Background: A food category brand in Latin America had been exploring the possibility of introducing a new flavor concept to consumers in the U.S. Before making a final decision, the company’s marketing and strategy partner in the US felt that a concept test was necessary among the brand’s current users. The challenge was finding a company with experience researching different ethnic groups in the U.S and could provide findings within a short time frame. ThinkNow was awarded the study because of its ability to do both.
Solution: ThinkNow designed a quantitative research study that explored perceptions and barriers to product innovation. The research targeted U.S. Hispanic, African American/Black, and Non-Hispanic White users of the brand, focusing on moms with young children. Because brand penetration was low and the research needed to focus on just a handful of DMAs, ThinkNow took a less conventional approach to recruiting these respondents, resulting in readable base sizes per segment and by DMA.
Results: Our study revealed that an overwhelming majority of their consumers were excited about this new flavor, giving the food category brand the green light to move forward.
Testimonial: “Our client, a food category brand, needed to do an early-stage probe among its users to evaluate perception of a new product innovation concept. We probed three ethnic groups across 6 key markets with a challenging 15-day turnaround time. We were all very impressed with ThinkNow’s ability to pull this through. Quality of the data was excellent and it was delivered on time for our decision-making process.”
Field Team 6 is an organization that focuses on registering Democratic voters in swing states. It successfully registered new voters prior to the 2018 midterm elections by focusing on targeting voters who opposed President Trump. To help motivate people to register to vote in 2020, Field Team 6 needed to understand the specific factors and messaging that are most likely to resonate with eligible voters in battleground states.
ThinkNow designed two separate online surveys to gather insights from eligible U.S. voters. Both surveys targeted Hispanics, African Americans/Blacks, Asians and Whites.
The results of our two studies provided critical intelligence to Field Team 6. Among the significant findings was that anti-Trump message wasn’t enough. The COVID-19 pandemic emerged as the single most important issue facing voters prior to the 2020 election, which indicated that any messaging to eligible voters needed to focus on that issue. Field Team 6 ran their new messaging and TRIPLED their average registration numbers the first weekend in-field.
“Thanks to your research and intelligence, you are directly helping to effectively register Democrats in the battleground states that will make the difference in taking back the Senate and the White House in November. Thank you so much for what you’ve done already and we can’t wait to keep working together and honing the ability to create a Democratic infrastructure in this country to not only win in 2020 but hold and expand those gains! Thank you so much.” – Sarah Jakle, National Outreach Director, Field Team 6
In preparation for the launch of a new brand and communications plan during National Small Business Week in 2018, the Small Business Administration (SBA) determined that a multi-phased research study was needed to explore the motivations, challenges and barriers small business owners faced and to measure their familiarity, usage and perceptions of the SBA and its services. The testing of new communications and creative concepts for the SBA was also part of the research effort.
Together with the SBA and its marketing agency, ThinkNow developed a comprehensive research plan that consisted of the following elements:
Through this comprehensive and successful research program, ThinkNow was able to provide the SBA with critical information and insights that guided and informed its brand and creative strategy for 2018.
Background: A Fortune 100 auto maker was looking to take the lead with multicultural consumers in the U.S. To do so, the brand team needed to better understand the unique needs and behaviors of Hispanic consumers as well as their perceptions of the brands offered in this category so they could build a relevant and connected end-to-end experience.
Solution: ThinkNow created an integrated solution combining online discussion boards, in-person focus groups, and in-depth interviews. The approach was divided into three individual phases designed to start broadly on a national level via online discussion boards, allowing us to discover the “unknowns,” then use the learnings and apply them to more specific discussions through the next phase of in-person focus groups. In the final phase, we conducted in-depth interviews which focused on conversations around key influences impacting purchase decisions.
Results: The results from the study have been groundbreaking for the auto maker. It not only gave them the direction they needed to create more relevant marketing messages, but also brought about additional awareness and revealed how many of their previous understandings and assumptions about this demographic were inaccurate and thus changed. The additional insight facilitated conversation among senior leadership about the opportunity that U.S. Hispanic consumers represented for the brand.
A membership association needed to build a foundational need assessment of Latino caregivers, their experiences, journeys, and challenges. The research informed the association’s upcoming demonstration project within Los Angeles District 1 communities. The research objectives were to learn about caregiver needs and the current Hispanic/Latino experience, build a connected experience that meets the needs of the local community, and identify key levers that will drive the impact and relevance of the association’s programs. Additionally, innovative solutions were sought that can address gaps or improve the caregiver experience and replicate best practices by building out tools to be adapted into other markets.
ThinkNow conducted an immersive, ethnographic study of 15 Stakeholders, 22 Caregivers (Low, Medium, High Acculturated Hispanics) and 9 Care recipients (Age range 57-90).
ThinkNow’s insights enabled the association to strategize at the local level and more effectively direct its offering to other audiences across the country. Additionally, data from the ThinkNow study informed the association’s hypothesis as to what is needed in the Latino caregiver community and helped define the metrics used to measure success.
Background: Campbell Ewald was tasked with determining if advertising used in past Covered California campaigns was still effective in encouraging uninsured Californians to sign up for health insurance via the state health insurance exchange. To do that, they needed a research partner to provide qualitative research to uncover and understand current perceptions of and barriers and motivations to getting health insurance through Covered CA among existing and new audiences.
Solution: ThinkNow conducted 15 focus groups with segments in both Southern and Northern California targeting Hispanic, African American, and multi-segment audiences. We spoke to both insured and uninsured respondents as well as those that were subsidy-eligible and non-subsidy eligible. Focus groups were conducted in English, Spanish, and Bilingual.
Results: It was determined that messaging used to communicate with remaining uninsured Californians needed to change. The remaining uninsured Californians need insurance information to be communicated more explicitly. ThinkNow identified creative that was still effective, and others that were not. Campbell Ewald took these findings and used them to plan the 2016-17 Covered California marketing campaign. The campaign was nominated for an Ogilvy Award for Excellence in Market Research by the Advertising Research Foundation, ARF.
One third of Hispanic students do not graduate on time with a standard diploma, which can have a severe short- and long-term impact on their economic security and health. Over 70% of Hispanic dropouts report dropping out of school due to a lack of support from their parents, which is a result of their low levels of formal education, lack of familiarity with the American school system, and feeling unwelcome at their children’s schools.
NGL Media needed a research partner to test creative concepts for the Ad Council’s “No One Gets a Diploma Alone” campaign. The goal of the campaign is to motivate Latino adults ages 25-35 without a high school diploma to take the first step towards getting their high school equivalency (HSE) diploma and a better future.
ThinkNow conducted a quantitative research study to measure the effectiveness of three advertising concepts developed for the “No One Gets a Diploma Alone” campaign. We measured overall appeal, believability, message recall, likes/dislikes, motivation, and impact on their interest in pursuing a high school diploma. The study consisted of a nationwide survey of n=225 Hispanics 25 to 40 years of age who do not have a high school diploma or GED and are open to going back to school to get a diploma. Because this segment of the population can be difficult to research, we utilized a combination of online and mall-intercept interviews across the country. Since a large share of this population is known to be Spanish-Dominant and/or less acculturated, the survey was offered in English and Spanish.
The research revealed that the “no one gets a diploma alone” messaging has strong appeal among Latino adults. It effectively communicates that they can lean on others for things that are preventing them from taking action – i.e., transportation to/from the study center, cooking dinner, and/or caring for parents/children. The research also showed which creative concept resonated most with this audience. Since its launch in 2019, the ad campaign has been successful at motivating many US Hispanic adults without a high school diploma to pursue their high school equivalency, as well as connect them with information to get started.