Jon Puleston & Amy Cashman
Transcript of Jon Puleston & Amy Cashman
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Jon PulestonVP InnovationLightspeed GMI
Amy CashmanMD Technology & FinanceTNS
It’s not business
It’s personal
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Today’s session coverage
A new approach to survey design
Our SME surveyThe story the survey told
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Survey design seen as a functional process
Surveys by and large are simply a long list of things we want to know
Evolved out of spoken interview
methods
We use a set of rules to write
them
?
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We forget…
Whether or not anyone wants to read the questions we write
....and if anyone want to answer them?
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A survey question
This is a message I want you to read and think about and respond to
And I want you to read this bit
And this bit
And this bit
And this bit
And this bit
And this bit too
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An advert
This is a message I want you to read and think about and respond to
And I want you to read this bit
And this bit
And this bit
And this bit
And this bit
And this bit too
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Same challenge but…
Their focus is on motivating you to consume their messages
They reward you for consuming them by making the process pleasurable /fun /intriguing /surprising
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Titillation= mild sexual pleasure
Double entendre= mental puzzle
Sexual and intellectual rewards for reading this ad
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Learning from what advertisers do?
The art of copywriting is all about making a connection with the consumerUnderstanding who you are talking to and adapting the message
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Learning from what advertiser do?
Ads fail when advertisers focus purely on what they want to tell you
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What can we learn from advertising?
A change of mind-set about a survey
Focus on making it
pleasurable
Using visuals more
effectively
To communicate
question content
To help motivate people to
think
Reworking questions:
More surprising and challenging
Using a language that connects with the consumer
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The challenges we face as researchers are in many ways more complex than the challenges of advertising
We have to hold people’s attention not for 30 seconds but for several minutes
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What can we learn from what script writers do?
Good scripts grab your
attention from the off by posing a great question
Narrative structure is key
They construct Heros through which the story
is told
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At the heart of a good film script is a really good question
What if every day was the same?
Groundhog day
What if a nun was made to be a nanny?
The sound of music
What if a really smart innocent person went to prison?
Shawshank redemption
What if dreams and reality were inter-changeable?
Matrix
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2
3
4
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Survey questions researchers want
respondents to answer
What brands of toothpaste are you
aware of?
Survey questions respondents want to answer
Your nominations for the toothpaste
of the year awards
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The challenge of survey design more complex than film making too…
Not asking people to passively consume but actively think and respond
This is where understanding game play becomes important and we have taken a huge number of learnings from the computer gaming industry
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What we learn from what game designers do?
They challenge us by asking really difficult questions! - forcing us to think really hard
They deliver rewards
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Prediction gamesThis is an example of how this betting approach is being used in practice to copy-test book cover designs
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Personality testsA repetitive set of attitude statements can be transformed into a more rewarding experience for respondents by positioning it as a personality test. This technique can be applied in virtually any survey but does require some setup and thought.
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Key Learnings
Think like an advertiser
Structure your story like a film marker
Suspend your agenda about what you want to know
Think like a gamer and make things more fun!
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2
3
4
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The fact it was all about me and my life! ;-)
I felt the person who wrote this survey really understood me and my business concerns
It challenged me to really think about me and my business objectively
What did you like about this survey?
“”
“”
“”
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And the results speak for themselves
highest
B2B survey score
enjoyment score of
8.25
in the top
10% of all surveys
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In the beginning
24%To earn money
24%To be my own boss
17%Saw an
opportunity/gap in the market
16%Broader social
purpose
13%Control of my future
65
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People are seen as critical drivers to achieving their ambitions
22%
Businessemployees
15%
Personal/family contribution
15%
Businessimprovement
18%
Business reputation
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Business is personal: 85% see themselves, their family, friendsor employees as the biggest contributors to success
%
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23
Me and my family
Staff
Businessimprovement
Clients/customers
Bank /Gov
19 16 9 6
Myself Determination
Family Friends
67
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Family/friends are seen to play a more important role than any professional body in their business success
16
22
20
56
69
43
44
35
22
18
9
6
Family / friends
Bank
Accountant
Govt agency
Non-bank lender
Solicitor
Large role No role
%
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Whilst family/friends are important for all SMEs, they are of greatest importance to Micros
Role played by Family/friends
44
67
43
46
37
Whole sample
1 to 10
11 to 50
51 to 100
101 to 250
16
9
16
18
22
Large role No role
%
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Micro Managers & Bullish Builders show diverging characteristics
Bullish BuildersMicro Managers
Spontaneous and chance taking
Practical and affirmed in their ways
Empathetic and affable
Organised and systematic
Creative and curious for innovation
Calculated and goal-driven
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Snapshot of Micro Managers
Numerically important
1 million
Motivated by independence
47% Be my own boss
Friends and family are key Technology not seen as main success driver
72
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For micros, family/ friends play a broader strategic role in terms of…
55%Idea
generation
52%Financial support
48%Networking
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Snapshot of Bullish Builders
33%
High potential/high growth companies
Investing heavily in their businesses
Equally motivated by opportunity and money
invest over 100k
21% To earn money
20% Saw a gap in the market +65%
+79% time put in
effort made
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They are intent on growth
+55% Productivity
+33% New products
+38%New customer acquisitions
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“I want to bethe dominant force in
English wine.”
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The story of our survey told us SMEs want to be…
…the same is true of respondents, be they consumers or business people
RecognisedValued Understood
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Copyright © 2014 Lightspeed, LLC. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
THE AVERAGE SMALL BUSINESS IS:
65%
Creative49%
Gambler60%
Socialite30%
Business
Tycoon
55%
Micro
Manager
Copyright © 2014 Lightspeed, LLC. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
SMALL BUSINESS v RESEARCH BUSINESS:
65%
49%
60%
30%
55%55%
41%
51%
35%
49%
Creative Gambler Socialite Business Tycoon Micro-Manager
SME's Research companies
Copyright © 2014 Lightspeed, LLC. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
THE AVERAGE RESEARCHER SEE THEMSELVES AS:
60%
Artist
40%
Scientist
50%
Rock ‘N’ Roll
40%
Classical