March 2001

Digital Déjà vu

No doubt readers are familiar with the "man on the street" interview of days gone by or know that such interviewing techniques are common in other countries. For example, in Mexico, polling takes place at the household since telephone penetration hovers at 10%...it's the best option.

Fast forward to 2001 and take a look at using new technology to accomplish essentially the same thing, but with some very sophisticated and COOL twists - Let's call it Micro Polling Technology!

Some key background points:

• Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's) like Palm Pilots and Visors are the fastest growing consumer electronics in history.
• 
  Right now, more PDA's are being sold than personal computers.
• While wireless PDA's and web enabled phones only penetrate 4% of the population, but growth rates will be dramatic

So, how cool would it be to conduct research on a Palm Pilot, tap in answers, synch the data and have instant results? Very cool - it's yours if you want it!

This won't replace telephone interviewing and there will still be a need for consumers to complete a questionnaire or diary because the amount of data is limited, but actually gathering information at the point of transaction offers some interesting advantages.

1. A survey can be conducted anytime, anywhere: after a sporting event, exiting a convention, at the sales site, or within your very own operation. Any survey imaginable can be quickly programmed in to a Pilot(s) and deployed.
2. If needed, the data can be aggregated in real time.
3. For the time being there's curiosity in being approached by someone requesting a few quick answers on a device that is intriguing and new.
4. Brand images are formed all the time. With consumers increasingly embracing PDA's and absorbing information in more ways, from more outlets, whenever they want it, this data gathering method essentially serves as a marketing tool to advance your brand.

Enough of the esoteric - here's a real time example to illustrate micro polling technology...

...At a recent meeting of the Southern Newspaper Publisher's Association (SNPA) Key Executives Conference the first afternoon panel discussed "Convergence" (the subject of our January 2001 newsletter). The coordinating Marketing Committee wondered if relevant information could be collected from conference attendees in advance? Using this technology - and armed with talented bodies from Zingdata, the Application Service Provider (ASP) Belden partners with and whose software powers the PDA's - it was handled this way:

• One PDA for every two attendees was waiting on the luncheon table.

• Instruction cards were placed on each table explaining how to use the device and to share it with your neighbor. With ten people at each table, it took about 22 minutes for all to complete the survey. The devices were still collected before the luncheon speaker.

• They were synched via four laptops using hotel room data ports and emailed to a computer in the hotel business center for printing. Within 40 minutes the results were in the hands of conference executives...even before speaker was done.
  

Not only did the information provide a timely look at the upcoming session, it was fascinating. In addition to basic questions about circulation size, when web sites were launched, profitability, etc., consider these highlights; and a view of the results.

Seventy-eight percent of the papers are automatically upcharging classified ads when posting them to their web site.

Of those who have made recent content changes and then conducted market research to measure how changes have driven readership, 60% say that "readership grew somewhat".

On-page promotion leads the pack with 45% doing so. Billboards (17%), Radio (13%), E-marketing (13%) and TV (6%).

Relevant results delivered lightning fast by tapping in answers to a short survey (the average time was 2 minutes) in a PDA...now that's cool!!! Imagine this technology deployed to ask readers/consumers about Sunday Single copy sales, to help editors understand man-on-the-street feelings about issues and coverage of same, or just to focus on helping an advertising customer better understand what respective customers are thinking at the time of transaction.

The possibilities are endless...