Discover Why? Uncover How?
We provide strategic, foundational research offerings, that can be customized 100% to your needs. Whether you need strategic consultancy or fast turn data and insights, we have a full toolbox of research methods with particular strength in discrete choice, product viability, pricing, copy testing, brand tracking, customer journey and segmentation. If you need help in any of the following areas we should talk.
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Portfolio
Audi, California Milk Advisory Board, CKE, Energy Upgrade California, Georgia Pacific, Hyundai, John Muir Health, KFC, Miller Coors, Phillips 66, Spectrum, Starbucks, The Habit, Toyota, Twitter, Verizon Media, and Zillow to name just a few.
Marcom Optimization
We’ve used a selection of tracking tools to help CKE and their 3,800 franchised or company- operated Carl’s Jr and Hardee’s restaurants across 44 states and 43 foreign countries and U.S. territories to increase same store sales. db5 helps us know our audience. If we create something for everyone it won’t resonate with anyone. If you find an audience of one and can appeal to that one person, it will echo.
“db5 helps us find and measure moments of lightning where you can strike hard and quick to have a powerful impact versus throwing up a bunch of digital banner ads that mean nothing. db5 helps us find our audience and create products and services that will echo and reach an even bigger audience one person at a time.” Jeff Jenkins, Chief Marketing Officer, CKE
Product Offering Optimization
By 2017 rapid expansion with 22 restaurants in California, New York, Illinois, Nevada, and Japan, additional locations planned around the world (and recent closure of New York locations) they were challenged by operating at a loss. We were hired to help them immediately revive their luster, by guiding positioning and determining optimal offerings via quantitative attitude and usage research, concept response, conjoint analysis, price elasticity, statistical analysis, cultural insights, and brand strategy. The goals were to identify consumer trends that would influence their business, differentiate within the highly fragmented dining category to regain momentum, overhaul their menu to optimize pricing and menu offerings that would drive traffic and yield profits, and redesign the dining experience/restaurants.
After 12 months of partnership the results helped inform an inspired management team to incredible success; redesigning high volume locations to align with the successful unique future dining concept, optimized pricing for leading meal combinations, altering patty size nominally altered to save direct product costs without sacrificing revenue growth, and introduced newer offerings inclusive for those with dietary restrictions and added vegetarian and vegan menu items that became best-selling at a premium price. Combined these broadened their customer base and our client announced in early 2019 plans to expand with 5 more New York City locations, 40 sites in Mexico, 20 in Japan and several in the Middle East. That’s a 300% expansion!
Business Strategy
We used Segmentation research to help Clayton homes become the country’s biggest producer of manufactured housing and to move into the traditional site-built housing too. According to Warren Buffet, Clayton delivered 42,075 units, 5 percent of all new American homes, which account for about 70 percent of new American homes costing less than $150,000.
Consumer Trends
We've helped PlayStation retain the top selling console position since 2013 (76 million PlayStation 4s in the world) by staying one step ahead in understanding gamers and gaming trends.
Target Audience (Media Sales)
We’ve conducted several segmentation studies for YouTube. Helping them become the world’s largest video sharing website and the second largest search engine on the www. More than a billion hours are spent each day watching YouTube videos, there are more than 400 hours of content uploaded every minute. The platform is available in 76 different languages and is used not only by individuals but also by big brands, celebrities, and many other YouTube exclusive influencers to promote themselkes and to earn money through YouTube.
Target Audience
Our client’s goal was to become the world’s #1 luxury automotive brand. Having experienced yet another year of record sales growth they wanted to understand ‘who’ to conquest to continue building on their momentum.
The project was complex, but the outcomes weren’t: we helped our client better understand and connect with luxury automotive drivers, increasing sales and business performance in the US. Our client has since topped 250,000 annual sales, an 8% percent gain in a market that was almost flat.
Bastion db5 used a mix of qualitative ethnographic research (internal stake-holder interviews, drive-alongs, shop-alongs, expert interviews with high end valets) and quantitative (segmentation) to determine the optimal audience(s) and how to message to them.
What helped make it a success was very clear in-going objectives and goals. Initial internal stakeholder interviews with all senior management (finance, product and marketing) were the most homogeneous Bastion db5 has ever conducted. Clearly our client was aligned on their future vision. This made research design and survey creation very focused. The client used our research as a roadmap across departments.
- Determined Primary/Secondary target buyers by model
- Developed personas to inform strategy, communications planning
- Informed media selection and planning
- Inspired targeted experiential solutions for each segment
- Informed Product Planning
- Empowered dealers with better tools for customer-target interaction
One of the in-going goals was to meet aggressive 2020 sales goals, and the client was able to achieve these sales numbers in 2018 well before its goal. In mid 2018 our client completed 102 consecutive months of sales growth.
Digital Content Effectiveness
We help Vox Media and other publishers (Tastemade, BuzzFeed) to measure the effectiveness of all the creative content they produce for their clients. More than 5,000 pieces of content across 1,000+ clients and too numerous platforms to cover.
“Automating the process for our content testing has freed up quite literally hundreds of man hours. It has allowed the ad research team at Vox Media to take company best practices and innovate and personalize our work to the human intent of each piece of content. We’re able to execute survey set up to finished report with minimal time spent managing the research and all our efforts focused on interpretation of results and integration of research into the ad sales process, It’s hard to imagine automation or technology as advocates, but the efficiencies of time and cost automation has provided has made our internal partners at Vox Media advocates for the work we do.” Margo Arton, Senior Director Advertising, Vox Media.
Brand Health & Marcom Effectiveness
We have worked with KFC while they weathered health trends, delivery snafu’s, and emerged stronger than ever – opening new stores at the rate of one every seven hours and in the last two years, the chain has launched in Macedonia, Uzbekistan, Albania, Guyana, taking the number of KFC countries up to 131 (more than McDonald’s). We’ve been there with them as they push new and creative ideas, including introducing the first female Colonel and the beloved mash-up of chicken and waffles, which is bringing incredible growth and renewed excitement around the cherished brand, Audience and communications tracking have shown the early signs of success for now lauded food mash-ups and creative campaigns that use marketing as a “magnet vs. mirror.
Reviews
the project
Survey Reports for Clean Energy Program
"It’s important for us to have a partner we can trust. Bastion db5 has never let us down."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the head of strategy at a global advertising company.
What challenge were you trying to address with Bastion db5?
We were working for a state’s clean energy program whose goal was to change perceptions and awareness around energy behaviors. We needed a way to pull and track a massive audience’s attitudes to understand the movement’s impact.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Bastion db5 developed a brand tracker survey on our behalf. It allows for many demographic and geolocation views along with a robust data set that we can slice, dice, and study to see how the target audience was reacting to our campaigns.
Bastion db5 did all the surveying, reporting, and even analysis of data. After the surveys were complete, we had many rounds of discussions around various ways to cut up the data and study different groups of people.
What is the team composition?
We work with 3–4 different people. It started with their lead and then some other analysts and folks joined. Now, those folks on the team have grown and been promoted. They’ve been a fantastic team; they’ve been responsive and helpful throughout the engagement.
How did you come to work with Bastion db5?
When this opportunity came about, we reached out to companies we worked with in the past. Bastion db5 made the shortlist. We asked people to do proposals, and we liked Bastion db5’s the most. We really liked the people there and the way they talked about the research methodologies. We also challenged them to propose their own solutions and were impressed with their level of thinking and the scope of their idea. The prices were competitive as well for our client.
How much have you invested with them?
I’m not sure, but I’d guess about $300,000–$400,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We do two tracking waves in January and June or July. We started working together in 2018, and it must have been a few months before to get approval from our client through their bureaucratic processes, so I believe the partnership started in September or October 2017. We’re still working with them.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Bastion db5’s survey data has been essential for all our work. We rely on it for our creative communications to know how to talk to different groups.
We had to build scorecards for the clients that are part of our tracking systems and our metrics. everything we’re paid for is tracking to those metrics. We used Bastion db5 to come up with which questions should go into the critical KPI scorecard and to help us model and project out the hoped-for list we want to see. They use advanced data science analytics to combine survey data and info from our media plans and to create these calculations, and they turned out to be accurate.
It’s been helpful for our client to have a third party hold our work accountable. It proved the success of our work, showing the movement and our success in making that happen.
How did Bastion db5 perform from a project management standpoint?
Bastion db5 is really proactive. We regularly check in with them. They’re also very responsive when we had extra needs. When the client needed some data points or need a new data cut, Bastion db5 would be on the phone almost immediately and get back to us quickly.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They’re just really great partners. They take on our problems as their own. Their processes are thoughtful and fast. In an industry that moves fast, it’s important for us to have a partner we can trust. Bastion db5 has never let us down.
They also present their own work very well, which is helpful for meetings when we have run through multiple stakeholders. Bastion db5 is able to quickly join us and present over the phone, electronically, or even in-person to walk through their findings.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, we’ve been really pleased. The nature of our relationship evolved recently where we no longer needed a brand tracker, but we kept them on and evolved the work we asked them to do. We really appreciated their help and wanted to find a pipeline for them that didn’t affect their bottom line. That’s a testament to how much we value them and how we wanted to make good on the partnership.
the project
Qualitative & Quantitative Research for Automotive Client
"The results I’ve gotten each time I’ve worked with them have been great."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
We’re a full-service advertising agency that focuses on automotive clients. I’m the VP of digital strategy and communications planning.
What challenges were you trying to address with Bastion db5?
I hired them to do quantitative and qualitative research for one of my clients on certified pre-owned vehicles. We wanted to get a better understanding of the marketplace in order to develop effective messaging.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They did a full audit of the business to understand where the brand stood. They also did a fairly large quantitative study interviewing current and potential customers. Their team then provided a report overviewing the general state of the industry.
We’re still working together on the qualitative research aspect of the project.
What is the team composition?
I’ve interfaced with about seven different people on their team.
How did you come to work with Bastion db5?
I’ve worked with the principle of Bastion db5 on several occasions at my previous agency.
What is the status of this engagement?
I think we started working together in January 2020. The first phase of the project is complete, but we’re waiting to begin the second phase of the project once COVID-19 restrictions are loosened.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
I hired them again because of the success I saw on other projects. On a previous project, their work provided us with insights that drove the transformation of our brand. The results I’ve gotten each time I’ve worked with them have been great.
How did Bastion db5 perform from a project management standpoint?
They’re highly communicative, and they’re very responsive. Even when issues come up, they resolve them quickly.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They have a strong opinion, and they stand by it. That’s something that I highly value because of their deep expertise. They’re also very accessible, even in the higher levels of leadership.
Are there any areas they could improve?
There isn’t anything that I would have them change, at least right now. They’re responsive and work hard to deliver high-quality solutions.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Don’t be afraid to come into the conversation with a strong opinion. They’re not afraid to put their opinion forward as well and have a fruitful back-and-forth with you.
the project
Market Research for Major Media Company
"Their team builds customizable tools that are appreciated."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I run insights and innovations for a publishing company. We have a robust offering for consumers to hang out with us.
What challenge were you trying to address with Bastion db5?
We work with Bastion db5 for different services including primary research into ad effectiveness to help scale our branded content engagement. They’re a full-service agency when it comes to specific insights and research.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We gave Bastion db5 a big problem: how to gauge the effectiveness of branded content. They built an entire system that allows us to view our branded content cost-efficiently and at scale. We’ve worked with them from that perspective for quite some time.
What is the team composition?
We work with Chris (CEO, Bastion db5), Neva (President, Bastion db5), and her entire team. We’ve interacted with a large number of folks across the organization.
How did you come to work with Bastion db5?
I’ve known Chris as an industry leader for decades. I worked with Bastion db5 during my days with other organizations. We go back to them because their team looks for flexible methods to build new solutions that scale well for a company of our size.
What is the status of this engagement?
I’ve worked with Chris for almost two decades but my relationship with Bastion db5 at this company started around April 2019. Our partnership's ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We’re big fans of Bastion db5. The quality of their work informs the quality of the content that we put in front of advertisers. In many cases, it’s a tool that we use to validate the effectiveness of our branded content. It’s an important part of our business.
How did Bastion db5 perform from a project management standpoint?
The process is collaborative. We speak to them by phone, email, and in-person often. Their team makes changes constantly to the tools they created, ensuring that they're scaled and optimized to business changes. They’re essentially an extension of our team.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their flexibility’s important. Their team builds customizable tools that are appreciated
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, research is ever-changing. The information that we need always changes and Bastion db5 is willing to change. It’s appreciated.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
A strategic partnership requires time on the side of the client to make sure that you’re getting the most and best out of any company. I appreciate that Bastion db5 is willing to give us the same time and dedication.
The survey reports and projections supplied by Bastion db5 provided the company and their client metrics for the program’s success, satisfying all stakeholders. Bastion db5’s reliability, expertise, and responsiveness make them an ideal partner and have led to a lasting relationship.