New local research tool - Visualiser

Malan, now heading up his own company, Research in Action, began brainstorming his idea of a new research tool seven years ago. The idea was to create a pictorial tool which respondents could use to describe brands, thus obviating the need for words – such as "rich", "stylish", or "trendy" – which could have different connotations for different respondents.

Malan divided the population into 24 groups, such as the "Lowlifes" or the "Wealthy, old-money" groups. He then commissioned a drawing for each group, containing elements which would best describe that group. For instance, the picture capturing the essence of the "Wealthy, old-money" group, shows a beautiful fountain on a sweeping, tree-lined driveway leading up to the porch, where the family corgi stands.

These 24 pictures which make up the Visualiser tool are used in focus groups as stimulus material to determine the market's perceptions and images of a brand, product or service. They are also used in face-to-face interviews, where respondents match the pictures with brands. Statistical analysis of responses then gives marketers a quantified picture of the brand's perception in the market. Such analysis can also help marketers determine market and product segmentation, product and brand positioning, and brand movement, amongst others.

Testing the elements of each picture was crucial to the validity and efficacy of this new research tool. Mictert Marketing Research played a key role in this regard, helping Malan determine the correct contents of the pictures describing the black market. Mictert conducted in-depth interviews with respondents, showing them the test pictures, in order to ascertain whether all elements within the drawings resonated with this market. "For example, one of the pictures showed a dog lying inside the house. Most black respondents questioned this, asking why the dog was not outside in the yard where it belonged," recalls Vusi Makhathini, CEO of Mictert.

Mictert also did the fieldwork to obtain quantified branded data for the various black market groups, on banks, motor car manufacturers, chain stores, supermarkets, clothing stores, food brands and magazines.

"Malan has created a unique tool with which to objectively measure the brand perceptions of the South African market," says Makhathini. "In a market as diverse and complex as ours, it is important that the research industry has locally developed tools which are tried and tested on SA soil. With such tools, marketers can get an accurate understanding of their brands in the local context."