October 2005 GMI Newsletter

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Sawtooth Software and GMI announce strategic alliance

GMI and Sawtooth Software, maker of the most widely used conjoint analysis tools in the world, have formed an important new strategic alliance.

Under the terms of the agreement:

• GMI is now authorized to sell and offer technical support for Sawtooth Software products throughout Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
• GMI Global Panels will make sample available for Sawtooth projects worldwide.
• GMI Service Bureau will provide conjoint service to both Sawtooth and GMI customers.
• Sawtooth Software and GMI will co-sponsor regional training conferences to educate customers about conjoint methodology and how to use Sawtooth Software tools.
• Contact us for more info

Christopher King, President of Sawtooth Software, is enthusiastic about this new alliance: "We lead the world in our niche, and Asia-Pacific and Latin America have excellent growth potential for our software. We found it challenging, however, to overcome the language, time zone, and cultural barriers. GMI's software strengths, global sales network, and the ability to provide knowledgeable, 24-hour technical support now enhance our ability to service these promising new markets."

Conjoint (or trade-off) analysis is a popular predictive marketing research technique used to measure the perceived values of specific product features. It allows researchers to learn how demand for a particular product or service is related to features and pricing and to forecast the likely level of acceptance should that product be brought to market. Rather than directly ask respondents what features they prefer or consider important, conjoint analysis asks them to evaluate product profiles with multiple (conjoined) product features.

The new strategic alliance enables customers in Asia-Pacific and Latin America to buy the following Sawtooth Software products directly from GMI:

• Choice-Based Conjoint (CBC/Web), the most frequently used choice-based conjoint software in the world
• Adaptive Conjoint Analysis (ACA/Web), which customizes (adapts) the interview for each respondent to focus on the most relevant attributes and trade-offs
• Hierarchical Bayes (HB) estimation, a newer computationally intensive statistical method to improve the quality of conjoint results
• The Market Simulator, which is used for "what-if" analysis, predicting how buyers would react to specific market scenarios
• Contact us on how this alliance can help you

Net-MR customers can seamlessly integrate Sawtooth Software's conjoint analysis tools into their Net-MR surveys.

Learn how to implement this powerful technology! Email us.

Learn more about Conjoint Analysis

If you're not familiar with the use of Conjoint Analysis, here are three informative articles we think you'll find helpful. Written by Bryan Orme, Vice President of Sawtooth Software, and provided with the permission of Research Publishers, LLC, they provide an excellent foundation in this widely used research technique.

• Managerial Overview of Conjoint Analysis
• Helping Managers Understand the Value of Conjoint Analysis
• Choosing a Conjoint Method

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The Power and Appeal of a Nation's Brand Image

Q3 results of the Nation Brands Index reveal how a nation's view of other countries impacts tourism, investment and overall foreign policies.

In the last two editions of the Anholt Nation Brands Index, our main focus has been on the international brand images of nations and how they are perceived by the majority of consumers in the 10 countries where we carry out our research. Of course not everybody sees every country the same way. So for the third edition of the NBI, we are taking a closer look at how the nation brands in our list are viewed by various audiences around the world.

• US consumers in the NBI panel have a marked preference for other English-speaking countries - the UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland. Interestingly, this preference doesn't extend to South Africa, which they place in the bottom quartile of every point of the hexagon. They don't show any particular interest in New Zealand either, a country they place 13th in their rankings, on the average.
   
• Although Japan enjoys very distinguished scores throughout the NBI, only Brazil gives it high ratings across the board. Not only does Brazil pay Japan the unusual honor of ranking it above itself in the overall brand index, but it ranks Japanese products the best in the world as well. It ranks the Japanese government sixth, although not many countries agree with this perception. Japanese culture places second after Italy (even before Brazil's own), and Japanese people sixth in the world. Japan is also the Brazilians' sixth most desired tourism destination.
   
• The data from the Chinese panel of the NBI presents a fascinating snapshot of the tastes, preferences and worldviews of a population, which may one day become the largest group of consumers on the planet. And there is no question that China sees the global ‘brandscape' in a markedly different way than most of the other countries we poll. China also ranks Turkey, the Czech Republic and South Africa near the bottom of the scale, as many others do. However, there are significant differences in the Chinese ranking of other countries. France is clearly the star brand for the Chinese. It comes in fourth for exports, third for governance and investment, second for culture and tourism, first for people, and consequently first overall. There is a lack of data for how the Chinese rank themselves, so it's impossible to say whether the French rank first or second overall. It is not unusual to rank French culture and tourism highly, but no other country apart from Mexico scores as well as France across all points of the hexagon. Therefore, it claims the top position for the Chinese.

This is just a snapshot of the data available.

Download the Q3 report at www.nationbrandindex.com.

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NEW high integrity medical panels from GMI

GMI, a leading supplier of survey sample with more than 5.5 million unique users, now offers a global solution for medical panels: MedPerspective.

Access to millions of doctors and nurses
Our physician panel represents more than 35 specialties including oncology and cardiology. Our panel of nurses includes both RNs and LPNs. The panels offer medical practitioners the opportunity to shape the future of healthcare and the development of medical products, while offering researchers ready access to qualified participants.

Unique incentives
While we do offer a cash honorarium option, our panel audience usually chooses another, highly unique incentive we that we offer: a powerful, next-generation biomedical research tool. With thousands of new research documents added daily to a wide variety of biomedical research repositories, this tool helps physicians manage information overload. It provides a powerful mechanism for quickly isolating key research information, and a powerful incentive for participating in MedPerspective.

Access to millions of chronically ill patients
Highly profiled by both demographic and illness information, our CurePursuit panelists represent hundreds of types of chronic illnesses. These thoughtful individuals are carefully managed to ensure accurate information. Incentive options include a direct cash payment or they may donate the payment to a health care charitable cause. They may also choose a pre-paid subscription to the biomedical search tool, giving them access to much of the same biomedical research data used by physicians to treat their illness.

Reach the World
Our panel is truly global with representation from 200 countries in 35 languages. We are unique in that we utilize the only integrated software solution for global medical market research coupled with sample.

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"So much information, so few ways to access it."

Corporations are drowning in information. So much information is collected from so many different sources that many market research directors are demanding that the intelligence brought to management be integrated into a more holistic information product upon which to base advice and decisions. Human Resources, Marketing, Product and Brand Management all face the same conundrum. How can they manage, distill and disseminate information for maximum usability?

GMI and Cambiar joined forces to uncover some answers to this question, in a wide-ranging and on-going study of information management in over 150 organizations in North America, Europe and Asia. Here are highlights of the study so far.

The sheer volume and variety of information collected was surprising.

• On average, each department or function surveyed, collected, and managed 6.5 different types of information.
• In 92% of cases, this involved primary surveys of customers (83%), non-customers (50%), employees (45%) or the supply chain (20%).
• Respondents on average used 5.6 different types of dissemination methods to get their message across.
• Nearly half of our respondents told us that they used some form of automated intelligence or information sharing platform such as Business Intelligence platforms, Enterprise Performance Management systems or Knowledge Management applications.
• Only three of these methods account for three quarters of the entire volume being disseminated: Email, in-person meetings and presentations, and good old paper. The role played by automated solutions is vastly over estimated.

If so many organizations do have access to automated platforms, why is there still such a problem disseminating research results?

• "Business Intelligence" systems are mainly associated with internal business metrics such as sales data (49%) or financials (43%).
• Of those who have access to such systems, only 8% express more than tepid satisfaction with the system they have in place.

A new approach to research intelligence

What if managers in these functions could utilize a new type of intelligence system? On that:

• Brings together all primary and secondary survey data
• Includes all of the enterprise's constituents – customers, prospects, employees, suppliers, partners, investors, analysts and the media
• Allows instant deployment and dissemination capabilities
• Is controlled from a customizable dashboard with links to the enterprise's BI platforms

Initial indications suggest that such a concept – dubbed "Global Enterprise Intelligence" by GMI – would be welcomed by the majority of managers in our survey. 57% thought it would have relevance to their organizations. A quarter of the sample thought it would be extremely relevant to them personally in their work.

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MI PRO Executives in Norway join GMI

As part of GMI's acquisition of MI Pro last month, GMI is privileged to welcome two distinguished executives to the GMI family.

Per Jacobsen President, CEO, and Co-founder of MI Pro, was the founder of MMI and served as its CEO from 1970 through 1995. Under his direction, MMI was transformed from a small in-house company to one of the leading full-service institutes in Northern Europe. MMI's track record of innovative services in the market research area is extensive and unique. Mr.Jacobsen holds a degree from the Norwegian School of Management (BI).

Bjørn Grønli CTO, and Co-founder of MI Pro, has extensive knowledge of market research solutions and applications. Before co-founding MI Pro, Grønli spent the 1990's doing pioneering market research work at MMI including the development of the Mark-IT system. His previous work includes six years at IBM, where his engineering focus included systems integration, scientific systems, and communications. He installed the first Internet nodes in Norway and Finland in 1987. Mr.Grønli holds a masters degree in computer science from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

More on MI PRO

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GMI Ranks Number 92 On Deloitte's 2005 Technology Fast 500 For North America

In the five years from 2000 to 2004, GMI grew 2,539% earning it a ranking of number 92 on Deloitte's 2005 Technology Fast 500, a compilation of the 500 fastest-growing technology companies in North America.

"We are honored that Deloitte is recognizing us for our rapid growth, which we attribute to being focused on, and committed to, bringing the most advanced global market research solutions to market and providing a strong customer-centric orientation," said Rob Monster, GMI's CEO and Founder. "GMI will continue this growth with additional key partnerships, acquisitions, new hires and new offices worldwide to provide our customers with the tools they need to conduct cost-effective market research in real time, in any language, anywhere in the world."

In addition, GMI placed eighth on Deloitte's Fast 50 for Washington, a ranking of the 50 fastest-growing technology firms in that state. NetReflector, recently acquired by GMI, ranked #24 on Deloitte's Technology Fast 50 for Washington State with revenue growth of 238% from 2000 to 2004. Citing high customer satisfaction and dedicated customer care, NetReflector has earned a spot of the Fast 50 list for three consecutive years.

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Who's new at GMI

Asha Choski, Director of Customer Service, Washington DC, has more than a decade of business consulting and marketing research experience. Most recently, she served as a Director and Consultant to Microsoft, for Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates. in Washington D.C. There she led research teams and designed research approaches, working closely with Microsoft senior staff. Prior to that, she spent eight years with IBM Consulting Services (formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers), first as Consultant, then as Manager leading other consultants in developing and implementing global research projects. She holds an MBA from George Mason University in Virginia.

Steven Werner, Director of Customer Service, Chicago, is returning to GMI as a business development professional who has spent the last 15 years helping clients use software and Internet technologies to make business decisions. He has extensive experience with analytic reporting systems and data analysis applications. Prior to joining GMI, Steven was the VP of Business Development for the Technology Consulting Services Group at Information Resources, Inc. Steven led the sales and implementation of CPGNetwork™, IRI's web information delivery system, serving major CPG manufacturers and retailers such as Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, FritoLay, Target and Kellogg's. Prior to IRI, Steven spent 4 years with SPSS, Inc. Steven holds a Masters degree from DePaul University in Chicago.

Cindy Griegel, Sales Director, Chicago, spent the last ten years with R.R. Donnelley & Sons of Chicago. While there, she managed all aspects of customer relationships, focusing on technology services. The last five years she served as National Account Manager in their Boston office, responsible for managing $50 million in annual revenue from such customers as Bank of America and Cardinal Healthcare. Prior to that, she was National Sales Manager for Cyberone, selling website solutions and Internet marketing strategies to Fortune 500 companies. She holds an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.

Tina Louise Moller de Carvalho, Director of Marketing, London, brings her international marketing experience to the London office. Tina Louise is fluent in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. She joins GMI from Asite Solutions in London where she served as Marketing Manager for the web-based project management company. Previously she was International Marketing Manger for Automatos, Inc, an IT company in Rio de Janeiro, where she managed clients and partnerships in the US, Europe, Brazil and Asia. Other experience includes Business Consultant for Accenture in Rio de Janeiro, and Marketing Executive for Gavin Anderson & Co, a financial communication consultancy in the UK.

Other new hires around the world:

Chad Humphrey, Inside Sales Rep, Seattle
Jessica Saethang, Project Manager, Los Angeles
Gisele Perras, Accountant, London
Daniel Leung, Developer, Vancouver
Alex Preoteasa, Developer, Vancouver
Ivan Priecel, Senior Tester, Vancouver
Jennifer Gerth, Release Manager, Vancouver
Jessie Zhou, Accounting, Shanghai

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Net-MR tip of the month

Create an Opinion Poll and collect the data for FREE!

Whether you want to poll an audience from your website, an email or a newsletter, Net-MR's POLL module allows you to create an Opinion Poll and post it anywhere you like at no cost. Set up questions and responses and view the results at any time. This module is also a great way for companies not yet conducting online surveys to see how effective online research can be!

For more information on how to create a Poll, visit the Training Center located in your Net-MR account via the RESOURCES tab. Don't forget to save it on your Favorites!

More news from the Training Center
The NEW Training Guide, "Modifying the User's View," is now available. Look for the PDF posted on the Training Center site under the "Users" heading.

Ask your representative how this module can benefit your company!

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