The questions clients bring, and how we work on them.

89 full case studies and 20 shorter examples: the question each client team brought, how we worked with them and, where we can share it, what happened next.

Our work with technology companies

Practice

Most clients stay anonymous to honor our agreements with them.

Full case studies

Shorter examples

Open one for the short version, and ask us for the long one.

  • Innovation and concept development Making a work vehicle more useful to working crews Outdoor equipment maker Outdoor & industrial

    This outdoor equipment maker already sold a work vehicle and wanted to know what would make it more useful to the crews who run it. We spent time with buyers and crews, and set out the feature opportunities for the vehicle.

  • Concept and product testing Testing a new fabric with uniform buyers and wearers Workwear maker Apparel & workwear

    A new workwear fabric looked promising, and the question was whether working professionals would value it enough to justify taking it to market. We put it in front of uniform decision makers and the wearers themselves, exploring its possible applications and benefits across real job conditions.

  • Concept and product testing Testing the assumptions behind an electric vehicle launch Electric vehicle startup Outdoor & industrial

    For a startup, a vehicle launch is close to a one-shot bet, and this electric vehicle company wanted evidence before taking it. Our research put the product and positioning in front of its intended buyers and tested the assumptions the launch depended on, so leadership could weigh the launch with evidence in hand.

  • Market entry Weighing a new Latin American market for a drinks brand Beverage company Drinks & spirits

    The market was large and fast-moving, with a drinks culture of its own, and this brand wanted the opportunity weighed before committing to it. We examined how consumers there use and choose drinks in its category, and what room there might be for a new entrant, as input to the entry decision.

  • Innovation and concept development Choosing which spirits propositions to develop for a new market Spirits company Drinks & spirits

    A spirits company wanted to know which of its proposition directions would appeal to drinkers in a large Latin American market. We explored local drinking culture and how each proposition territory came across to consumers there, as input to the next stage of concept and liquid development.

  • Market entry Planning a vehicle maker’s entry into two pickup truck markets Vehicle maker Outdoor & industrial

    In the two markets this vehicle maker was weighing, the pickup truck is a cultural institution, which makes them as attractive as they are demanding. Entering meant understanding how drivers there choose, use and feel about their trucks. Our research explored those questions, and the output was an entry strategy for the two markets.

  • Market entry Growing a motorcycle brand in new markets Motorcycle manufacturer Outdoor & industrial

    Growing a motorcycle brand in new markets means winning riders you have never met. We explored what riding means to them, how they choose their machines, and what this manufacturer’s brand could stand for in their world. The output was a growth approach for each market.

  • Brand growth Mapping where a spirits brand could credibly innovate Spirits company Drinks & spirits

    Innovation pays off where a brand has permission to play, and this spirits brand wanted to know how far its welcome extended. We developed innovation territories and explored them with consumers, to see which felt like natural extensions of the brand and which stretched its credibility. The output assessed each territory, with direction for development.

  • Concept and product testing Exploring an early spirits proposition with drinkers Spirits company Drinks & spirits

    One part of the spirits category was growing fast, and this company had an early proposition of its own for it. We explored who drinks in that part of the category and why, and put the proposition in front of them, so the team could judge whether it was ready to develop further.

  • Innovation and concept development Finding the categories a new extrusion technology could serve Food company Food & drink

    Extrusion technology can reshape what a food company makes, if it is pointed at the right categories. Partnering with R&D, we looked at the technology’s capabilities and the product spaces where they could matter to consumers. The work ended in written cereal and snack concepts for a three-to-ten-year horizon.

  • Segmentation Segmenting players to plan acquisition and engagement spending Mobile gaming platform Consumer technology

    Acquisition and engagement compete for the same budget, and this mobile gaming platform wanted evidence to choose between them. We built a player segmentation describing who plays, what keeps each type engaged and where each has room to grow, so the team could plan investment by segment.

  • Concept and product testing Prioritizing a crowded spirits innovation pipeline Spirits company Drinks & spirits

    Every concept in a crowded pipeline has an internal champion, which can make prioritization stall. This spirits company asked us to put consumer evidence against its innovation pipeline. We tested the concepts against one another with consumers, comparing them on criteria tied to the company’s strategy, as input to its prioritization.

  • Innovation and concept development Building a growth map from a drinks business’s own research Beverage company Drinks & spirits

    The client already held more than forty studies on its category and wanted one view of them. We synthesized that evidence with category trends and semiotics into a growth map, then developed ideas with the client’s teams and refined concepts with consumers.

  • Innovation and concept development Finding where a dairy business could grow in snacking Food company Food & drink

    A food company’s dairy business wanted to know where it could grow beyond its core products. We mapped growth opportunities in snacking, generated ideas, evaluated them with consumers in qualitative research, and iterated concepts for the next three years of the pipeline.

  • Consumer understanding Understanding how homeowners choose battery-powered equipment Outdoor equipment maker Outdoor & industrial

    This outdoor equipment maker wanted to understand how homeowners decide between battery and gas equipment. We investigated how they weigh the two, what drives their purchases and where they hesitate, and set out what stands in the way for the brand team.

  • Consumer understanding Understanding how younger app users engage and what they pay for Consumer technology company Consumer technology

    The company wanted to understand how younger users use its app. We explored what draws them in, what they will pay for and why, and set out what that meant for engagement and paid features.

  • Consumer understanding Seeing a fresh-food top-up shop through shoppers’ eyes Retailer Food & drink

    A grocery retailer’s insight team wanted to see the fresh-food top-up shop through shoppers’ eyes before an ideation workshop on growing basket value. Twelve shoppers wore eye-tracking glasses on an accompanied shop in one store, then talked through their own footage with us. The output described the trip from the shopper’s point of view, with initial ideas for the workshop.

  • Concept and product testing Prioritizing experience improvements for a technology company Consumer technology company Consumer technology

    Experience improvements are easy to list and hard to rank. This company had plenty of candidate ideas and wanted to know which would move conversion. We evaluated the experience alongside its users, and the team received a prioritized set of improvements, tied to satisfaction and adoption.

  • Packaging and claims Helping people choose smaller treat portions more often Food company Food & drink

    A food company asked how to get people to choose smaller portions of its confectionery more often. Desk research, with no new consumer fieldwork, drew on more than 30 earlier research documents, the category’s packs and claims, and its semiotic codes. The output was a set of growth routes, with next steps.

  • Training Giving every team one shared understanding of a brand Personal care company Beauty & personal care

    The brand’s knowledge sat in many separate documents, from germ science and consumer research to its history and claims work. We designed a kit for new hires (test papers on germs, a card game about diseases, a comic and an annotated history), then rebuilt the material as a six-chapter digital book, written for different ways of learning and built for the brand team to edit and extend. A later stage added a claims chapter.

Multi-award winners and finalists.

  • Market Research Society Best Innovation
  • Market Research Society International Research
  • Insights Association EXPLOR Award
  • AQR Qualitative Excellence, twice
  • The Marketing Society Effective Use of Insight
  • Marketing Week Masters
  • MRMW Best Use of Mobile Technology
  • Next Gen Market Research Disruptive Innovator
  • Insight250 Legend: Anne Lacey, founding partner

Ask about the work nearest yours.

We’ll walk you through the engagements closest to your category and question, and can put you in touch with a client for a reference.

A partner or director will reply.