 2014 Lightspeed, LLC. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.

THE AVERAGE SMALL BUSINESS IS:

65%

Creative49%

Gambler60%

Socialite30%

Business

Tycoon

55%

Micro

Manager

Copyright © 2014 Lightspeed, LLC. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.

SMALL BUSINESS v RESEARCH BUSINESS:

65%

49%

60%

30%

55%55%

41%

51%

35%

49%

Creative Gambler Socialite Business Tycoon Micro-Manager

SME's Research companies

Copyright © 2014 Lightspeed, LLC. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.

THE AVERAGE RESEARCHER SEE THEMSELVES AS:

60%

Artist

40%

Scientist

50%

Rock ‘N’ Roll

40%

Classical

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Thank you

Jon PulestonVP InnovationLightspeed GMI

Amy CashmanMD Technology & FinanceTNS