Market research insights
driving global business

• November 2011

Love, honour and obey

A brand’s life cycle can be like a rollercoaster ride. But don’t fret. Here’s the lowdown on what brands should be asking to pull themselves out of the rut and sustain their relationship with consumers.

• July 2011

Winning cards in China

The proliferation of credit card usage in China shows what banks need to do to continue the trend. As consumers become more sophisticated, their demands for banks improve related customer services will need to be satisfied.

• June 2011

To click or not to click

What is so appealing about tablets versus newspapers? Looking at the daily conveniences that tablets can offer, one wonders what the print industry should take note of in order to prevent being pushed into early retirement.

• May 2011

Made in China

Previously known for mass production of cheap goods that are sold in Walmart and other megastores, China no longer needs to imitate. Revamps on local goods are making foreign brands take a deeper look as the competition gets fierce.

• May 2011

Obsolete power

In today’s tech crazed world, planned obsolescence (deciding when a product will become obsolete to make way for the new) has become the norm for most of today’s gadgetry. However, instead of simply pushing out the old, this is bringing continuous improvements and new experiences for the ever-demanding consumer.

• April 2011

The fog of blogs

As with many things in the online world, the rules of brand blogging are hazy at best. Independent bloggers who are not paid could be the balancing intermediary between consumers and brands in disseminating information. And brands must tread carefully when dealing with expressive bloggers.

• March 2011

To err is human, to forgive depends

Brands vie for customer loyalty. But expectations vary depending on the nature of the brand. What status do brands hold in our minds? We look at how brand personalities affect the relationships they build with customers.

• March 2011

How should government get its groove back?

Governments have not benefited from recent advances in customer experience research that have improved products and services in the business world; rather, they still embrace a paradigm where customer satisfaction is the ultimate measure.

• March 2011

Are the kids alright online?

The internet is fast becoming an indispensible part of young people’s lives, but the threats – and temptations – for children online are numerous, and it takes a concerted effort from different sources, along with technological help, to ensure that they are protected from the myriad dangers that lurk there.

• January 2011

The social network?

Building and maintaining relationships on one (or many) social networks is about more than the size of your friends list. To keep a relationship going, brands have to hand control to the consumer.

• January 2011

The shock bloc

Nowadays it’s not so much “anything goes” as “anything has been and gone”. The web allows consumers to speak out – and if brands are becoming a little daring or risqué, nobody should be offended. Welcome to the rise of Maturialism.

• January 2011

Back to the future

Technology may push us into the future, but it also gives us a chance to look at the past. Thankfully, new gadgets are playing on this nostalgia to bring back much-loved tech from days gone by.

• November 2010

Rise of the Kidults

It's no secret that the gaming industry has been incorporating adults into their target market for a while now, but marketing strategies have had to change and adapt for the new growing market of "casual gamers" that Nintendo so effectively opened up with their introduction of the Wii console. With these largely adult consumers on the rise, enter the PlayStation Move and the Xbox Kinect.

• November 2010

Collect and go

Prior to the boom of social media such as Facebook and Twitter, group online shopping in Asia was never that popular. But with internet evolution and consumer sentiment rebounding collective buying is gaining full force to offer consumers more value for their money.

• November 2010

Who’s the boss?

It's widely accepted that the strength of the relationship between a person and a brand or business is influenced by many factors, including planned communications such as advertising. Other factors such as consumption experience, incidental communication and competitor activity also play their part. Within this mix of influences, some believe that the role of the CEO or other leaders can be pivotal. Synovate conducted a quantitative study with 100 adults in the US looking at this very issue.

• September 2010

Social Media Blues

There appears to be a growing dissatisfaction, and a rather public one at that, among users of social media sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Ironically, people are using these very networks to voice their opinions, which range from issues about poor security to being bombarded with too many ads; and not to mention the stress of coping with a high maintenance digital lifestyle.

• September 2010

The evolution of loyalty

Ensuring loyalty to a brand has become increasingly complex as new approaches and online technological platforms change the dynamics of company-customer interaction, and businesses explore various new ways of communicating with consumers.

• September 2010

Women on Top

Cue 2010 and a paradigm shift. Call it Girl Power, call it Women on Top, call it whatever you want, but there is a distinct trend for blokes to be the homemaker – more concerned with bargain blackberries than bargaining via their BlackBerrys – and leaving it to their spouse to bring home the metaphoric bacon.

• August 2010

Obesity: A weight on your mind?

For many countries around the world, summer is in full force. This means lighter clothing and perhaps a holiday involving swimwear of some sort. Weight and body image questions inevitably arise as people prepare to expose the seasonally unexposed and Synovate seeked to find the answers in its third Infact Obesity.

• June 2010

Ready for kick-off

The 2010 FIFA World Cup kicks off in South Africa on 11 June, signalling the first African hosting of a major football tournament. According to a study by Synovate, South Africans are more than ready to show the world their enthusiasm. Here are the some of the key findings from the study.

• June 2010

The right chemistry

After decades of bad press for their attitudes concerning profits over social responsibility, the pharmaceutical industry faces a challenge from within. Is this the change we’ve been waiting for?

• June 2010

Green Lean Machines

Hybrid cars that run on a combination of petrol, electricity and/or bio-fuels are no longer novel. Discover more about this, and other innovations to hit the motor industry this year. The developments may have the power to make the auto industry greener and cleaner.

• May 2010

Tucking into food trends

A look at how eating from local sources, keeping close tabs on sustainability and staying at home to dine are shaping the way people eat in 2010.

• April 2010

Leave it to the experts

Unique products that reflect one’s taste, personality, and lifestyle are the ultimate sign of sophistication and identity. In the past, only the wealthy could afford custom-made products but nowadays, everything can be customised. Mass customisation is something companies can and should adopt to gain a competitive advantage over rivals.

• April 2010

Beware the eruption of wrath

The explosion of an Icelandic volcano has shed light on the power of the consumer to foment revolt against brands. As social media becomes part of the arsenal of customer complaint, companies better watch out.

• April 2010

Reports of newspapers’ death greatly exaggerated

Recent research provides a glimmer of hope for newspapers, and also an interesting lesson for businesspeople in the law of unintended consequences and the need to measure what's really important.

• February 2010

Tooling up for risk management

Risk management is on the tip of everyone’s tongue these days as brands look for ways to recover post-recession. Synovate’s Dr Stephen Popiel muses on how and when research can help you identify and address risks before they hit your bottom line.

• January 2010

Playing the retail game

Manchester City Football Club is complementing its on-pitch revolution with wide spread changes to retail operations, combining ticketing operation, call centre, and store and customer service centre into a purpose-built facility.

• January 2010

Intimate and interactive

With one-click online shopping and overnight delivery rapidly becoming the standard, retail stores are enticing shoppers by making shopping into a full-sensory experience.

• January 2010

Plugging the leaks

When internet buzz turns against your brand, it takes more than a press release to bounce back – you need channels, honest engagement across social media, blogs and more.

• December 2009

Keeping it real this Christmas

The blindingly obvious fact is that Christmas 2009 will not be a great one for retailers. What discretionary income does exist will be spent much more frugally. But retailers who tap into consumers' desire for "authenticity" still have a lot to gain.

• November 2009

Boutique or not boutique?

That is the question in this fast-growing segment of the hotel market. Jessica Morris explores just what it means to be "boutique" - from the number of rooms to hotel ownership to the amenities provided.

• November 2009

The ‘social’ in social media cannot be ignored

Social media is clearly dominating the marketing zeitgeist. But scratch beneath the surface and it’s not uncommon to find a degree of perplexed disenchantment and scepticism. Jonathan Dodd looks at the human factor that makes social media important.

• October 2009

‘Checking out’ global grocery shopping

Most of us do it. Some of us reluctantly, some of us with a sense of anticipation and pleasure. Grocery retailers need to take into account myriad attitudes and approaches and make the experience satisfying for customers.

• April 2009

The hotel experience

Ask any regular traveller and they probably have a hotel-from-hell story and (hopefully) a hotel-from-heaven counterpart. Whether travelling for pleasure or business, the place where you park your head at night can make or break the experience.

• March 2009

Retail reloaded

As the financial crisis continues, consumers are cautious with spending and many retailers may find themselves skimmed away in favour of leaner budgeting. This necessitates adapting to a whole new attitude towards spending.

• March 2009

Collective minds

How do you give the people what they want? It’s a simple question that businesses and manufacturers struggle with daily, but there may be a simple answer: let the people do it for you.

• March 2009

The colour of money

Colour matters. It affects our everyday life, our everyday behaviour, and constitutes 80% of all of the visual information our brains receive each day. Colours play a huge part in the choices we make.

• September 2008

The ups and downs of air travel

Put 300 plus people in a really small space for a number of hours; feed them en masse (or not at all if it's budget); subject them to each other's snores, coughs, laughter, slurps and worse - and you're going to have a hard time keeping everyone happy.

• June 2008

Research on the slopes

As the most vocal champion of snowboarding as a sport, Jake Burton Carpenter has proven that being one of your own customers can be an essential ingredient in the success of your brand.

• June 2008

LEGO learns a lesson

With a company ethos rooted in learning through play, if the child in all of us is growing up too soon, where does that leave a traditional toy retailer? Judging from past results, the answer certainly used to be worried.

• June 2008

“Til death do us part” marketing

The dating/courtship/marriage analogy has been used for many years to describe the progression of a relationship between a customer and a brand. Practitioners find it a useful device for conceptualising the goals of relationship marketing.

• June 2008

Profiting from the one-night stand

In any relationship, whether with a person, product or brand, commitment will be strong as long as the person, product or brand is rated better than all others and the relationship matters. It's as simple as that.

• June 2008

Bespoke health

Patients are exercising their rights as consumers and taking advantage of the lower costs of health care elsewhere in the world, where procedures are a fraction of what they would pay at home.

• June 2008

Customers in the air

Whether or not customer service is something you can legislate, the question of why some carriers are excellent when it comes to customer service and others abysmal is one that continually arises.

• June 2008

Me, myself and I

Fitting products hand-in-glove with individuals as opposed to basing them around certain categories and groups that come close is the new way forward.

• June 2008

Powering up loyalty

Measuring customer loyalty in a generally non-competitive industry, such as utilities, requires one to think about loyalty in non-traditional ways.

• June 2008

That’s show business

Branded entertainment - marketing strategies that integrate products into entertainment venues with a high degree of engagement and interactivity - is a key way to reach the elusive 18-to-34 year-old demographic.

• June 2008

How Nintendo won the videogame war

Nintendo, the Japanese videogame maker, has bounced back from the digital doldrums with its groundbreaking Wii. But just a few years ago, the videogame pioneer was in danger of being consigned to the history books.

• June 2008

Giving it all away

Sample Lab, a store in Tokyo Harajuku district, offers customers free samples in return for providing valuable feedback to market researchers.

• March 2008

Cents and sensibility: Global attitudes to cash

Whether you have a lot of it or a little; whether you think it buys happiness or is simply a necessary evil; whether you are a marketer, or consumer (or both!)... money is universal.

• February 2008

Jeans joys and denim blues

Originally, jeans were sturdy, practical items made to withstand hard work and wear and tear. These days they are near-ubiquitous global fashion items, found in most wardrobes of the world.

• September 2007

The fantasy is reality

Forget about fantasy sports being a pursuit solely covered by a small group of fanatics, it boasts a range of sponsors including Barclays, Budweiser, Coca-Cola and Toyota.

• September 2006

Travel stoppage

The new restrictions at airports will deter some consumers from air travel but it's the ongoing threat of terrorism that will have a greater effect on their travel habits, according to a new survey by Synovate.

• March 2006

The key to customer loyalty

Generating effective loyalty requires an intimate understanding of your customers and a business that is operationally aligned with a comprehensive loyalty strategy from top to bottom.

• March 2006

Virtual packaging lacks sense

Without out the tactile experience of browsing a store, e-commerce has yet to earn the full confidence of consumers. But new research shows that by combining the best online and bricks-and-mortar shopping, retailers can increase sales.

• November 2005

From zero to NADA

To help car dealers develop higher levels of customer loyalty, Synovate created NADA-24, the first dealer-driven overnight research tool that systematically follows-up on every customer transaction within 24-hours.

• July 2005

Road rage

Fourteen per cent of drivers in India claim they have been physically assaulted or were at the receiving end of a weapon wielded by other drivers in the past 12 months, according to a new survey by Synovate.

• November 2004

The obesity wars

As brands adapt to meet the needs of a new generation of informed, nutrition-savvy consumers, it is important for consumers to realize that nutrition is also a personal responsibility. In other words, the obesity war must take place on both sides of the counter.

• November 2004

In for the long haul

Careful research into customer preferences, passenger experience, pilot fatigue and the comfort of flight crew enabled Singapore Airlines to launch the world's longest non-stop commercial flight, an 18-hour journey from Singapore to Newark, outside New York.

• September 2004

The Athens Olympics

A Synovate survey found wide interest in the Athens Olympics, with 82% of respondents saying they watched the event.

• July 2004

The economy of flight

Three quarters of people think an airline trip is just like a bus trip, and should bet "fast and cheap," while 64% will always choose a budget airline if the ticket price was lower, according to a Synovate study.

• February 2004

Cell phones and number portability

Number portability potentially offers a considerable business opportunity for the US cell phone network operator who is best able to attract their competitors' deserters, a Synovate study found.

• April 2003

Virtual packaging lacks sense

Successful brands seek to appeal to all five senses. But what happens when a brand goes online and the buyer is limited to only sight and sounds? How does the lack of touch, in particular, affect consumer shopping behaviour?