The value of brand image research
Image research is typically done among the total target market. The target audience is therefore much broader than in customer satisfaction or customer experience research, where you are limited to your current customers. For large brands, serving a mass market, brand image is one of the most important factors determining the value of the brand, and thus the company. In this regard, brand image can be defined as the collection of all the memories and associated emotions, concerning the brand, that reside in the brain of the target audience.
Innovative brand image research
Forum Research has developed an innovative method for brand image research. Whereas in traditional image research, a list of image aspects is presented and scored, Forum Research uses neuroresearch techniques. We retrieve both active memories and memories that are hidden far away in the subconscious brain. We use open-ended questions instead of presenting a list of aspects. From the open answers we extract, using text analysis, the emotions that the target group associates with the brand and the factors that determine that emotion. We call this implicit measurement. Because our questions are not limited to lists of aspects, we do not steer people in a certain direction, and we bring out what is really in the minds of the target audience. The memory in the brain of the target group is the starting point for our research, instead of an internally prepared aspect list. With fewer questions, we thereby extract significantly better information.
Image research, what can I do with it?
With a Forum Research brand image research project, we determine the position of your brand in the subconscious mind of your target audience. We also include one or more of your competitors in the research to determine which aspects distinguish your brand and where relative weaknesses lie in your image. This forms the basis for the development of a communication strategy or a communication campaign.