In the 5 years since our inception we have had many great experiences, worked with amazing clients and we look forward to continuing to provide high quality service to the marketing research industry for many years to come. As our birthday gift to our clients we will now be accepting payment via VISA and MasterCard, in addition to cheques. We hope this change helps you accumulate lots of credit card points!

SmartPoint Research is growing to serve you better. Welcome Peter!

We’re pleased to announce that Peter Nobes joins our team to represent SmartPoint Research and CoastalViews Facility. With 20+ years of experience in the marketing and marketing research industry, Peter is well versed in all facets of respondent recruitment, survey programming and hosting, field services pricing and assisting clients with their qualitative and quantitative project requirements.

Peter continues his business development role with our sister company HealthViews, a healthcare respondent recruiter, and will now pursue new business for SmartPoint Research, CoastalViews Facility and HealthViews.  For field services quotes in consumer, health, business-to-business or for facility bookings, please get in touch with him at peter@smartpointresearch.com or by phone at 604-484-4111 ext. 1206.

A little bit about our history and service offerings:

SmartPoint Research began operations by offering qualitative recruitment services in spring of 2007.  Our focus group facility CoastalViews opened it’s doors summer of 2008, additionally our service offerings expanded to include quantitative research. Some examples of quantitative research and qualitative research we offer are: creative assessments and usage and attitude tests.

Creative assessment studies are used to determine the level of impact of an advertising campaign on consumers’ attitudes and behaviours, as well as to test consumers’ understanding of the advertising campaign’s message, and to evaluate whether that message is credible and compelling. A creative assessment study at SmartPoint Research typically begins with focus groups in order to first assess each advertising concept individually. The main purpose is to determine whether any concept is more likely to convey the desired message, if any would improve attitudes towards the brand and ultimately generate greater interest in the brand. Afterward, the advertising concepts would be assessed comparatively. Respondents would be asked to rank the ads in order of preference, communication, or any other key measure. This comparative section forces the identification of a “winning” advertisement, should the monadic section not yield significant differences between the tested concepts.

Usage and attitude tests are comprehensive surveys, which we typically run on an ad hoc basis that cover not only brand usage and purchasing behaviour, but also awareness and attitudes towards the brands in question. SmartPoint Research employs usage and attitude studies when we wish to evaluate the state of a market, establish a baseline on past or present behaviour, and identify changes in usage behaviour after recent changes in the market. Moreover, usage and attitude studies can be used to identify marketing opportunities by uncovering gaps in what is currently offered, and by looking for the implications of repositioning a brand. More precisely, research specific to usage can look into brand loyalty and its main drivers, and can differentiate the consumer dynamics towards each brand. Meanwhile, attitudinal research would probe for consumer needs, evaluate their attitudes towards brands and perceived performance of the brands, which will lead to a perceived strength/weakness of the client’s brand versus its competition. Furthermore, attitudinal research can identify if there are any gaps between their needs and the brands’ performance.

There are many types of quantitative research as well as qualitative methodologies, the recommended methodology depends on the research objectives and we are happy to provide you with a free consultation and recommendation.

One of the most frequently searched marketing research phrases is “focus group definition.” As those in the industry would generally not need to be looking this up, it seems that those who would be interested in it would be up-and-comers into the industry, such as students. This perceived interest by a new generation of market researchers is exciting as it shows that marketing research is being successful at attracting new talent and fresh perspectives.

Additionally, other most searched phrases are “benefits of focus groups” and “marketing research recruiting.” Unlike the first phrase mentioned, these are much more specific and likely being searched for by those seeking services in the industry. There has been a lot of debate lately about the relevancy of the focus group and whether they have staying power, and clearly people are looking to become more informed on it. Check out SmartPoint Research’s founder Daniela Hassman’s blog for her take on the advantages of focus groups. She provides an interesting and informative case that they are indeed here to stay. For more information on services SmartPoint Research provides, check out our page on marketing research recruiting.

Lastly, another highly searched phrase relating to market research is “paid marketing research studies.” Like the phrase “focus group definition,” it seems unlikely that those in the industry are searching for this particular term. In this case, it seems quite likely that potential research participants are searching for ways to actually participate in research.

In the coming months, it will be interesting to see what phrases remain highly searched, and which ones trend downward and are replaced by new ones. Will it still be a mix of market research professionals, students and the general public searching? We will continue to monitor this and keep you informed of any interesting developments.

To find out more about how we can help you with your marketing research, check out our qualitative and quantitative research services provided or contact SmartPoint Research today.

Attribute 1 – Service: Find a company where service is a priority and you feel valued as a client.

Attribute 2 – Flexibility: No project is the same and last minute needs can often present themselves, therefore it is imperative to work with a marketing research recruiter and focus group facility that have hired helpful staff who are quick to fulfill those needs.

Attribute 3 – Proven track record: Keep in mind that any company can say that they are the best, however it is really their track record that speaks the loudest. Ask for recommendations and seek out testimonials whenever possible.

Attribute 4 – Location, location, location: Choose a focus group facility to host your qualitative research that is accessible and easy to find for clients and participants. Proximity to the airport and public transit are bonuses. Choose a qualitative research facility that is in an exciting area of the city with a wide range of accommodation, entertainment and food options, which will add convenience for the focus group moderator and the backroom viewers.

Well, you can now deactivate your Plenty of Fish account and take us home to meet your parents because you have found “the one” with SmartPoint Research. Every project at SmartPoint Research is taken care of by knowledgeable and experienced team members. We undertake your project and focus group recruitment seriously and are committed to deliver the highest quality service and participants.

Our Facility Administrator works closely with our project managers throughout the process to coordinate facility arrangements for the focus groups. By working a fluctuating schedule she hosts over 75% of the groups at CoastalViews and has a wealth of knowledge on the project while hosting.

Our team is extremely service oriented and committed to anticipating your needs, meeting them in a timely and flexible manner. We are able to take care of any last minute requests that arise such as requests for supplies and even provision of additional last minute incentives, when necessary.

We come highly recommended and would be excited to have you read some of our testimonials.

Located in the vibrant and exciting Yaletown, our focus group facility CoastalViews is located close to the Canada Line, easily accessible from the airport and the ideal place for marketing research in Vancouver.

Do you have other suggestions for what makes a marketing research recruiter and focus group facility “right” for you? If so, we would like to hear from you! Please Contact SmartPoint Research or email us at: info@smartpointresearch.com.

Pricing is one of the more technical areas of marketing research, and also one of our strengths. We use a combination of sophisticated pricing models, such as: Monadic Price Testing, Price Laddering Testing, The Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter (PSM) Model and Choice-Based Conjoint (CBC) depending on the client’s needs and market dynamics. In pricing research our aim is not to find what the consumers like, but rather to determine what they are willing to pay and to examine the trade-offs they make.  Through this exercise we are able to help you determine the optimum price point for your brand that maximizes both your sales volume and profitability.

As a case in point, a popular beverage company recently approached SmartPoint Research to help them determine if there was elasticity in the market for a price increase among one of their premium brands. Leveraging our experience in this area and by applying some of the techniques mentioned above, we were able to determine that there was indeed room for a price increase and identified for them an optimum price point. The client implemented the recommended pricing and realized a two million dollar increase in revenues!

Whether you are launching a new product or reassessing the pricing of an existing one, we have the necessary tools to help you. Contact us today to see how our pricing studies can maximize your brand potential.

This holiday season, in lieu of sending Christmas cards, the SmartPoint Research team contributed to the Salvation Army’s Adopt-A-Family Program. A happy and memorable holiday season is a dream to some and we helped the dreams of a single mother and her two children come true.

The SmartPoint Research team purchased food and gift items for this low-income family, providing them with groceries for the holiday season and a personalized gift for each family member. We personally assembled and delivered the hamper to our adopted family. This was a very rewarding experience for all of us here at SmartPoint Research and it will help to provide a fulfilling holiday season for our adopted family.

Last year, the Salvation Army was able to help over 600 local families through the Adopt-A-Family Program. We are proud to be serving as a company sponsor and helping a family this season. To find out more about the program, please visit the Salvation Army’s website.

If you are interested in receiving information about our marketing research services please contact us.

SmartPoint Research recently attended the annual BC Hospitality Industry Conference and Expo in Vancouver, BC. The tradeshow featured 192 companies exhibiting in 218 exhibit booths that drew an audience of 3,465 industry personnel. Exhibitors ran the spectrum from wine producers to bed and mattress suppliers. SmartPoint Research took the time to get to know these fellow exhibitors and posed a series of questions to gauge exhibitor satisfaction with the conference. We wanted to know how many had exhibited before, who planned to exhibit again, what they saw as the greatest benefit to being at the show, and what they felt was missing or could be done to improve it. The information we collected is an example on a small scale of the marketing research services SmartPoint Research offers.

We randomly chose ten exhibitors and asked for their thoughts. We found that few were exhibiting for the first time and only half were planning to exhibit next year. Some were “unsure” and one was a definite “no”. For all the exhibitors the missing piece for them was the attendees. Most exhibitors felt the greatest benefit to being there was the exposure and networking it provided. This did not seem great enough to outweigh the fact that they felt attendance was very low. One exhibitor cited the conference portion of the show as conflicting with the show floor hours and drawing attendees away. Another exhibitor suggested that some form of entertainment in the aisles would draw more attendees or a buffet lunch on the show floor.

Contact SmartPoint Research to find our more about our data collection and field services capabilities.

Some of our marketing research panel efforts include:
The old fashioned way: flyer distribution – time tested and true method of finding the “average consumer” and this can be targeted to certain neighborhoods.
Advertising through social medial channels.
Search engine optimization measures and web presence initiatives.

At SmartPoint Research, we go the extra mile for our customers’ marketing research projects and are often recommended by other marketing research agencies for complicated marketing research studies with short timelines because we are industry leaders in providing a fast and reliable marketing research recruitment process. For example, we have recently recruited six focus groups of 9 respondents per group in one week. Did I mention that the screener was 17 pages and contained 34 questions, many of which disqualified a respondent? We’re not saying this was an easy task, but we were committed to getting the job done – and we did!

Our hard work, dedication and creativity allows us to find the right marketing research respondents for your study.

If you are a current customer, please take a moment to rate our services on the following websites:
YELP
GOOGLE

Any experienced qualitative researcher knows that there are certain ‘sweet spots’ of ideal number of participants in a focus group discussion and that the ‘sweet spots’ depend on research objectives, the type of product we are discussing, the type of respondent we are dealing with and moderator preference. In some instances, dyads/triads would work best, but a focus group of six to eight participants is preferable most of the time by moderators. “My preference is to have six high quality respondents per focus group because it allows for maximum participation and engagement.” – Daniela Hassman, moderator at SmartPoint Research.

A challenge for recruitment can sometimes be the unknown factor of participant ‘show rates’. Participants are people with regular lives and a number of things can happen in their daily lives that can affect whether they are able to show up to a scheduled focus group. At SmartPoint Research, we have studied participants and their habits since the company’s inception in early 2007. We have formulated a system for recruitment that is unparalleled in the industry. We can make this claim confidently as our ‘show rate’ indicators speak for themselves.

Our recruitment ‘show rates’ over the past year have gone from good to better! In the first quarter of 2010, we had an average ‘show rate’ of 89% and we have climbed up the ladder to a ‘show rate’ of 95.2%, closing out the third quarter on a successful note. These figures convey our recruitment team’s continued strength and meticulous attention to detail, which has resulted in return clientele for our recruitment business.