Looking ahead to 2017, the panel crisis in market research is certain to remain one of the industry’s most important focuses. The most recent GreenBook Report on Industry Trends (GRIT) described the online panel crisis as “an existential threat” to consumer research. Without a new strategy to engage quality panelists, the report said, survey-based approaches will enter a “death spiral.”

Survey providers noticed – SurveyMonkey, for one, announced a new move into analyzing data from mobile apps, aimed at business clients. “Mobile will be the leading platform in which businesses connect with customers,” SurveyMonkey’s CEO said at the time. Mobile is winning – and it’s winning big. In fact, GreenBook characterizes mobile research as “mainstream,” with its latest survey showing that mobile is in fact the most-used method – used by 75% of respondents. Online communities were a distant second – used by 59% of respondents.

It’s well established that traditional online research methods are failing to capture accurate insights from a mobile-centric consumer base. So-called “mobile optimized” surveys that attempt to shoehorn online survey formats onto mobile screens are no solution. They don’t have the seamless functionality of app-based true-mobile surveys – and without seamless functionality, there’s no hope of making a trusting, one-to-one connection with real mobile consumers.

When done right, on the other hand, the true-mobile approach extends the great traditions of market research and allows them to thrive in the smartphone era. Consider the following:

• Big Data about mobile use or social media use isn’t enough. To truly know consumers, you have to ask them what they’re thinking and feeling, instead of solely relying on Big Data insights on broader behavioral patterns.

• “90% of Time on Mobile is Spent in Apps,” says a study by Flurry analytics. In other words, trying to conduct online surveys via mobile is like trying to catch fish in a puddle. App-based true-mobile research puts surveys in harmony with the ways in which consumers want to receive and exchange information on their phones.

• Getting consumers to engage with surveys so that they will tell you what they think and feel is no easy matter. Failure to engage is what’s killing online surveys – and it’s not just poor survey design, but a case of operating in entirely the wrong sector of the information/communications universe.

• Engaging consumers on mobile is the obvious solution, but it’s extremely hard to do. SurveyMonkey’s insight earlier this year that mobile apps are the gateway to important consumer data was on target, but the postscript is that the company recently announced it was abandoning its mobile data initiative after just eight months. Execution and relevance to clients’ needs are crucial – and take years of technological effort to perfect.

• The problem isn’t that consumers are impatient with mobile surveys. It’s that they’re downright dismissive of any experience on their phones and with their apps that doesn’t live up to their extremely high expectations of smooth-functioning elegance and convenience – the qualities that make using their phones so appealing in the first place.

• So-called mobile solutions that simply usher smartphone users to a website where a survey is housed will not provide the true-mobile experience that’s a must for productive research engagement.

• The only way to get the reliable and representative sample that eludes online surveys is to use the right technology, which means harnessing a native app that embeds the survey experience instantly in the phone itself and allows respondents to answer offline.

A good, fast, and cost-efficient way to explore true-mobile research and compare it to the online-centered mobile you may be using now is to try MFourDIY™ – the only app-centered, true-mobile DIY alternative. For details, please visit mfourdiy.com or contact Alex at acolao@mfour.com.

You’d be surprised how many people know some Latin – specifically the phrase, “caveat emptor.”

It means “let the buyer beware.” But a newly-released Pew Research Center study on consumers’ in-store use of mobile devices suggests that “caveat emptor” no longer reflects reality. “Caveat venditor” should be the new watchword – “let the seller beware.”

Smartphones have shifted the balance. They are history’s best shopping advisors.

Everybody has one, and that leaves brands no room for error. If a product’s quality, packaging, messaging, or customer value is dipping, shoppers checking their phones will know it in a flash exactly when they’re making up their minds, and will act accordingly.

The good news for brands and marketers is that the same smartphones that arm shoppers with unprecedented information can do the same for them – if they leverage phones’ vast capabilities with true-mobile consumer research. Pew Research Center recently published a study that lays out the new mobile landscape of in-store shopping:

• 59% of U.S. adults report having used their phones while in a store to call or text someone to get buying advice.

• It’s also common now for shoppers to go online from the store aisles – 45% of Pew’s respondents said they had used their phones to look up product reviews or gather other information about a potential in-store purchase, and 45% said they’d made price comparisons with their phones.

• In the 30-49 age bracket, 72% reported calling or texting someone for buying advice, 62% said they’d looked up product reviews with their phones, and 61% had made price comparisons.

• Among 18-29 year olds, 68% called or texted for advice, 63% looked up reviews, and 64% did online price comparisons.

• Despite predictions that online shopping eventually will doom physical stores, Pew found that a solid majority of Americans still relishes the real-time, in-person shopping experience; 65% of respondents who had bought things online said that going to the store was their first choice.

And why not? When they go to a store, their phones give them the best of both worlds – the ability to eyeball real merchandise, augmented with instant e-commerce alternatives if what they’re seeing live isn’t appealing.

To understand this information-rich landscape for in-store shoppers, you need insight-rich data that only smartphones can provide. You can turn consumers’ phones into your own data source and your own valued advisor.

• The location feature on every smartphone makes it possible to talk to shoppers while they’re in the very act of deciding what to buy.

• Respondents receive an in-app survey that embeds in their phones, removing the need for an online connection.

• You can choose to reach shoppers in-store, or wait and send them an after-visit survey they’ll receive right when they leave, using GPS-enabled technology.

• You can ask about all tangible aspects of the shopping experience – shelf placement, packaging, in-store messaging.

• You can get inside shoppers’ minds when their focus on your product category is most intense.

• You can identify your product’s natural buyers and follow up with an in-home product evaluation study.

• Knowing that shoppers are using their phones to make in-store buying decisions, you can ask them about the information they’re collecting -- and in what ways they are using it.

• Smartphone users love to receive pictures and videos – so why not enhance or frame your survey questions by sending visual elements?

• They also love to create and share pictures and videos. Ask shoppers to talk about their experiences and preferences in a selfie video, and you’ll achieve studies that have a vividly illuminating qualitative dimension.

The Pew study underscores that while smartphones have improved and expanded the in-store shopping experience, shoppers’ goals and desires are the same as ever: good value for a good product. In the same way, the traditional aims of survey-based market research remain unchanged.

To learn more about how you can leverage smartphone capabilities to get deeper consumer insights, visit www.mfour.com or contact Alex at acolao@mfour.com. And let the seller rejoice!

In this season of conviviality and good spirits, the classic bartender’s query, “What’s your drink?” has special resonance for a major consumer product – alcoholic beverages. It’s a crucial question for brewers, vintners, and distillers everywhere, because it’s what consumers are asking themselves as they shop for potable gifts – or for drinks to pour at holiday gatherings. Each shopping stroll down the alcoholic beverage aisle is an opportunity that can’t be missed.

Right now, whiskey seems to be hot. Quoting International Wine and Spirits Review, MediaPost reports that sales of American whiskey have grown more than 40% over the past decade to about $3 billion, with another 20% growth spurt forecast in the coming five years. Why is this happening? Who’s doing the drinking? And what can bottlers of vodka, tequila, and gin do to tilt the answer to “What’s your drink?” more in their own favor?

The location feature on every consumer’s smartphone now makes it possible for researchers to sidle right up to the bar or the liquor store shelf and ask “What’s your drink?” – or any other question that will shine a light on what people think and feel when they’re in the market for alcohol.

With the MFourDIY™ platform, you can now send these beverage-seeking consumers in-location or after-visit surveys that catch them at the Point of Emotion® – the key moment when a purchasing decision is made. The same goes for any other product. You’ll locate natural shoppers at national or regional retail locations, then use their phones to sidle right up and ask about their brand preferences and shopping experiences when it matters most.

So how do you make it work for your product? It starts with GPS-enabled GeoValidation® to certify that a shopper is indeed inside a major store that carries the product in question. Next, you can question shoppers about your product or ask them to shoot video selfies in which you’ll see and hear them answer your questions in their own words. Respondents’ unmediated facial expressions and inflections of voice become part of your data set and help drive particularly revealing insights. Reliable data is crucial, but seeing and hearing makes the numbers come alive.

Give in-store and after-visit product studies a try and you’ll be lifting a toast to what you’ve accomplished. What’s your drink? Whatever your answer, it’ll taste better with a splash of sweet success.

To learn more about MFourDIY™ – the nation’s only true-mobile, do-it-yourself survey-building tool – visit mfourdiy.com or contact Alex at acolao@mfour.com.

With all the talk about a divided America and the need to change the public mood, we thought of chocolate. Chocolate, it seems safe to say, is one thing behind which we all can unite.

Chocolate represents how well-run brands don’t sit on their success. They keep pushing forward with change, but never lose sight of what made them successful in the first place. And of course, they are passionate about keeping fully informed about consumers' thinking when it comes to choosing and enjoying any sweet snack.

In the spirit of connecting with consumers who have a sweet tooth for your product, let’s look at the history of the small but mighty M&M.

• 1941: Mars debuts M&Ms Plain Chocolate candy, which protects milk chocolate with a crisp, candy coating. The new product solves the problem of melting, chocolate’s only drawback, apart from the calories.

• The product name itself exploits the magic of chocolate: unlike “plain vanilla,” which conjures one meaning of “plain” – something unimaginative or unremarkable – “plain chocolate” connotes something transparently and indisputably positive, as in “plain fact,” “plain goodness,” or “plain truth.”

• 1950: Mars begins stamping an “m” on each individual morsel, making the product literally its own advertisement.

• 1954: Enter M&Ms Peanut – a variation that the public gobbles up without eating into the popularity of the original plain chocolate formulation.

• 1988 to 2006: M&Ms continue to appear on candy shelves in new flavors, including almond, dark chocolate, crispy chocolate and peanut butter – alongside but not in place of the traditional Plain and Peanut.

• 2016: Mars uses the 75th anniversary of M&Ms to announce the next innovation: look for M&Ms with a creamy caramel center, starting in April, 2017.

The moral of the story: don’t mess with something that works unless you want a marketing mess on your hands. But don’t stand still, either. The M&Ms brand keeps what’s great and builds upon it. So have other leading chocolate brands, including Whitman’s, Cadbury, Hershey and Tootsie Rolls, all of which have been on the scene since the 1800s. In other words, even the most established brands must stay deeply in tune with consumers.

In a competitive, fast-changing sector such as snack foods, a uniquely fast and cost-effective way to track consumer preferences and stay instantly alert to any subtle shifts in tastes, brand consciousness and advertising effectiveness is with MFourDIY™  –  the nation’s only all-mobile, do-it-yourself research platform. The million-plus active panelists who use MFour’s Surveys on the Go® app will give you reliable data in a day as you try to find a sweet spot for any consumer packaged good. The video Q&A capabilities of smartphone research will even let you see their mouths water. For more, visit mfourdiy.com or contact Alex at acolao@mfour.com.

Here's your Friday roundup of 3 items from MFour to keep you up to speed on mobile research as you head into the weekend.

• Winning with App-Based Research

• Straight Facts on Mobile DIY

• The Latest Innovation in Mobile DIY Research

And here's a Friday tune to keep you rocking with the holiday spirit.

Statistics about the booming popularity of mobile apps, and their potential for generating revenue, are as abundant these days as snowflakes in Switzerland. Here are some telling insights about mobile app use compiled by Yahoo!’s Flurry Analytics division:

• The average American now spends 133 minutes per day consuming media via mobile apps – including video entertainment apps such as Netflix and Hulu, and social apps such as Facebook and Snapchat.

• These nearly 2¼ hours of in-app daily media consumption exceed “everything else consumers do on mobile, including messaging, email, exchanging photos, using maps, shopping, etc.,” writes Yahoo! Senior Vice President Simon Khalaf.

• Teens who’ve grown up with smartphones and apps are leading drivers of in-app media’s growth, Flurry finds. The conclusion is that social sharing of media is no fad, but a fundamental new way of making connections.

• “Large communities [are] forming around streamed content and hours spent on it,” Khalaf asserts. “This is reality TV pushed to its limits.”

The numbers tell us that something’s happening here. But quantifying the rapid move to mobile apps, as Flurry has done, is only half the task confronting marketers and researchers. They also need to understand the human element – the motivations and specific behaviors that are unknowable unless you ask the people who are flocking to mobile apps to explain themselves. 

Sure, it’s important to know the answers to “how much” and “how many” that Big Data can reveal. But absent the human dimension, consumer insights won’t be as vivid as they need to be.

It takes special technology and a smartphone-centric panel to do app-based research, and MFour’s DIY platform now enables you to target consumers based on the apps they use. With its easy-to-use interface, you can design and field a survey in less than an hour. There’s also GPS-enabled location research, powered by proprietary GeoIntensity^® and GeoNotification^® technologies that allow you to find and alert survey respondents with unique accuracy and speed. Real-time data can arrive even while a consumer who has received a survey alert  is still inside a store that’s relevant to your study. Or you can wait a bit and send the alert just after that shopper has left the store. Questions and answers can be enriched with multimedia. For example, you can ask panelists to comment on an image or video clip that you send them, or ask them to make a video selfie in which they answer your questions vividly and in their own words.

For the full story about how MFourDIY™ can provide you with the insights you need in a fast-changing, mobile-centric world, contact Alex at acolao@mfour.com. We also invite you to visit mfourdiy.com and check out the real-time streaming map of the world’s largest all-mobile panel.  

Forget what the adage says. You can judge a market research company by its cover.

A website home page is the cover – and a well-designed home page doubles as table of contents. With that in mind, the concept behind the new MFourDIY™ website is clarity, transparency, and a refreshing openness about product information. The goal is to help prospective users of the nation’s only all-mobile, do-it-yourself survey-building tool make a fully-informed decision. By being upfront with the information researchers need as they shop for solutions, we're simply giving them the respect they deserve.

We know you want to cut through the foggy generalizations you may have encountered elsewhere in your attempts to figure out whether a given research provider is offering quality technology and an engaged panel for a fair price. So here’s what you’ll find when you visit MFourDIY.com:

• A price calculator that lets you plug in all the variables that go into programming surveys – and automatically tells you exactly how much you’ll pay. Now you can budget accordingly.

• The ability to target respondents by the apps they use – and the cost of this unique feature, which is an additional $1 per complete.

• GPS-enabled, GeoValidated® studies in which you’ll locate, and then interview, natural panelists while they’re still inside a store – or just after they’ve left.

• Multimedia options that fully exploit smartphones’ capacity to receive or create audio and video content. It’s a great way to delve into the real life of consumers at the moment of purchase.

We’re also particularly proud of two prominent visuals that highlight the new MFourDIY™  website. They may be unique in the research field.

1,000,000 Panelists 

With a single click from the new home page, you’ll access information about who you’ll reach among the million-plus active panelists who use MFour’s top-rated Surveys on the Go® research app. Contrast this with traditional online panel providers who are reluctant to share details about their panelists. On the MFourDIY™ site, you’ll see the panel’s make-up by age, race, income, education, marital status, and geographic distribution. You’ll see that the panel is especially strong on hard-to-reach, smartphone-centric groups who are vital to forming an accurate picture of what’s happening among consumers – Millennials make up 70% of the panel, Hispanics, 21%, African Americans, 14%, and parents of young children, 42%.

U.S. Map of Real Time Streaming Data

A map of streaming data captures the essence of MFour and MFourDIY™ -- showing real panelists crossing into geofenced areas across the United States, where you can reach them in real time. You’ll see yellow and green vectors streaking suddenly across the nation to and from our headquarters in Southern California whenever a panelist starts or completes a survey. It’s a bit like a representation of nerve synapses firing in a brain – not a bad image for market research itself, which ideally captures what’s going on in consumers’ minds.

MFour has revolutionized how mobile market research is done. Now it has set the standard for how researchers should be informed when they’re out shopping for the survey-building products they need to succeed.

MFourDIY.com is your open book of research solutions, so feel free to come and judge us by our cover -- and by everything else you'll see inside. Or you can contact Alex at acolao@mfour.com to talk in-depth about how our solutions can answer your research needs.

MFour has launched a new website for MFourDIY™  -- the nation's only all-mobile, do-it-yourself survey-building tool.

The innovative site allows users to create sample surveys, view instant pricing quotes, and generate interactive reports. It also features a first-of-its kind, real-time monitor that shows MFour in action, with vectors shooting across a map of the United States that represent each survey as it goes out, and each completed interview as it comes in from one of the million-plus members of MFour's all-mobile panel. 

“It’s exciting to see consumers respond to surveys across the country 24-hours a day, in real time,” says MFour CEO, Chris St. Hilaire.

Click here to see a press release announcing the new website and its special features.

And for full details on how you can tailor MFourDIY™ solutions to  meet your  needs, please contact us at sales@mfour.com.

Here's your Friday roundup of 3 items from MFour to keep you up to speed on mobile research as you head into the weekend.

• Getting Smart About Ad Measurement

• 2,246,714 Ways to Connect with Consumers

• DIY Webinar: Mobile App Tracking

And here's a Friday tune to stoke your holiday spirits.

MFour welcomes three more new employees, continuing its dramatic growth with the hiring of team members who’ll contribute to three key departments – Operations, Sales, and Labs & Engineering.

Michael Schmall joins Operations as a Market Research Manager, involved in planning, implementing, and delivering quality surveys, including the crucial task of communicating with clients throughout the process. He previously was a Research Manager at Lieberman Research Worldwide. Michael has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School of Business. Michael comes to MFour with a championship pedigree – he played three seasons as a starting linebacker on Penn’s football team, including the Quakers’ 2012 Ivy League championship team.

Football is also in the blood, literally, for Dodge Salisbury, who has joined MFour’s sales team as a Solutions Development Representative, alerting and educating potential new clients about how MFour’s products and services can solve their research needs. Dodge has a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management from Texas A&M University, and previously worked in business development and marketing for the Levecke Corp and Sports 1 Marketing. His interest in the business of sports is no accident – Dodge’s father is former NFL quarterback and current sports-radio talk show host Sean Salisbury. For the record, Dodge is a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys.

Adding to Four’s technological expertise is Software Engineer Andrew Prendergast, who’ll bring his talents in app and web design to the Labs & Engineering team. Andrew earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a Web Development certificate from Parkland College. He previously worked at the marketing and web design firm Brandastic. Levity, rather than football, is Andrew’s game – he created LaughLocator, an app that keeps live-comedy fans posted on upcoming shows, and HeckleKiller,  an app that helps comedians write jokes. Andrew is a fan of the once-laughable Chicago Cubs, whose recent triumph after a 108-year championship drought has put him in a good humor.

Welcome aboard!