The challenge

With over 2,700 journalists and analysts across 120 countries, Bloomberg is one of the world’s largest news organisations, providing global business leaders with the information and analysis required to win in today’s complex marketplace. In the wake of unprecedented global uncertainty, Bloomberg wanted to help its readers navigate the path ahead, by shedding light on how their peers were responding to the pandemic.

What we did

We spoke to over 700 business decision makers in 6 markets (Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia) to understand the shift in their priorities, exploring everything from top concerns and challenges right through to attitudes towards business travel and expectations from brands.

To bring this to life for Bloomberg and its readers, we produced an engaging infographic highlighting the key findings with the help of our in-house design and data visualisation team.

The impact of the research

The research has allowed Bloomberg to provide valuable insight to its readers about how business decision makers priorities are evolving at this critical time. As the first of 3 waves of research on this topic, we’ll be able to track changes in attitudes and behaviours over time to help business leaders understand and react to the changing situation.

We have been engaged with Kadence since 2016. Since our first partnership, Kadence has been instrumental in supporting our business efforts and have continuously proven their value in research, insights and analysis that have helped us to gain many wins. Kadence consistently pushes the boundaries and offer inspirations that provide deep business insights and drive business strategies.

Head of Research
Bloomberg

The challenge

Wall Street Journal is one of the most respected newspaper brands globally. But like many other sectors, media is undergoing rapid digital transformation. The Wall Street Journal wanted to understand how its digital experience was perceived and how it could be optimised going forwards.

What we did

We embarked on the Wall Street Journal’s biggest ever piece of consumer research at the time, engaging over 5,000 respondents, spanning current, lapsed and prospective customers. To understand perceptions of and attitudes towards the Wall Street Journal and its digital products, we used a range of methodologies, including surveys, focus groups and in-depth interviews. By combining this with passive tracking, and UX testing, we were able to go beyond what consumers say, and understand how they really interact with Wall Street Journal’s digital portfolio.

The impact of the research

As a result of the research, Wall Street Journal has been able to better understand the role and interplay of its products and identify opportunities for further development to drive retention and acquisition. This has been translated into a new digital product strategy, that has shaped decisions on everything from the products and formats the Wall Street Journal produces, right through to the user experience.

We have been engaged with Kadence since 2016. Since our first partnership, Kadence has been instrumental in supporting our business efforts and have continuously proven their value in research, insights and analysis that have helped us to gain many wins. Kadence consistently pushes the boundaries and offer inspirations that provide deep business insights and drive business strategies.

Head of Research
Bloomberg

The challenge

As government targets encourage a move towards ultra-low emission vehicles, Mitsubishi Motors has been leading the charge since 2014. Its Outlander PHEV is the UK’s best-selling plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV). Mitsubishi wanted to better understand how Outlander PHEV customers use and charge their vehicles to remind policy makers of the value of PHEVs as a transitional technology and to inform its future communications about the role and merits of PHEVs.

What we did

We carried out an independent online survey with Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV customers. This enabled us to quantify their current usage and charging habits, as well as their perceptions of PHEVs and future consideration of electrified vehicles.

The impact of the research

The research allowed Mitsubishi to better understand Outlander PHEV customers’ usage habits, particularly in terms of regular charging and use of the vehicle in pure electric mode which contributes to cleaner air and lower CO2 emissions. Exploring the future consideration of electrified vehicles has also helped Mitsubishi to inform its communications and generate PR coverage – emphasising the role PHEVs can play both in the short-term, and as a segue to a pure electric future. This is particularly important within the context of the UK government’s ‘Road to Zero Emissions’ strategy by 2035.

Kadence helped us not only conduct a thorough and insightful piece of research, its interpretation of the data provided many useful and unexpected good-news stories that we were able to use in our communications and interactions with government bodies.

General Manager PR -Internal Communications & Government Affairs
Mitsubishi

The challenge

Samsung as a global tech entity has been offering cutting-edge consumer electronic products for years. At the same time, Samsung has been proactive in terms of its efforts at various community engagement activities, making sure that the company gives back to communities in different markets. Samsung wanted to know what kind of impact its CSR programme has on the brand.

What we did

We worked with Samsung to carry out a quantitative study across 9 markets (Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, New Zealand, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam) with 2,000 respondents in total. We also worked with Samsung to translate the study’s findings into marketing messages and PR angles to help the company demonstrate the value of the work it does.

The impact of the research

The study resulted in external press coverage which communicated the brand positively, as well as internal validation of such initiatives within the organization. Overall, it re-affirmed Samsung’s belief that ‘doing good’ can be a win-win, both for communities as well as the brand.

The challenge

As school systems in the US struggle to fund programs and services, teens are left with access to limited resources to help guide their plans for the future. Agencies, both not-for-profit and for-profit, provide tools, questionnaires and information, but few do so in a way that takes the unique preferences of this digital-native generation to heart. American Student Assistance set out to create a planning tool, called Futurescape, which would be highly engaging to teens, providing them with valuable resources to make informed decisions to achieve their education and career goals.

What we did

Our approach was multi-faceted. We first carried out a large, independent online survey with middle schoolers and teens in the US. With this, we helped ASA understand teens deeply – their thoughts and struggles, their successes, sources for advice they trust, among many other topics. We also engaged 90 teens in a week-long online community to dig deeper on these topics and create a video summary for key stakeholders at ASA, bringing them closer to their audience. In parallel, we hosted focus groups with teens to review early designs of the tool itself which informed further design planning.

The impact of the research

Guided by insights from the research, Futurescape has been launched and is helping teens navigate toward their future. Marketing efforts are underway, with Kadence continuing to support American Student Assistance by tracking ongoing awareness and perceptions to understand how well marcomms around the tool are working. What’s more, ASA has leveraged what they’ve learned through social media posts and more formal reports, supporting their position as a respected thought leader.

We have been engaged with Kadence since 2016. Since our first partnership, Kadence has been instrumental in supporting our business efforts and have continuously proven their value in research, insights and analysis that have helped us to gain many wins. Kadence consistently pushes the boundaries and offer inspirations that provide deep business insights and drive business strategies.

Head of Research
Bloomberg

The challenge

With over 2,700 journalists and analysts across 120 countries, Bloomberg is one of the world’s largest news organisations, providing global business leaders with the information and analysis required to win in today’s complex marketplace. As a media owner, Bloomberg doesn’t just generate its own news stories, it executes and runs media campaigns for clients too. We wanted to understand the impact of advertising through Bloomberg to demonstrate its role as a leading advertising platform.

What we did

Bloomberg is a subscription-based premium publisher that provides high quality business journalism. Our hypothesis was that that this status would rub off on the brands that advertise on the platform, specifically, on the key brand metrics for Bloomberg advertisers. To explore this, we ran a comprehensive neuro study with international news consumers in Hong Kong and Singapore, measuring in-the-moment neuro-responses to adverts embedded across range of platforms – including Bloomberg and different social media sites. This was followed by a survey focussed on the brands they had just been exposed to capture immediate brand recall and the overall impact of the platform on call-to-action metrics.

The impact of the research

Our study busted the myth that all impressions leave the same impression. We were able to establish that when the exact same advert is shown on Bloomberg versus social media sites – there is a significant increase in the memory coding and call to action metrics. This means that viewers will remember the advert and the message much longer if they see it on a Bloomberg site. These findings have been invaluable for Bloomberg, enabling it to demonstrate the value of the media campaigns it runs on its site and positioning it as the advertising platform of choice.

We have been engaged with Kadence since 2016. Since our first partnership, Kadence has been instrumental in supporting our business efforts and have continuously proven their value in research, insights and analysis that have helped us to gain many wins. Kadence consistently pushes the boundaries and offer inspirations that provide deep business insights and drive business strategies.

Head of Research
Bloomberg

The challenge

GoBear as a business entity was focused on providing consumers with comparative information on financial products (e.g. travel insurance), but it wants to expand its scope outside of that and establish stronger financial credibility for its brand. Part of that strategy involves coming up with a Financial Health Index, which attempts to track how financially ‘healthy’ consumers are in various parts of Asia. It is believed that effectively creating the Financial Health Index and tracking it year-on-year is an effective branding strategy to achieve stronger credibility.

What we did

We worked with GoBear to carry out a multiphase study across 4 key markets (Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand). On top of carrying out a detailed online survey with 1,000 respondents in each of the markets, we also interviewed financial experts to thoroughly understand the individual pillars that make up the Financial Health Index -literacy, security, inclusion – what each factor means, and how they influence each other. After collecting the data, we also worked with the individual markets to help them understand the findings, such that they may craft market-relevant PR angles, so the content of the releases has greater resonance.

The impact of the research

The study resulted in GoBear owning the topic of financial health in the region, especially within the markets surveyed, thus achieving the intended goal of pivoting the brand and building awareness for it. The insights also generated more press coverage than the sum of all their competitors combined.

Kadence helped us not only conduct a thorough and insightful piece of research, its interpretation of the data provided many useful and unexpected good-news stories that we were able to use in our communications and interactions with government bodies.

General Manager PR -Internal Communications & Government Affairs
Mitsubishi

The challenge

While Singapore Management University (SMU) has been clear/strong in their positioning/marketing of their undergraduate program, the nature and content of the Post-Graduate Programme (both Masters and Doctorate) is fundamentally different, which meant that there was a need to investigate whether there are any existing brand attributes that can be similarly extended to the Post-Graduate Programme, and find resonance with past and current students, as well as potential applicants.

What we did

The broad scope of the study, across respondent types and geographies, meant that the research approach needs to be tailored accordingly as well.

For the Post-Graduate Programme track, in Singapore, 2 focus groups were conducted with alumni and current students, while 6 employers of Post-Graduate Programme graduates were interviewed on the telephone to gather their thoughts on working with the SMU Post-Graduate Programme candidates. Online surveys were also circulated amongst the SMU Post-Graduate faculty to get their perceptions of the various brand attributes. Outside of Singapore, online surveys were done with current students and alumni, as well as prospective students. For the Post-Graduate Programme track, phone interviews were carried out with employers and peers of the graduates from the program, while an online survey was conducted with alumni as well.

The impact of the research

Findings from the study provided guidance to the university, by calling out which of the internal branding attributes resonated most with the various stakeholders. This, in turn, made next steps clearer, and they were able to proceed with their plans to reinforce Post-Graduate branding in the future.