Two thirds of organizations worry that not utilizing Big Data could hurt their business’ competitiveness
Two-thirds of organizations see Big Data analytics as a competitive edge on their rivals, according to a global report from outsourcer Capgemini.
The study, ‘Big & Fast Data: The rise of Insight-Driven Business’, found that 64 percent of enterprises from North America, South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific acknowledged Big Data as something “changing traditional business boundaries”, with emerging companies using analytics to try and jump ahead of incumbents.
A quarter of the 1,000 respondents said they were facing competition from such newcomers in their industries, and 53 percent expect more from start-ups utilizing Big Data.
Read More (Source: ITPRO)
You’ve probably never heard of Signet Bank. A small, Richmond-based regional lender formed in 1987 by the merger of two even smaller banks, Signet was typically associated with the types of plain vanilla loans that make the executives at the financial behemoths in New York fall asleep in their chairs.
But that would soon change. In the early 90s, Signet made a bold bet: the company staked the future of its consumer lending business on two scarcely-known pioneers in the nascent field of applied data science whose ideas had been largely ignored by Signet’s larger, global competitors in New York.
The two men, Richard Fairbank and Nigel Morris, theorized that they could use data related to the Signet’s best, most profitable credit card customers — even seemingly irrelevant information such as where they went to college, or how many kids they had — to help them predict or model the profitability of new applicants, which would in turn allow the bank to offer more favorable terms to entice these higher-value customers.
The Power Rank specializes in adjusting for strength of schedule in ranking teams. The international soccer / football rankings use a 4 year window of matches. These rankings give win, loss and tie probabilities for a soccer match.
Chartball turns data into beautiful graphics and interactive visuals. The area of the circles are proportional to the likelihood that a team advances through different rounds of the playoffs.
Probability of winning each series,
visualized by Chartball.com
A lot goes into creating a successful research project and up-front clarity can make a big difference in the end results. This article is the second in a three-part series delving into the details of these questions. In a recent post I discussed questions relating to clarify exactly what it is that you’re trying to accomplish with your research project. Today we’ll take a look at some of the important people-related details of the project itself.
Who are the project’s stakeholders?
Getting all of the stakeholders on board and on the same page is vital to the success of your research project. Which means that you need to determine up front exactly who needs to have sign-off and who needs to be involved. At the end of the day, who will be responsible for making the final decision regarding what will or will not be included in the research?
Be sure that all of these people are included in the conversation from the beginning. Don’t wait until you’ve received the first draft of the research design to get them in the loop!
How do you and each of the stakeholders want to receive the research project’s end results?
Do you want the results analyzed for you, or do you want to do the analysis yourself? For example, do you want:
Knowing these answers up front will help define the project scope.
Who will you be surveying?
Whether you will be surveying your own customers, your competitor’s customers, the general population, or another target group will be determined by your research goals, your budget and your ability to obtain a relevant database.
For example, I recently spoke with the makers of a new kitchen gadget aimed at mothers of young children. Their overall company goals were to attract investors and create a successful marketing campaign. Their research goals were to prove that there was a demand for this product and to verify that “mothers of children under the age of 8″ were the best target market. To obtain these answers, I recommended that we survey mothers who lived in the East Coast (the proposed test market) who had two or more kids age 8 and under. If necessary for budget reasons, we could then narrow the target market down to just a few specific states.
If you will be surveying a group that is similar to your customers, a good starting point is to develop customer profiles and personas. You can then look for a database of people who match these profiles.
Conclusion
Watch for the third and final article in this series, which will look at the resources that you can leverage to improve your research project.
Need help designing and implementing a research project that will meet your needs? Give us a call. For over 30 years we’ve been helping clients gain a clear, detailed perspective of customers’ preferences and buying behaviors.
And don’t forget to contact us for your copy of “11 Questions to Answer before You Begin a Research Project”!
Below is an Infographic of select data points from the Barnraisers’ list. Listed are 38 surprising facts regarding trust in Social Media.
Regardless of whether or not exercise is on your daily schedule, it’s likely you’ve worn “workout clothes” while outside the home. This is reflected in retail sales figures over the past few years as standard favorites like denim jeans are on the decline, while active-wear is on the rise.
According to a piece by CBS News, “Americans spent nearly $44 billion on so-called ‘active wear’ [in 2015] up 16% over 2014. Meanwhile, denim sales have taken a hit, down 5% or more every year since 2013.”
A few years ago the discussion was around whether or not this trend would continue, but current figures support the notion that customers are increasingly willing to swap their high-luxury brand name for a look more aligned with their active lifestyle. As a result, companies are adjusting their product line to meet this demand offering comfy, functional, and fashionable clothing items equally appropriate for the gym or a night out with friends. This has sparked an entirely new category known as Athleisure.
This shift in preference has had a cultural/societal impact changing the way people look, act, and feel while out-and-about. As a research company, we were compelled to conduct our own study to better understand the trends and preferences within this growing market.
After conducting extensive secondary research to help narrow the scope of our study, we chose to address one of the most prominent Athleisure customer segments; Females, ages 18-34.
Our goal was to clarify circumstances around when Athleisure is deemed appropriate, the extent to which health and fitness are relevant in daily life, and other intriguing factors helping us better understand the average Athleisure customer.
If you browse through any brand’s Athleisure selection, it is apparent that key selling points are comfort and functionality. To see if this accurately reflects the wants and needs of the customer we asked respondents to rank-order a list of product attributes to convey what they deem important.
Comfort was ranked atop the list 62% of the time, far and beyond the most frequent #1 selection. The second most frequent attribute listed as #1 was Cost/Value (16%) followed by Style (11%). Functionality, on the other hand, was merely a middle-of-the-pack selection typically ranked between #4 and #6 of the 10 attributes provided. So if item functionality is of less concern, what then defines an “active lifestyle” to these Athleisurists?
Within our study we found despite its capability to withstand a good sweat, 36% of Female Athleisure customers claimed they only exercise “1-2 times a week.” The majority of our respondents (47%) exercise “3-4 times a week,” with only 17% exercising “5 or more times a week.” The vast majority of our respondents appear to exercise, but not at the rate one might think considering at its core Athleisure is fitness attire.
It may be due to scheduling restrictions, or it may be due to specific health goals, but less than half of our respondents (40%) indicated they have a gym membership and that they “love the gym,” whereas 15% have a gym membership but say they rarely go. Another group indicated that they forego the traditional gym membership in favor of “outside activity” (30%) or “other group classes” (5%).
If Athleisure attire is flying off the shelves (and into online shopping carts), but the gym is not of high importance to over half of our respondents, then where ARE these women wearing their yoga pants and microfiber tops?
If you’ve been on a High School or College campus lately, it won’t be surprising to hear that Athleisure attire is popular within the classroom. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of respondents have at least “Some College” education, and the most frequently listed occupation is “Student” (12%). Albeit the most frequently listed, the fact remains that 88% of our respondents have varied occupations outside of a classroom. So we wanted to get a better idea of their willingness to garb Athleisure apparel in varied social settings.
Respondents were presented a series of locations and asked their willingness to wear Athleisure by percent of confidence. A low percentage indicates low willingness to wear Athleisure in that particular setting, whereas a high percentage indicates a high willingness. The results were; Grocery Store – 63.3%, Shopping Mall – 60.5%, Theater – 52.1%, Nice Restaurant – 34.8%, Dance Club/Bar – 20.6%. While some may draw the line at bars and restaurants, it is clear there are places for Athleisure outside the gym.
So what does all this mean? Sales figures clearly show this market is thriving and there’s no sign of slowing down. Isn’t this product basically selling itself?
While yes, the market is flush with customers ready and willing to spend $50-$150 per purchase (57%) this rising market is continually attracting new brands and businesses looking for a piece of the pie. As the market becomes increasingly saturated and competitive, carving out a specific niche can help focus marketing efforts and yield higher return on investment.
As seen within our study, Athleisure covers a wide variety of uses and lifestyles. To effectively compete in the future, it is important to deliver a specifically crafted message to a targeted group. This will not only help grow the brand image and connect with the core customer, it can help differentiate one brand from the long, growing list of competitors.
(PHOTO CREDIT: www.bodyloveathletica.com)
In the online world, you often need to give personal data to get information from retailers, banking institutions, and healthcare organizations. So, of those three, which do online consumers trust the most with their personal data?
To find out, Infosys recently studied 5,000 consumers in five countries, then created a whitepaper and an infographic from its findings.
Consumers still prefer sharing personal data face to face with healthcare corporations, retailers, and banking organizations, it found.
A whopping 95% of those surveyed prefer to share their personal data in person at their doctor’s office, and only 63% are used to the idea of sharing information online.
In the retail sector, 75% of those surveyed are used to idea of sharing information online. However, 72% said “the online promotions or emails they receive don’t speak to their personal interest or needs.”
If you thought the sea change caused by social media was hitting a plateau, think again. For over two years, CivicScience has tracked a survey question that asks U.S. consumers what influences them more when it comes to what they buy, where they eat and what they watch: TV ads, Internet ads or chatter they see on social media. Watching this trend line over time reveals some interesting findings.
TV’s influence on consumer behavior is shrinking
Social media chatter shows strong influence
Read More (Source: Adage)
The other day I took a call from a potential client. “We need help with a research project,” he said. “Great!” I replied. “Let me ask you a few questions to get a feel for what you need.”
The ensuing conversation made it clear that he and his team needed to give a lot more thought to defining their needs before a research project could be developed. This, in turn, made me realize that what many companies really need is a handy checklist of questions to address before they begin any research project.
My next few blog posts will be devoted to discussing each question on this list in more detail. We’ll start with the questions that help define exactly what it is that you’re trying to accomplish with your research project.
How does this research project fit into your company’s overall goals and objectives? How will the research results be used?
When planning a research project, a good place to start is with the big picture view. What are your company’s overall goals and objectives, and how will this research be used to help you achieve them? For example:
Knowing how the end results will be used – and ensuring that this purpose actually supports your overall goals and objectives – will play a big role in shaping the research itself. But not answering these questions up front can result in a research project that does not meet your needs.
What knowledge are you hoping to gain?
I often find that there’s a disconnect between how clients initially describe their needs and what they really hope to achieve. Let me give you a recent example to illustrate what I mean. 
A company that makes a live streaming video app for smartphones told us that they needed to figure out exactly who their users were. They suspected that their customers were college students who were into music, but they wanted us to do a panel survey to prove this.
After going round and round for months we found out that the company was trying to attract investors, and their goal was to be able to tell investors what the market potential was. This new information took us back to the drawing board, because it completely changed the research design.
A little later we found out that one of the company’s major goals was to create a marketing campaign centered on celebrity endorsements. They hoped the research would show that their target audience (college students who like music??) would buy their app if celebrities who were popular with this audience endorsed it.
With this new piece of information we went from “who is using this app?” to “how big is the market?” to “would you use this app if you knew Beyoncé used it?” And it became clear that what this company really wanted was a research study that answered all of these questions, so that they could use the data in multiple ways. Needless to say, it would have been nice to know this up front.
What are your current pain points?
Perhaps you are having a hard time attracting investors. Maybe you don’t know who your clients are, or how to start your branding. To be most useful, your research project needs to help address one or more of your pain points.
One of the companies we work with puts on educational workshops. When we first started talking about their research needs, they stated that they needed a customer satisfaction survey to find out what people think of their sessions. But when we drilled down into their pain points we learned that attendance is down, and those who do attend were waiting until the last minute to register. So in addition to finding out whether or not attendees were satisfied with these workshops, they also needed to gain some insight into what was causing the drop in attendance, and what they could do to motivate people to register sooner.
What will a successful research project look like to you?
Finally, to gain clarity around what exactly you’re trying to accomplish with your research project, it’s helpful to define what it is that would make the project a success for you.
For example, how big of a group do you want to survey? How many responses will you need? Within what time frame do you need the survey results? What questions do you want to have answered? Quite often companies know what information they are hoping to validate (“our customers are college students who like music”) or the results they’re hoping to obtain (“college students who like music will buy this app if Beyoncé endorses it”).
Knowing all of this up front will help the research designers to ask the right questions, and to guard against asking biased and/or leading questions that are designed specifically to elicit the desired response.
Conclusion
Stay tuned for my next blog, where we’ll take a look at issues relating to people who will be involved with your research project. In the meantime, be sure to contact us for your copy of “11 Questions to Answer Before You Begin a Research Project.”
Need help designing and implementing a research project that will meet your needs? Give us a call. For over 30 years we’ve been helping clients gain a clear, detailed perspective of customers’ preferences and buying behaviors.
On April 26th, Make-A-Wish® Orange County will host the fourth annual Walk For Wishes® event at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine. MacKenzie is excited to be participating in this amazing event again this year. More than 2,000 walkers will participate in this event to support Make-A-Wish in their mission to grant wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.
WHY: Powered by wish families, volunteers, donors and friends, Walk For Wishes® is a nationwide Make-A-Wish fundraiser that celebrates the thousands of wishes that have already been granted, while raising funds for future wishes. By participating in one of the two walks taking place in Orange County and the Inland Empire this spring, you can help bring the life-changing impact of a wish to a child battling at life-threatening medical condition.
WHO: Anyone can be part of this special day! Individuals or teams can walk and join the festivities for a $25 registration fee per person. A Walk For Wishes T-shirt will be given to all registered participants!
WHEN and WHERE:
INLAND EMPIRE: Saturday, April 12
8:30 a.m. – Registration/Check-in
9 a.m. – Party begins!
Castle Park, 3500 Polk St. – Riverside, CA 92505
For directions go to: http://www.castlepark.com/directions.html
ORANGE COUNTY: Saturday, April 26
8 a.m. – Registration/Check-in
9 a.m. – Party begins!
Orange County Great Park- Irvine, CA
See directions below or go to: http://www.ocgp.org/visit/hours-directions/
* Important: There is currently no physical address to the Orange County Great Park. Please do not rely on GPS systems or online maps!
By participating in the Walk, you will raise funds to help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy. This fun walk and festival is an opportunity to be a part of something that can literally change the lives of children here in Orange County and the Inland Empire! It’s your chance to inspire, be inspired and help turn dreams into reality!
Registration is $25/person and includes a T-shirt and entry into the festival the day of the Walk.
You can register as an individual or a team. There are also opportunities available for Corporate Sponsorship—visit http://ocie.wish.org/content/walk-for-wishes-2014 for details! While the Walk is not competitive, there will be prizes for individuals and teams who reach fundraising milestones!
Types of Teams:
Corporate Teams: Teams comprised of employees, friends and family from local businesses.
Friends and Family Teams: Teams made up of friends, family and community members. This could be your family, your soccer team, your book club, or just a group of friends who love to have fun together!
Individuals: Don’t have a team to walk with? That’s okay! You can walk as an individual and be an important part of our event! Join Team / Donate Here
MacKenzie Corporation is proud to be a supporter of Make –A – Wish Orange County and the Inland Empire. It is an amazing organization granting the wishes of children in our local community with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Since 1983, this organization has granted over 4,750 wishes to children in Orange, San Bernadino and Riverside Counties.
This year, we are excited to be a Gold Level Sponsor for their annual gala, Evening of Wishes. This event promises to be a heartfelt evening full of surprises and we hope to see you there. For more information about the Evening of Wishes and Make-A-Wish Orange County and Inland Empire, please visit their website at ocie.wish.org
Are you someone who needs to feel like a company truly cares about you? In business, customer service isn’t the only thing that is important. Quality, value, pricing, availability, accuracy, location, meeting deadlines, keeping promises, usefulness and a myriad of other things are important to customers. But customer service is the icing on the cake and, really, it’s the stuff that holds the cake together too. If all things were equal between two businesses offering the same products or services, you almost certainly would go with the business that offered better customer service and was more personable. Cost is certainly important but how we are treated could be equally as important.
Customer service and customer loyalty go beyond how customers are treated in one off encounters. If we really want to build a loyal customer base it requires taking care of the immediate needs of customers as well as staying on their radar long term, so they don’t forget about us when they do need what we have to offer.
Click To Read More (Source: B2C)
Curiosity is part of who we are at MacKenzie. In fact, it’s at the forefront of our company creed: “Curious. Creative. Customer-Centric.” We are continually seeking knowledge and new information for the benefit of both our clients and ourselves.
With this in mind, we wanted to shine our spotlight on a thought leader within the world of education. Someone who is shaping tomorrow’s young business professionals by instilling in them the key principles of curiosity, creativity, and customer-centricity. We found someone that not only fits the bill, but someone who shares our passion for sports (and happens to be a sports marketing expert).
Who is this unicorn, you ask? He is a brilliant thought leader and a MacKenzie team member’s favorite college professor:
Vassilis Dalakas, Ph.D.
Dr. Dalakas is currently a Professor of Marketing at CSU San Marcos specializing in marketing, advertising, and consumer behavior, as well as sports marketing and sponsorship. He is also a Visiting Professor of Sports Marketing for the Sports MBA at San Diego State University.
In addition to teaching, Professor Dalakas conducts his own primary research seeking to better understand how the worlds of sports business and fan consumerism fit together. His papers have been featured by ESPN, Sports Business Journal, IEG Sponsorship Report, New York Magazine, and more. He has been quoted in articles for USA Today, MSNBC, US News & World Report, Yahoo Sports, and CBS News, just to name a few. In other words, Professor Dalakas is kind of a big deal.
We are very appreciative of his time and thrilled he agreed to be our Thought Leader Spotlight for June 2017:
What sparked your passion for sports?
Growing up in Greece, my family wasn’t heavily into sports but my friends at school and around the neighborhood were fans so there was peer-influence at a young age.
I remember watching and caring about sports first around 5 or 6 years old, and by 4th grade I had become a passionate sports fan. In Greece, the regional sports makeup was different than in the U.S. because most clubs have teams participating in multiple sports.
Teams used the same name and colors for soccer, volleyball, and many other sports including basketball which was getting bigger at the time; especially after Greece won the European Championship in 1987. Sports fans in Greece followed their team year-round in multiple sports, instead of rooting for different teams in different sports leagues.
When did you decide to pursue teaching?
Moving from Greece to the U.S. to continue my education, I was thinking international business for my career path. In 1990 I came to attend a small college in Indiana as a junior studying Business Administration.
Both of my parents taught at the university level in Greece, but I hadn’t considered teaching. I continued my education at Indiana University pursuing my Master’s Degree in European Studies, still thinking international business or maybe international diplomacy.
After moving to the States I quickly became a fan of football and baseball, in addition to my love for basketball. Sports offer an identity and the opportunity to experience a sense of winning; I always liked that feeling of vicarious achievement. Throughout my higher education my love for sports continued to grow.
I ultimately pursued my PhD at the University of Oregon. The faculty there had interest in sports marketing which wasn’t an area of focus at the time, just a young idea. With student interest, motivated faculty, and the support of sports business veteran Jim Warsaw the idea grew. By the end of my 1st year the idea was turning into reality and the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center was found. I was at the right place at the right time to be introduced to sports marketing, allowing me to incorporate my love for sports into my professional life.
By whom were you most influenced or inspired throughout your professional development?
The final year of pursuing my master’s I attended a seminar on consumer behavior conducted by Dr. Richard Olshavsky which changed the trajectory of my career. I was a 23 year old student, still uncertain about where I was headed with my career but Dr. Olshavsky really encouraged me and helped build my confidence to pursue a doctorate degree.
The faculty of Oregon allowed me many sports-related opportunities and experiences to do research in the area and also meet people within the industry. These experiences and people helped further my career and professional development.
As I shifted my focus to research and teaching, social psychologist Robert Cialdini made a big impact. His work on the psychology of influence and the key principles of influence largely affected my approach to my own research and teaching.
Which experience(s) made the biggest impact on becoming the professional you are today?
Back in high school I remember having conversations with my friends about how they didn’t like a certain brand of milk because a player from a rival sports team was endorsing it and that really stayed with me. Then, later down the road as I began to examine branding and consumer behavior I was able to explore this concept through my own research efforts.
In 2003 I had written a paper outlining the results of a study I conducted looking at NASCAR fans and how rival driver endorsements and sponsorships impacted negatively their brand attitudes. I sent my results paper to Darren Rovell at ESPN thinking he’d be interested in the findings. He ended up calling my office saying he was doing his own story on NASCAR and asked for quotes from me.
This validated my efforts and built my own confidence that what I was doing was relevant within the industry. It also gave me credibility in my classroom; after I gave students the link to the article they were taking a lot more notes than they were before. So I guess if ESPN thinks it’s interesting then the students are more likely to pay attention.
How has studying sports from a business perspective impacted your perspective as a fan? In what way(s) has it been a good thing, and in what way(s) a bad thing?
I wouldn’t say it’s a good or bad thing, but you notice more things. I pay more attention to fan behavior and the fan experience. I see what teams are doing during games to engage fans, or what they’re doing outside of the stadium with their marketing or promotions. In noticing these things I find ideas for my own research.
Occasionally I annoy friends by pointing things out while at a game. Here I think I’m adding value to their experience by showing them an advertisement or entertainment highlight when really they just want to watch and enjoy the game.
I guess a challenge would be balancing my identity as a professor and a fan. There’s occasional cognitive dissonance where I like a team but the things they do frustrate me. On the other side there’s a team I don’t like but some of the things they are doing impress me. Ultimately I’ve accepted the business side of sports as a reality so I can still enjoy sports as a fan while being an industry professional.
In terms of business objectives and fan experiences, how has rapid advancement in technology benefited or presented challenges for sports teams and/or leagues?
Digital content and social media have shifted how business is done. There are many opportunities for fans to engage and interact with the team, and there are many opportunities for players to personalize themselves by sharing pictures of their family and life outside of the sport. However, the direct connection with fans can be dangerous; there’s a fine line between what is funny and what is offensive. Once something is out there, deleting the post won’t change public perception.
In general, technology provides an opportunity to connect with teams. Fans can live stream a game on their phone no matter where they are. This is much different than in the 1990’s when I couldn’t follow my favorite teams in Greece because I had not direct access to current events or information. I had to call family in Greece to hear how things went and to hear the outcomes.
Not only does technology connect fans and teams, it allows fans to learn and follow sports at a deeper level. Kids now understand the rules and individual player skills better than ever before. We now have the “yellow line” during football games to show the first down marker, and we can’t imagine watching a game without that line. Tech is now the standard, but it’s hard to remember that it’s still a young standard. This can present a generational disconnect between modern sports fans and traditional sports fans.
Now, the question becomes: what technology is relevant? Trends may not be related to existing team business strategies, neither are they guaranteed to stick around as part of fans lives. Some people in the industry don’t want to adopt tech because they don’t understand it, and then they fall behind or miss opportunities. Then other people want to adopt everything because they don’t want to fall behind, even when it may not be relevant to their business strategies.
What are some of the top trends you see impacting the future of the fan’s in-game experience?
eSports are gaining a lot of momentum capturing the attention of established leagues and investors. This will change the perception of sports and what a sport actually is. No longer is a professional sport limited to live-action on the field. There are professional eSports players and colleges offering eSports scholarships.
Parents used to say, ‘stop playing video games, how will that help you?’ Now I can say to my kids, ‘Play video games, it might get you a college scholarship.’
The playing aspect is fun, people like to play eSports. However the spectator aspect will be interesting. Will fans make a connection and root for their favorite teams to win even in an eSports competition?
As technology continues to advance, teams will need fans who see the on-site experience as an entertainment experience. Teams and leagues need to keep up with other entertainment options. These shifted consumer expectations must shape the experience to entice average spectators without alienating the hardcore fan.
What are the most important concepts, related or unrelated to sports, you hope students take away from your courses?
Consumer psychology:
Being social and socialized content are big parts of who we are as a society. We see the world and process information based on social identities. We are not necessarily as objective or rational as we think we are. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It becomes a bad thing if we aren’t aware of it. We need to understand that other people see things differently, and it’s ok.
Concept of positioning and differentiation:
Find out who you are and why you matter. It’s important for students to present themselves in a way that is special and genuine. Whether selling a product to a consumer or yourself to an employer, something has to be unique to stand out from the rest.
Alignment Marketing:
What makes a brand appealing? This is more about brand identity and what it is connected to than it is about product quality. Connecting to endorsers or causes will be a reflection of who the brand is on the inside. This can enhance the appeal, but it can also decrease the appeal. It depends on the product, the industry, and the audience.
If you had to decide, and you do because I’m asking you, which sport and team are you most passionate about? Why?
If I didn’t have to pick one sport, I would say Oregon athletics across the board. I like the passion and excitement within college sports.
But since I am choosing one sport, it would be the Green Bay Packers (NFL).
Coming to the U.S. the notion of teams switching cities was confusing and new. In Greece our sports makeup was such that we couldn’t imagine a team leave its city. It didn’t make sense.
The Green Bay Packers are owned by the city, so they can’t move. They have passionate fans and a unique scenario. This is as close to a college scenario I’ve seen in professional sports. Every fan, no matter their sports loyalty, should appreciate the emotional connection Green Bay has with its Packers.
What is your favorite quote?
Pete Deutschman is an innovator, risk-taker, Founder of The Buddy Group and most definitely a top Thought Leader in Orange County.
Under Pete’s leadership, The Buddy Group is evolving what it means to be an agency. They are passionate about solving digital challenges using storytelling, marketing and technology and have worked with top brands such as Epson, Western Digital, King’s Hawaiian and Pentel.
You can’t be around Pete without being inspired by his creative thinking, persistence to solve any problem and excitement for new ideas.
Click here to find out more about our friends over at The Buddy Group.
As a team of problem-solvers, we are constantly looking to identify painpoints and develop solutions for our partner brands. Through creativity and innovation, we accomplish our goals by supporting our clients in accomplishing their goals. So it’s always great to find another company with a similar mission and a shared passion for taking clients to the next level.
Last year, a friend and colleague introduced us to a company that is taking a creative and innovative approach to overcoming the challenges and limitations of traditional presentation software. This company, Sportsdigita, developed a product that streamlines the process of creating customizable, visually engaging presentations that shorten sales cycles and tells a brand’s story with rich multimedia. We were intrigued when we heard about this product, called the Digideck, and we were blown away when we saw its capabilities. Naturally we had to meet the people behind the scenes and were not shocked to learn the Sportsdigita team is as impressive as the products they offer. Run by some of the busiest and most driven professionals we’ve come across, this company is taking off within the sports industry with a client list of over 350+ teams and shows no signs of slowing down.
We are fortunate to have caught up with one of the Sportsdigita leaders and she agreed to be our Thought Leader for this month. It’s our pleasure to introduce one of the hardest working women in business and an all-around great person, the Executive Vice President of Business Development for Sportsdigita – Christy Grady.
Was a career in sports always a goal of yours? Or was it a path that revealed itself along the way?
I knew I wanted to work in the sports space. While pursuing my undergraduate degree in business I was lucky enough to work in the Athletic Department at the University of Notre Dame as a Student-Manager. That is where my inspiration to pursue a career in sports started.
What life experience(s), either personal or professional, do you feel best prepared you for a leadership position?
I was raised in a driven household as one of four siblings and definitely am the talker of the bunch. From family gatherings to neighborhood parties to greeting guests as they arrived, I always jumped at the opportunity to lead the charge. My parents have always been involved as leaders in so many activities both personally and professionally. I certainly have embraced leadership roles as a result of the example they set.
Who had the biggest impact on you throughout your professional development?
This is a tough question. I have had an opportunity to work with some amazing people in this industry who have impacted my professional development in different ways. If I had to narrow it down to one I would say Steve Rosner, Co-Founder of 16W Marketing. Steve is a no- nonsense type of leader who truly values loyalty, hard work, paying attention to details and giving people the opportunity to lead.
From 2005 to 2013 you achieved impressive career progress within the Seattle Seahawks (NFL) and Sounders (MLS) organizations. Looking back on your rise from Sr. Account Executive to Director of Partnership Development, what were some of the keys to earning these growth opportunities?
1. Speak up and be honest about your career goals.
2. Raise your hand to take on more responsibilities.
3. Establish relationships with co-workers in other departments. Learn more about what they do, how they do it and how your departments might work better together.
4. Right place, right time – then it is what you make of the opportunity.
5. Work hard, pay attention to the details, maintain strong relationships with colleagues both at your organization, in the community and at other teams and Leagues.
In your current position you have the opportunity to travel the country representing an exciting and innovative sports agency, Sportsdigita. How are you able to stay focused and organized with such a demanding – and at times hectic – schedule?
I am definitely always willing to get on an airplane whether it is for an existing partner, prospective partner or to simply catch up with contacts in the industry. Case and point I am already Platinum this year and it is only April. This is what happens when you are an owner in a business. It is hard to stay organized and I certainly couldn’t do it without a supportive family and great team back in Minneapolis always willing to jump in and help when asked. I am crazy about managing work and personal checklists….one fun little tidbit, I am getting married in three weeks and this is the first time I have given up control of my checklist to my wedding planner. Sometimes outsourcing is the best solution.
What is your favorite part about your job?
I sometimes need to pinch myself to confirm that I really am working in the sports and technology space with some of the biggest brands in the industry. Jumping on a quick call with the Yankees, Lakers, Madison Square Garden, the Seahawks….no day is ever dull.
Based on your sports business experience, do you see consumer insights and fan engagement data playing an increasingly important role within the industry? If so, how?
Absolutely. The more teams can leverage technology to learn about their fans the better they will be able to serve them with relevant content and access to unique experiences that resonate with them. If you truly know your customers and engage with them on a more personal level they will feel more connected with the team/organization. That makes it much more difficult for them to choose to spend their discretionary income elsewhere.
Do you have any advice for someone looking to land an entry level position in the world of professional sports?
Be willing to move, be humble, be open to learning new things, build and maintain strong relationships and lastly, LISTEN with the intent to understand!
What is your favorite quote?
“Virtually nothing is impossible in this world if you just put your mind to it and maintain a positive attitude”
Lou Holtz
P.S. This quote is actually on the wall in my office!
What an amazing year we had with our Thought Leader Spotlight series! So many brilliant people offering incredible insights on what it means to be a leader and how they got to where they are today. Thank you so much to all those who took the time to participate. Our appreciation goes beyond words.
There will be more Thought Leaders to come in 2019, so to wrap up this past year we thought it would be great to look back at the favorite quotes from each month.
Jenny Dinnen – President, Sales & Marketing – MacKenzie Corporation
Katie Rucker – President, Operations – MacKenzie Corporation
Michele Kajiwara – Senior Vice President, Premium Seating Sales & Marketing – AEG/STAPLES Center
Jennifer Savio – President – Beach Drapery Service
Don DiCostanzo – Co-Founder & CEO – Pedego Electric Bikes
Miles Rogers – Chief Strategy Officer – WHEELS UP
Amanda Verhoff – President – Association of Luxury Suite Directors (ALSD)
Moon Javaid – Vice President, Strategy & Analytics, San Francisco 49ers
Courtney Janes – Executive Director – Arbonne Charitable Foundation
Ed Hart – Director – CSUF Center for Family Business
Cassie Piasecki – Managing Director – GritCycle
Thank you for everyone who came out for our Leadership 360 Luncheon and Golf Clinic last week!! It was great to catch up with familiar friends and to meet new ones.
Not only did we enjoy a beautiful afternoon outside at the Tustin Ranch Golf Course with lunch on their new patio, but many of you had mini-golf lessons from Karen Tucker and crew. With only a few tips I was able to hit the ball straighter then I have in a long time (thank you Karen).
Thank you also to Sarah McDevitt who came out from St Joe’s (www.stjhs.org) to tell us more about this amazing organization and how we can get involved.
Typically I like to change up the locations of our quarterly events, but I am thinking that we might need to do another golf event this summer. Details coming soon…
The headline theme for the summit is unravelling a decade of digital disruption. So how has this digital disruption influenced the structure of agencies and the kind of talent we recruit?
First, though, let’s just think about that word disruption. Do you consider disruption to be good, bad or completely neutral? The answer might depend on where you work. If you work at an established company, it’s easy to hear disruption as a menacing adjective, but if you’re working in a challenger environment, you might welcome it.
The truth is disruption is completely neutral. It’s how you react to it that matters. Media agencies were first formed as a result of disruption of the old full-service agency model. We welcomed disruption then and relished the challenges it threw up. It’s important to do the same now – to embrace change and respond to it quickly.
Read More (The Guardian)
Last month we discussed Customer Segmentation Marketing –
The act of organizing and identifying a group of customers by sets (and sub-sets) of individuals who share common demographic traits or fit into common marketing categories.
This marketing approach requires detailed Customer Personas to be referenced when crafting marketing messages, personalized content, or any strategic interaction with the targeted group of customers.
However before diving into content and messaging development, it’s a good idea to step back and look at your customer’s overall path-to-purchase. Review the varying situations and opportunities customers have to interact with your brand; from website activity to in-person experiences. This way you’ll be able to pinpoint where and when to apply your segmentation marketing content.
For each of your brand touchpoints, consider how different customers might be having different experiences; or perhaps they are left wanting different experiences based on their unique preferences. By outlining these points at which customers interact with your brand, a roadmap starts to reveal itself enabling your team to gain control of how customers move through the sales cycle. Furthermore, you’re able to have a closer look at each individual touchpoint to see what is working and what needs attention.
This process of outlining and visualizing a customer’s path-to-purchase is called Customer Journey Mapping.
“A Customer Journey Map is a diagram or several diagrams that depict the stages customers go through when interacting with a company, from buying products online to accessing customer service on the phone to airing grievances on social media.” –www.techtarget.com
There are a variety of ways to approach Customer Journey Mapping. Just as with anything else, there are benefits and drawbacks to each different approach. Over the years we have developed a series of 6 steps that we find successful across all markets and industries.
1) Identify, list and outline all existing branded touchpoints.
Get started by creating a list of all the different ways a customer can interact with your brand. The more detailed and specific you can be with this list, the more detailed and specific your Customer Journey Map will be.
EXAMPLE:
Online – Website
Online – Social Media
Mobile – App
Phone – Customer Service
Phone – Company Directory
Advertisements – Digital
Advertisements – Print
Etc.
2) Choose your target customer persona.
Whether it’s a demographic trait or purchase behavior, narrowing your focus and clarifying who your brand wants to reach will provide a framework to build around. Selecting a customer persona will humanize the customer and encourage a personal touch at each step. Your team will also have a consistent point of reference throughout the journey mapping process.
EXAMPLE:
First Time Buyer: Female, age 18-34.
3) Understand your customers’ goals.
In order to strategically move customers along the path-to-purchase, understand what your target customers are hoping to gain with each brand interaction. Review the list of touchpoints you created during Step 1 and brainstorm possible reasons your target buy persona might be interacting with your brand through that channel.
EXAMPLE:
Online – Website: Review general information about the company
Online – Social Media: Learn the brand’s personality and relationship with customers
Mobile – App: Browse pricing or purchase details
Phone – Customer Service: Ask specific, detailed questions
Etc.
4) Visualize and map out the customer’s flow of interactions.
This is where the customer journey starts coming to life. Carefully review your target customer persona (our example being: First time buyer – Female, age 18-34) and begin placing your Step 1 touchpoints along a linear path working toward a desired goal or outcome. Typically the ultimate goal is a purchase; however the customer’s journey can extend beyond the purchase through steps of relationship building and nurturing loyalty. Think of this step as a rough draft that can be altered and adjusted as all the pieces start coming together.
EXAMPLE:
5) Prioritize your brand’s touchpoints – by interaction frequency or level of influence.
Take a step back and review the big picture keeping in mind your target customer persona. Consider where they are most likely to spend their time, the most influential points of contact as they move along the path-to-purchase, and where your team can make the biggest impact in terms of strategy or content development. The ultimate goal of this Customer Journey Map is to improve the overall flow between your brand’s touchpoints. This is accomplished by referring to the journey map and one-by-one examining customer interactions with the intent of continually improving. Start by addressing points of immediate impact and then move on to the rest.
EXAMPLE:
6) Revisit, review and update your Customer Journey Map as needed.
As you begin making adjustments and improvements to your branded touchpoints, you may see fluctuations in customer interaction. Adjustments in one area might reveal opportunities in another area, so regularly reviewing and assessing your Customer Journey Map will ensure your brand is ahead of the game. Furthermore, the competitive market is always evolving so maintaining a current understanding of how customers are interacting with your brand is a vital step in remaining relevant and competitive.
For over 30 years we have partnered with top tier brands who want to offer their customers the best experiences possible. Our strategic approach to Customer Journey Mapping is tailored to fit the unique needs of each partner brand because each brand, market and customer is unique.
Are you ready to improve bottom-line growth and offer best in class customer experiences? Then we’re here to get you moving in the right direction.
Building off our “Successful Surveys: Ask the Right Questions” post, covering an effective strategy to survey development, we recently dug deeper into the jump-off question, “How will the results be used?” The National Football League asking fans to answer questions regarding the effectiveness of Sponsor/Partner advertising and promotional efforts, further explains the underlying concept. Since having posted that example, another relevant NFL research effort has come to our attention.
This second independent survey-based research project inquired as to the satisfaction of NFL fans regarding their onsite game-day experiences. The NFL, in coordination with individual teams, telecom companies, and other forms of media, collected data focused on:
Ultimately hoping to improve the fan’s onsite game-day experience, the League needed to first establish a general understanding of fan sentiment on an individual team level; from there each individual team could determine how to allocate their resources accordingly. Looking to establish areas of strength, areas in need of improvement, and develop a list of best practices, the NFL and its participating stakeholders created a unique line of survey questions to provide such insights.
While the aforementioned research projects are similar in methodology, they distinctly differ in scope and purpose. Holding a focus on the desired outcomes, the effectiveness of sponsor ads/promos and measuring fan satisfaction levels to improve the onsite game-day experience. This helps maintain their individual identities so the data collection process yields useful results in addressing the research objectives.
After writing the post “Successful Surveys: Ask the Right Questions”, [a discussion of how to keep survey research efforts organized, calculated, and focused through an initial introspection process] it was clear that each individual point could use supplementary insight supporting its value and explaining its practice. Over the following weeks, we will address each question independently in an effort to provide a deeper understanding therein. First we will cover the jump-off question, “How will the results be used?” Consider the following which discusses an ongoing research effort conducted by the National Football League in relation to the big-picture concept of generating a successful survey instrument:
The National Football League continues to develop its Research and Fan Insights Department. Recent years have seen the evolution of several independent, integrated research efforts providing a valuable overview of the NFL’s target market. Desired respondents, those who indicated they are “avid” NFL fans, were included in a study which produced insights as to the effectiveness and perceived importance of existing marketing/promotional efforts by official league sponsors.
The purpose of the study was to identify which sponsors made the biggest impact on the average NFL fan and whether or not it motivated consumption-based action(s). This information would be distributed to corporate sponsors, corporate partners, and relevant stakeholders. Here, the League established how the results were to be used in a manner that could be clearly explained to others. The resulting data collected would be helpful in sponsor acquisition, determining advertising spots, etc.
Survey questions were focused on:
The initial breakdown of information desired, and its use thereafter, offered a framework through which the survey cues themselves could be generated. Thus ensuring the survey was on point with the purpose of the research project overall.
Read about the 5 Phases of an effective marketing research process here
Phase 1: Research Inventory
Phase 2: Clearly Define 2014 Research Strategy
Phase 3: 6 Steps to Effectively Conduct Research
Phase 4: Three ways to Combine Research with Other Data
Upon completing the research effort and combining the new data with previously existing data, your company, its management and relevant stakeholders finally benefit from the fruits of your research labor. At this point, results and applicable data are distributed to the appropriate departments to equip staff members with information and insights enabling them to make smarter decisions. However, the distribution of this data can be tricky.
There are likely massive data files in a variety of formats, some of which may not be helpful to all intended recipients. During this phase, one not only decides what to share with others within the company, but also how they will share.
Distribute a Singular “Master Report” File
If this research project is an isolated project, an overarching report may include all data and analysis. This document can be distributed individually amongst relevant stakeholders and interested parties.
Create a Universal Data Platform
To accommodate an ongoing research effort, or to utilize existing technology, one may choose to create a data portal or dashboard accessible by designated employees. This centralized data house will ensure consistency across all departments, and it will allow for data updates maximizing the value of ongoing research efforts. This platform can also allow for customized reporting tools allowing staff members to manipulate the data how they see most helpful without requiring added effort from a research or analysis team.
Monitor Usage of Data and Results
Regularly monitoring which departments are using newly acquired data will provide insight as to how valuable the information is perceived to be. This will not only help with future research efforts, it will offer perspective on how your company implements research and customer feedback into day-to-day operations. Through regular updates and examination of incoming data, one is able to identify industry trends which otherwise may remain unnoticed.
This concludes our 5-part series on developing a research strategy. If you are interested in more information or discussing how to establish a research strategy of your own, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are passionate about research and we are eager to help you accomplish your goals.
There are a lot of firms out there that say they can conduct market research for you. How can you tell if they are actually experts in their field?
There are many things to look for, including years of experience and client references. When you are choosing a research partner, another thing to ask is whether or not any of the firm’s team members have received the Professional Researcher Certification (PRC). Offered by the Marketing Research Association (MRA) since 2005, the Professional Researcher Certification program provides an objective measure of an individual’s knowledge and proficiency in the market research field.
What it takes to achieve this certification
The Professional Researcher Certification program encourages high standards and on-going professional development. To receive this designation an individual must:
Renewal is required every two years, and requires completion of at least 20 industry-related education hours, including at least two in legal issues.
What this certification means to you
Market researchers who have received the Professional Researcher Certification are the top practitioners in their field. They’ve gone “above and beyond” to stay up-to-date on legal issues and research methodologies, passed an exam proving their competency, and pledged to abide by an extensive and very detailed set of ethics and standards.
Congratulations to Don Vivrette, MacKenzie’s Founder and CEO
Don recently completed the Professional Researcher Certification process! Don – who received his MBA from the University of Southern California and is also a certified public accountant – is both proud and excited to add the PRC designation to his professional titles. From now on he won’t “just” be Don Vivrette; he’ll be Don Vivrette, MBA, CPA, PRC.
The Apple Watch got the lion’s share of attention when the company unveiled several new products Monday. But a lot of people in the health care industry are going to be interested in ResearchKit, which the Apple describes as a “powerful tool for medical research.”
Through ResearchKit, you can opt to use several iPhone apps to share health data – like weight, blood pressure, glucose levels and asthma inhaler use – with doctors and scientists. A huge benefit is that it allows researchers to recruit participants for large-scale studies.
So far, researchers at UCLA have developed an app with ResearchKit for breast cancer, called Share the Journey: Mind, Body and Wellness after Breast Cancer.
“I think it has some real value for taking research to a new level,” says Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute in La Jolla and author of “The Patient Will See You Now,” which analyzes how technology is changing medicine.
Harvard Professor Shoshana Zuboff said that every century or so, fundamental changes in the nature of consumption create new demand patterns that existing companies can’t meet unless they applied imagination to see beyond what they’re selling today. Indeed, consumers have never been savvier, well connected, and value conscious.
Meet Mike, your customer in 2015. Mike never loses sight of his iPhone. He’s very opinionated and not afraid to share his opinion using his social media channels (whether good or bad). He doesn’t trust advertising and only connects with brands that he feels are authentic and stand for higher purpose. He publicly admits to showrooming and has been conditioned to expect everything immediately and now.
Today’s consumers engage with your company in very different ways than they used to. Read More at Forbes
“Thank you to our leadership team for spearheading this idea! As a customer experience enthusiast, I’m appreciative that MacKenzie provided the opportunity to have customer experiences we would otherwise might not have taken advantage of. As a mom, I’m truly am grateful and it was such a joy to have this time with my family.”
-Jolynn
WHO:
Jolynn Atkins
Customer Experience & Engagement
WHAT:
Family Fun Stay-cation
WHEN:
January 25 – 27, 2019
WHERE & WHY:
Great Wolf Lodge is an one-stop shop for family fun. For locals like us, it’s a wonderful place for a stay-cation and quality family time. Our family made so many memories and were the most relaxed and playful we’ve been in a while. The staff is great and ready to tend to your every need. AND – no need to dress up here! It’s all about what makes you feel the most comfortable.
We were introduced to the Great Wolf Lodge by our family who live in Washington and this is a staple in their family vacations. We’ve wanted to go for about 1 year and never justified the cost, until now.
I’ve always heard wonderful things about Great Wolf Lodge – mainly about the indoor water park. My son loves water slides so I truly thought we would spend most of our stay there. We were pleasantly surprised by the amount of amenities and other activities, and in reality, we spent our time equally through the lodge enjoying all there was to offer. One notable difference, the resort staff interacted with kids as if they were their #1 guests, which was great to see as our expectation of this place was that it designed for the kids to feel important and create their own vacation adventure.
This experience exceeded our expectations. My husband and son both said over and over again, “This place is so cool!”. There are always fun things to do and see on the schedule, the food is delicious and the staff treated us as though we were guests in their own homes – engaging us at every interaction.
We would like to recognize two specific staff members who added a touch of magic to our stay. Our first was at the front desk while checking-in. Art was the first employee we encountered and he was warm, welcoming, knowledgeable and guest-centric. Not only did he engage with us as parents, he made it a point to include our 6 year old son in the conversation. He also asked if we were celebrating birthdays and when my son boldly said his birthday was “last year” on Dec. 27 (only last month), Art ensured to provide my son with the birthday version of the customary wolf ears. Yes, every guest gets a set of wolf ears at check-on to wear and the birthday version brightened his day as every staff member that passed us by wished him a “happy birthday”. He was tickled!
Additionally, we’d like to give kudos to Marie in the Loose Moose buffet who first asked us, the parents, if she could do something special for our birthday boy – scored points here, and then followed this up with a cupcake and group birthday song – bonus points!
You could feel that almost all the staff loves Great Wolf Lodge and their jobs.
What worked well was the “know before you go” emails we received as the weekend stay approached. These emails shared what to expect and ways to play. Also introduced in these emails was the launch of an app that would facilitate your stay and give you access to mobile ordering at some of the food locations/restaurants. The email mentioned that we would be one of the first to use the app – indicating it has just launched.
I love how apps like this enhance an onsite experience with notifications, quick accessibility to schedules, shows, events, and menus, so I promptly downloaded the Great Wolf Lodge app.
We did use the app for most of the stay as a resource to check menus and times of show starts. We were disappointed to see that the mobile ordering did not work as advertised. This would have been a huge help as the line for Dunkin’ Donuts is one of longest in the lodge.
Additionally, we were excited to be “wallet free” with the use of an RFID wristband. These cool little gadgets allowed us in to our hotel room without needing to pull a hotel key out of our pocket (or loose it) and it also had our credit card attached so that we could make purchases throughout the stay without having to bring wallets, purses, etc.
Sadly, the RFID payment system was down throughout our stay and we were not able have the ease of use we’d gotten so excited for. The door lock system worked effortlessly and that was a huge help – especially when coming back to the room from the waterpark.
Thinking about what worked well from a technology stand point, we received a text from Brinley, one of their many characters, introducing herself as our personal assistant and offered us to reach out via text with anything we needed during our stay. We then received another text with a similar message the next day and then a check out assistant text on the morning of the last day. I feel this added the extra bit of connection to the experience and felt like the resort cared about us as guests and our needs.
The experience ratings allowed me to give a snapshot into the overall experience. As a customer, would like to have more of an opportunity to provide feedback and recognition. We were on floating on cloud 9 when leaving the hotel and began to tell all of our friends about the experience and would welcome the opportunity to share with the company as well. Luckily, the Great Wolf lodge sent a follow up opportunity in the form of an electronic survey to provide more detailed feedback and recognition.
Overall, our we enjoyed every moment we were there including:
The bowling alley, glow-in-the dark mini golf, an arcade with the largest claw game we’ve ever seen, the waterpark (Lazy river and wave pool were our favorites), the candy store – where you can find a personal pizza made of all gummy candies, dining places, wine-down service (wine and chocolate delivered to your room at a scheduled time), and of course the dance parties and story time with the resort’s characters, Wiley and Violet.
Would highly recommend the Wolf Den rooms. This gives the kids their own space, and includes their own TV with a YouTube channel, and was by far one of the top things my son got excited about.
The indoor waterpark is awesome! It can seem overwhelming, especially if you have younger kids. Never fear, we felt so safe with the on-duty lifeguards. They constantly rotate and we did not see them take their eyes of the kids.
The price of the stay can seem steep however the experience was well worth the lifetime of memories for my family.
Tip: Look for special rates on the website – we scored with a “winter getaway” rate.
“Thank you so much for allowing us to complete this transformation with the Mactivities Scholarship fund!”
-Heidi
WHO:
Heidi Green
Data Integration & Senior Data Geek
WHAT:
Home Renovation – New Lighting Fixtures
www.InstallMyLights.com
WHEN:
Late September, 2018
WHERE & WHY:
When we first moved into our house, we came from a smaller home that only really had one downstairs living space. It was the TV room / living room / dining room, so when we suddenly found ourselves with a living room and a separate family room in our current house, we decided to use the spaces a little less traditionally. The more formal living room at the front of the house because our main hang-out room to watch TV or gather with friends and family. The smaller family room, which is three steps down from the main room and kitchen, became our ‘library’. Initially, it just held our books and some comfy chairs / loveseat facing the fireplace. Once the kids reached school age, however, it became apparent that they needed a dedicated homework space. We shifted rooms around again and put a larger dining table in the library. It serves as the daily homework table, game table, and puzzle table for the majority of the year. On the rare occasions when we need to feed more than just our family (and can’t eat outside), it serves as our dining room table. The only problem with this set up is that this is the darkest room in the house, and it had no overhead fixtures at all. For 16 years, we have coped with sub-par (ugly) standing lamps that sometimes flicker and buzz, and a few scattered table lamps around the room. Last year, we added a covered patio outside that room, which cut down on our natural light in there even more.
I had been searching for a lighting solution for this room for a long time. About 2 years ago, I picked out a great chandelier / pendant light that I wanted to hang over the big table. I was a little concerned that it would make an already somewhat low-feeling ceiling look even lower. The real stumbling block, however, was that it cost over $500, and that didn’t include installation. Based on previous electrician experiences, I knew that installing it would be at least another $500. Not to mention that we would really only have light over the middle of the table, not near the bookcases in the corners of the room.
Then one day I was thumbing through one of those home service catalogs, (“Local Flavor”), that we get every week and normally send straight to the recycle bin. Well, I usually look for the coupons for frozen yogurt or the pet store down the street, and then throw them away. For some reason, I don’t completely trust the home service providers that advertised in these fake magazines. But this time, an add caught my eye for “Install My Lights.com”, The Recessed Lighting Company. They claimed that they could put in lights in one day, starting at $340 per room. I looked them up on Yelp and saw that they had great reviews. I doubted, however that we could find a solution for our problem room for under $1,000, so I tore out the page and just kept it for a few months, thinking, “I should call them for an estimate”. I really am not a phone person, however, so needless to say, I never picked up the phone. Eventually, I noticed that you could schedule an estimate right from their web page. I gave it a shot, and was pleased that I could see all currently available days and times (as early as the next day) and make my selection online. I soon received a confirmation email. When I had to change the appointment time, I was able to email them to request a new day, and my email was answered within an hour or two, and a new appointment was set.
Our consultation was with Tony, a certified electrician. He looked at our room and suggested the proper number of recessed lights and their placement for good light coverage. In looking at the style of our current recessed kitchen lights, he mentioned that we would get a similar modern style of lights. He asked us if we preferred warm or cool LEDs, and we talked about how the lights will be dimmable, but not adjustable (can’t be repositioned or tilted/angled), but would provide good coverage, and have a long estimated life span (but you cannot replace the bulbs). We also had him quote us on our master dressing area, where there is still a fixture so old that it has popcorn ceiling still stuck underneath it. We had a few questions for him, all of which he answered to our satisfaction. The entire appointment took about 10 minutes, and he said he would have a quote for us that night (it was already about 7 pm).
Sure enough, the quote came in via email around 9pm that night. To add six can lights to our library and a new dimmer switch to control them will be $685. The upstairs area will be another $215, for a grand total of $900. (Coming in well under my mental estimate of $1,200 for just the library). There was a button to click on the quote to “Approve the Quote”. Once clicked, it broke out the costs into a small deposit due immediately, and the rest due upon installation. I could pay the deposit with a credit card right then and there on my phone. It also asked me which day of the week I would prefer for installation. The next day, I received an email with several potential installation date options, as early as 1 week from then.
After our quote, I received a very short survey from a manager, asking which of the following best described my estimate:
> It Was Great
> It Could Have Been Better
I clicked ‘It was great’, but I assume that if I had selected ‘It could have been better’, there may have been follow up questions.
On installation day, the crew was scheduled to arrive between 10 and 12, but because they had two previous jobs that morning, they ended up arriving closer to 1:15 or 1:30. However, they got right to work laying down plastic and paper on the floors and taping up plastic to cover the walls and any furniture in the rooms. They put initial nails in the ceiling where they planned to put the new lights, and verified with me that it all looked good. When they had to revise their plan by a few inches in one room due to the placement of the studs, they let me know that they would move all the lights symmetrically. They also verified the light fixtures and the brightness of bulbs that were going in.
Upon removing the old light fixture in the upstairs dressing area, we were all surprised to find a sizable hole that the previous owners had left and just covered up with the fluorescent light fixture. Rather than complaining about the extra time and/or charging us more, they called in two more of their crew to help, patched the hole and retextured the ceiling in a manner that matched the existing texture really well.
There was full construction chaos for about 2-3 hours, but they never even turned off the electricity, so I was able to continue working during the entire time.
After installation, the lead technician inspected all of the work and did a few final touch ups. In the end, they cleaned up everything, took all the trash out to their truck, swept the floor, offered to vacuum, (but I was going to do it anyway), and were pleasant, friendly, and professional throughout.
The only negative to the entire process was that the estimate that the lead technician gave me at the end for how long the lights would last was significantly lower than what the sales consultant had said. They still have a 20 year + estimate based on 3 hours of use per day, but the sales person indicated about 40 years (he did not specify the number of hours per day).
The differences in the rooms are pretty amazing, especially in the library! The light has great coverage in the room, looks neat and tidy, won’t gather dust, and gives off about the same amount of light on the LOWEST possible setting as we had in the room before with all the lights on. Let me tell you, it felt great to haul those old standing lamps out into the garage to the donation pile!
As they were finishing up, I found the original email with the quote and was able to easily pay the remaining balance on my account using my phone. Overall, I’m really impressed with the ease of use of their web scheduling, and the quote/ payment application they are using. Everything was intuitive, easy to follow, and worked right the first time.
Before they left, the technicians asked me if I was completely satisfied with the work, and if I was, would I mind giving them a good review on either Yelp, Angie’s List, Facebook or Google Local Business/Maps. They mentioned that they receive points or perks if they are mentioned in good reviews, so I asked them to write down their names so that I could mention them in my review to help them out. This does help to explain the unusually high number of positive Yelp reviews that I had seen. However, I felt, as many other customers must have, more than happy to write a positive review since they did such a great job.
The morning after the installation was complete, I received an email from the owner of the company, Andrew Schmitz. It thanked me for my business and said that he wanted to make sure I had an excellent experience with his company. Once again, it was only one click on either:
> Excellent Experience
> Good Experience
> Fair Experience
> Poor Experience
After clicking on Excellent Experience, I was taken to a page that thanked me for the positive rating and asked that if I thought they earned it, to please post a review. He said that each review is printed and posted for everyone in their office to see, and that they truly enjoy receiving the feedback.
In summary, I would absolutely recommend InstallMyLights.com to anyone. I’ve already thought about having them out again someday for our upstairs hallway lights or the downstairs ½ bath. The price was fair, the company was extremely easy to work with, they did quality work, they followed up to make sure I was satisfied, and I never even had to pick up a phone to get it all done!
“Thank you, MacKenzie for being a company that cares so much about your employees that you offer us opportunities like this special ‘Scholarship’. MacKenzie Corp truly believes in being there for their employees, customers and community.”
-Carol
WHO:
Carol Cromwell
Project Coordinator
WHAT:
A day at the “Happiest Place on Earth”
WHEN:
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
WHERE & WHY:
Disneyland & California Adventure
Since Disneyland is one of Orange County’s biggest and oldest attractions, it seemed to be the best place to use my Macktive Scholarship.
I wanted to take my granddaughter, Avianna, to Disneyland for her 7th birthday. She had never been there and always asked to go.
Her older brothers have passes and are always talking about going. It was so nice to see the smile on Avianna’s face when we got to the Main entrance and saw the train station with Mickey’s big face.
The day started out pouring rain as we headed out at 8:00 am being optimistic that it would not rain all day. We had packed backpacks with extra clothes, ponchos, small umbrellas and of course snacks.
I purchased our tickets from a neighbor, who works at Disneyland. I got 4 Park Hopper tickets for $320. What a good deal. One other great deal is the FastPass, which is a’ pass you can get by inserting park admission into a Fastpass machine by the rides, that gives you a reservation time to return to be able to skip the long lines. There is also a MaxPass, which is a digital pass on the Disney app (which cost $15) and you can get unlimited ride passes. We were very lucky to have the MaxPass, it saved so much time so we were able to enjoy more rides in both parks instead of waiting in long lines. There were certain rides where you cannot use the pass and spend a good amount of time waiting for the ride. It was a time used to enjoy being with the family remembering what Disneyland was like years ago.
I have not been to Disneyland since about 1988, and I have never been to California Adventure. I was shocked how much it has changed. The first thing I noticed when we got there, were the parking garages that were not there last time I was there. I was told they are going to build five more structures. I was surprised when I saw how big California Adventure was. There was a huge roller coaster that everyone went on except Avianna and me. I would have liked going on but didn’t happen. There is also Guardians of the Galaxy that is 40’ tall and it’s a long, fast way down; lots of fun if you like that kind of excitement.
After a while, the rain stopped and the clouds started to clear. We did stop and eat some pizza and shared drinks, glad we had our snacks after paying $50 for our slices of pizza. We then walked around and just enjoyed all the sights and people watching. People were having fun even though it was a very wet day. Many people came prepared and were enjoying the smaller crowds. I could not imagine being there on a really crowded day but no matter the weather, Disneyland just has that magical feel.
On Main Street there are many new shops I had never seen before.
Avianna wanted to go to the hat shop and get a special pair of Minnie Ears. What a selection they have, every color and fabric you can think of. Pin collecting is really big with the regulars at the park and Avi has started her collection. Her brothers and sister all bought her pins for her birthday.
The employees made Avianna feel special. She was given a Disneyland pin that said “it my Birthday” and every time someone saw it they said “Happy Birthday” to her; just adding a little more magic to her day.
We had a birthday dinner at the Carnation Café on Main Street, which is one of the original restaurants at the park. When we planned our birthday adventure we were able to get reservations for dinner there. They have a good selection of meals to make everyone happy, not easy dealing with ten of us. The chef came out after we ate and sat and talked with Avianna, that made her feel very happy.
By the time dinner was over we went outside, it was dark and everything was lite up. Definitely felt like a beautiful winter wonderland and then the rain started up again and it teamed! Everywhere you looked there were beautiful lights. Every ride was lite up, every tree and there was an enormous Christmas Tree in the middle of Main Street.
We did a lot of walking, shopping, and went on a few more rides. Finally we were all ready to go home. 10:00pm we got on the train and went back to the main gate and back to our car.
If I was to talk to someone going to Disneyland I would suggest for them to invest into a MaxPass first on the Disney app, nothing like getting through the crowds quickly. Then go on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It is a 6 minute ride that has many of the elements of other rides in the park (up and down, spins, darkness, loud music, surprises and lots of excitement). If you have children who have never been there, it will give them and yourself and idea of what to expect on many rides. The favorite ride for all of us was the “Soarin’ Around the World” ride. The seating is multilevel, suspended hang glider set up in the middle of an 80 foot dome screen that is a video of some of the world most beautiful and amazing sights. The experience is enhanced by different scents and wind as you soar. There is cold air over the polar bears in the artic, the smell of grass over Africa, smell of roses over the Taj Mahal. I could go on but I think you all should experience this yourself.
All in all, it was a great, happy day. It was fun to be with the whole family. Disneyland is a great place to share with family and to make a little girl feel like a princess for a day.
“The Macktive Scholarship Program is just one of the many ways we are supported by our leaders, Jenny and Katie, to not only find a healthy work-life balance but also to practice what we preach. As CX professionals it’s such a great idea for us to get out in the greater Orange County area and gain first-hand experiences so that we can touch, see and feel what it means to offer unique and memorable customer experiences. We’re able to turn around and directly apply these lessons to our projects as we help our clients develop and strengthen their own best-in-class customer experiences. Oh, and what a generous offer for MacKenzie to pick up the tab! Thank you for this opportunity!”
– Brent
WHO:
Brent Williams
Brand Development Manager
WHAT:
A day of health, happiness and self-care
WHEN:
Saturday, September 2, 2018
WHERE & WHY:
8:00 AM – Staying active and eating healthy are two ways I try to live my best life. These efforts have made a positive impact in all areas, from career performance to relationships with friends and family. I have met a lot of amazing people and had a lot of incredible experiences running, hiking, swimming, and any other activity that gets me up and moving around. Even just a quick morning workout gets my blood pumping and oxygen flowing which jumpstarts my energy for the day.
Newport Beach – 15th Street, on the sand
9:30AM – Growing up in San Diego, the beach has always been one of my favorite places to be. Whether rain or shine, the open ocean and the salty breeze are equal parts calming and inspiring. Spending a few morning hours on the sand, drinking coffee, just looking out at the horizon… I can’t think of a better place to be on a Saturday morning.
Costa Mesa – Road Runner Sports
11:30AM – Since running and staying active is a big part of my life, it’s worth investing in quality gear; which of course includes shoes. Over the past few years I’ve been loyal to Road Runner Sports for my shoe purchases, mostly because of the level of service they provide.
The employees do more than retrieve different size shoes from their inventory storage. They spend time to ask about my specific activities and goals. They have a lot of modern tech equipment that scan and measure my feet to make sure I get the right shoe for my body type. They even video record my legs running on a treadmill to watch the positioning of my feet and ankles.
All of these factors go into the type of shoes they recommend. Then, I’m given anywhere from 6-10 different types and styles of shoes to try on and roam around the store. There’s never any rush. I’m encouraged to take my time and really test out each shoe to make sure it’s the right fit for me.
By the time I’m done and ready to purchase, I’m fully confident I made the right choice and that I’ll be satisfied with my selection. The entire process takes some time and the shoes aren’t cheap, but the product and the overall experience are definitely worth it.
Costa Mesa – Newport Float Therapy
12:45PM – This was the main focus of my entire day. A few years ago I heard of something called “Sensory Deprivation Therapy” which is said to offer a lot of health benefits such as deep physical and mental relaxation. While there aren’t scientific studies done to prove these benefits, I’ve done some reading online and the positive reviews vastly outnumbered the negative ones. So, after exploring Yelp to weigh my options, I chose Newport Float Therapy because it was moderately priced and had very high review scores.
As I gathered more information on what to expect from this experience, I found that I would be floating in a tank built to shut out all light and sound. The tank is half full of salt water [containing over 800lbs of Epsom salt] which allows the body to effortlessly and comfortably float for extended periods of time. The salt water is also heated to match body temperature so that even floating in the water has little to no sensory impact.
When ready, I entered the tank and closed the door behind me. The sessions last either 60 minutes or 90 minutes; I chose the 60 minutes to start, unsure of how I’d react in the tank. Just to be clear, the door is never locked so I was free to exit at any time, however once I was floating and had a chance to relax I didn’t think for one second about getting out. It was definitely a “different” experience being in the tank with no light or sound, but it ended up being better than I had hoped.
My goal was to have a calming experience, looking to gain mental clarity and physical relaxation. Wow, did I ever achieve both goals. After my 60 minutes were up, which felt more like 20 minutes, I was awakened by soft music which let me know it was time to get out. I showered off and slowly made my way to the front where the staff member asked how things went and wished me a great rest of my day. I felt like I had slept for a full 24 hours and it was TOTALLY worth the investment.
Having said all this, I will mention that the experience is not for everyone. I happen to enjoy practicing yoga, meditating, and putting in daily effort to be mindful in an effort to focus my energy productively throughout the day. So an experience like this was right up my alley. For those who are claustrophobic, anxious or afraid of the dark… this is definitely not for you. But if you’re open to expand your mind with a new experience and float away any physical discomfort, I absolutely recommend an hour in a sensory deprivation tank at Newport Float Therapy!
Our Leadership 360 Wine Down Wednesday Networking Event was a great success!
Thank you to all friends, colleagues, networkers and our special guest, Rebecca Kwait, with the Make a Wish Foundation who joined us March 6th at Cucina Enoteca in Irvine for a fantastic evening.
Highlights from the event included:
Please stay tuned for details about our next event in May…
Join us in support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation Walk:
The Orange County walk is held at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine and is taking place on Saturday, April 27.
This day of celebration will feature:
Visit www.walkforwishes2013oc.kintera.org/mackenziecorp to join the MacKenzie team and select “Join Our Team.” This is a great way to support an amazing organization and get the entire family involved.
CSUF’S FAMILY BUSINESS COUNCIL WELCOMES ABOARD SECOND-GENERATION COMPANIES TO ITS MEMBERSHIP
FULLERTON, Calif., April 10, 2012 – The Family Business Council (FBC), part of CSUF’s Mihaylo College of Business and Economics, today announced four new members. Recognized as the premier educational resource for family businesses in Southern California, the Family Business Council equips multi-generational leaders with the tools necessary to overcome obstacles and confront issues to enable familial companies to grow and prosper.
A robust network of multi-generational family firms, the FBC is proud to add the following second-generation family businesses to its network:
“These family entities represent the ideal model of companies and families who work well together and are in the process of transitioning from one generation to the next,” says Family Business Council Executive Director Ed Hart.
“We are excited to meet like-minded families that deeply care about their business and have a strong desire to implement the changes necessary to grow,” says Tam Nguyen, President of Advance Beauty College in Garden Grove. He, along with his sister Linh, are the second-generation to run the accredited private vocational school that offers courses in makeup artistry, cosmetology, cosmetology instruction, holistic health care, manicuring, and massage therapy.
Joining the Nguyens are twin sisters, Jennifer Dinnen and Katie Rucker of the MacKenzie Corporation, located in Irvine. Providing clients with the analytics needed for strategic marketing, these siblings are looking forward to collaborating with other family firms. “At our very first meeting I felt a sense of genuine excitement and enthusiasm from the group. The Family Business Council seems like a place where everyone truly wants each other to succeed and will do whatever it takes to help them accomplish that,” says Dinnen who along with her sister is taking the reins from their father who founded the company.
Shepard Brothers., Inc. of La Habra, the premier supplier of custom specialty chemicals for cleaning and sanitation, is also joining nearly 50 other businesses that comprise the Council. “As a second-generation family business rapidly approaching the time when the next generation will start taking over, we saw the FBC as the ideal resource to enable a seamless transition,” explains CEO Ron Shepard. Incorporating nutrition into the fold, Susan’s Healthy Gourmet, Xan Confections and LifeSpring Nutrition headquartered in Irvine, is stepping onboard as well. “We are always looking for ways to improve ourselves as leaders and employers. I have learned over time the best way to grow is to find like-minded people in similar situations and share our experiences with each other,” said President Kerry Johnson Anthony. Serving alongside her mother, Founder and CEO Susan Johnson, Anthony oversees the operations of fresh, nutritionally balanced, and calorie-controlled meals that are individually prepared and packaged to order.
ABOUT FAMILY BUSINESS COUNCIL
The Family Business Council (FBC) is an educational forum under the direction of the nationally recognized and accredited business school, Mihaylo College of Business and Economics at California State University, Fullerton. FBC members are given the opportunity to learn from experts in an academic atmosphere, integrating classroom education with best business practices. During each academic year, the Family Business Council offers nine workshops on topics of special interest to family business owners, confidential discussion groups, and informative and entertaining events—all of which help to educate and facilitate success for family businesses.
ABOUT MIHAYLO COLLEGE
Mihaylo College of Business and Economics is a nationally recognized and accredited business school. It offers a full range of business courses delivered by faculty members who integrate classroom education with best business practices, technology, award-winning research, functional applications and real-world experience. The largest business college in California, Mihaylo College is among just 28 percent of business schools nationwide to be accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Mihaylo College is included in the Princeton Review’s 2011 list of “Best 300 Business Schools,” a ranking based on each school’s students, physical environment, admissions requirements, teaching ratios and programs. It is also among the top 125 part-time MBA programs recognized by U.S. News & World Report.
Hello all,
We wanted to let you know that MacKenize is a proud sponsor of the upcoming Girl’s Inc. Y.E.S.S. luncheon. Katie and I have attended this event in the past and were amazed by this organization and the girls who participate.
As a women-owned business we are proud to support this program and Girl’s Inc. in general. The Y.E.S.S. program is for 10 -13 year old girls who have gone through a summer long program which teaching them about starting a business. The luncheon is where the girls actually set up their business and have “customers” come and shop at their stores. Stores include everything from crafts, summer goodies, nail salon, etc. You are given “play money” when you arrive so that you can actually shop at the girls stores. These girls learn all about writing a business plan, hiring employees, advertising and customer service. Overall it is an amazing event and every year I am always so inspired by these young girls.
If you are interested, we would love to invite you to be our guest for this event (this is completely voluntary). Let me know if you are interested or if you would like any additional information about the event (or Girl’s Inc) in general.
The lunch is on Thursday, August 8th from 11:30am – 1:30pm.
Thanks,
Jenny
Photo and video sharing app Instagram has announced new ad formats for businesses and marketers to advertise on its platform. The company first debuted ad capabilities last year, and it is now expanding on this. Users will be able to learn about a product or service and then “take action directly from an ad to sign up on a website, buy a product, or download an app.”
People love Instagram b/c of the visual content and following things they love like images of nature, travel, fashion, food, etc. Working with Facebook will enable advertisers to reach people on Instagram based on demographics and interests, as well as information businesses have about their own customers.
Would it make sense for your company to explore advertising on Instagram? Social Media advertisement offers businesses insights that other advertising platforms cannot as well as the opportunity to be seen on platforms that have high volume traffic. Sounds like a win – win to me!
Read More Here (Source: Marketing Interactive)
The Challenge:
With a desire to stand out among the competition and increase sales, Client wanted to gain a better understanding of where they are selling, who they are selling to and most importantly, how do they attract new customers.
The client desired a tool that would allow them to quickly and visually see market penetration. They also looked to understand the behavioral, attitudinal and demographical characteristics of key customers at a product and regional level.
The Solution:
The client turned to MacKenzie to analyze their sales data to gain a clearer picture of who their key customers are.
During the first step of the analysis, MacKenzie mapped sales data to determine trends, market penetration and potential sale opportunities with regards to under served regional areas. The resulting maps and analysis were drilled down by category and product levels.
The second step involved MacKenzie creating customer profiles based on imported sales data by utilizing the Claritas PRIZM System. Customer characteristics and demographics were reviewed for each profile to better understand their likes, dislikes, buying behaviors as well as age, ethnicity and income.
The final step of the analysis was to determine where to find more like customers – with the ultimate goal of increasing sales. By keeping with the concept that people with similar demographic traits tend to behave in similar manners in the marketplace, MacKenzie was able to make suggestions on key new markets to focus marketing efforts to attract new customers.
The Impact:
By taking transactional data, demo- graphics, industry data, and market information, then combining that with MacKenzie creativity, the client received a vivid snapshot of who their customers are and what products they are buying, tracking them against industry trends.
By providing not only data, but strategic thinking about how to best position their product, MacKenzie created action plans with out clients to move their company and product to the next level.
MacKenzie’s proprietary mapping software provided corporate, regional and store
level reporting which allows for tracking market share over time. Reports from this software can be shared with individual stores letting them know how their sales are comparing against their competitors in their area.
Curious. Creative. Customer-Centric.
With over 25 years of dedicated service, the MacKenzie Corporation’s Data Solutions Team provides clients with a comprehensive business perspective. And with an entire toolbox of services, including customer and market analysis, data analysis, strategic marketing campaigns, and more, our unique MacKenzie blend of curiosity and creative analytics can help you more fully understand and better communicate with your customers.
If your company is like so many others then you’ve got lots and lots of data. You’re practically swimming in data. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say you’re drowning in data, since you have no idea how to transform it all from “a bunch of data” into something accessible and useful. After all, unless you have a platform that enables people to use this data, it all just goes to waste.
At MacKenzie Corporation one of our overall goals is to help our clients to be more efficient by making better use of their data. We’ve found that dashboards are one of the best ways to accomplish this.
Why we love dashboards
Managers and decision makers are all pressed for time. They’re not analysts. They don’t want to weed through all of the details of the data to get the answers they need. Dashboards let them:
• Save time – Dashboards aggregate data and provide summary information in a format that makes it easy to quickly see where things stand.
• Access multiple data sources in one place – Many different types of information (such as sales, customer satisfaction survey, and production data) can all be pulled together from different systems and viewed simultaneously in one convenient platform.
• Get the exact information they need – Dashboards can be customized for each user, enabling each person to get top level information and then drill down into the details that are important to them.
• Get the entire team on the same page – With everyone viewing the same metrics.
• Make better decisions – And improve the organization’s bottom line.
In short, dashboards can transform all of that data that you don’t know what to do with into the useful business intelligence that you need.
Want to know more? Stay tuned! In my next post I’ll be discussing the keys to successful dashboard creation.
Google may not have caught up to Amazon in the cloud market, but that’s OK, according to a Google executive. The company is heading in a slightly different direction with cloud computing that involves helping customers analyze their data.
“It’s not about catching up to [Amazon],” said Brian Stevens, vice president of cloud platform at Google. “It’s not just about lifting and shifting servers and such. It’s not about doing exactly the same thing you’ve been doing. It’s about doing things in a new cloud way.”
That could change the way companies do business. It also could help Google become a cloud powerhouse.
Read More (Computer World)
At MacKenzie Corporation, we are continually looking for ways to engage our team members and support our local community. Through our partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank, MacKenzie Corp is able to accomplish both of those goals. What started out as a one-time volunteer effort during the Holiday season has developed into a continued effort to help feed the less fortunate. Our MacKenzie Team will look to participate in quarterly volunteer events at the Second Harvest Food Bank, and we are so thankful for the opportunity to give back to a community that has given us so much!
Reports to the Program Manager for the Production Team
Full Time, Non-Exempt
We are a family owned Market Research/Data Analytics firm seeking a top notch Data Entry Associate to data enter customer feedback that is delivered to our clients for their review.
As a part of our Production Team, this position is primarily responsible for receiving, scanning and data capturing customer satisfaction, product development and industry tracking surveys.
Responsibilities & Requirements:
• Prepare and sort source documents; identify and interpret data to be entered
• Scan source documents for verification
• Enter alphabetic, numeric, or symbolic data from source documents into computer following format displayed on screen, and enter necessary codes
• Compare data entered material with source documents
• Make necessary corrections to information entered
• Transmit entered information into database
• File source documents after entry
• Respond to inquiries regarding entered data
• Provide lunch and break coverage for Receptionist
Qualifications:
• Attention to detail
• Smart, organized, friendly, and have a “how can I help you” attitude
• Excellent computer skills (Word, Excel, Outlook, Access, etc.)
• Ability to work independently and in a team environment
• Ability to be flexible, follow direction, and have great follow through
• Problem Solving – Gather and analyze information skillfully
• Oral Communication – Speak clearly; listen and get clarification when needed
• Written Communication – Edit work for spelling and grammar; be able to read and interpret handwritten information accurately
• Ethics – Treat people with respect; keep commitments; work with integrity
• Organizational Support – Follow policies and procedures; complete administrative tasks correctly and on time; support company’s goals and values
• Planning/Organizing – Prioritize and plan work activities; use time efficiently
• Professionalism – Approaches others in a tactful manner; react well under pressure; accept responsibility for own actions
• Quality – Monitors own work to ensure quality
• Quantity – Meet productivity standards; complete work in timely manner; strive to increase productivity; work quickly and accurately
• Adaptability – Adapt to changes in the work environment; able to deal with frequent change, delays, or unexpected events
• Attendance/Punctuality – Consistently at work and on time; ensure work responsibilities are covered when absent
Please submit your resume and salary requirements to krucker@mackenziecorp.com
It’s that time of year again! We know you want to win your March Madness pool, so what better competitive advantage is there over predictive modeling? A great way to leverage this data is by harnessing information for filling out your NCAA tournament March Madness bracket. ”The Power Rank” has provided statistical odds on teams in the big dance. Probabilities are calculated based on college basketball rankings, which result from crunching over 10,000 numbers. Filling out your tourney bracket is a combination of art and math. There are always cinderella stories in the early rounds but teams the analytics like are usually the favorites to cut down the nets in the Final Four. Who said crunching numbers was boring? This awesome module is updated as the games continue and once again show the power of algorithms and harnessing BIG DATA! We promise you will not find a more creative tool to use while filling out your bracket!
To unlock these win probabilities, hover over a circle to see the likelihood that a team wins a game. To see how your team will do, hover over its name. View HereRecently I have been expanding on a previous post “Successful Surveys: Ask the Right Questions”, which offers a step-by-step approach to developing a focused and results-driven survey research project. Here we will address the third question listed in the original post; do you have an open communication channel with the target respondent? Considering the most effective means of communication (in terms of cost, reach, and success rate) will help determine the best way to deliver your research tool. While direct mail campaigns tend to yield strong response frequencies among highly engaged participants, online survey tools are a cost effective way to reach a large population of potential respondents. Ultimately, this decision will depend on variables such as available resources, the budget allocated to this project, and the location of the desired target respondents.
Discussing the appropriate mode of delivery will require additional decisions to be made, such as whether you are interested in feedback from new customers, existing customers, or past customers. Establishing the ideal respondent will help uncover existing communication channels or it can highlight the need to establish new communication channels. The type of customer will determine viable options:
– New Customers
– Existing Customers
– Past Customers
For instance, you may hold an internal data base of existing client information which can be a source for Email or Residential Addresses. To further illustrate the importance of effectively utilizing an open communication channel with potential respondents, consider the following:
Kohl’s regularly scores well in customer satisfaction studies conducted by third-party research firms. Their customer service strategies are guided by internal efforts to understand how their customers feel about the shopping experience from a service perspective. After making an in-store purchase, customers are encouraged to participate in an online survey. This invitation is communicated in-person by store employees AND reinforced with a printed message on the customer’s purchase receipt. Additional information regarding research objective and purpose is also included on the receipt to strengthen the likelihood of participation. Incentives offered to potential respondents include contest entries and/or merchandise discounts, which helps drive interest. Communicating with customers at the point of purchase ensures that the recipient is engaged, the research objective and subject matter are relevant, and the survey invitation is clearly received. This is a reliable communication channel, as Kohl’s understands that it will regularly have access to existing customers at a point when they are fully engaged in the purchase experience.
With only a week until our event, we are pleased to release the following
Irvine, California (May 21, 2015 at 4pm) – In a surprise announcement from MacKenzie Corporation, a Southern California Data Analytics mogul, previously withheld Data-torium event menu offerings have been leaked to the public.
The list includes Gourmet Chinese Food, Smashed Tamales, tray passed hor d’oeuvres, specialty desserts, and more.
These additions round out what is already expected to be a fantastic evening. “We hope people respond positively to the Data-torium,” Said Jenny Dinnen, President of Sales and Marketing. “But we understand not everyone is as enamored with data as we are. Free food is something we all enjoy, so if for nothing else I encourage people to show up and chow down!”
In addition to these gourmet food options, the Data-torium will also be feeding the mind with a chance to meet and interact with some of Southern California’s key business leaders. Katie Rucker, President of Operations, stated, “We are more than thrilled with our growing attendance list. For anyone who is ‘on the fence’ about coming, there’s free food and free drinks. What could be better than that?”
According to the Data-torium event page found below, space is limited so act now to reserve a spot for you and your guest(s).
In the past few blogs we’ve been diving into the details of The 4 Steps of a Successful Marketing Process. Once you’ve done your research to complete the Discovery phase of the project, the next step is to create your marketing strategy. To help you avoid forgetting something important, here’s a handy checklist of the steps you need to take:
Goals – Before you move forward you need to clearly define your goals and objectives (especially if your original goals and objectives need to be revised in light of what you learned during the discovery phase).
Customers – Who exactly is your target audience? What information do you have about these people in terms of demographics, psychographics, buying habits, etc.?
Messages – What will be the key components of your messaging?
Offers – What exactly will you offer? If it’s not clear to you, it won’t be clear to your prospects and customers.
Channels – Based on your budget and what you have learned about your target market, what are the best marketing channels for successfully reaching these people? Possibilities include TV, radio, direct mail, print ads, online ads, social media, email marketing, search engine marketing (pay per click), content marketing, telemarketing, seminars, trade shows, and more.
Timing – How often will you use each channel (for example, how often will you post blogs, run ads, send direct mail, etc.)? How long will the campaign last?
In my last post, “Got Lots of Data? Get Dashboards!” I talked about some of the ways that dashboards can be used to transform data into useful business intelligence. Today I’d like to discuss some of the things that you need to take into consideration to ensure that your dashboards actually meet this goal.
Determining what information should go on your dashboard
One of the best things about dashboards is their customizability. Your dashboard can have the exact information your end user needs, in a format that your end user will find most useful. But if you don’t take the time to find out what users actually need, your dashboard might end up with the wrong information, presented in a wrong or confusing format. For example, you might build a dashboard that illustrates sales per product, only to learn that the Sales Manager never looks at per product data – it’s the “by region” results that are important to her.
This is why you need to ask each of your users (or an appropriate representative sample of each category of users) lots of questions before you design your dashboards. You need to know what information is out there, and what information is important to people. For example, you can ask…
• What are your key performance indicators?
• What are you currently measuring?
• What metrics do you regularly review?
• What metrics would you like to be able to review?
• What level of detail is important to you?
• How do you need to see information aggregated – by product, by region, by sales person, by customer, or what?
One thing to keep in mind is that dashboards can aggregate data from multiple systems (such as sales, production and accounting) into one place. The good news is that this means that information that was never available before might now be easily accessible. The bad news is that this means that your end users may not even know what they can ask for.
This is why dashboard creation is also about anticipating what people will need. When we create dashboards we always like to ask the end users what their business issues are. Our goal is then to figure out a solution for them, and build for that. We’ll also ask questions such as “what five things do you do as a sales person?” This gives us a look into their world, further helping us anticipate what information will help each person the most.
Creating different dashboards for different people
We use Microsoft SharePoint to create dashboards for our clients. One of the things we like about SharePoint is the ability to create one basic dashboard and then customize it based on who is accessing it. Plus, it allows us to create dashboards that are “drillable” (i.e. users can start with the higher level information and then drill down into the details that matter to them).
For example, you might have a sales dashboard that shows the number of leads, prospects, closed sales, deals in progress, etc., all broken out by sales person or region. The main dashboard could show top level information, such as the number of deals closed this month. This might be all your CEO would need to review on a regular basis. But your National Sales Manager may want to know which regions are driving the sales, they would be able to quickly drill down to see that information, with detailed results for each sales person. And individual sales people might only be given access to the company-level information plus the details of his or her own results.
Keeping user experience in mind
Always keep your end user in mind when you’re designing dashboards. I can’t stress this enough. Think about the simplest, most intuitively organized way that you can present the needed information. Then, before you do the actual programming, show the mock-up to some of the people who will actually use the dashboard to get their input. Your programmers might think that a dashboard is intuitively obvious and easy, but your users might not agree!
Need help creating amazing dashboards that will enable better business decisions and improve your bottom line? Give us a call. We’re here for you!
This year, Katie and I went to our first CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. It has been on our bucket list and we finally took the plunge and bought tickets. I am so glad that we did. We went with a CES veteran (attended 15 years in a row) who showed us the ropes and helped us find a good place to start. When asked why we wanted to attend, our collective response was, “we want to feel the energy and be a part of the future.”
There are so many truly amazing innovations, opportunities and advancements happening every day, and we want to surround ourselves with all of this greatness. And then of course, figure out how to bring a bit of that energy back to apply to our daily lives at home and in the office.
For those who have not gone before, here is a very brief overview – CES is one of the biggest conferences in Las Vegas with over 170,000 attendees, over 3,600 exhibiting companies in over 2.2 million net square feet of exhibit space. To say that we walked miles every day is an understatement! Products showcased came from a wide variety of industries including: Automotive Electronics, Unmanned Systems, Augmented Reality, 3D Printing, Robotics, Smart Homes, Health & Wellness, Family & Technology, Sports Tech, Wearables, and more.
With so much to see, this show can be a bit overwhelming. Now that I am back and have had a week to digest everything, I wanted to write down my biggest takeaways from the show:
From a data company’s perspective, this is exciting and overwhelming. My biggest question – What is being done with all this data? For those not up to speed with the Internet of Things, click here for a quick overview.
They are making custom insoles for shoes with a 3D printer and they even had a station where you could take a picture of your face and it would create and action figure that looked just like you. I am not sure what I would do with a personalized action figure, but I am 100% sure that I want a 3D printer and at a price tag of only $2,500 for a small version, don’t be surprised if you see one at our office next time you stop by!
This is just scratching the surface of the amazing things found at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. If you would like a more in-depth review of top CES products, follow this link.
I would HIGHLY recommend attending this show next year so you can “feel the energy” for yourself. Let us know if you decide to check it out and hopefully we can meet up!
I recently wrote an article about the 4 Steps of a Successful Marketing Process. Step 1, Discovery, is where all of the initial market research takes place. Mapping (i.e. plotting information on a map) is an often-overlooked but extremely useful market research technique.
What types of data can be mapped? Anything that can be tied to geography. Examples include store, dealer or program locations; customer or donor addresses; and a wide range of demographic data. The value of mapping lies in its ability to yield valuable, highly visual information that can be used to shape your marketing strategies and plans. Our work with a non-profit organization illustrates this.
Background: We recently worked with a local chapter of a non-profit organization, Girls Inc, who provides programs designed to help girls of all backgrounds grow into Strong, Smart and Bold individuals. Over 85% of the organization’s funding comes from individuals, corporations and grants.
Problem: The organization wanted to (1) grow their donor base and (2) reach more girls. However, they were not sure where (geographically) they should be spending their limited advertising dollars, and they did not know where to locate new programs.
Solution: MacKenzie Corporation undertook a market research and mapping project designed to get the necessary data to resolve both of these issues. Here’s a look at the mapping process in action:
1. Start with internal data. The first step in the mapping process is to lay down your own data. In this case, we started with a general map of the geographic area that this organization serves, and then created one map of their program locations and another map showing where their donors are located.
2. Look at target market. Next we used census data to determine where the bulk of the organization’s “customers”(i.e. girls age 10 to 14) live, and overlaid that with the program locations. This highlighted some initial areas to consider for potential program expansion.
3. Look at target market demographics – girls. Census data can often yield all kinds of insights into a given market. In addition to using census data to find which areas have high populations of girls age 10 to 14, we also took a close look at household income data. Although Girls Inc. serves girls from all socioeconomic backgrounds, they wanted to focus their initial expansion efforts in areas where families were likely to have the necessary income to pay for the program without scholarship assistance. They had determined that families with annual income in the $125 to $200,000 range were their best prospects. Our next step was therefore to look at the number of families with this level of income that live in each census tract, overlay this onto the map of current program locations, and then compare it to the map above.
It should be noted that each census tract has approximately the same number of residents. The large blocks on thismap therefore represent more sparsely populated areas, while the small blocks represent densely populated areas.
4. Look at target market demographics – donors. Now that we had mapped out their donors’ addresses, we wanted to look at the household income in these areas. The next step was to overlay data for mean household income by census tract with the donor addresses. To gain further clarity, we then took a more close-up view of some of the areas with the highest concentration of donors.
Results: Mapping projects can either show you something new or confirm what you already believe to be true. In this case, the location of some of the big pockets of donors came as a surprise to the organization. This information will be invaluable in determining where they should advertise in order to grow their donor base.
The maps comparing current program locations with the locations of households in the organization’s target demographic (i.e. families that have a household income of $125 to $200,000 and 10- to 14-year-old girls) yielded some promising areas for program expansion. Because the organization runs most of its programs at school sites, the next step (currently in progress) is to zero in on these areas and add school locations to the map.
Girls Inc. of Orange County
Girls Inc.® of Orange County has been a respected member of the non-profit community for almost 60 years. The mission of Girls Inc. is to inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. We put our mission into practice through the Girls Inc. experience that equips girls to navigate gender, economic, and social barriers and grow into healthy, educated and independent adults. Girls Inc. of Orange County positively changes the lives of 4,500 girls, ages 4 1/2 to 18, each year, by providing year-round holistic, compensatory, and intentional programming focusing on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math), financial literacy, sound body image, healthy relationships, and college and career readiness. For more information, please visit www.girlsinc-oc.org.
No doubt, Big Data is complicated. To reap its full benefits there’s often long hours analyzing complex data sets uncovering actionable insights through strategic segmentation.
On the flip side, to maintain sanity it’s good to share a few laughs along the way. Take Dilbert for example…
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via bigdata-madesimple.com
The internet has become a primary source of information, recommendations and reviews when business decision-makers contemplate potential purchases. This places significant responsibility on marketers, who must now guide and nurture these leads via digital through the majority of the buying cycle.
Relying on automated solutions to create and deploy lead nurture programs is not new, but business-to-business (B2B) marketers are eyeing them with a renewed focus, according to a new eMarketer report, “B2B Marketing Automation: Using Behavioral Data to Power Lead Nurture.”
Marketers operating in the business-to-business (B2B) realm have seen a steady uptick in dollars dedicated to marketing over the past year. According to April 2013 research from American Business Media (ABM), a B2B industry association, 29% of US marketers reported increasing their B2B advertising budgets over the preceding 12 months, while 59% said outlays had remained about the same. Only 9% indicated they had decreased at all.
Read More Here
A few months ago, I posted an article entitled “Successful Surveys: Ask the Right Questions” which offers a focused approach to developing a successful research project. Here I’d like to discuss the fourth concept listed in the original article; considering time restraints associated with the research project.
A predictive study intended to determine customer preference for future product development can have a longer run-time and feature detailed research questions. Here the data collected may not be intended for immediate use, so the project timeline can be flexible or drawn out. However a study to determine the current state of customer satisfaction to assist with immediate decision making within that quarter should offer respondents a succinct survey instrument to help expedite the data collection and analysis process. Considering potential time restraints will help establish a realistic project schedule, which will keep the research efforts focused and organized. To examine this concept further, consider the following:
The Oklahoma City Thunder (NBA) touts one of the top fan-friendly atmospheres in all of sports; partly because they have some of the most satisfied fans. Since its inception in 2008, the OKC Thunder organization has communicated its intent to offer a fan-friendly experience through:
– “T.E.S.T US” Campaign
– Two (2) Independent Companies Running Fan-Intercept Survey Research Programs [on-site, fan-intercept surveys]
These research efforts provide current, relevant fan-feedback to the Thunder organization allowing for immediate action to be taken. A problem can be recognized AND addressed before the season is over. If they wait until next season, it could be too late. The Thunder organization uses fan-feedback to immediately influence internal decision making, therefore the research project must adhere to a strict predetermined timeline in order to maximize the effectiveness of the research.
http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/sales/awards/426_2632_20459.cfm
The internet of things (IoT) is expected to become a thing in 2015, and marketers are focusing heavily on the inevitable connected future.
In a December 2014 study by Millward Brown for Kentico Software, the IoT ranked as the second most important priority area in 2015 among US digital marketers polled, cited by nearly six in 10. Big data and cloud software, both related to the IoT, were also among the top five priorities, at 54% and 49% of respondents, respectively.
The IoT has a place in many marketing strategies, too, based on December 2014 research by Price water house Coopers. Among CEOs worldwide, 65% cited the IoT as a digital technology that was strategically important.
On August 7th MacKenzie was honored to be a part of the annual Girls Inc. YESS luncheon. This is the 4th year that we have been involved with this program, and every year we are blown away by the event and the girls in general. Girls Inc. is an amazing organization that inspires and encourages young girls to be Strong, Smart and Bold.
As a women-owned business we are proud to support this program and Girls Inc. in general. The Y.E.S.S. program is a summer long program for 9-12 year old girls where they are taught skills they need to secure employment, launch their own businesses, and take charge of their lives . Throughout the program the girls develop their own business ideas and learn how to merchandise, advertise and conduct profit and loss analysis while launching their start-up businesses. The luncheon is where the girls open their businesses for the first time and learn how to serve customers in a real time market place.
I was actually lucky enough this year to go to the center to see the program in action. I attended a session where the girls were learning all about filling out job applications and interview skills. The applications that they filled out included everything from previous experience, references and job specific questions. They were also given an Interview Checklist, which included things that a prospective company will be looking for during an interview process. Having attended the luncheon the last 3 years it was great to be able see a little more of the behind the scenes of how the girls prepare all summer for this amazing event.
