Blogs by Felicia Rogers

2023 Blogs

• 24Aug

  Extra! Extra! AI Will Eliminate Our Research Jobs!…Not So Fast… We Humans Aren’t Obsolete Yet by Felicia Rogers, Decision Analyst and Lisa Hazen, Nuance

  

  AI algorithms are smart and becoming smarter by the day.

  They’re sure to be able to do some of these tasks now, and perhaps more of them in the future. As we sit here today, relying solely or even too heavily on AI comes with significant risk. We humans have a broad and deep understanding of the business issues—the context of the problems.
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• 30Mar

  You’ve Completed A Segmentation Study. Now What? Leveraging Segmentation To Drive Business Results by Felicia Rogers

  

  Going into segmentation research, companies usually have firm plans, or at least an idea of how they will utilize the results.

  If a team is considering embarking on segmentation work without such plans, they’re probably not ready to spend the time or money required to make it happen. The last thing anyone wants is for such a significant research investment to fall flat for lack of planning or vision. The good news is segmentation efforts are, more often than not, successful with the right vision and good planning.
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2022 Blogs

• 1Dec

  Putting The Wind Back In Your Sails 4 Important Consumer Goods Research Initiatives For 2023 by Felicia Rogers

  

  As a consumer goods manufacturer feeling the forces of slower consumer spending, the higher cost of goods, and pressures from retailers, you may be struggling with what you can do to sustain the health of your business. One critically important need is to understand the shopper’s and/or consumer’s perspective and what will keep her engaged with your brand.

  As we face the headwinds that 2023 will likely bring, here are 4 types of research to help manufacturers address critical business questions.
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• 28Jul

  6 Steps (Or Hops) To Successful Shopper Research by Felicia Rogers

  

  Research can be a little bit like the game of hopscotch. You take the first hop, then the second (maybe the third at the same time), then the next, then the next, and so on.

  All the while, you’re gaining momentum and working hard to stay focused on the outcome: THE FINISH LINE! Here are the steps for successful shopper research.
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• 11May

  Make Me Comfortable, Please! by Felicia Rogers

  

  What makes a home comfortable?

  You’re likely to find a wide variety of answers to this question, ranging from soft goods to structural improvements. Based on our recent research, things like home entertainment systems, furniture, and a good heating and cooling system top the list.
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• 1Feb

  Strategy’s Starring Role: Don’t Let The Supporting Actors Steal The Show by Felicia Rogers

  

  It seems so simple but brilliant at the same time. Messaging strategy, like any other strategy, should have a singular focus.

  If the recipient takes away just one key idea from your message, what should it be? High quality? Sustainably produced? World’s most comfortable pants? Guaranteed fun? When we think about brand-building campaigns, whatever your brand’s core promise is, that’s where the messaging strategy should be focused.
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2021

• 1Dec

  Getting Comfortable: An Unexpected Theme During The Pandemic by Felicia Rogers

  

  It’s no secret that when COVID-19 hit the U.S., life changed swiftly and dramatically. Most people began spending so much time in their homes that desires to spruce things up emerged almost immediately.

  What exactly were homeowners doing? Here’s a summary of activities from our ongoing Consumer Reactions to COVID-19 research.
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• 2Feb

  User-Centric Innovation: 3 Important Tactics To Help Ensure New Product Success by Felicia Rogers and Hillary Semmelman

  

  Focusing on the consumer is a critical step to ensure new products meet the needs and expectations of end-users.

  From a research perspective, there are several ways to engage with potential customers to help guide the innovation process. We’ll address three broad research tactics that many companies use to accomplish their goals: Qualitative Research, Concept Testing, and Choice Modeling.
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2020

• 28Oct

  We’re Not Just A Vendor, But A True Partner (Blah, Blah, Blah) by Felicia Rogers

  

  As the business world moves faster and faster and demands grow by the day, trusted advisors are needed more than ever.

  From my vantage point I see researchers and strategists in corporate positions who are genuinely seeking support and advice from their peers and, more importantly, from those of us in agency-side roles. So, specifically, what should this “partnership” look like?
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• 11Jun

  Jumper Cables For Your Brand? Yes, They Do Exist. 5 Things You Should Be Doing Now To Restart Your Business by Felicia Rogers

  

  The big question, as we all begin moving forward again, seems to be, “How do we jump-start our business?”

  What questions should we be asking? What actions should we be taking? What can we really expect from our customers, shoppers, or consumers? The truth is there’s no easy answer to these questions and no one really knows what the future will look like. But the good news is there are steps we can all take toward answering these big questions.
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• 4Feb

  Cars, Computers, Pizza Delivery, And Tote Bags: What Do They Have In Common?
  by Felicia Rogers

  

  No matter the product or service type, the most successful innovations are grounded in a consumer need or white space.

  Rarely does an innovative and successful idea just appear in someone’s dreams or imagination. It’s typically more of a process of trial and error that can take years to conceptualize, prototype, test, and refine. Many innovations require rigorous scientific experimentation. Often engineering and industrial-design functions are also involved.
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2019

• 13Aug

  5 Essentials For New Product Success by Felicia Rogers

  

  How many new products are introduced in the U.S. each year?

  I’m sure the number is in the tens of thousands, especially when you count line extensions and other new SKUs. All you have to do is spend some time scrolling through Amazon or take a walk down the aisles of any retailer to get a sense of the number of products that already exist. So how does a new product truly break through?
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• 15May

  “Segmentation Studies Never Pay Off” Overcoming The Myth by Felicia Rogers

  

  In the business world, we’ve all heard it: “We did a segmentation, and no one bought into the results.”

  It’s important to remember that the research and report are just the beginning of the journey. We have found that it’s often vitally important to flank a segmentation initiative with in-person work sessions involving key members of the client organization’s team.
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• 12Feb

  Is Your Strategy Working? 4 Steps To Help Ensure A Winning Strategy by Felicia Rogers

  

  At its core, a strategy is a plan that is skillfully and carefully formulated and carried out for the purpose of achieving a goal in the future.

  It seems appropriate to take a look at some of the tools available to help ensure a brand has a winning strategy. From a research and insights perspective, a number of types of studies can be deployed for a solid understanding of how end users will be influenced by a new strategy or a minor pivot in direction.
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2018

• 7Nov

  When “Good Enough” Isn’t Good Enough … To Really Drive The Growth Your Business Is Craving by Felicia Rogers

  

  We’re all moving faster and being pressured to further pick up that already-brisk pace.

  One result of this increasing speed is the tendency to settle for “good enough.” If we can accomplish a portion of what we need by the deadline, that will be good enough. If we can go through just of some of the steps in our time-tested process, that’s good enough. If we can conduct research overnight, even if we’re not representing the whole consumer base, that’s good enough. Or is it?
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• 16Aug

  Maintaining Product Quality In The Face Of Rising Costs
  Posted by Felicia Rogers

  

  Are your consumers paying more to fill their gas tanks or cool their home lately? Are their weekly grocery bills rising? If we, as business people (and consumers too), haven’t noticed this trend yet, we will, according to The World Bank’s predictions.

  If the situation continues, we could be in for a product-quality crisis. So what’s a manufacturer to do? As soon as the market even hints at commodity prices creeping up and ingredient or component substitutions enter the realm of possibility, a plan for product testing should be activated.
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• 3Apr

  “How Do We Get A Seat At The Table?” The Research Consultant’s Dilemma
  Posted by Felicia Rogers

  

  Lots of people who specialize in consumer insights ask, “How can we get a seat at the table?” Of course, they’re referring to the boardroom table where high-level management-team discussions happen.

  So I think the hidden question is, “How can we gain the respect of the organizations we work with so that they include us in those discussions?” These are important questions that we, especially my colleagues on the corporate side, often struggle with. What we have to offer is critically important. The information we provide and insights we glean from great research routinely save companies money—big money. But I fear there are still few who see it that way.
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2017

• 15Dec

  Stability In An Unstable (Marketing) World
  Posted by Felicia Rogers

  

  Like practically everything else, it feels like marketing—especially advertising—is changing at lightning speed. Print is out, digital is in.

  Broadcast no, Social yes. Mass messaging is passé, microtargeting is the new black. Traditional processes? Nah, give me agile please, and let’s add in some programmatic advertising. Right or wrong, these seem to be the prevailing attitudes as technology advances and consumer behavior changes.
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• 6Sep

  Are Your New Products Worth Their Weight In…Anything?
  Posted by Felicia Rogers

  

  How do you know if a new product will be successful?

  Will people like it? Will they buy it? Will they tell others about it? Will they give positive ratings and reviews? Will they buy it a second time? And a third? Will we make a profit on it? How quickly?
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• 24May

  Design Thinking For The Rest Of Us
  Posted by Felicia Rogers

  

  By now you’ve probably heard about Design Thinking.

  Originated by the Stanford University Institute of Design, this is a development pathway that was devised for use by designers and innovation specialists. Essentially, Design Thinking is a process in which various steps are knitted together to help guide innovation in virtually any area of discipline. That is, the process helps develop new products and services, new advertising or promotions, new package functionality or presentation, etc.
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2016

• 24Jan

  The Curse of the Target Market
  Posted by Felicia Rogers

  

  We often put the cart before the horse when evaluating new product ideas. How many times have you been in the midst of a new product development (NPD) effort when the conversation turned to the target market?

  Then that conversation seemed to take on a life of its own. I’m convinced that, for some in corporate America, the lens is focused so intensely on the target market that the product idea itself gets pushed into the periphery.
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• 18Oct

  The Brand Awareness Bullseye
  Posted by Felicia Rogers

  

  As time goes on, building brand awareness is becoming more and more difficult. You might wonder how that is possible? Hear me out.

  Media, in seemingly endless forms, has a huge influence on our lives. We humans are inundated with messages: verbal, written, visual. Experts tell us that advertising messages alone come at us thousands of times each day. Add to those other marketing messages, personal conversations, text messages, email, news feeds, social media activity, and so on. I’m distracted just writing these words.
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• 9Aug

  Oh Business, How Do I Grow Thee? Let Me Count the Ways
  Posted by Felicia Rogers

  

  When I typed the word "growth" into Google Search and I was immediately (within 0.46 seconds it says) presented with 747,000,000 results.

  There are pictures, graphs, articles, and definitions. Dictionary.com defines growth as "the act or process, or a manner of growing; development; gradual increase."
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Contact Decision Analyst

If you would like more information on Marketing Research, please contact Felicia Rogers by emailing frogers@decisionanalyst.com or calling 1-817-640-6166.