Keeping an eye on marketing efficiency

That's why the timing for the launch in South Africa of eye-tracking research technology is pretty much ideal because from now on data will be available on exactly what consumers are seeing when they look at a packed supermarket shelf and what they are seeing when they look at your product, see your advertisements, billboards and in-store promotions.

I've seen a few case histories and the results are dramatic to say the least. In my opinion an essential marketing tool for tough times.

Interestingly enough, one of the world's top experts will be visiting South Africa in May to present a workshop of the process.

Hosted by Prompt Research Insights, SA's first eye-tracking research company, Prof Michel Wedel, a world leader in the field of eye-tracking and other modern market research techniques, will talk about this process at a breakfast briefing in Johannesburg on May 22.

Eye-tracking is the process of measuring the point of gaze, providing a unique method to evaluate how consumers digest visual communication. Instead of relying solely on verbal and conscious responses, eye-tracking offers the ability to measure and visualise spontaneous responses in real-time, helping creators and developers underpin their impact and confusion as it occurs with visual media across channels from web to TV.

Wedel's presentation will specifically help advertisers and agencies improve their campaign performance and assess the effectiveness of their marketing activities.

Wedel is the Pepsico Professor of Consumer Research at the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, and holds an honorary chair at the University of Groningen. He has an MSc in Bio-mathematics from the University of Leiden (1981), an MSc in Statistics from the Netherlands Statistical Society (1986), and a PhD in Marketing from Wageningen University in the Netherlands (1990). To learn more about Prof Wedel please visit http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/marketing/faculty/wedel.aspx.

He is currently the third-ranked marketing professor in the world by the US Journal of Marketing, he was ranked first in 2006. Among his many accolades he was named the Best Scholar in Economics and Business in the Netherlands in 2006. His work has won several awards, and in 2008 he was presented with the Gilbert Churchill Award for Lifetime Achievement in the academic study of marketing research by the American Research Association.

Event Details

Time: 07h00-08h50 (registration and presentation) 09h00-10h00 (interactive workshop)
Date: 22nd May 2009
Venue: Michelangelo Hotel, Johannesburg
For bookings go to www.tenaka.co.za/stage/PRI/invite.html.

Or for further information:
Lindiwe Matlali
Managing Director - Prompt Research Insights
Tel: 011 575 6853
Cell: 071 99 33 228

www.promptresearchinsights.com