MROCs: Qualitatively Speaking to Your Target 24/7/365

Market Research Online Communities (MROCs) combine key aspects of social media with the rigor of marketing research, all in one online portal.

What if you could exchange meaningful marketing research dialogues with your target audience 24/7/365? What if these conversations took place in an engaging multi-modular research environment? What if these customer discussions were so fresh that they change continuously? What if new research topics and questions could be fielded to your target in just minutes? What if customers could start research threads based on topics that are important to them?

Today, all these “what ifs” are possible with Market Research Online Communities (MROCs).  In short, MROCs combine key aspects of social media with the rigor of marketing research, all in one online portal.  MROCs are typically set-up as private communities of 200-500 screened customers. Members interact with each other and the professional moderator, generating content in response to posted marketing research questions as well as to topics panelists generate.

MROCs allow marketers to become deeply acquainted with their target. Imagine following a group of representative customers for months, hearing stories about how they use the category and your brand… and how their lifestyles are affected. As such, MROCs can become the epicenter for your market research needs.

MROCs are custom developed to meet the individual research needs of the brand(s) under discussion. Unlike traditional marketing research, which is usually reserved for medium- to large-sized projects, MROCs can accommodate large, medium and small scale projects. The multi-modular approach of MROCs allow for this diversity – offering opportunities for dialogues that are rich or brief in depth and/or breadth – affording the market researcher more options than ever before! A very wide range of market research questions can be answered via an MROC:

• New product concept testing
• New product ideation
• Motivational & needs analysis (e.g., functional and emotional purchase drivers)
• Marketing collateral testing (e.g., landing pages, email campaigns, brochures)
• Advertising and creative testing (e.g., television, online, print)
• Branding and positioning testing (e.g., names, logos, imagery)
• Packaging graphics testing
• Messaging testing
• Website usability & wireframe testing
• Product usability (e.g., home use tests)
• Attitudes & usage
• Rankings & ratings
• Longitudinal studies (e.g., product use diaries)
• Customer satisfaction
• Competitive intelligence

Inside the MROC, ideas and insights are continuously generated to support current and future marketing activities. Every day, you’ll learn more about your target, their lives, their purchase decisions and their usage behaviors. Over time, members will form bonds with each other as well as with the moderator. Hence, allowing for more unmet needs to surface, giving your marketing and innovation efforts a boost.

Given the social media power of MROCs, you are speaking with your target… not simply interviewing them. And who is “them?” What kinds of customers sign up and participate in MROCs? Largely, it is category- or brand-involved customers who want to

• Be listened to
• Share their opinions, suggestions or ideas with the brand
• Share their opinions, suggestions or ideas with fellow customers
• Obtain ideas and solutions from other panelists
• Help improve the brand (or category)
• Be an advocate for the brand (i.e., brand evangelist)

Your customers want to be heard! Are you consistently listening to your customers? Are you continually listening to your customers? What do they have to say? With an MROC, you’ll always know what’s on their minds!

Holly O’Neill, MBA, is president of Talking Business, LLC, a marketing consultancy that specializes in focus groups, branding and brainstorming. Recognized as an MROC pioneer and an expert at bringing innovation to the research process to better connect with customers, she has advised major corporate and entrepreneurial clients including GlaxoSmithKline, Experian and Princess Cruises.

Holly O’Neill is a member of the Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA). Visit their website at www.QRCA.org.

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