Solutions

At Ideas in Focus, our principals have decades of experience researching, developing, and managing brands. We understand first hand that strong brands are not invented overnight; informed and involved stakeholders must nurture and curate them. To help organizations with this task, we conduct brand workshops to train and provide the client’s team the tools necessary to be successful.

Our process starts with developing a deep understanding of the current state of the brand and how it is perceived inside and outside the organization. Next, we look closely at existing cultural norms, processes, and decisions to get a sense of what is already working well and what could be improved. We then work closely with the client team to develop a training program that will work best for their organization and make sure senior level sponsors are present to champion any changes.

Whether you need a “tune up” that lasts a single day or an extended series of sessions over the course of months, we can craft a brand ambassador program to suit your unique needs and situation.

Successful companies know that it is more important than ever to incorporate the voice-of-the-customer (VOC) into the development of brands, new products, and communication strategies. At Ideas in Focus we are experts at designing a research plan that will uncover meaningful insights through spoken, unspoken, and observed interactions with customers and consumers.

We treat every VOC project as a unique situation and develop an optimal solution that meets the client’s specific needs. Our leadership team has senior, client-side experience with leading advertising, consumer product, and product development organizations. We understand first-hand the challenges our clients face and carefully consider their objectives, budget, and timing before we recommend a solution.

Our approach to research is “methodologically agnostic” and considers a wide range of options. This often involves fielding multi-method studies that combine qualitative and quantitative disciplines. We also know how to use web-based platforms that can reach younger audiences as well as save time and money.

Whether it’s interviewing a few key clients, fielding a nationally representative online survey, or conducting a multi-method study to inform brand or product development, we have the experience and expertise to design, execute, and deliver a successful VOC solution.

The modern customer is more empowered than ever. With instant access to information wherever and whenever they want, it’s critical for companies to connect with their customers in an informed and authentic way. This means looking beyond basic demographics to understand their attitudes, behaviors, and emotional drivers.

We create robust and detailed personas that can help inform our client’s product, marketing, sales, and brand development initiatives by bringing their target customers to life. Our personas tell the story of the individual in a rich, meaningful, and authentic manner. Each profile provides the reader with powerful insights into the wants, needs, behaviors, and motivations of the audience, whether it’s a current customer, a prospect, or some other group.

When your organization wants to develop a new product or enter a new market, we can help mitigate the risk of making an uninformed decision. Our assessment process leverages free and syndicated information sources and, when necessary, conducts primary research. We provide our clients with the data, insights, scenarios, and recommendations to clearly lay out the pros and cons needed for making an informed decision. While each project is different, we often assess:

• Size of the market
• Competitive forces   
  
• Barriers to entry 
• Risks
  
• Trends in the market      
  
• Customer profiles       
  
• Sales & Distribution
     
  

Whether you are an inventor with a great idea or a large corporation following a stage gate process, an opportunity assessment can provide exactly what’s needed to make a confident decision.

Most organizations are not facing a shortage of ideas. What they lack are ideas that are strategic in nature, ideas that leverage meaningful consumer insights, and ideas that consider both the rational and emotional side of the customers’ decision-making process. Too many organizations rely on random serendipity when what they really need is a structured and measured approach to idea generation.

Our process begins long before the actual ideation session. We invest time and effort to understand the equities and strengths of our client and how those overlap with the unmet wants and needs of the target customer. We examine trends and challenge ourselves to uncover opportunities to expand into spaces where competition is minimal or does not exist.

During the ideation session, our experienced facilitators lead the client’s team through a variety of idea generation exercises that leverage left and right sides of the brain to deliver both strategic and creative ideas. A typical daylong session generates hundreds of ideas.

After the session, we then help the client vet and identify those ideas with the greatest potential based on the client’s objectives, established benchmarks, and our decades of product development experience.