Rebranding Research for an Online Gaming App
18 Feb 2021

Competition for online gaming apps is fierce.  A popular game with a famous IP is available on smartphones and via Facebook saw a plateau in new users. The game wanted to rebrand to become more relevant to prospects and current users. This case study outlines the multi-step research methodology that Provoke Insights used to provide the gaming app with a clear direction for the rebrand.

Marketing Problem

The gaming app, with over 10 million downloads, was interested in understanding what drives users to its game versus the competition. The game wanted to evaluate the current brand perception and its impact on awareness, consideration, downloads, in-game purchases, and long-term loyalty. 

The objectives of the research included:

  1. How consumers link the inherited brand name and its retail identity to the current iteration of the application;
  2. What drives emotional attachment to the game;
  3. How the game differs from the competition.

Market Research Solution

So, Provoke Insights proposed a two-phase research solution. 

Phase one was qualitative, to conduct sixteen in-depth interviews among current users. These interviews were used to uncover information before a quantitative stage:

  • Emotional drivers to the app; 
  • Detailed thoughts on the apps’ creative; 
  • How the app fits into their life;
  • Feelings about the name of the brand and whether they would support a rebrand.

The interviews were conducted among four groups of the app’s users, tiered based on their usage/money spent to get a range of users.

Phase two was an online survey among online gamers. The research was used to create a perceptual map of the app and its main competitors, test features of the game, evaluate different audiences within the online gaming world and further understand emotional drivers. 

Research Results

Going into the research, the marketing team was preparing to rebrand and clear up brand confusion. However, both the in-depth interviews and the research study found that the brand name was one of the main reasons people tried the game. Therefore, from the results, the game also realized that the brand confusion stemmed throughout the full gaming experience.  The brand needed to focus on how to provide a concise brand message across the game’s assets.

Are you interested in our market research capabilities? Find more information here or email us at [email protected]

In addition, read some of our past case studies here:

  1. Food Category Brand Launch: Secondary Research
  2. Marketing Strategy for a Major National Fitness Club
  3. Annual Ad Testing Campaign for OTC Drug Company
  4. Jewelers of America: Mixed Methodology Market Research Study

You can also read some of our blogs here

  1. Research Among Generation X
  2. Research Among Baby Boomers
  3. Valentine’s Day Marketing 2021, Falling in Love With Your Brand

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and finally, follow our social media accounts:

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Content Marketing Research for Tech Companies: A Case Study
03 Jun 2020

Marketing Problem

It is difficult for a brand to stand out from the competition in today’s saturated media environment. As a result, it is hard for brands to show that they are thought leaders; this is especially true in the tech industry where competition is fierce, and there is intense pressure for high growth. Thereby, original research is an essential way for brands to generate awareness and engagement. As a rule, it establishes the brand as a leader in its field.

Provoke Insights works with a variety of technology companies to conduct research for content marketing purposes, including Apttus, SkilledUp (acquired by Apollo Education), eToro, and A10 Networks. Beyond, these technology companies want to conduct effective and breakthrough thought leadership research to help build a strong reputation in the tech sector. As the leader in research for content marketing research, these companies reach out to Provoke Insights.

Research for content marketing is one of Provoke Insights’ three specialties. The company speaks about the topic at conferences, trains other researchers, and is featured in multiple industry journals on the subject.

Market Research Solution

For our technology clients, Provoke Insights uses our unique methodology to produce research that leads to the most engagement; this includes:

Secondary research. Firstly, by utilizing available information, news, and social listening, Provoke Insights digs in and finds the trending subjects that are engaging consumers. In the same vein, Provoke Insights also considers topics that are getting a little too much media, maybe overreported, and that should be avoided in research.

Develop potential headlines. Secondly, we create ideal or optimal headlines. Importantly, these headlines should excite and interest readers and focus on topics that popped up as engaging in the secondary process. Most importantly, SEO is a driver of these headlines, as we want to make sure that content developed performs well on the internet.

Design Questionnaire. After developing the headlines, Provoke Insights works with the client to design a questionnaire that gives answers to the questions posed by the headlines. Therefore, the headlines are used for directional purposes and do not assure the outcome of survey results. The questionnaire is then programmed online by Provoke Insights, and the research study is conducted.

Mini-Reports. After finishing the survey and collecting responses, Provoke Insights develops a series of mini-reports for each topic/headline. These mini-reports are written in a way that intrigues readers so that they want to click on and read the full research findings.

Pitch An Exclusive. Moreover, with more than one story angle, these tech companies can often pitch research exclusives with multiple journals or news sources.

Multiple Uses. Concluding in using the research for various sources. These sources include blogs, social media, newsletters, email outreach, and websites to keep the buzz going. Many times the research is also used for sales collateral.

Results of the Research

The result of the research has helped tech brands gain notoriety and position them as thought leaders. ROI and metrics are proven for this method.

  • Tech thought leadership is six times likelier to be shared than most articles on clients’ websites.
  • Facebook posts of thought leadership research gain approximately 30 times more engagement than other posts.
  • The tech companies often used the full report to gather contact information and received hundreds of leads from users looking to read the results.

Some Ways These Brands Used The Research

SkilledUp

eToro

Apttus

A10 Networks

Read some of our recent case studies and blogs here:

  1. NPS: An Explanation and its Importance
  2. COVID-19 and Conducting Market Research
  3. Sunpower: An NPS and Competitive Assessment Study

IF YOU WANT TO, SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTERS HERE!

and finally, follow our social media accounts:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/provokeinsights

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Sunpower: An NPS and Competitive Assessment Study
18 May 2020

Background & Marketing Problem

Sunpower is a top solar panel company with retail in over 20 countries worldwide. Founded in 1985, the American energy company has manufactured solar panels for 35 years. The manufacturer was one of the first solar power companies, coming as a result of research conducted at Stanford University. In need of understanding their place in the solar power marketplace, Sunpower was looking for an NPS study.

Sunpower approached Provoke Insights to conduct an annual survey on the solar consumer purchase journey. Already a leader in the field, the company wanted to better understand its standing compared to the competition. The provider wanted to identify any competitive advantages and contemplate improvement efforts. In addition, an economic model was developed as a result of the research. Finally, the company wanted to gain a better understanding of its top competitors, as well as determine essential awareness, purchase, satisfaction, and referral drivers.

Market Research Solution

One of the best ways to understand how customers view your company’s product is through Net Promoter Score (NPS). NPS is a score that ranges from -100 to 100, which measures how likely a consumer is to recommend a product to a friend. The method helps measure both success and brand loyalty. NPS changes conducted over a period of years also helps highlight how a brand is either progressing/regressing in terms of its product’s reception.

Provoke Insights developed and conducted a 30 minute, 80 question survey among solar power customers with solar panels installed on their roofs. Accordingly, the survey was sent to both customers of Sunpower and its competitors. Further, a structural equation model was used to determine which attributes were drivers of NPS score and by how much.

Results of the Research

A comprehensive report was developed that provided a clear understanding of the market, and how the solar panel company compared to the competition. The annual analysis gave Sunpower a yearly benchmark to compare their position versus competitors in the market. In addition, the analysis helped Sunpower understand what drives awareness, and sales, and how to challenge the competition.

The information was used to drive key decisions in marketing, customer services, and the sales process. You can read more about the research here: https://solarbuildermag.com/news/fact-people-want-solar-energy-stats/

Jewelers of America: Mixed Methodology Market Research Study
14 Feb 2020

Background & Marketing Problem

Who are Jewelers of America and why do they need market research? The jewelry industry needed to better position itself in today’s rapidly evolving marketplace. The fine jewelry industry was starting to see a plateau in sales and wanted to improve growth overall. Jewelers of America (JA) is a non-profit trade association that was founded in 1906. The aim was to advance the professionalism and ethics of the jewelry industry. Today, the luxury brand association aims to improve consumer confidence through advocacy in public, government, and industry affairs. It also aims to enhance consumer marketing and public relations efforts. 

Objectives

Jewelers of America approached Provoke Insights to conduct market research. The objectives of the research were to:

  • Get buy-in from association members
  • Understand the members’ target audience
  • Guide the strategic development of a national advertising campaign

Market Research Solution 

Provoke Insights designed a three-phase research plan:

In the first phase of the research, Provoke Insights developed a 10-minute online survey. The survey was open-ended in nature to garner valuable insights from association members. This round of research provided JA with an extensive understanding of trends, purchasing patterns, and customer insights among 257 association members. Provoke Insights used to aid the development of the consumer survey and to understand trends in the industry.

The second phase of research assessed buying habits, attitudes, and interests in the fine jewelry and luxury sector. It also set out to evaluate who had the highest propensity to purchase jewelry and the size of each segment. A twenty-minute online survey was conducted among 2,019 high-net-worth respondents.

Provoke Insights used advanced analytics to create a segmentation to find who has the highest propensity to purchase fine jewelry. Secondary research supplemented the segments developed from quantitative research in order to develop personas.

    • Provoke Insights found that there are two main groups of target jewelry consumers: the “jewelry enthusiast,” a woman in her 30s who is married with children with a combined household income upwards of $100,000, and the “young and indifferent,” a woman in her 20s who is single, without children and making less than $100,000. 
    • Both live in cities and suburbs, watch TV and engage in social media. The former makes up 8 percent of the U.S. population, or about 25 million people, and the latter 11 percent of the U.S. population, or about 35 million.

In the third phase, Provoke Insights created a video of the findings for Jewelers of America to use as a promotional video internally in order to generate buy-in/excitement for the ad campaign and fundraise. 

Results of the Research

Using Provoke Insights’ research and strategic direction, Jewelers of America was able to fundraise and develop an upcoming ad campaign for 2020. The advertising company hired by Jewelers of America used the research in order to inform the advertising campaign and target the segments that were recommended to them. You can read more about the campaign here. 

You can read more about jewelry and market research here.

USPS: A Thought-Leadership Research Case Study
24 Jan 2020

Thought-leadership research for content marketing strengthens a brand’s credibility, generates awareness, increases engagement, and build new leads.

Marketing Problem

e-Commerce companies often have difficulty with return management and reverse logistics. Issues include fragmentation, siloed functions, and some companies even have no return operation policies in place. These problems often cause issues such as redundancies in costs and efforts.

The United States Postal Service was looking to help businesses deal with the accelerating realities of the online purchase returns landscape. Therefore, to provide the most pertinent information, the government agency wanted to understand: 

  • How do retailers structure and communicate their e-Commerce return policy? 
  • What types of logistics solutions are in place to set them up for success with returns?
  • Create a competitive benchmark to help companies understand that their returns policy is up to par. 

So, the government agency on-boarded Provoke Insights in order to create thought-leadership research by conducting quantitative research to help companies understand if their returns policy is up to par. Thus, the aim of the research was to provide original content on this topic for USPS to generate engagement on the USPSDelivers blog for logistics and operation professionals. 

Market Research Solution

Provoke Insights conducted an online survey among 300 professionals involved in the reverse logistics process. With that in mind, the survey was designed to gather content marketing insights on the following topics: 

  • How companies self-assess their returns policy;
  • Barriers, challenges, and concerns that companies have when it comes to returns;
  • Solutions and tactics in improving efficiencies during the reverse logistics process.

Results of the Research

USPS was able to use the research for content marketing and thought leadership purposes. They published a report on the USPSDelivers blog – read the report here. The B2B target audience can use the results to understand how to improve the reverse logistics process.

The market research firm found that implementing new technologies is an essential way to help the reverse logistics process and that a tenth of companies don’t have reverse logistics policies in place. 

Most importantly, USPS was able to position itself as a thought-leader in the field and differentiate itself from the competition. The results were recently published the full report on USPSdelivers.com and it can be found here.