News

Forrester Predicts: Companies Choose Online Research Over Outsourcing

To save dollars in tough economic times, firms will increasingly turn to do-it-yourself research over outsourcing, according to a new Forrester report called "Predictions 2009: What Happens In Market Research?" by Brad Bortner.

Online research tools such as custom panels and online communities provided by Vision Critical have been gaining momentum in the last few years for being “faster, cheaper, better” than conventional research methods. With firms looking for cost-effective ways to do research, online research will grow even more, especially the hybrid of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.

To read more about Forrester’s predictions for 2009 and how online research can fuel insights and cut costs, go to http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,45038,00.html

Posted on December 4, 2008
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Vision Critical Expands Global Operations into Australia

Sydney, Australia – Vision Critical, the world leader in custom online panels, private communities and interactive research, has launched a new branch in Sydney, Australia. The opening of Vision Critical’s Sydney branch extends its global presence into the Asia Pacific region, where it is building on the success of clients such as Qantas Airways, ACP Magazines, and Vodafone NZ.

“I’m thrilled to be expanding our footprint and to be delivering our unique blend of research talent and technology in one of the fastest growing corners of the world,” said Angus Reid, CEO of Vision Critical. “Our Australian branch will be led by Kris Hartvigsen in Sydney.”

Vision Critical brings to Australia the experience and expertise of having worked with hundreds of clients cross multiple verticals worldwide, including Nestle, Kodak, and HP. Sparq, Vision Critical’s flagship product, is a web-based platform that allows companies to conduct all their online research through one system, from visual surveys to custom panels to private communities.

Results from the prediction of Canada’s recent federal election are a testament to the power of the techniques pioneered at Vision Critical. Angus Reid Strategies, the research arm of Vision Critical, was the only firm to conduct polls solely online and they proved to be the most accurate, far outperforming conventional methodologies. The research was powered by Vision Critical’s Sparq technology and was conducted through the Angus Reid Forum, a national panel of over 80,000 Canadian adults.

Posted on December 3, 2008
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Goodbye boring flat grids. Hello visual surveys

Vision Critical ushers in a new era of research engagement with the release of Sparq, the online research platform

December 5, 2008 – Vancouver, BC - Vision Critical, global leader in interactive online research, announces the release of its newest online research platform, Sparq. The platform features greater access to new tools for transforming text-based surveys into more visually appealing experiences that improve long-term respondent engagement.

As Vision Critical continues to put innovation at the forefront of its development, the Sparq platform provides researchers the tools to create surveys that are visually engaging and interesting for respondents to participate in. What was previously a time consuming and expensive process for researchers is now available within one product platform. Any researcher anywhere can now build visual questions within minutes on their own, with no incremental cost. The change in accessibility represents a leap forward in online research. Goodbye radio button grid. Farewell error-prone percentage allocation. Researchers can now seamlessly switch between those old question types and new, drag and drop questions and sliders.

“In a time of economic uncertainty, customer retention and knowing how far your brand loyalty will extend is critical,” said Angus Reid, CEO of Vision Critical. “Organizations are looking for ways to stay on top of their market, understand their customer needs more deeply, and keep the competition from sliding past them. What sets Sparq apart is that it helps companies do just that, while saving money in the process.”

One of the hot topics in the online research industry is how to keep respondents engaged. Sparq includes visual questions, community discussion analysis and enhanced respondent portals. “Companies want to engage with their customers in innovative ways, using virtual page turning or click-maps, photos and videos instead of text,” said Manuel Zahariev, Chief Technology Officer at Vision Critical. “By baking these tools right into Sparq, and making them easily available and affordable, we are changing the way researchers approach online research.”    

Sparq is the world’s first online research platform to unite one-off surveys, custom panels and private online communities. It’s designed by researchers and easy enough for the non-technical novice to the research expert power user. Sparq is creating a better way for researchers to build engaging respondent experiences and to translate data into insights. To see highlights of Sparq’s features, visit our Sparq webpage.

Sparq powered the most accurate prediction of Canada's 40th election. Sparq was the platform used by Angus Reid Strategies to follow the views of the electorate during the 2008 federal campaign, as well as five provincial elections in Canada since 2006. More than any other pollster in the country, Sparq has provided results that most accurately predicted the outcome of each of these democratic processes. Read more on our Angus Reid Strategies website.

Posted on December 1, 2008
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Article: Data Quality, Respondent Engagement, and Improving Online Research

Laura Davies, Vice President of Panel Strategy at Vision Critical, has written this article, "Let’s meet the respondents more than halfway", for Quirks Magazine. She covers data quality, respondent engagement, and improving online research.

As research client concern has grown over the quality and consistency of data drawn from surveys conducted via online panels, the industry has worked together to find ways to improve data quality - from developing an ISO standard for online panels to creating software solutions to identify and screen out individual respondents on the basis of past behavior. These efforts are typically framed around the professional respondent: the too few who take too many surveys, do so inattentively or misleadingly, perhaps because their motivations are primarily or solely pecuniary. The solutions proposed are therefore generally focused on how to spot these behaviors, including deliberate traps set to do so, in order to eliminate the data from these respondents or even preclude the respondent from future participation.

These are vital steps to take in the short term to improve the quality of the data our clients receive. However these techniques are about treating the symptoms and do not examine what it is about the nature of online research that has led to the rise in these behaviors among those who participate. In the process, the industry has tended to demonize those upon whom we rely - the willing research participants - while failing to recognize the responsibility that we, as researchers and panel owners, hold in creating the conditions in which promote problem behaviors. Furthermore, these approaches ignore the changing Internet landscape in which online panels exist. This article seeks to redress some of that balance as well as to try to point the way toward some options we may have to genuinely improve research online - both now, and for the future.

Download the full article (PDF)

Posted on November 26, 2008
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Webinar: ROI of Custom Panels & Private Communities

Date: Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
Time: 2:00 pm EST

Summary

Custom panels and private communities provide a number of advantages companies can leverage during these tough economic times. One of our clients saved $300,000 by using a panel to internalize research, another experienced a 400% sales lift and yet another has been able to conduct 2 times the research at 1/10 the cost.

But are companies sacrificing quality for cost? What examples can we provide to demonstrate that panels and private communities deliver information that is accurate and relevant? The best opportunity to test a research method is during an election. It's one of the few occasions to test predictions against a measurable outcome. We will share how an online panel delivered the most accurate results of any online or telephone polling method. We will also show how clients are using our Sparq research platform to gather richer data and create a deeper ongoing understanding of their customers.

Being able to demonstrate a strong ROI is key for many companies looking to do more with less in the coming year.

This webinar will provide a number of examples of how companies have improved their bottom line without sacrificing the quality of research. We've brought together a diverse group within Vision Critical to discuss in a round table how custom panels and private communities can benefit an organization.

Key Learnings

• Hear how one company saved $300,000 by using a panel to internalize research
• Discover how an online research platform can help organizations become more effective
• Learn new strategies for online research to obtain accurate and relevant data

Posted on November 7, 2008
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