USA VP of R&D and Offer Innovation, Zoë Dowling, takes a look back at ESOMAR’s 2011 3D Digital Dimentions Conference , and reviews the challenges facing researchers in a digital age…

In the two years since I last attended the ESOMAR Online conference, it is interesting that relatively little of the conversation has changed in that time.  Reoccurring themes  included what to do with social media, the usefulness of online communities & co-creation, mobile as poised to take over the world and Web surveys being in real trouble. Gamification was a prominent newcomer which made quite a splash throughout the conference, while notably there were a few absent topics: panels, data quality and, to a degree, neuroscience. Read more…

As you take off for the holidays, destress and refresh your mind with some of these inspiring reads:

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Welcome to Issue 30 of Branding for Good News, Added Value’s newsletter focused exclusively on sustainable marketing; the challenges, opportunities, our solutions and points of view.

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Luxury and sustainability: two opposing concepts? At first glance, perhaps. After all, the word luxury derives from the Latin word “luxus” and conjures up images of ‘pomp, excess and debauchery’. Whereas sustainability, by definition, invites us to ‘meet the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs’.

The two sound paradoxical indeed. And consumers seem to agree. In a recent survey by Salon 1.618, consumers put the luxury industry last in a ranking of industries associated with sustainable commitments; ranking lower than the financial and petrol sectors.

So should the luxury industry admit defeat and never embrace sustainability? We think not. For several reasons: Read more…

Luxury Trash
Will Spring 2012 see the well-heeled wearing discarded fish skins on their feet?  Marcia Patmos and Manolo Blahnik have teamed up to create the sustainable Marcia Patmos for Manolo Blahnik collection of shoes for the spring — made entirely of discarded tilapia skins, cork and raffia. This is the first eco-friendly endeavor for Blahnik, who has worked with Patmos on two styles, a double strap, open-toe flat and a strappy, high-heeled sandal in color combinations of electric blue, black, nude and yellow. Each creation will retail for $895 at Manolo Blahnik stores.  

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What makes great companies great?  Who’s winning in the war for the global middle class?  What is the future of big data? What social strategies work? How can we think more creatively?  And how can we design breakthrough digital products and a better user experiences?  It’s all in this month’s Innovation Inspiration.

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People have been calling it “Sweet City” [Tian Cheng] for generations.  The name pays tribute to Neijiang’s erstwhile regional importance as a producer of candied fruit [guofu] and grower of sugar cane.  Guofu can still be found – if you are prepared to search for it that is.  But, as befits the way it is sold in the few surviving local street markets, what’s left of the industry is merely a quaint side-stall on the outer fringe of the fast-developing Neijiang economy.

But that’s not to say that things have turned sour for Neijiang’s 4.3 million people.  Read more…

There is no doubt that China is one of the world’s most fascinating markets.  And the normal rules of engagement for marketers don’t always apply.  For brands to succeed, brand owners need a deep understanding of the cultural complexity of the market and the estimated 1.3bn people it serves.

To answer some of the most pressing marketing questions facing marketers in the Middle Kingdom, we recently held events in Shanghai and Hong Kong that provided participants with compelling insights into this fast-changing marketplace. Read more…

Le jeudi 3 novembre lors du salon Paris 2.0, Added Value intervenait à une table ronde animée par Jean-Maxence Granier, Directeur Associé de Think Out, sur le thème de l’utilisation des communautés en ligne afin de collecter des insights et co-créer avec les consommateurs (cliquer ici pour lire l’intervention d’Yves Jaques, Project Director Added Value) . Après la table-ronde, nous avons demandé à Jean-Maxence les enseignements qu’il en avait tiré, les enjeux et les freins de ces communautés, ainsi que leur avenir.

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One of the biggest challenges of consumer research is that it is often focused on the present; consumers tend only to play back what they are currently experiencing and what they know is going on around them right now.

For brands this is tricky.  On the one hand, understanding ‘now’ is useful to get a sense of context and to course-correct on current strategy or to adapt to consumers needs.  But on the other, it’s hard to get a view on the future; how the bigger picture is changing and what opportunities – and threats – those changes might bring.  Read more…