Far, far away, in a quaint little village, a group of fishermen guts some Arctic Char while sharing jokes in a strange sounding language. They are speaking English. Elsewhere in the country, a family looks forward to escaping the hustle and bustle of a skyscraper city with a weekend trip to the cottage. The children pack their skis and snowboards in preparation for hitting the slopes, while mom and dad pack their bathing suits for beach time. They are going
Read MoreI recognise and experience firsthand the cultural consumer differences captured in Mindi Chahal’s article. But these differences present opportunities: the ecommerce experience, for example, could become as seamless in the UK as it is in the US, where they’re leading the way in integration. And although aggregators are set to increase in volume and importance in the UK this year, comparative shopping online and social business is still far more prevalent in the US – just look at the rise of Yelp.com.
Read MorePackaging and new product trends for 2014, across the consumer packaged goods markets globally, reveal the increasing use of vegetables in unique formulations; a growing focus on 'extreme' flavours; an emphasis on ‘clean’ ingredients and sustainability; and packaging innovation driven by changing consumer lifestyles. Source: #ShelfLifeTrends 2014: Culture change drives packaging innovation
Read MoreResearch Now’s Annie Pettit takes aim at the lazy stereotype of market research peddled in the latest Peugeot commercial. Source: Driven to frustration
Read MoreSo, 2013 was the year of the twerk and the selfie. Now 2014 looks set to be a pivotal, self-celebratory moment of a different kind. Economists predict a brighter financial situation and as the economy is set to prosper, so should your agency. It’s no longer possible to opt out of social media. You might not see it as a way of delivering clients but you’d be wrong; in the latest GRIT report, LinkedIn was named as the second most
Read More1. Lucy Davison’s first blog for Quirks. It covered the importance of branding in research, emphasising that a strong brand is an asset that researchers should exploit much more than they do at the moment. You can read it here. 2. We took our Communicating Insights workshop to Dubai, Milan and Valencia for ESOMAR. 3. We moved from Elephant and Castle to Clapham Common, you can now find us just beyond Cock Pond, in Wingate Square. 4. We recruited a
Read MoreThis post was originally written for NewMR - for a series on Threats and Opportunities in Market Research, promoting The Festival of NewMR (Monday 2nd December to Friday 6th December). As we race at alarming speed into the future, accessorised with new technologies, swathed in big data and seduced by social media, it is important to step back and reflect on the bigger picture. Sometimes on a day to day level it’s easy to forget that we are living through
Read MoreAs you may have noticed, FreshMinds adopted a new visual identity designed by The Cabinet as of the 10th of October; to mark the merging of its social business with its research business. Mustard was set the time-limited task of creating a PowerPoint design, using this new branding. The project was challenging; faced only with a few PDF concepts showing how the presentations might look, and the clock ticking, I dived in. I find that the fundamental issue with PowerPoint
Read MoreI was honoured to be invited by Marcello Sasso of Cielo Research to speak about ‘Communicating Insights’ to a room full of eager Italians at the ESOMAR Meet up Italy 2013 in Milan. Staying in a big old palazzo helped me feel at home and I was pleased to see that the sun still shone in Milan in October. Dredging up my rusty Italian proved a challenge, but the delightful audience (including some old friends from Research International) were very
Read MorePerception Research Services (PRS), a packaging and shopper market research firm, recently conducted a survey of 2,266 consumers across several countries including Germany, India, USA and the UK to Source: Study Shows Consumer Receptiveness to Environmentally Friendly Packagi
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