Most advertisers recognize the value of consumer research in making more timely and accurate marketing decisions. However, cost and timing considerations have prohibited many from using this valuable tool.

Fortunately, there are alternatives. One particularly effective research tool is a national consumer telephone omnibus survey. These surveys are conducted by large reputable firms like Gallup or Harris. Typically they are done on a weekly basis with a minimum of 1,000 consumers (usually 500 men and 500 women) who are randomly selected to provide a nationally representative sample of opinions, attitudes and buying patterns. The findings then are cross-tabulated by standard demographic information, including age, number of children in household, education, employment status, gender, income, marital status, ownership of home, primary shopper status, race and region. Additional custom tabulations are also available.

Because of their flexibility and timeliness, these types of surveys are particularly valuable in providing a "snapshot" analysis of awareness of a company or product and are also used for tracking trends over time. The affordable aspect comes into play because the fieldwork costs and overhead are shared by several different marketers and advertisers. The diversity of questions in a typical phone survey of this sort also helps maintain a "blind" sample for unbiased responses. (Consumers don't know which company is asking the questions.) And the survey tends to be more interesting to the respondent because it covers a diversity of subjects.

For example, Fender recently wanted to know how it compared to other electric guitar manufacturers in terms of mass-consumer recognition. In less than six days, we were able to determine consumer awareness for every guitar manufacturer.

How affordable is this type of research? The cost range for a single question is usually $500-$1000, depending on the complexity of the question. And once the questions are finalized, they can be fielded within 2-3 days. The fully tabulated results are usually available within a week.

We all need to stay keenly attuned to the dynamics of the marketplace in order to remain competitive. Because of the flexibility, affordability and timeliness of this type of consumer research, we recommend that our clients take advantage of it whenever appropriate.