Successfully launching a new car means finding a positioning idea which is compelling in terms of consumer need, distinctive within the sector and – crucially – true to the reality of the product itself.  

When Hyundai asked us to input into the launch of probably their most high-profile car since the Hyundai Coupé we faced an additional challenge – that of researching product and positionings in depth whilst also keeping a ‘Top Secret’ lid on the whole process and minimising the risk of leaks to the motoring press.

Our solution was to organise a Qual-Quant, whole-day, ‘360-degree’ car-experience session with around 50 respondents exposed to both the new car itself and a range of positioning concepts developed from a prior round of exploratory KSBR Teleforums™. 

Secrecy and security meant meticulous pre-vetting to weed out respondents with any motoring connections, plus sensitive but firm rules on the day to eradicate all possible security risks.

The resulting consumer feedback helped Hyundai’s agency create a launch campaign which ticks all of the boxes: powerfully motivating, fresh in the sector and credibly rooted in product-truth. 

Hyundai’s new car – the ‘Veloster’ – will be revealed at the Detroit Motor Show in late 2011.

Rising concerns about the environment – especially climate change – mean that major brands must now grapple with the challenge of doing business on a more sustainable basis.  O2’s ambition is to be the sustainability leader in telecoms, and finding ways to cut down excessive waste in mobile packaging and peripherals is one of the vital first steps in this direction.

KSBR was asked by O2 to explore customer responses to a whole range of green packaging innovations.  Which would be welcomed, which resisted and which could be real ‘game-changers’? To make a solid business-case to the Board of O2, qualitative insight needed to be copper-bottomed with hard, quantified proof - so we designed a fully integrated, two-stage process:

(i) Qualitative concept development: Constructor groups with key mobile user segments right across the age spectrum, to evaluate a range of potential inititatives in the form of concept materials produced by KSBR.


(ii) Internet survey with 750 mobile users: designed to quantify the appeal of the lead concepts from qualitative and gauge the degree to which green initiatives could sway consumers, ie quicken recruitment and enhance loyalty.

The clarity of the findings emerging from an in-tune ‘qual-quant’ process has already led to O2 awarding every handset its own ‘eco-rating’, a key early step in the ‘Think Big Planet’ programme.

Whitbread’s huge success with their Premier Inn brand is based on superior understanding of customer needs and a strong commitment to keeping these insights fresh.  Our assignment was to uncover potential improvements to the business-users’ proposition, providing both softer customer insights and harder (quantified) data to help management decision-making.

To meet both requirements we designed an integrated, two-stage, qualitative + quantitative process:

Stage-1: Qualitative     In-depth telephone interviews with current & lapsed Premier Inn users to highlight potential improvement areas

Stage-2: Quantitative   Online web-survey & concept test to validate the qual. insights & confirm which of the innovations were most likely to increase satisfaction and drive revenues.

Connected-up, ‘soft + hard’ research like this is increasingly necessary to help clients decide the allocation of squeezed investment resources.  Integrating the two halves so that the qualitative insights directly guide the design and interpretation of the quantitative stage makes the whole process faster, more effective and less costly.