Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • 5 Tracking Best Practices

    5 Tracking Best Practices

    Late last year we wrote a few pieces about tracking best practices.  These pieces really struck a nerve.  As 2017 gets rolling and many of you are probably thinking about and evaluating your research needs and objectives for the year we thought it would be helpful to revisit and expand on the theme. As a…

  • Samsung’s Exploding Battery Problem and What it Means for Their Brand

    Samsung’s Exploding Battery Problem and What it Means for Their Brand

    Recently, Samsung encountered a problem with some of their lithium ion batteries – they’re exploding!  Particularly those in their Galaxy Note 7 smartphones.  The causes have been determined1, but there is still a lot to be remedied as many airlines have recently warned passengers not to use them on planes2 and they’ve been forced to…

  • Why won’t TV advertising just die already?

    Why won’t TV advertising just die already?

    The answer…  Synergy – the compelling reason why television advertising is as relevant as ever. For the last two decades it has been fashionable to prognosticate the death of television advertising whether delivered by broadcast, cable, satellite, or stream.  The general storyline has been that emerging digital channels will displace television advertising through a combination…

  • When it comes to extending your brand, gaining awareness is less than half the battle

    When it comes to extending your brand, gaining awareness is less than half the battle

    In previous blogs we have commented on the validity and practicality of applying the MASB Brand Investment and Valuation model.  In those articles we focused on the value the brand derives from cash flows from existing offerings.  But what about potential future cash flows from planned brand extensions not yet launched – both within existing…

  • Not All Communications Research Suppliers are Created Equal

    Not All Communications Research Suppliers are Created Equal

    In the world of commerce the assumption of equality between competing offerings can be a grave mistake. Certainly there are commodities – oil, gold, pork-bellies, etc.  And even manufactured products can conform to rigorous technical specifications which can ensure comparability within reasonable parameters.  Services, however, are generally another matter altogether.  Typically services grow preference through…

  • “It is always cheaper to do the job right the first time.”

    “It is always cheaper to do the job right the first time.”

    This quote from businessman Philip Crosby has often served as the rallying cry for advocates of modern management practices.  At its heart is a simple truth; it takes less time and effort to improve a process than it does to revise each unit created from that process.  In fact, Crosby’s work showed that measurement systems…

  • MASB’s Game Changing Brand Investment and Valuation Project – Part IV

    MASB’s Game Changing Brand Investment and Valuation Project – Part IV

    In parts I, II, and III of this blog series we discussed the added benefits and technical details of incorporating brand preference throughout the brand building process.  During this time we have received numerous requests for more details with the most common being of the form, “Are brand preferences important for my category?”  Typically this…

  • MASB’s Game Changing Brand Investment and Valuation Project – Part III

    MASB’s Game Changing Brand Investment and Valuation Project – Part III

    In Part I and Part II of this blog series we discussed the empirical strengths and corporate needs driving brand preference’s adoption.  But one aspect that pleasantly surprises those new to the technique is how easy it is to deploy relative to other measures. Most common brand metrics are collected through the use of a closed-ended…

  • 80% of new product volume is driven by just 0.7% of shoppers!

    80% of new product volume is driven by just 0.7% of shoppers!

    Did you know that only 0.7% of shoppers are driving 80% of new product volume for the first year?  And that among those trying a new product in the first six months, only 11% continue to buy the product after a year? 1 These Catalina study findings1 just further emphasize how important new product launches can…

  • Surpassing the Norm – Better Approaches to Providing Meaningful Context – Part II

    Surpassing the Norm – Better Approaches to Providing Meaningful Context – Part II

    In Part I of this blog series, we examined some of the practical issues with the use of standard normative data for providing context for  advertising research.  While having the global databases and expertise to provide traditional database averages as the situation warrants, MSW●ARS also offers approaches to the question of context that avoid the issues…

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