All companies know that the brand, and the relationship that forms between it and the audience, is one of the most important factors for ensuring success.Improving a brand involves constant work, and a great tool to help with this is to conduct brand research.
Brand Research: What Is It?
Brand research is a type of market research focused on the brand. By gathering information about competition, consumers, and the market itself, this marketing tool can provide valuable insights into brand awareness.
It’s a method for determining a brand’s strengths compared to competitors and identifying aspects to strengthen to maintain or improve its current positioning.
This tool can also be used to enter a new market or create a new brand. In this way, decisions can be made based on data, minimizing risks and increasing the chances of success.
Foolproof Brand Research Strategies
To conduct a brand research study, various actions can be taken.
At We are testers, we have extensive experience in this field, and we summarize some of the techniques we use that yield excellent results.
Surveys
Online market studies are one of the most commonly used techniques, and it’s no coincidence. Surveys are an excellent way to gather data on any topic.
At We Are Testers, we combine new methodologies with the latest technology to provide an efficient and agile way to use this tool.
Communities and Focus Groups
If you want to obtain more qualitative information, you can conduct studies with communities or focus groups.
This tool is often combined with surveys to obtain both high-quality quantitative and qualitative information.
Employees
When seeking information, people often try to find answers outside the company, i.e., from consumers and the market.
However, employee engagement surveys are also crucial. Depending on their roles, different employees work with specific aspects of the brand, and they are likely to know which areas could be improved.
Furthermore, remember that many employees have direct contact with customers.
Social Intelligence
This analysis combines the best of both worlds: quantitative and qualitative data. Within social intelligence, organic interviews are conducted to obtain information, and if used properly, it is one of the best tools that can be used.
How Brand Research Is Conducted
Depending on the brand research strategy to be followed, different actions will need to be taken.
However, here are some of the most common exercises explained.
Competitive Analysis
Conducting a general survey of the landscape is crucial for entering a new market or improving positioning within it.
Social intelligence is especially useful here, as it provides data on the brand’s strengths and weaknesses, customer opinions, key information about the competition, and more.
Brand Awareness
Knowing how well-known the brand is is essential, and the best way to discover a brand’s level of fame is through communities and focus groups.
Brand Perception
Brand awareness is used to determine if people are familiar with a brand, while brand perception helps understand what they associate with the brand.
In other words, this analysis provides information about consumers’ opinions of the brand.
Brand Associations
Brand associations go beyond perception. This analysis focuses on the ideas or feelings that consumers associate with the brand.
For example, if a company wants to associate its brand with affordable products, do its customers also make that association?
Sentiment and Satisfaction
Satisfaction surveys are an excellent way to find out if customers are satisfied with a brand’s products/services or if they need assistance with any issues.
Shopping Experience
In addition to analyzing all the aforementioned characteristics, it’s crucial to know how high the audience’s purchase intent is because, ultimately, it will determine the brand’s success.
Tips for Conducting Brand Research
Finally, if you want to conduct brand research, we would like to give you some tips to make it a success.
No matter how simple the question may be, it’s always better to ask it than not. Sometimes, with seemingly easy and insignificant questions, the respondent opens up to provide details they might not otherwise share.
It’s often recommended to try to obtain rational answers, but emotional responses should not be dismissed either. After all, they are a source of qualitative information, and we shouldn’t waste them.
It can be challenging, but when conducting surveys/interviews, it’s crucial not to impose our own opinions. In other words, if the interviewer expresses their opinion on the topic (which can happen through how a question is posed or which questions are asked), the interviewee may not express their own opinion candidly for fear of being judged.
Update date 15 April, 2024