New Year, but is it really a new you?

‘Happy YOU year’ proclaims @fournine’s Instagram New Year post as a continuation of the new year revolution they started in 2021 – a rebellion of New Year resolutions! 

Increasingly each year, we see a wave of memes mocking those ‘new year new you’ memes, dismissing the age old ‘resolution’ approach.

Does that mean we don’t want to grow and improve? No. But it is a different, kinder perspective. One that will have a more lasting impact. Realising that being a better you isn’t about being a ‘new’ version of yourself but being more you.

The mental wellbeing conversation has grown and people are increasingly considering how to be better versions of themselves. There is a shift towards people wishing to step out of the expectations we put upon ourselves. Abandoning the comparisons and the societal norms and pressures we so readily think we have to adhere to for our worth.

An example of this in action is a 2021 research study by the Hinge dating app. It found that single people are more likely to get a second date if they mention going to therapy on a very first date, with 88% of Canadians surveyed revealing that they’d prefer to date someone who goes to therapy.

If Covid has taught us anything, it is that we can’t plan and control everything in life. We can only accept what is in front of us now, let go of the burdens we carry, celebrate our mere existence (and even making it through the somewhat traumatic uncertainties of the last two years).

Being here, and having acceptance, is the kindest but also the most powerful human thing we can do. It is a better version of ourselves, because we are truly being vulnerable in our own rawness, and acceptance, ironically, is the place where we are most likely to find growth.

As brands look to 2022, it’s crucial that we remember the human truth of existence in the here and now. Behaviour is a response to a combination of emotion and beliefs, some conscious, some subconscious. But the shifting of our beliefs and values are behaviours that need to be taken note of.

What does that mean for us at Catalyx?

We have a new look this year, but for us this isn’t about being new and different. It’s about being more of who we already are. We are innovative and agile, that’s just in our DNA, but we also innovate to better enable what we believe in.

As part of our guaranteed outputs programme, delivered through our Consumer Activation System, we empower you by providing results that will create actionable outcomes. It takes the best of us and ensures you get a transformative result, every single time.

Are you paving the way for driving REAL VALUE from your innovation investments?

The BCG analysis claims there is a “10-percentage-point increase, to 75%, in executives reporting that innovation is a top-three priority at their companies”

Are you paving the way for driving REAL VALUE from your innovation investments?

The April 2021 Boston Consulting Group report says that “2020 saw innovation rapidly ascend the list of top management priorities”. It adds however that businesses: “…have yet to build the systemic ability—the underlying processes and capabilities that drive innovation—to transform ambitious aspirations into real results.”

It goes on to say that “…some 80% of consumer-facing companies use only the most basic customer insight tools”. What this means, is that businesses who commit to using cheap DIY platforms tempted by the fast, flashy data it generates, can also be left with data that lacks depth and leaves a lot of heavy lifting to turn the data into actionable insights.

 

So what’s the alternative?

At Catalyx, we see the most compelling insight happen when we capture the reactions & feelings of a client’s ‘crowd’ at representative scale.

We achieve this using our proprietary Consumer Activation System which helps businesses to unlock the most growth from current and future products and communication.

The system, for which we have just won a Quirk’s Media Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Award for Best New Product Innovation, focusses on four critical areas to build better growth: insight, innovation, communication, go to market:

 

Insight that unlocks growth to know where to innovate

Innovation that people can’t wait to buy

Communication that cuts through and drives engagement for innovated products and services

Go to Market that maximises commercial success of your innovation launch in-market

As such, combining smart technology with the power of our strategic storytellers, enables us to transform insight into intelligent actionable recommendations that grows our client’s brands.

 

Smart Tech + Smart Insight = Smart Brands*

*Leaving clients with complete, consumer, clarity using a tried and tested approach.

As the BCG report highlights: “Converting insights into winning formulas isn’t the result of one-off efforts but rather of a systematic approach to experimentation and innovation.”

And we agree. It’s about strategic partnerships that can support the internal eco-systems around insight and innovation for the long-haul.

 

So what’s your approach?

Fast, cheap, data? Or innovation to unlock value and grow your brand?

 

If you’d like to know more about how you can utilise the power of the Consumer Activation System to get closer to your consumers, please contact us.

 

Read the Boston Consulting Group Report – Overcoming the Innovation Readiness Gap here 

How can our award-winning product help you?

We’re excited to announce Catalyx has won Best New Product Innovation at Quirk’s Media Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards!

The Catalyx Consumer Activation System has been recognised as an industry disruptive innovation that is helping clients with a new tech-enabled approach.  Our innovative smart tech system efficiently captures a complete view of your ‘crowd’ to generate insight, foresight, and strategic vision. It combines qualitative depth with quantitative rigor to deliver intelligent consumer insight by capturing a holistic view of what your audience Does, Feels, Thinks and Wants.

We’re really proud of our Consumer Activation System product, and how combined with our strategic experts we can deliver actionable insights for you to make better decisions, quicker.

Have you got key business questions that need answering before the year end, with strategic consumer insight driving those decisions? How could you utilise our award winning system to unlock growth in your category with insight, innovation that people can’t wait to buy, communication that cuts through, and go to market that maximises commercial success?

Want a demo to see what all the fuss is about?

How are consumers reacting to uncertainty?

The last two weeks we’ve asked you to consider the importance of tapping into your consumer to make better decisions in an unpredictable state of play.

We’ve suggested you lean into your consumers even more than usual. So we’ve walked the talk, and activated our Consumer Activation System, in order to bring you synthesized insight of how people are reacting to unpredictability, and in particular the uncertainty of price increases.

What have we learned from your consumers?

People have definitely felt price increases recently. We can see this is largely felt with food, groceries, gas and bills.

In the UK this has been felt significantly more in the food category.

But it has a knock-on effect. So it’s not surprising that there is a drive to switch to a cheaper brand in most categories. Therefore value and emotional drive become bigger elements to tap into to avoid consumer price switching and competitor price wars.

Many have even changed the amount they’ve spent in the last 6 months. But when we dig beneath the data, we can reveal through synthesis of unprompted response, that the reasons behind this are largely driven by low financial stability, and people being more responsible about their spending. While many talked of price increases or uncertainty of costs, we can still see the same effects of Covid on people’s spending habits at play as we did last Spring – being more savvy with how and when they spend their money.

But it’s important to remember spending is the outcome of people’s attitudes and emotional drivers. When we look beyond spending, and understand people’s outlook on life we start seeing some interesting drivers about what they care about. With the environment and mental health being at the top of their concerns right now, above financial concerns. And so this indicates there are potential value areas brands can tap into to connect with people’s hearts and minds.

It’s promising to know that significantly more people are optimistic about the future improving. From people’s unsolicited natural responses about why this was, we can see how powerful a positive growth mindset is for people – looking for the best outlook on life.

This is a small snapshot of synthesised insight from people’s response to the world right now. We can bring complete consumer clarity into your big questions across discovery, innovation development, communication development, and go-to-market development, to help you make better decisions, quicker.

With 68% already feeling price increases, how do you avoid a price war and find growth in unpredictable times?

Last week we asked you about your increasing fears of uncertainty as we see unexpected economic consequences emerging from the pandemic. We questioned if you were sure every element of your brand strategy was right? And we provoked you to consider that now is the time to lean into your audience even more. So what can you find out from your consumers that will be relevant in these changeable times?

We know price is the topic of conversation right now, and unless we look beyond the driver of price, the near future will result in a price war with your competitors. 

The question is: how can you grow and retain consumer loyalty in these unpredictable times that consumers are already feeling?

“With the current state of affairs in America (coronavirus), I am not sure how it will affect my life in the future (work, school for my children, etc).”(US consumer)

The three key drivers at play for any product or service are convenience, value, and connection.

Convenience in the pandemic drove more and more people to online shopping. People’s lives and behaviors also changed during lockdowns so product usage may or may not have changed with it. And what does convenience mean for people during uncertain and changing times? What does convenience look like in your category with transitions at a global and local scale? And with 63% of US consumers thinking it will get better in the next 6 months, does this mean indicate a shift in behavior?
Value needs to be dialled up significantly during a turbulent environment for pricing, both for yourselves and your customers (our research shows 68% in the UK are already feeling price increases). What is valued in your category, about your product? What benefits do you need to communicate better? What are you providing/or can you provide that makes your product/brand stand out from the competitors beyond price? What do your audience care about that will drive them to purchase, and is this/will this catch their attention on pack in a real-life situation? We can help you identify the ‘value’ unmet needs, and optimize your value proposition and communication.
Connection is linked to emotional drivers. Loyalty is most easily lost during change and challenging times (within food and homecare, 57% (in UK) claim they will cut back on buying branded goods). So it’s vital you stay close to your audience to tap into their emotional drivers (the constant and the changing), to enable you to increase their emotional drive to purchase.

 

We can tap into these three key elements across your product lifecycle, from category to innovation, through to communication within the market. Complete consumer clarity will help you make better decisions for right now and into the uncertain future.

Are you fearful of the uncertainty of emerging from a pandemic slumber?

The world spent the last year talking about a ‘new normal’ post-pandemic. Four months ago, after doing our own research with consumers, we warned there would be no ‘norm’ and uncertainty would continue as we emerge from an ‘18 month slumber’. 

We are witnessing this right now, as price inflation from soaring commodity prices, due to supply shortages, are causing significant impact for many brands, and ultimately consumers’ pockets. 

Even 3 months ago this wasn’t on most people’s agenda.

Work we did through COVID has shown us that how people perceive goods and services has fluctuated from extreme to extreme on an almost monthly basis. What will be true today will not be true 3-6 months time. 

Are you sure every element of your brand strategy is right?

So many questions are being raised at the moment. Where does my brand sit in all of this? Will a price increase be accepted by our consumers? How about in 3 months time? What will our competition do?

We’re seeing brands launch premium products based on research they did several months ago, when many consumers had disposable income and time on their hands. Yet there are relevance concerns if the focus becomes price undercuts. 

Uncertainty of longevity is a real fear, which can either drive brands away from spending on research or push towards leaning into your consumers even more.

We believe now is the time to stay even closer to your consumers to avoid the pitfalls of uncertainty. 

Are you tracking real life behavior and projective desire? Making decisions based on what someone does, not just what they say they will do, matters now. Unpacking the emotional drivers behind behavior, how likely they are to change, and what will trigger change. Understanding your audience from a smart holistic human approach of what they do, how they feel and think, and what they want will help you navigate uncertainty to make better decisions for now and tomorrow. 

The power of the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’ to build your concepts

If you test elements of your concept through quantitative algorithms you get the ‘what’ to build your ideal concept from highest ranked elements. 

But you don’t understand the importance of the why for your audience, and how that impacts your combination to build the most optimal concept. The ‘why’ is its purpose, its reason for being. You need this to confidently know you have the best combination that will create impact, and to give you the foundation to turn the concept into a relevant product in market.

To overcome this challenge, you could iteratively build your optimal concept in two weeks accounting for the four key perspectives:

You can do all this, in one place, and transform the data into key insights and business building recommendations via the Catalyx Consumer Activation System.

If you would like to know more about how you can utilise the power of this system, please get in contact.

Catalyx Consumer Activation System – Quirks Best New Product Innovation Finalist!!

We’re excited to announce the Catalyx Consumer Activation System is a finalist in the Quirks Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards in the Category of “Best New Product/Service Innovation” to disrupt the Market Research Industry.

We are delighted the industry has recognised the importance of our Consumer Activation System solving for an increasingly dominant tension: as brands, you often have a choice of qualitative depth or quantitative robustness but rarely the integration of both in one place, providing speed to insight rather than speed to data.

An increasing use of DIY platforms can offer speed to data, but it can create enormous heavy lifting to turn data into actionable insights. And forcing you to daisy chain multiple solutions and sources together. While a traditional agency can do the heavy lifting for you, but with long lead times and high costs, and can result in the consumer not being truly integrated into the fast-moving decision-making process.

The Consumer Activation System solves for this need, and our award entry was recognised as a finalist for how we’ve successfully integrated our approach into client’s businesses such as Henkel and GSK to increase agility to make quicker and smarter decisions with their consumer at the heart.

Do you want speed to insight with the actionable guidance of complete consumer clarity?

 

 

The Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards, powered by Quirk’s Media, recognize the researchers, suppliers and products and services that are adding value and impact to marketing research. Finalists are selected by a panel of judges made up of a combination of end-client researchers, supplier partners and Quirk’s editorial staff. 

The award winners will be announced at The Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards Virtual Ceremony on November 9, 2021. Please visit quirksawards.com for more details. 

 

About Quirk’s

Quirk’s Marketing Research Media produces a print and digital magazine, e-newsletters, events, industry awards, webinars and the most comprehensive website – all of which is devoted entirely to professionals responsible for conducting, coordinating and purchasing marketing research products and services. Designed to promote the understanding, use and value of marketing research, Quirk’s free resources include original articles on research techniques, case studies, news, survey findings, global listings for conferences and jobs, LinkedIn groups, webinars and the most complete and up-to-date directories of market research product and service companies. To get your own free access visit www.quirks.com.

How our retail client overcame uncertainty by better understanding the unmet needs of their consumers

Over the last few weeks we’ve been talking about how the varied global chaos of COVID is causing continued global uncertainty for brands, and in particular the impact on your audience needs.

To unpick the complex task of understanding what change has occurred, to whom, to what extent and the impact, positive or negative, that it might make on your brand, sector or category you could activate your target audience and better understand more of what they THINK, FEEL, DO and WANT.

Like when we helped our retail client better understand the unmet needs of their consumers to introduce and improve a new service concept by:

You can do all this, in one place, and transform the data into key insights and business building recommendations via the Catalyx Consumer Activation System.

If you would like to know more about how you can utilise the power of this system, please click below

How you can better define unmet needs in the most uncertain times

Last week we discussed how the chaos of COVID, and how different countries are dealing with it, is causing continued global uncertainty for brands.

Understanding what change has occurred, to whom, to what extent and the impact, positive or negative, that it might make on your brand, sector or category is a complex task. 

But what if you could activate your target audience and better understand more of what they THINK, FEEL, DO and WANT?

By utilizing the power of the Catalyx Consumer Activation System you could:

If you would like to know more about how you can do all this, in one place, and have the data transformed in to key insights and business building recommendations, please click below