The Stats People partner with a media agency to host a survey for an international media group
The brief to survey media brand consumer needs
A well-known media brand wanted to determine what motivates their regular subscribers to pay for the brand and approached us for survey design and hosting solutions. The business objective was to determine how to change or tweak content to retain and grow their consumer base. That was a complex project; we worked directly with both the media group and agency experienced in media research.
Overview of the task
As a trade-off tool, we used the Best Worst Case 2 (BWC2) choice model, designed to prioritise the levels of content in various categories that drive motivation to subscribe. Our team took the lead on designing the sample structure, screening criteria and questionnaire.
Stages of the process
The process started with meeting the brands Managing Editor and Research Team to refine the objectives, enabling a first draft questionnaire and trade-off to be developed. Following the analysis of secondary data from a national survey of media users, the sample and screening criteria were set to enable us to target a population with an appropriate readership of the brands publications. Our partner agency sourced the sampling and had input into the survey design based on their vertical experience in the sector. After completion of the study, our team designed and produced a set of tabulations and a PowerPoint presentation with findings; their delivery to the editorial team was in conjunction with our partner agency.
The brief
To determine what motivates regular subscribers of the media brand to pay for the brand.
The overview
The entire survey was programmed and hosted in-house.
The challenges
A short timescale was the biggest challenge for us. We had to split work between our team and partner agency; there was a need for close coordination of this process. Our client asked for a summary of key findings before the main report presentation. That resulted in the production of a reporting framework and approach whilst still fielding. We capitalised on our multivariate experience during the reporting employing Excel simulators and brand maps to summarise complex data and subgroup differences.
The result
This research highlighted the diverse needs of subscribers to the brand; various groups appeared to want to pull the brand in different directions. Nevertheless, we were able to rank key content areas and individual levels according to their appeal to the most loyal subscriber groups and make recommendations for each considering ‘net appeal’ measures in survey questions and simulations from the choice model.
The challenge
The production of a reporting framework and approach whilst still fielding.
The result
This research highlighted the diverse needs of subscribers to the brand.