Focus groups are a form of qualitative research conducted in small groups in both consumer and business-to-business areas. Kathy Weiss has moderated thousands of focus groups to gain a voice of the customer perspective. They are useful in many areas such new product and new concept testing, brand positioning and ideation.

Does your brand differentiate effectively from competitive brands? How can you make your sales tools more effective in the field? Brand audits provide the outside perspective of how you present yourself across all media: web, collateral, sales tools and more.

Gain critical market intelligence on why customers buy from you and how you can make your product or service offering even better. Gather information on why you lost a key customer or how a problem was solved in order to develop a case history.

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The ideation process is a guided-brainstorming session based on knowing the customer’s needs and those that are unmet to create something valuable. External facilitation levels the playing field, encourages free flow of ideas without restriction and enhances the creative process.

Advertising testing is used to improve marketing effectiveness. Test reactions to different ad concepts, slogans, brand identity. Our specialty is at the creative end of development using qualitative work, often using focus groups.

Qualitative research has been a valuable tool to form a baseline for projectable quantitative work but it can also be used in a layered qual-on-qual approach. Before beginning any sizeable qualitative study such as nation-wide focus groups or longer-duration panel studies, smaller one-on-one in-depth conversations or mini groups can test assumptions or initial concepts and make the second phase more efficient and effective.

Blass Research has 35 years of expertise in helping our clients grow with the use of research to develop better offerings, strategic positioning, and compelling propositions. Secondary research involves gaining intelligence through published sources. Primary interviews can then help validate findings or fill in information gaps.

Usability testing is a technique used to evaluate a product or website by testing it on users. Typically, users are asked to complete certain tasks with a trainer facilitator who observes and probes where needed to fully understand the customer experience. This is key in user-centered design research, giving direct feedback from real users.

In-depth interviews are another qualitative method conducted face-to-face or telephone to obtain detailed information about a topic from a stakeholder. Exploration of a respondent’s point of view, experiences, and feelings in a loosely structured conversation yields a unique perspective. This organic method allows freedom for both the interviewer and the respondent to change direction if needed as opinions and ideas are expressed.

Often brands need to be reassessed. Corporate structures change. Target markets change. The brand is under-performing. A facilitated brand workshop with your team helps define core values and combines cross-disciplined knowledge, experience and creativity to generate new ideas.

Blass Research can collect and distill available data to deliver what you need to know before launching your next initiative. Trends watching, social media monitoring, communications audits, indepth topic and subject matter research can provide extremely useful information, much of it for free. We have special focus on gaining a broad understanding of key global trends that will shape preferences in consumer products.

Online research encompasses chat rooms, user diaries, and online focus groups and communities. Efficiently matching the best technology and research tools will gain feedback from your stakeholders and provide different levels of qualitative insight from geographically- dispersed audiences.