In Praise of the Humble E-Survey…

5 Reasons Why E-surveys Should Be Part of Your Marketing Program At J.Schmid, we constantly preach that you can never know enough about your customers. That’s not a new concept and we’re certainly not alone in that belief. At the same time, we hear any number of reasons why companies don’t reach out to their […]

The Future of Brick-and-Mortar in the Millennial Age

Much has been written about the demise of America’s brick-and-mortar retail institutions due to the expansion of e-commerce and mobile technology. With slowing population growth, the future of retail sales will depend largely on increased individual spending, much of which will come from the demographic cohort known as Millennials. Some relevant facts about this group: […]

Is the Customer Still King?

The notions that “the customer is king” and “the customer is always right” have been marketing gospel for generations of business school grads and brand managers. I’d never suggest that a strong customer focus shouldn’t be a key element of any brand’s marketing efforts. But how do marketers keep “King Customer” from becoming a total […]

“There is nothing so terrible as activity without insight”

By Chris Hayes, EVP Brand Strategy This 18th Century quote from my high school lit class got me thinking about a conversation I had with a marketing director from a well-known cross-channel brand a few weeks ago. He mentioned his company would like to do comparison research on their catalog covers to determine which ones […]

Bridging the Information Gap With Social Media Research

by Chris Hayes, EVP Brand Strategy When Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast…” he really wasn’t thinking about the world of marketing, much less social media. But he was unknowingly articulating one of the biggest challenges marketers face in their quest to understand and respond to the always-changing preferences of their customers… how to get timely, accurate […]

Know Thy Customer: 3 tips for making the most of your research data

We are in the midst of a true paradigm shift. Consumer behavior suggests consumers want to be more in control of their interaction with the marketing that brands are pushing out. As marketers collect more data and gain access to more powerful analytic technologies, there also is a new dimension we need to access to […]