by Bob Walker | Oct 17, 2023 | Business strategy, Insights industry, Marketing and strategy
I was sorry to see that Qualtrics recently laid off 780 positions (October 2023), coming on the heels of 270 layoffs back in January of 2023. This represents about 20% of the Qualtrics workforce. Having once gone through that painful experience in my career, I...
by Bob Walker | May 3, 2023 | Consumer psychology, Marketing and strategy, ROI
Consumer alienation can happen quickly. Does anyone remember New Coke? More often, it happens slowly, almost imperceptibly, because alienation is obscured by our broader human experience which is found in our collective consciousness. While consumers seek novelty and...
by Bob Walker | Apr 6, 2023 | Conjoint analysis, Data science, Marketing and strategy
Potential buyers of a product or service consider many factors when deciding what to buy, and potential sellers must decide on the factors to offer and at what price. Buyers typically place their own economic self-interests first: spend the least amount of money,...
by Bob Walker | Apr 1, 2023 | Analytics, Conjoint analysis, Marketing and strategy, New product development
In today’s crowded marketplace, it’s more important than ever to understand what drives consumer preferences. That’s where conjoint analysis comes in. Conjoint analysis is a research method used to understand how consumers value different attributes...
by Bob Walker | Mar 15, 2023 | Marketing and strategy, Marketing research, Media Planning, Multi-touch Attribution
Companies that focus on buyers who have bought your brand – even at a minimal level – are significantly more likely to shift more of their total share of consumption to you. First you must find them, and then target them effectively with incremental ad...
by Bob Walker | Mar 15, 2023 | Customer experience, Marketing and strategy, Marketing research
In the acquisition process, revenue metrics are critical to assess business value. However, the need to assess customer health is often overlooked. In customer-facing businesses, this is especially dangerous. Without a clear “line of sight” into customer...
by Bob Walker | Oct 24, 2022 | Analytics, Communications, Marketing and strategy, Marketing research
A recent conversation on A/B testing with a client revealed an interesting perspective about messaging and positioning. The client, extolling their company’s rigorous A/B testing approach, failed to recognize a simple but scary fact: it is easy to compare multiple...
by Bob Walker | Sep 20, 2021 | Customer experience, Customer satisfaction, Marketing research, NPS, ROAS, ROI
In our age of automation and AI, marketers risk becoming detached from how their business practices, products, and services are perceived by their customers. Marketers have it all wrong by focusing solely on customer satisfaction or a willingness to recommend: these...
by Bob Walker | Aug 17, 2021 | Communications, Customer experience, Strategic research
A quick Google search of the words “relevance” and “marketing” turned up very few useful or informative hits. I found this surprising. Too much digital communication (email, banner ads, YouTube teasers, etc) fails to connect to the consumer in a meaningful, relevant...
by Bob Walker | Jun 24, 2021 | Business strategy, Marketing and strategy, Marketing research
If you have been in business long enough, you know that the hard work of research is sometimes seen as optional or discretionary by some management teams because it’s hard to calculate the true ROI of research. But we’re thinking about this all wrong. Companies...