By: Daniel Alexander-Head - Engagement Strategy Director, Australia It would have taken a pretty long blink to miss the brand exodus from one-way “push” marketing to promoting multi-directional conversations with customers – primarily in the form of online communities. Setting up a successful community, even with your most loyal customers, takes a lot of planning. One of the biggest mistakes that brands make when they set out to start a community is jumping in head first ... | Read More

By: John Gilfeather, Executive Advisor to Vision Critical Companies are glad to be out of the limelight, but may be missing the boat. Overheard at a conference the other day was a corporate PR person from a beleaguered company saying. “Thank heavens for BP. Now we are not on the front pages.” But the truth is that even companies that have been traditionally highly respected are feeling the public backlash. In this time of unprecedented cynicism and public mistrust Vision Critical ... | Read More

Interview by John McAlister, Senior Editor - Salvationist [1] Andrew Grenville [2] is the chief research officer of Vision Critical and a member of The Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board. A 20-year research veteran, Andrew leads in the development of innovative and informative analytics and approaches to research. Andrew is the author of numerous Vision Critical research products and measurement tools and focuses on global social and marketing research. This interview appears in the Salvationist publication and offers critical ... | Read More

By: John Gilfeather, Executive Advisor to Vision Critical Has there ever been a better time to talk about corporate reputation? Financial collapses. Venerable old firms being swallowed up or disappearing. Unsafe products being sold and deaths resulting. Major corporations being bailed out by the government. Bonuses being paid to executives who presided over colossal failures. Is there any wonder that corporations are being battered by the American Public? Vision Critical just completed a study of the reputations of 54 companies. Each company was ... | Read More

By Jeff Vidler - SVP & Managing Director, Radio, Vision Critical As borders open up in today’s global marketplace, research can help you size up the opportunities lying on the other side of the fence. By seeing how other markets behave, global research can also help you get a fresh perspective on the hidden opportunities in your home market. We recently conducted a study using Vision Critical’s global access panels that drives both of these points home. Radio Futures 2010 [1] was ... | Read More

By Mike Rodenburgh, Senior Vice President, Consumer Research There is a trend in many organizations, right now, to re-think their entire innovation process. Systems such as Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) [1] are becoming more popular as companies strategically design entire company processes around the lifecycles of their products. There are several key goals of PLM, which include improving “time-to-market” and optimizing products to fit customer needs… but what about the screening of new product ideas? I find it ironic that while ... | Read More

By Andy Morris, Research Director of Angus Reid Public Opinion’s UK practice Today, The Economist [1] has released the results of a ground breaking poll from Angus Reid Public Opinion, the public affairs practice of Vision Critical. For the first time in Britain—and only the second time anywhere in the world—we have conducted a voting intention poll by showing voters the ballot as they will see it in their constituency. Names and parties appear in an online question with the respondent ... | Read More

By Andrew Grenville, Chief Research Officer - Vision Critical The question you ask can shape or even determine the answer you get. Questions need to be crafted with a great deal of care. Let me tell you a story about two priests to illustrate this point. Two older Irish priests were down at the pub having a pint and a smoke. And as they chatted and lit up another cigarette, they discussed smoking and praying. One said to ... | Read More

By: Daniel Alexander-Head: Engagement Strategy Director The last couple of years have been a pretty scary time for a lot of marketers and researchers with the spurt in growth of Social Media. It was easy for us to get comfortable in the processes and procedures that we developed over the last few decades - we controlled the agenda, broadcasted our messages and spent money to buy the silence of zombie-like customers who absorbed everything we said and acted on everything we ... | Read More

By Chris Ryan, VP of Interactive Design & Usability - Vision Critical [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z5dEGv25ys[/youtube] | Read More