Talking Shop with... Chris Marino

Chris Marino, founder and CEO of CJM Market Insights, says pre- and post-campaign insightful research is key to brand growth. What have you learned from your 20 years in the market research industry? Chris Marino: I have conducted research for top brands in several industries including retail, CPG, foodservice, IT, automotive, travel and education. I have learned what works and designed a streamlined approach that is effective, efficient and provides the insight needed to grow a brand. To obtain reliable and actionable results, we design shorter surveys that keep respondents engaged and less frustrated. Longer surveys can lead to low response rates and misleading results. Respondents tend to “tune out” during longer surveys, especially in the sections with the more insightful questions. Also, our surveys mainly focus on the key questions needed to guide the development of a brand and provide direction for growth. What are your thoughts on leveraging research in the pre-planning campaign stage? Many brand campaigns fail when they do not have a precise understanding of their opportunity segment and how to reach them. Developing a relevant and targeted campaign is vital to growing a brand. We obtain a comprehensive understanding of category behavior, attitudes and the brand landscape. By leveraging category behavior and understanding category leaders as well as openness to using a brand we can identify a segment that offers the most opportunity for growth. We also help brands develop relevant ads that will resonate more with an opportunity segment. Ads that will better “stick” and be remembered which allows for a brand to build awareness and consideration with less ad exposures. This is key for a less costly and efficient campaign. There are several media targets and touchpoints that brands can use to reach an opportunity segment. We provide direction to create a targeted and efficient media approach by pinpointing frequently used offline and online touchpoints. We also explore reach opportunities across mobile platforms. What are your thoughts on conducting research during the campaign execution phase? Post-campaign tracking enables brands to monitor the impact, fine tune and strengthen marketing efforts. We determine whether or not advertising is effective and growing a brand. The program helps fine tune campaign efforts by providing direction on how to tweak messaging, ads and media weight to build a more efficient marketing approach. We identify which ads are sticking, relevant and generating interest. Brands can then adjust media weight to support the better performing ads. We also determine which offline and online media touchpoints are more successful at reaching a target. Media weight can then be adjusted to better support these touchpoints. Retaining brand users is also a key piece to brand growth. Our approach monitors users to measure how loyal they are to a brand. We also identify enhancement areas to strengthen relationships to help avoid users from migrating to other brands. With the emergence of smartphones, what have you done to leverage mobile in your research approach? Since most consumers have their smartphones with them wherever they go we have developed an innovative mobile app program, MIG (Mobile Insight & Growth), which is easy to install and use. Our customizable app is included in our tracking program at no additional cost. The program helps brands gain insight and stay connected with users, building brand loyalty. Brand users also earn rewards by sharing on social media through the app and sharing leads to new users. Consumers tend to trust more what friends say about brands and MIG easily allows brands to build social media advocates.