Love your dishwasher?

What does it take to set one appliance apart from another? Besides features and price points, there is not much a major appliance manufacturer can do to really stand out in the durable goods category. But when one manufacturer decides to launch a campaign to create an emotional connection between consumers and their appliances, they seek help to devise a messaging strategy that will go beyond “features and functions” to establish that emotional connection.

OBJECTIVES

Three key objectives are set:

1. Identify emotional insights within target audience.
Identify emotional insights the manufacturer will be able to utilize in marketing communications within the target female demographic.

2. Quantify breakthrough potential of advertising campaigns.
Test the messaging and the potential of various advertising concepts to break through the clutter and emotionally connect to the target audience in a meaningful way.

3. Translate advertising for most effective online results.
After the lead advertising campaign is developed and translated into online formats, test those online ads for effectiveness and ease of navigation.

SERVICES

For this project, the primary service required is:

Research Services (link to more info below)

Quality research is the foundation on which successful marketing decisions are made.  The Research Services contract is tailored to the specific project objectives to create a comprehensive base of knowledge.

For this project, research is used to determine what emotional connection, if any, female consumers have with their appliances. The research team looks for emotional data points at which consumers would most likely be able to establish an emotional connection with an appliance brand. In addition, research is used to test the effectiveness of advertising and marketing messages to make that emotional connection with the consumer. (See METHODOLOGIES listed below.)

In addition to Research Services, this project also requires:

Advisory Services (link to more info below)

Using data and insights gained through the research, a one-year Advisory Services contract provides the company with an on-call research consultant to help ensure that the entire brand experience – from top to bottom – includes the emotional connection messaging. From in-store displays to sales materials, the research consultant is crucial in helping company leadership most effectively integrate and implement the insights gained through research into ongoing marketing, sales, and even internal cultural efforts. Interim research may be performed 6-12 months down the road to test the emotional connections being established.

METHODOLOGIES

This project requires a variety of research techniques:

• In-Depth Personal Interviews
  The research process begins with an in-depth, face-to-face interview with each participant to determine her attitudes regarding home appliances, set a level for their emotional connection with appliances, and determine if there is a possibility to cultivate one.

• In-Home Ethnographic Videos
  Consumers from the personal interviews are directed to spend 2-3 weeks recording themselves performing household chores that center around their appliances and to keep a video journal of their thoughts and emotions regarding appliances. They are given lists of specific questions to answer at specific times during the video diary process.

• In-Person Focus Groups
  After the marketing team develops advertising concepts, an in-person focus group of female consumers is formed to test the creative concepts for emotional response.

• Online Web Cam Interviews
  Using the results of the focus groups, one advertising direction is selected, and finalized. The research team then tests the selected campaign, and its emotional connectivity, with a national sampling of consumers via interviews conducted over online web cams.

RESULTS

(Due to the confidential nature of research projects and client agreements in force, specific results cannot be shared. Outcomes have been synthesized based on an amalgam of results from similar projects.)

While the research and advisory portions of the project last only one year, the integrated marketing campaign runs for three years and includes TV, print, in-store, and online elements.

Sales and brand relevancy are both measured and show a substantial increase during the three-year campaign. In addition, at the end of one year, research shows a definite link between brand perception and product use, enabling the company to achieve more effective communication with their target female consumers.