M A H E N D E R KO N D A A B H I S H E K S U R YA P E TA WHAT IS THE CASE PROBLEM?
A requisition of service from Williams, Director of Brands at Simmons, a
major Consumer Packaged Goods company. Their request was not for the regular market research insights that Communispace provided, but for a WOM Campaign. Simmons is a big company with $12 billion annual revenue under its belt, would be a great addition for Communispace. But, should they enter into already crowded WOM market or still focus on the infant online private, brand focused communities business? COMMUNISPACE
It started in 1999 as a tech start-up providing a platform for client
companys employees to easily communicate and collaborate. It evolved as a company that ran private, brand focused, online communities that enabled members to engage with each other and the company as well. By 2009 it had 350 insight communities serving over 100 clients, revenues rose from $5 mn in 2004 to an expected $36 mn by 2009. The company operated on subscription-based model in which the clients commit to a 12 month contract. HOW DID IT WORK?
The Client
The Community Members
The Communispace Team
THE CLIENT The company/brand that wants to subscribe for the community. 85% of these clients focused on marketing to end consumers, remaining focusing on B2B markets. They wanted insights for new product development, feedback on marketing campaign, understand consumer mind-set, etc,. Each client receives weekly update regrading the happenings in the community. The clients can also raise a question and get answer within 24 hours. THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS The members were recruited based upon the agreed criteria of the client and communispace. In the words of Laura, VP, Member services, profiles ranged from Latino moms who regularly purchased in a particular product category, to medical professionals who worked in a particular type of hospital unit, to guys who really like to wax their cars, to high net worth individuals a few years prior to retirement, to women runners from around the globe Incentives gift cards every 4 to 6 weeks. For members it was more of sharing their insight, being part of innovation, networking with their peers, gaining support and possibly friendship, etc,, Typically, 300 to 500 members per community, they would access the community and atleast spend 30 minutes on an average per week. Community was refreshed every 6 months. THE COMMUNISPACE TEAM Building and managing the communities. They in conjunction with the client would design a membership profile, locate potential members in US or across the globe and recruit them. They needed to strike a balance between facilitating and discussion without dominating the conversation. They also handled the client interface and were responsible to listen and respond to their needs. Their another job was to analyse the conversation threads and pass on the necessary information to the clients. They report to the Directors of Client Services, who were often veteran marketers and market researchers., they helped the clients in implementing the suggestions given by the members.