CARAVAN® – Serving Clients Since the 1960s
What does it take to maintain a successful, longstanding omnibus?
There are many factors that play into this. But at the heart of it all, we have to ensure that we provide quick, reliable data and information to our clients. So, what have we done to evolve without isolating our “traditional” market research clients?
We were able to recognize when our deliverable became stagnant and took steps to improve them, while still maintaining some of the “familiar” that has kept our clients coming to us. The most recent switch to Forsta delivery (dashboard and crosstabs) is a very user-friendly platform that allows clients to analyze their data on their own. But at the same time, we include the initial banner setup that they have been used to for years. We have linked this to our QuickView platform. All of this was done, while seamlessly continuing our quick project turnaround and delivery.
We used technology to make our processes even more efficient.
Moving from Excel spreadsheets and manually updating Project Information Forms in our CRM system, to our online, one stop shop for all things scheduling and project management, allowed us to free up more time to focus on our clients.
We capitalized on an opportunity to market our brand by including our own internal surveys in our gen pop offering each week. We use these results to create interesting social media content (see the many LinkedIn posts on the pulse of the U.S., political tracking, News and Media, Metaverse, etc.)
And finally, we make the necessary methodology changes/updates (such as the evolution of our telephone omnibus from landline only, to a landline/cell phone mix, to not being a viable offering). We update Census weighting targets every year and add new offerings to keep up with client demand. We’re not just a gen pop offering. We have geo, parents, teens, youth, plus, international…all which have “standard” definitions/fielding but are also modified to fit clients’ research needs. And with these, we ensure that the sampling stays representative to the population of interest, so our clients can feel confident in the reliability of the results and focus on the story they want to tell, when and how they want to tell it.
Along with this, our teams work closely in reviewing clients’ surveys, making suggestions for improvement when needed, helping guarantee the highest quality results. We even offer advanced analyses such as MaxDiff within our offerings and report options, from executive summaries to full analysis including subgroups.
We have processes in place that allow us to maintain fast-paced, reliable results. This includes a standardized starting point for all projects; however, this doesn’t mean that we can’t be flexible to meet our clients’ research needs. The possibilities are endless, so please contact us for your research needs.
Written by Maria Gentiletti, Senior Director, Insights at Big Village