Marketing, customer satisfaction and loyalty
Satisfied customers will follow you everywhere
How to do a desk research on a market you don’t know yet (PART 1/2)
Apr25

How to do a desk research on a market you don’t know yet (PART 1/2)

Market research is especially difficult when the market you have to investigate is not known to you. Desk research is usually the technique chosen to get a first idea of what a market looks like (think about checking our series of aticles on market research secrets part 1, part 2 and part 3). Where should you start your desk research? What are the information sources at your fingertips to start your market research right? In this...

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Mobile Me : your car has no secrets for Mercedes
Apr11

Mobile Me : your car has no secrets for Mercedes

Nowadays cars can be connected with your smartphone ; not only to make calls but also to control your car at distance. The Mercedes Me application enables the owner to monitor basic and more advanced functionalities of the vehicle through his smartphone. The presence of a SIM card transmitting the information to the smartphone is the enabler of this enhanced connectivity ; but it may also enable Mercedes to become a data provider. Your car has...

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Design Thinking helped us imagine creative business cards
Mar14

Design Thinking helped us imagine creative business cards

Are business cards something of the past ? We definitely don’t think so, especially if you have a creative business card that will make an impact. We used Design Thinking techniques to revisit the experience around giving and getting a business card. Our aim was to make this moment unforgettable and to make a real psychological impact on potential customers. The design and prototyping process took ca. 6 months to complete. We eventually found the right materials, the...

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Techstartupday 2016 : virtual reality on the rise
Feb28

Techstartupday 2016 : virtual reality on the rise

At the techstartup day 2016 that took place in Brussels last week, one of the buzzwords was virtual reality (VR). Juan Bossicard, Cluster manager at Impulse and President of the Microsoft Innovation Center, held a very interesting speech on the opportunities offered by VR in various industries. What I loved about Juan’s speech was the perspective it gave to Virtual Reality and its link with digitalization. Juan’s argument was that despite digitalization a frontier still remains...

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Facebook case: towards more Big Data transparency ?
Feb12

Facebook case: towards more Big Data transparency ?

No later than Monday we were announcing the next Big Data revolution : algorithms will become more transparent in the future. We argued consumers will become increasingly aware of how sensitive their data is, eventually demanding information on how it is used and Big Data transparency. On Monday evening (08 Feb 2016) the French data protection authority (CNIL) together with the fraud authorities (DGCCRF) confirmed that trend. They listed a series of infringements and demanded that...

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4 retail problems that focus groups cannot solve
Jan18

4 retail problems that focus groups cannot solve

Focus groups are not the magic solution to all your marketing problems. Good market research uses focus group as an additional technique to confirm the results obtained elsewhere; never as an exploratory methodology. In the retail world, focus groups are unfortunately still widely used. Here are 4 common problems that can’t be solved with this technique. Assess the importance of waiting time Waiting time is an essential variable influencing customer satisfaction and profitability in a retail...

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Good resolution #1: be more selective
Jan15

Good resolution #1: be more selective

In April 2015 I started a new Big Data assignment in Brussels. I was (and still am) spending most of my time in the eastern part of Brussels. I then realized I was working not far away from a former colleague of mine whom I used to work with when I was still at Volkswagen. It was more than 10 years I hadn’t seen him and I told to myself it would be great to meet...

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On the importance of data obsolescence
Jan11

On the importance of data obsolescence

Short before Christmas I decided to send a few emails to re-connect with some of my fellow colleagues, acquaintances and clients of the past. I also used that occasion to ask those contacts one particular question for a market research we were conducting in Belgium for a telecom operator. We were having difficulties recruiting respondents for face-to-face interviews and in those cases I use to leverage my network to speed up the recruiting phase of the project....

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Market research : being customer centric is key
Oct23

Market research : being customer centric is key

One key problem of market research today is that is very much driven by quantitative assessments and KPI’s. Yet, as a market researcher or a business analysts, you should never forget that figures and indicators are not necessarily reflections of what customers think. A good illustration of this principle is given by the video below, taken from Woody Allen’s movie “Annie Hall”. In this scene a woman and a man, in couple therapy, answer the same...

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Focus group vs. interview : what is best for your market research ?
Sep16

Focus group vs. interview : what is best for your market research ?

How should you conduct your market research ? A Focus group? Interviews? Which method should you go for ? We often get that question from customers and we often find it difficult to convince customers that focus groups may not be the best qualitative technique around. In this article we explain you in which settings each method should be applied. In particular we will explain you why focus groups and interviews are complementary. Ready to improve...

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Ryanair: the best complaint letter ever sent + tips to get compensated
Jul24

Ryanair: the best complaint letter ever sent + tips to get compensated

Complaints are important for companies aiming at improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. Yet, most companies don’t answer complaints (50-60% according to the interview of Prof. Davidow you can listen below), which is a very frustrating experience for complainants. This is what you should expect if you ever want to complaint to Ryanair. What you also may expect from Ryanair’s answer to your complaint is a defensive attitude. Based on my long complaining experience and the numerous...

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Market research talent wanted : join our team !
Jul15

Market research talent wanted : join our team !

IntoTheMinds is a market research company based in Brussels. We conduct market research in various industries and countries. We also perform profitability analysis that we combine with our marketing skills to make clear strategic recommendations. Most of our customers are SMEs and see us as trustworthy partners rather than mere providers. In the past 12 months we’ve carried out assignments in the retail, luxury, media, real-estate, IT, FMCG. Customers hire us for tailor-made analysis. We never...

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HNGRY : visionary entrepreneur launches new retail concept in Antwerp
Jun01

HNGRY : visionary entrepreneur launches new retail concept in Antwerp

Sometimes you don’t need to go very far to meet some inspiring people. In the past I used to go abroad to meet visionary entrepreneurs (like Enric Ruiz Geli in Barcelona or Jean-Luc Colonna d’Istria in Paris); this time I made a great encounter in Antwerp. I was planning to spend an hour in Antwerp discussing a new retail concept. I ended up returning home 5 hours later. Let’s meet together Thierry Peeters, the founder of...

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5 Questions you should answer when doing your market research
Mar18

5 Questions you should answer when doing your market research

When you carry out market research, there is one thing that you need to study very carefully : what are the factors influencing the market that you have no influence upon. Those factors are of different nature and it’s very important to identify them to avoid falling in a trap, and turning a business idea into a disaster. Across the years we’ve been faced with different stories of entrepreneurs who didn’t include this analysis in their...

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How to prepare a questionnaire for qualitative research
Mar02

How to prepare a questionnaire for qualitative research

Qualitative research is what we consider the first real technical step of market research. The qualitative questionnaire(also called interview guide) is instrumental for the success of this phase. In this post we explain EXACTLY how to prepare it. As we’ve explained in other posts, market research is NOT only administrating a survey. It’s much more than that (get an overview of market research tools and techniques on our online guide). Today we’d like to discuss what...

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Belgian railways CEO attacks bad results of satisfaction survey
Feb09

Belgian railways CEO attacks bad results of satisfaction survey

Trains’ punctuality is a strong indicator of customer (dis)satisfaction whatever the country. In countries where trains are still operated by public organizations (France, Germany, Belgium, …) operational objectives are usually set by the State to guarantee that efforts are put into satisfying travelers. In Belgium the quest for more satisfaction led to a “fight” between Belgian railways’ CEO, Jo Cornu, and Customer Defense Association Test Achats. The story Last week Jo Cornu, the CEO of the...

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Competition forces traditional taxis to change : finally !
Dec12

Competition forces traditional taxis to change : finally !

The traditional press is full of articles regarding the legal procedures against Uber in Europe. In this judiciary fight, traditional taxis and VTC (Vehicule de Tourisme avec Chauffeur) have joined forces to fight Uber’s aggressive strategy to enter the market despite legal requirements (for more information read our previous article on this topic). Brussels minister for mobility was proud to announce that he had seized vehicles participating in the UberPop program (article in French). This is...

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1/3 of hospitality firms could die. So what ?
Dec10

1/3 of hospitality firms could die. So what ?

A press conference was recently organized by the union of independents to denounce the expected negative effects of the black boxes in the so-called Horeca (HOtels – REstaurant – Coffee shops) sector (in other words the sector of hospitality). As a short reminder, these black boxes are devices to be implemented in the cash register of stores to eradicate the possibility to make black money. Jean-François DONDELET, the president of the union of independents (SDI), said...

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My three recipes to increase creativity
Nov21

My three recipes to increase creativity

After 11 months of an uninterrupted race to secure new contracts, increase our market share and deliver market research, new ideas and concepts to our customers, the time had come to go on vacation and prepare for the next 11 months. Being just back from vacation what I can say is that I couldn’t really stop working. Clients were still calling in, I was interviewed by 3 magazines, send a few quotes. Business as usual except...

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Delta Lloyd : qualitative methods used to reveal business opportunity
Nov14

Delta Lloyd : qualitative methods used to reveal business opportunity

After the remarkable marketing campaign “The billable Talk” launched by Delta Lloyd to help independent workers get insured for revenue losses, we come back today with Karlien Kelgtermans, Marketing Communication Project Leader at Delta Lloyd Life, on the development of this project and its first results. IntoTheMinds: There are more than 1m independent workers in Belgium. Yet, only half of them are insured against revenue loss. Which other insights can you share with us on the current situation?...

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The Delta Lloyd recipe to acquire new customers
Nov12

The Delta Lloyd recipe to acquire new customers

Some customers segments are more difficult to reach than others. Independent workers are certainly one of them. They go by the “time is money” principle and usually try to make their days as productive as possible. As a consequence little –if any- time is left to handle formalities, go to the bank, take care of insurances, … Delta Lloyd had an interesting idea to capture that audience. 50% of independent workers have no insurance against revenue...

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Essential business tools for startups : 99€ training in Brussels on 29 November
Oct27

Essential business tools for startups : 99€ training in Brussels on 29 November

Would-be entrepreneurs will be delighted : a 1-day training session will be organized on November 29th 2014 in Brussels to teach, refresh, train essential skills to successfully start or develop your venture. If you want to register, just follow this link and fill in the online form. Practical details on the workshops Price : 99€ early bid (if you register before November 15), 199€ otherwise Price includes lunch and coffee Venue : CoStation, 5 Parvis Sainte-Gudule,...

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What are the main reasons to create a company?
Oct27

What are the main reasons to create a company?

After the post we published 2 weeks ago on why companies fail, another interesting piece of statistics published by the French National Institute for Statistics (INSEE) regards the motivations of people to start their company and how these motivations have evolved since 2006. You’ll find the complete table below (we did the translations ourselves given that those interesting statistics are unfortunately only available in French). There are a few interesting insights out of this survey.  ...

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SIAL : the best place to conduct market research on food & drink trends
Sep29

SIAL : the best place to conduct market research on food & drink trends

The worldwide largest food & drink fair will open next month (from Oct 19 until Oct 23rd). Some 6300 exhibitors from 103 countries (!) will attend the show and present what is thought to be the largest products range available on earth. The fair is held every 2 years and we have the pleasure to have be press-accredited for 4 years. Why is it important for us to visit the SIAL We visit the SIAL for...

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New pop-up stores project : weekly update #2
Sep24

New pop-up stores project : weekly update #2

As we announced last week we are finalizing an online initiative to store and maintain accurate and up-to-date information about the best pop-up stores worldwide. This initiative is a kind of POC (Proof Of Concept) to test our ideas to build a larger website on all new ideas, innovations and creative development in the retail world. We chose the retail world on purpose because it’s moving fast and represent approximately 50% of the companies. We also...

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Delvaux and Dandoy associated in a co-branding initiative
Sep12

Delvaux and Dandoy associated in a co-branding initiative

Let’s finish the week with a brilliant idea of co-branding launched by our beloved brand Dandoy in partnership with Delvaux. For those who don’t live in Belgium Dandoy is a century-old company manufacturing high-quality biscuits, and Delvaux a renown leather goods manufacturer. Both companies are based in Brussels and members of the association Brussels Exclusive Labels. More than a century of tradition Quite incredibly in today’s world of failures and bankruptcies, these two firms have been...

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Marketing strategy : how Tic Tac uses downsizing to make you buy
Aug06

Marketing strategy : how Tic Tac uses downsizing to make you buy

Tic Tac is a brand of the Italian group Ferrero that has a been on the market for more than 40 years. Literally everyone knows the little transparent box containing a few dozens of hard mints. In its country of origin (Italy, where it was introduced in 1969), Tic Tac is now also sold in a new packaging that fits with its time. Downsizing trends in packaging With the crisis we’ve witnessed a general downsizing of...

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Differentiation: A bookstore paints a dictionary’s page on its facade
Jul09

Differentiation: A bookstore paints a dictionary’s page on its facade

Getting future customers’ attention is difficult. Consumers are subject to thousands of auditory, visual and olfactory cues every day. Retailers must be very creative to differentiate themselves. A book store in Brussels has found an interesting way to be different, yet still coherent with its positioning. Exterior and interior identities aligned with the store’s marketing strategy The Ptyx bookstore collaborated with Edena and Art-Mural to paint 68sqm of façade with 7 portraits and ca. 2400 letters...

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La Minute Retail : the future of retail and the impact of digital technologies
Jul04

La Minute Retail : the future of retail and the impact of digital technologies

When you manage a blog about marketing you necessarily have to cover many different areas of interest. Retail is one of them. And what do you do to get new ideas, insights and keep up with the latest news in your field? You read others’ blogs. Laminuteretail belongs to my shortlist of blogs to follow. It was launched a little but more than a year ago by Anthony Leroy, a young and passionate marketing enthusiast living...

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Customer satisfaction: BMW enables tracking of your order
Jul02

Customer satisfaction: BMW enables tracking of your order

A few days ago we were dealing with digital innovation in Brussels’ BMW Flagship store. BMW inspired us once again with an IT innovation proposed to customers ordering a new car. Ordering a car can be an amazing and joyful experience; accepting the delivery time can be much more frustrating especially with German cars which have long waiting lists. If you are an oversea customer this frustration is even higher as you know that you long...

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What does it cost to be a franchisee ?
May12

What does it cost to be a franchisee ?

The questions and myths around franchising are very present in the heads of entrepreneurs. Would-be entrepreneurs dream of creating a brand with the potential of launching a franchise, while others are interested in becoming franchisees. The question of the costs attached to the franchising concepts are however difficult to answer. Except if you take the time to do some market research and compare a 13 brands as we did below.  13 brands compared We decided to...

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A map of the best and most innovative retail concepts in the world
Apr18

A map of the best and most innovative retail concepts in the world

How do you get inspiration for creating a unique customer experience in your store ? By visiting other stores and understanding emerging consumers’ behaviors. This is what we do by visiting once a month a new European city, spotting and reporting the most innovative retail concepts and talking with their owners. This time we are just returning from a retail tour in Berlin and we came back amazed by the vitality of the retailing scene. We...

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Uber banned: Brussels taxis remain up to 122% more expensive.
Apr15

Uber banned: Brussels taxis remain up to 122% more expensive.

On the website of the European Commission Neelie Kroes attacked publicly minister Brigitte Grouwels for the “crazy court decision to ban Uber in Brussels” (read more about Djump and UberPop business models in our article published a few days ago)  Consumers will keep paying high fares. But are prices of Brussels taxis really outrageously expensive ? The answer is in the article. Let’s start with Kroes’ words on her website: I am outraged at the decision...

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Successful market research and yet another store opened in Brussels
Apr11

Successful market research and yet another store opened in Brussels

After last week’s announcement that a new store was opened in Brussels after a successful market research, we are also proud to report (with some delay however) that yet another store (this time in the HORECA sector) was opened by one of our clients near the European Commission in Brussels. Ethnik was opened by Steve Gravy on 5 Avenue d’Auderghem to serve customers’ needs for fresh, tasty and healthy food on the go. We coached Steve...

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Innovation in the postal sector. Episode 5 : automatic lockers
Mar28

Innovation in the postal sector. Episode 5 : automatic lockers

Here’s already the fifth episode of our series (read here episodes 1, 2, 3, and 4) on innovation in the postal sector. The postal sector is one of the most innovative and adapts constantly to new or emerging consumers behaviors. Automatic lockers is one very successful example. Episode 5: automatic lockers to better match customers’ needs and behaviors Contact us for our B2B studies A widespread solution in Europe As you will read from the section...

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Innovations in the postal sector. Episode 3: new delivery options
Mar21

Innovations in the postal sector. Episode 3: new delivery options

Here is episode 3 already of our series on innovations launched by postal operators. You can access the first episodes of the series here (episode 1) The innovation we’ll be dealing with today is driven by societal and behavioral changes. E-commerce rise can’t be stopped anymore. We are about to witness some dramatic changes industry-wide and the supply-chain providers will be put under pressure for the next decade to come. Episode 3: in search of new...

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