Tag Archives: US

Cint increases access to medical professionals through new partnerships

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Cint, a global provider of market research solutions, has increased its access to the opinions of thousands of healthcare professionals in the US through a new partnership with DMD (Delta Marketing Dynamics) and an extension to its existing collaboration with ImpactRx (a Symphony Health Solutions Company).

The DMD survey panel is comprised of over 5,000 individuals working within retail pharmacies, primarily pharmacy managers or senior level staff as well as 1,300 acute-care pharmacists working within hospitals, the majority directors or clinical pharmacists. The ImpactRx panel consists of a wide cross-section of over 100,000 medical professionals, with particular specialties in primary care, general medicine and individuals working within retail pharmacies.  Also available are other professionals who assist with the overall management of a patient’s healthcare, including nurse practitioners, nurses, office managers and technicians. These new partnerships mean any organization working within the healthcare spectrum, whether pharmaceutical companies or cosmetic brands, researchers or marketers, can obtain the opinions of this audience, simply and easily through Cint’s innovative technology.

Over 100,000 medical professionals across the US will now be within reach to help brands improve varying elements of their business activity, from new product development to forming a marketing strategy. 

Cint’s ground-breaking technology allows brands easy access to the opinions of over 7.5 million people in 50 different countries. Cint specializes in DIY research, whereby marketers and brand managers can deploy an online survey in less than seven minutes to individuals that match their exact profiling requirements. This new panel means brands looking to ascertain the opinions of a specific group of experts in a particular medical field, can do so themselves in a simple, cost effective and transparent way. 

Bo Mattsson, chief executive of Cint, comments: “Many organizations, such as pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers of specialist equipment and public sector decision makers will often require the opinion of a healthcare professional.  However, obtaining an informed opinion from this audience, whether it is a dermatologist, a pain specialist or an optometrist, can be a challenging process, due to the pressures and time constraints on these individuals, and traditional market research methods such as focus groups can be ineffective.

“These new partnerships with DMD and ImpactRx means specific groups of experts can be targeted entirely online and, therefore, they are able to provide their responses and opinions within a timeframe that suits them. Through our open platform, Cint OpinionHUB, researchers can connect directly with these individuals, deploying a survey to a highly targeted demographic.” 

Panel partner spotlight: Embee Mobile, Hiving and eResearch Global

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It’s time to shine the light on a few more of our 500 panel partners. This time, we’d like to highlight three global companies that have made it possible for you to access their group members and ask for their opinions.

Embee Mobile Inc. a privately held US company building panels in several countries. One in India has over 12,500 members after being live for only a month! Recruitment is done through Embee’s Facebook app and incentives are given in form of Embee Points.

Hiving is a French company with panels in several countries, including one in Germany with 8,000 members and a response rate of over 40%.The panels consist of general population and used double opt-in recruiting through emails, banners as well as referencing.

The US company, eResearch Global, specializes in online research and has panels in 46 countries available within OpinionHUB. Response rates (RR) average between 30-60 %. To mention a few, you can reach 1,200 respondents in Chile with 52% RR, 2,200 in India with 48 % RR and 1,100 in Argentina with 56% response rate.

To find out how you can Access your target group or to Engage your audience with survey opportunities, connect with us today through learnmore@cint.com

Panel partner spotlight: ArcaMax, Filmow and Glaxes.com

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As you may already know, one of the main reasons Cint is so successful is our 500 panel partners utilizing Cint Engage globally. These partnerships are what allow us to reach 7 million unique individuals willing to give their opinions.

We wanted to share some of the panel groups with you so you get an idea of who you can reach through Cint Access.

The publisher ArcaMax currently has three panels with us in Canada, the UK and US. With 12,000 members recruited through emails, their response rate sits around 40 percent. ArcaMax readers receive daily newsletters on topics like recipes, horoscopes and comics.

The social community filmow.com recruits film-lovers in Brazil. On the site they can share their views and comments on films and TV-series. Through the partnership with Cint, now panelists can offer their opinions on much more. Only registered members of Filmow are allowed to join the survey panel and so far over 6500 “movie buffs” have joined. They are ready to answer your surveys in Brazilian Portuguese!

 The German access panel provider Glaxes.com (Untiedt Research GMBH) has made panel groups in several countries available to buyers in Cint Access. In Poland, you can reach 55.000 individuals, 70.000 in Russia and over 60.000 in Germany. Glaxes provides panels in 8 countries all recruited through different local sites devoted to surveys and testing.

 We’ll share news about our panel groups and panel partners on a regular basis – but don’t forget you can get the latest information by using Cint Access!

Notes from CASRO Online 2012

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By: Lindsay Veling, VP of Global Quality

Wow – what an incredible two days at the CASRO Online annual conference in Las Vegas! Sitting in the airport with a two hour delay (don’t worry they have slot machines here to keep me busy), I have a chance to reflect on the last few days. Having attended the last five conferences CASRO has put on, the content, people and energy at this year’s show far exceeded all others! 

The papers presented were of exceptional quality this year.  As more suppliers and clients work together to establish industry-wide guidelines for online research some of the major themes presented:

  • How do we measure data quality? Papers spoke of respondent engagement, validation and ‘satisficers’
    • The industry needs a better way of figuring out who professional respondents are beyond their speeding behaviour – a few papers presented findings that suggested no relationship between how fast/slow respondents go through surveys and the responses they give. Survey Monkey offered a new way to detect professional respondents
    • The use of automatic outlier follow up through online surveys has the potential to improve data quality by reducing respondent error
    • We need to consider respondent consistency rather than talking about individual respondents.  Respondents who are ‘engaged’ will provide more consistent data
    • Name and address validation provides an immediate impact on data quality

 

  • What impacts Respondent Engagement?
    • Cint and Federated looked at the impact that routers have on panelist satisfaction and found respondents who were given the option to route are much more inclined to do so than not and panel owners will benefit from routing by maintaining higher future response rates
    • Common perceptions of what drives panel attrition (survey incidence,  length of interview, long screen out process and incentives) were shown not to have a significant impact compared to the importance of customizing the experience according to a panelist’s lifecycle: the test drive (1st week on a  panel), leasing period (up to 4 months) and the lifelong customer (after four months).

 

Talking to Real Panelists

So the best part of the conference? Well this year, John Bremer from Toluna put together a panel session of real panelists. If you were at the conference, this was THE SESSION not to miss (aside from mine of course). The 1 hour session began with an introduction to the panelists who had been recruited to come partake in this ‘focus group’ type discussion in front of 200+ market researchers.  John did a great job of moderating the group of panelists, (who, I might add were far from shy) and helped moderate the session addressing issues on:  what keeps them engaged – both with a panel and individual surveys as well as what frustrates them about the process and how panel companies can best fulfill their expectations.

So what was the most shocking thing a panelist said?

Was it that some panelists take the same survey a number of times (up to 10) through different panels (clearly if all panels joined OpinionHUB, this wouldn’t be the case)?

Or maybe it was the fact that some screening criteria are so bad that some retired, +70 year olds end up being asked whether they’re a CEO?

What about the fact that the majority of the panelists in this group were only answering surveys for the money (I think 2 out 10 said they actually mentioned they wanted to give their opinion – but they also wanted the money)…one panelist actually mentioned that taking surveys allows him to pay for his second mortgage!  But what forced the audience to drop their jaws to the floor was definitely the moment a researcher asked the question: ‘how many of you belong to the same panel more than once?’ One panelist got so excited because he didn’t know he could do that.

Do I think this session will be run again? Definitely NOT! It was the best part of the whole show but I think the candidness of the panelists shocked us so badly that we would rather turn a blind eye to what real panelists actually think and do, than address some of their very real concerns (poor questionnaire design and length, technical mistakes, validation of panelists and incentive models). Well, at least those of us that were there got to see the show!

It is a little scary to think these 10 panelists were actually ‘screened’ to come into the session. I can’t begin to imagine who the non-responders are!

Other themes presented that remain ‘hot topics’ in the industry:

  • Survey blending and routers offer the most effective and flexible means for combining sample and giving the best results at an aggregate level
  • Toluna offered a new ‘propensity score’ method for ensuring that rather than focusing on which individuals we invite to our surveys, we focus on what really matters, the sample source itself.
  • Ipsos showed that the diversity and size of routers impact results
  • Emerging Techniques in the Industry looked at:
    • How to get the most from the vast amount of ‘big data’ that we all sit on
    •  a call for a questionnaire revolution by creating modular surveys for tracking studies rather than giving respondents long 25 minute surveys will ensure better quality of data and appeasing the new set of ‘informational snacking’ panelists
    • Using new online technologies (virtual collages, laddering and emoticons) helps integrate the use of qualitative and quantitative methodologies; and
    • The examination of the predictive validity of various social media sources and how this impacts our data 

If you’d like more information on the material I presented, please click here.

2011: A Year of… Rapid Growth??

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I’m a political junkie. I read all kinds of papers, blogs and opinions on both sides of most issues here in the US. Throughout 2011, there was actually a remarkable level of agreement from both major political parties in the States on one key point: the economy is going to hell in a handbasket (or is already there). The only level of disagreement was over which President was to blame- George W. Bush or Barack Obama. (I won’t ask you what you think!)

High unemployment rates, wild stock market swings, inflation, deflated tax revenue, record-level debts are the themes of major news outlets. There is so much philosophy and theory behind what and who spurs job creation and what actually sparks economic growth. I’m not usually the least educated guy at the bar at any given happy hour, but I can tell you that the more I read these days, the less I truly grasp how to right the global economic environment.

So, as with all things, I try to focus just on what is in my own control in my little world. Fortunately, my little world involves working for Cint, which began 2011 as a newer name (at least for the American market) with a big idea. If Cint USA had its own dedicated news coverage, the headlines this year would be a stark contrast to what I described earlier. They might read something like this:

“Cint adds more talent in 5 North American Markets”

  “Cint triples the global respondent reach in the Cint Panel Exchange”

  “Cint achieves record revenue months”

  “Cint breaks previous record revenue month- again”

Here at Cint, we’ve had so much to celebrate it’s almost become standard. I try to make sure our team members, particularly the recent College grads understand how counter-cultural our success in 2011 has been in context. I also try to find a way to celebrate these successes even if it takes the form of a sushi lunch or Bagel Fridays.

So, what have I learned from our successes this year? Well, the key to our success, I think, stems from having a real commitment to finding a “better” way for our clients to do their jobs through creative technology. It also relates to our level of disarming transparency (even about our own areas of need) and visibility into the process. I also think the fact we have a strong offering for good value doesn’t hurt either.

I would be remiss if I left out an extremely important element. I believe our incredible increase in new clients and revenue in 2011 ties deeply back to client partnership. I tell our team that sometimes we sound like the “dog quacking” because of our innovative approach. But, without clients testing out our abilities and pushing us hard to achieve our goals, we’d never be where we are today.

So, there you have it. Not sure I’ll be invited to DC for the next State of the Union address. But, I am proud to have been part of the team success here at Cint USA in 2011. We grew revenues, managed costs and created jobs all while trying something “new.” Not too shabby.

In My Opinion

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For American readers, I have a couple of questions:
Is the Casey Anthony trial over yet? How about the National Football League Lockout? Or how about that Debt Limit- has it been raised yet?

Nothing like the summer to keep the heated debate going… Guilty or Innocent? Owners or players? Democrats or Republicans? Everyone, in true American style, seems to have a well-formed (and voiced) opinion. If you’re in the UK, I have a sneaky suspicion you have some opinions on Rupert Murdoch right now too.

This insatiable desire for giving our opinion to others and even watching “experts” give their own on cable television seems to have become an important part of our society’s fiber… I can honestly tell you I have no idea if Casey Anthony should be in jail instead of hiding in parts unknown right now as a free woman, but I do know the thoughts of all my office colleagues about it.

I happen to believe big stories like this shine a spotlight on a common human condition- the desire to be heard. This is perfect for Market Researchers. Our whole industry exists to study and provide context and “actionable insights” to marketers about what their customers (or prospects) think about products and services. In other words, our industry’s purpose gives consumers a regular, ongoing, structured way to voice their opinions.

It’s a very noble endeavor- the MR industry is the epitome of providing a path to business growth through listening to the voice of the customer. It’s what every customer wants. So, how can we take advantage of this on a broader way?

In the online panel world, most online recruitment is done through common affiliate advertising campaigns geared around messages like “be heard” and “paid surveys”. So, the call to action is really based on an affinity for money- incentives given in exchange for the respondents’ time. Cint has supplemented this approach by allowing people the opportunity to voice opinions for a different value proposition. Cint’s technology offering enables organizations with strong affinity- schools, churches, charities, sports clubs, etc.- to raise funds by creating a Market Research panel. Cint provides the technology platform, simple DIY interface and quality rigor, the new panel owners provide the people. This product is called Cint Direct Revenue (CDR).

So far, hundreds of groups have successfully executed on this idea. As a result, the MR industry has a broader appeal and more consumers have a personalized motivation to do what comes naturally anyway- speak their minds.

It’s a win-win really. But, hey, that’s just my personal opinion!

Your Feedback Feeds America

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Thumbspeak recently partnered with the upcoming Customer Engagement Technology World (CETW) to launch “Your Feedback Feeds America” taking place during the conference in San Francisco April 27-28th. Attendees will have the opportunity to answer surveys, and 100% of the money earned for answering questions will be donated to the charity Feeding America, and the organizers of CETW will match the amount earned. It’s an exciting idea. To understand my enthusiasm, I have to tell you two things: first, I love conferences and conventions; second, I am constantly compelled to take Thumbspeak surveys.

Attending a conference, for me, is like stepping into another plane of existence—Disneyland for the professional world. There’s a ritualistic experience about attending a conference. It’s a journey. You pack your bags, depart your former life, and enter a world of hotels, shiny booths, and atrocious carpeting. You arrive at the convention center and everyone silently agrees to willingly suspend their disbelief to take in the phantasmagorical. Magical things can happen—business deals secured, limits tested and I think I once saw a pig fly.

Along with my almost unreasonable love for conferences is a newfound dependency on the Thumbspeak application. There’s something incredibly compelling about taking their surveys on my iPhone. I know it sounds a bit biased, knowing the source, but I promise no one put me up to saying it. When I can’t sleep, I’ll sometimes reach for my phone and load the application. Any new surveys? Refresh. Refresh… refresh. I’ve taken them all.

Being at CETW and taking Thumbspeak surveys for a good cause will be an incredible pairing. Like Nutella and Wheat Thins. Try it, you’ll thank me later.

ARF 2011 Success

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New York City hosted the Advertising Research Foundation’s Annual Convention this week, dubbed Re:Think 2011. While there were many news stories coming from the presentations including the reviews on neuromarketing methods and the future of survey research, this year also featured a new format the show’s “Insights Zone”.

The ARF has historically hosted the biggest exhibit for researchers from any US MR trade show each year. Typically dominated by Market Research providers, the exhibit often has previously stretched across three floors and is always a major draw for attendees. This year, the Insights Zone was capped at 30 exhibits and included new or expanded features enabling easier networking, more in-depth conversations and greater information sharing.

For our part, Cint benefitted tremendously from the new setup. As a rapid growth company, we seemed to have a ton of interest in our recent news relating to our SaaS platforms that simplify online sampling and enable mobile research.

Our new branding and booth were put to good use as six North American team members demonstrated the Thumbspeak solution and answered questions for researchers about how we make online sampling look so easy.

  • Why are you able to successfully complete the hard-to-reach online sample targets?
  • How are you able to be so transparent about your sampling approaches?
  • How can you help me with my mobile research strategy?

The ARF conference was also the launching pad for Cint’s new partnerships with Locately and Zokem. Both give Thumbspeak’s CONNECT platform additional functionality such as GPS- based analytics and on-device metering. You can read more here.

Thanks to everyone who made the event such a great success!