Case Studies

We like to think that all of the data we generate produces insight that is actionable. After all, sometimes learning that “there’s no there there” is indeed a finding even if it is not necessarily a major marketing breakthrough. Occasionally, though, there are those findings that can be game changers. Below are four case studies that changed the game for Roberts Communications' clients.

Case Study #1: The Tail Is 9% of the Dog
A small suburban community asked us to develop a quality of life study that included the public’s preference for developing the last bit of open space available. The usual public debates took place before the city council with no scarcity of opinions but also no hard data. The loudest voices heard so far were against any growth, but was that what “the public” really wanted?

The random-sample telephone study of n=400 documented what was important to residents in terms of defining a high quality of life and what they felt their community should look like to maintain that quality of life. They were also asked to rate the desirability of several development scenarios. It was this exercise that informed a segmentation strategy that revealed that 4 out of 5 subsets of the public favored various approaches to growth. Most importantly, it revealed that indeed, the tail was wagging the dog in the public forum. As a distinct segment, those who opposed any growth at all represented only 9% of the city’s adult population.

While no plan will please everyone, a development approach that took into account the sensitivities of all of these segments was devised. Emblematic of the plan was a Wal-Mart with an elaborate water feature and a high-end playscape. (Copyright 2001, Dave Roberts)

Case Study #2: News & Talk Stations Aren’t Radio
Several years back, radio clients suspected that their All News Stations were underperforming in the Arbitron ratings relative to what they believed was the real listenership. Indeed, we were having trouble finding qualified respondents for our News & Talk focus groups, recruited on an unaided basis. So, we began following up with an aided list of radio stations and found many who did not volunteer our clients’ stations said they did listen. We decided to recruit several groups based on aided but no unaided recall. 

Even in the groups themselves, many did not mention the News & Talk stations top of mind. So we gently probed why they didn’t recall listening unaided but admitted that they listened when we provided the call letters as a choice. The reasons—

·        “Because it’s AM”

·        “I thought you meant FM stations”

·        “I thought you meant music stations”

·        “Because it’s news, it’s not radio”

·        “Because I only listen to it for news and traffic”

 At the time, Arbitron—the ratings service—used only an unaided “diary” measurement so it often did not get written down. Our clever clients took these findings and developed on-air promos that addressed the problem, which future research and future ratings proved they were effective. One the most effective one-liners was, “Your favorite radio station doesn’t play music.” (Copyright 2001, Dave Roberts) 

Case Study #3: The Folly of Fifty-Six Hammers
A medium-sized hardware store chain (50,000 square feet) was perceived to have less selection than the big box store (150,000 square feet), even though in some categories, the smaller store had greater “depth” of selection. However, customers in the DIY space aren’t always building a house, installing new landscaping, or remodeling a kitchen. For everyday hardware needs the Selection was fine, but most importantly the Service (available, helpful, and usually knowledgeable), and one could get In & Out Quickly, all valued attributes.

However, the ad agency was obsessed with the store managers’ contention that in some categories they did have better Selection, for example more hammers than the competition. So they came up with a campaign to try to bolster the Selection perception. One element of the campaign was a very expensive TV spot that touted the fact that the store had over 56 hammers…many with very special purposes.

Marketing was skeptical and asked us to test the spot with several others. Not only did it not move the Selection needle, it was not believable and even if they did have that many hammers, who cared? Furthermore, it made no mention of  Service and Convenience and respondents insisted that the interior shots did not even look like the store.

Yes, it was an expensive spot to produce, but from an ROI perspective, this research managed to cut losses by halting media buy for a potentially ineffective commercial. (Copyright 2001, Dave Roberts)

Case Study #4: Don’t Ask About “No Questions Asked”
An ad agency asked us to conduct focus groups with their client’s internal customers—store managers, department heads, sales associates, and cashiers—to get a frontline view of the customer experience.

Among the many issues was tracking research showed some slippage in the perception of the client’s “No Questions Asked Return Policy”. They had been known for it and customers appreciated it. In fact, it was complete with urban myths—seems about everyone knew someone who knew someone who knew a customer who returned a “box of rocks” and the store gave them a refund on the drill that should have been inside.

Turns out, cashiers and other frontline employees were told to discourage returns. Why? Corporate policy was to charge returns against managers’ bonuses. However, “corporate” had no idea this was going on. As a result, the compensation policy was changed and a valuable customer benefit was revived. It also made the cashiers a little happier. (Copyright 2001, Dave Roberts)