As a market researcher, a big part of my job consists of designing questionnaires and figuring out what is the best way to ask a particular question. This is not always easy. The discussions of whether or not to use an open ended question, a scale, a yes/no, or a multiple response can take a long time, and elicit a lot of debate… we’re research nerds, after all!

One trick that I’ve learned over time is, whenever I get stuck with these types of issues, I just make up hypothetical results for the different types of questions I am considering, and then I assess whether or not the data would answer my client’s business objective.

Hard to visualize? Let me give you a fun example: A couple of months ago, @CrumbsBakeShop opened a few blocks away from our office. After repeated visits, I decided I needed to keep track of the different ones I tried so I’d be able to recommend to friends and coworkers which ones to try first (talk about brand advocacy!).  Before I knew it, the Crumbs Cupcake Rating Spreadsheet was born.  

Here’s how it went down:  

1.     The Design

Because my mantra is simplicity, my first reaction was to create a simple “Diego approved” ranking: A thumbs up or thumbs down whether or not I liked a cupcake:

Attempt #1: Good/Bad rating:

 

 

 

 

But thinking of the end results, I could picture a chart where all of the cupcakes are “Diego approved” (these are really good cupcakes!!!!)

 

 

 

 

So that would not be helpful to achieve my objective of being able to help others pick the best cupcake(s) of the bunch.  

Then I went on with attempt #2: Rankings.

 

 

 

 

This method also had (fatal) flaws. First, rankings do not allow for ties (what if two cupcakes  are equally kickass?) and more importantly, rankings do not show the relative distance between places. So let’s say Vanilla is first and Pistachio is second… how much MORE delicious is vanilla?

 

Finally, there were also limitations with data collection: I would not be tasting the 30+ cupcakes all on the same day (I am not THAT big of a pig), so it would be difficult to place a cupcake in a ranking system after testing 20+  others (e.g., Is this “Artie Lange” better or worse than #19? Or is it an 18^th place?).

Attempt #3 led me to a 0-10 rating scale:

 

 

 

Which seemed pretty reasonable… until I visualized the results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, all of my cupcakes would be in the 8-10 scale, since crumbs is so much better than any other cupcake bakery in town. So… how to make it more useful? Change the frame of reference! 

 

 

 

Sweet! A scale that should work:

 

 

 

 

2.     Data collection

Now came the fun part… cupcake tasting! As I went on my quest to taste every crumbs cupcake, I realized I needed to solve (new) data collection issues:

 

1)      Taste bias: As much as I consider myself a cupcake expert (over 10 years of enthusiastic experience), I realized my opinion is not the ONLY one that matters. So I enrolled three other friends (#team crumbs: @jenisgolden, @skearney21, @caitdailey), so we could all provide rankings and “correct” for outliers.

• However, to avoid sampling bias (e.g., the oven was not working well that day) we ALL have to try the same cupcake on the same day (we split it in 4). This also has the added benefit that we can taste 2 different flavors per day (and aren’t we all looking for shorter data collection times?)

2)     Time of day bias: We decided to try the cupcakes at the same time of the day (late afternoon) to avoid misrepresentation (e.g., a blueberry cupcake would be much better rated in the morning than in the afternoon).

3)     Group think bias: Nobody is supposed to share their opinion until everyone has tasted and made up their minds about the cupcake (although I’ll admit I am known for premature disapproval gestures…) 

3.     Data Reporting

For analyzing and sharing the results, my first thought was to show rating averages:  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I quickly realized this was not enough: Averages hide the data distribution. So for example: Is “Blackout” a 0 because 2 people LOVED it (gave 5s) and 2 people hated it (gave -5s?)… Or was it just an average cupcake for everyone (all 0s) […the latter is actually true]. So, to complement my average rankings, we reported average AND top 3 scores.

 

Ta-da!  

As a final touch, team crumbs members were encouraged to add a comment to explain their rankings, which adds a qualitative measure to our system. Here are some of our favorite quotes:

“As a chocolate lover, there wasn't much more to ask from a cupcake. The vanilla custard in the filling and cheesecake frosting helped avoid a chocolate overload.” –@skearney21 on ‘blackout’.  

“Elvis would be proud.” –@dejota3 on ‘Elvis’.

“The combo of coconut and pineapple goes great in an adult beverage and holds true with cupcakes as well.” @caitdailey on ‘Pineapple Coconut’  

“It's a vanilla cupcake with a bad looking, jolly rancher tasting frosting.” --@dejota3 on ‘Watermelon’

“This was very costco muffin-ish. That being said I did enjoy the coffee cake-esque topping.” -@jenisgolden on ‘Peach Cobbler’  

“Liked the consistency of the blueberry but could have used a little more. I think Diego's cutting ruined it for me…” @caitdailey on ‘Blueberry swirl’   

So what do you think? Do you see any more flaws with my system? (despite the fact that apparently I have too much time in my hands and an unhealthy obsession with cupcakes). Let me know!  

Happy tasting!  

@dejota3 is Diego Jimenez, Diego is a senior project manager for the tech and telecom practice and still has a long way to go before he tries all of the cupcakes.  

@andresita is a creative genius and designed the illustrations for this blog post. She thinks she would be a terrible #teamcrumbs judge due to her obsession with—and bias towards—chocolate.

           

One of the things I love most about the culture of CMB is the passion of our people, inside and outside the office. It inspires me each and every day.   Last week our HR Manager, Marlo Manning was named a CNN Hero for the charity she founded called Fairy Dog Parents. In Marlo’s “spare” time she managed to turn the loss of her beloved dog into a nonprofit that has helped over 400 dogs get the care they need when their owners have fallen on hard times.

Let’s face it, times are still tough for people. When unemployment hits and they are faced figuring out how to care for their family, pay the rent or mortgage and put food on the table, many people are forced to give up their pets. This is where Fairy Dog Parents steps in, easing the financial burden of caring for a dog so they can stay in their loving homes by paying for everything from dog food to vet bills.

A lot of us have ideas on how to make an impact or causes that we are passionate about, but time, jobs, family and “life” sometimes gets in the way of acting on those ideas or causes.  But for some that passion runs deep and inspires them to push on, to make it happen, to follow through and not give up. Passionate people do amazing things which often becomes contagious and inspires others to act.

Another cause we are all very passionate about here at CMB is the Light the Night foundation that supports the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Six years ago when one of our own CMBer’s was diagnosed with this terrible disease, I was once again taken back by how the company rallied together and acted on their passion to make a difference and support Catherine.  Through the last 4 years as a team we have raised over $35,000 for Light the Night by participating in the Boston Walk. And Catherine has been cancer free for 3 years. This walk has become a CMB tradition, part of who we are as a company and an important way we put our passion to work. We are gearing up for this year’s walk taking place on October 11^th. The CMB team is working hard to raise funds through friends, family and a silent Auction and BBQ. We would love your support for our team, please donate here.

For me personally it’s this passion that runs deep in our culture both in the work we do for our clients and in our personal lives. It gives me inspiration, motivation and my own sense of passion to make a difference. When you are surrounded by people like that every day it becomes contagious and is part of our company’s DNA. It makes us better researchers, marketers, accountants, managers… it makes us all just a little bit more passionate about life.

Posted by Kristen Garvey. Kristen is CMB's VP of Marketing, a mom of two, and an adjunct professor at Boston College Carroll School of Management. You can follow Kristen on Twitter @KristenGarvey

You have a loyalty program, you offer discounts, special rewards, and you track your growth.

Well so does everyone else.

Judy Melanson shares tips for optimizing your loyalty program so you can break away from the pack, and make the most of your loyalty investment.

Read more about our work with loyalty programs here.

Join us Wednesday September 12 to discover the who, what, and how of the new rules of television viewing.

CMB's Chris Neal maps out the needs and priorities of different consumers to help forecast how they'll react to future technologies, platforms and service bundles as the industry continues to evolve.

Topics include:

• Online viewership of TV shows and movies among age segments.
• Device viewership scenarios.
• Preferred TV viewing device by occasion.
• Online viewing pain points and barriers.
• Needs analysis of new technology platforms.

Register here

Download our free Consumer Pulse report: The New Age of Television

 

 

Senior PM Lynne Castronuovo chats with Emily Brouwer about her work, her 21 marathons, and her favorite CMB memories.

EB: What is your favorite part about being an employee at CMB?
LC: I’m fortunate to work on the Travel and Hospitality team here, I love to read about travel, learn about it, and travel myself, so the research  has a lot of personal interest for me  One of my favorite trips is when I get to fly down to Miami and meet with one of our long standing clients there!  Working at CMB lets me look ‘behind-the-scenes’ of travel businesses and agencies.  In working with our clients I am able to see how a premium experience is delivered to the guest.

EB: How would you describe our office?
LC: Our team is special, we have a lot of really kind and intelligent people. The office environment is relaxed and laid back, and as a result we have a lot of fun. We work in teams, which fosters collaboration, so you never feel like you’re alone.  There’s a real sense of camaraderie.

EB: How have you grown during your time here?
LC: I’ve been here 4.5 years, one of our key differentiators is trying to get to the heart of the matter and answer clients’ burning questions.  Working here has really helped me learn how to focus on that to produce compelling reports that answer questions.  I can turn reports and mass amounts of data into stories that answer most important questions for clients.  The reports we produce here get used; they’re not just data-dumps.

EB: I know you’re an avid runner, has that skill come in handy at CMB?
LC: I began running marathons in my late twenties and have now completed 21 of them.  When I began, it was with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training program; every year I was matched with a patient battling a blood related cancer, and ran in his or her honor.  I did this for eleven years.  When I came to CMB, one of my co-workers was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, I told her I wanted to run for her, and did. This was the beginning of many meaningful relationships here.  I also co-captained our Light the Night team and over the past four years we’ve raised over $35,000.  We have come a long way with this fundraiser, and I particularly enjoy being able to bring my background in fundraising to promote a successful, company-wide event.

EB: What is your favorite memory associated with CMB?
LC: This is a toss-up between my husband singing karaoke at the annual summer party, and running/coaching a corporate challenge for CMB with two colleagues.  Another favorite and very meaningful memory was just this past year, when my colleague Diego jumped into the Boston Marathon in 90 degree, record-breaking heat to run the last seven miles with me.  He really had the crowed going and got me through the last leg of the run.

EB:  How is CMB different from other jobs you’ve had or companies you’ve worked for?
LC: One key differentiator I see is our focus on business decisions; but I also am constantly impressed by quality of our graphics and that we have a dedicated graphic designer who not only ensures that all of our documents have a standard look and feel but who also works with us on creating very compelling, specialized graphics as needed.

EB: And now for the fun questions, if CMB had a mascot what would it be?
Hmmm, I’d describe us as Questioning Quigley… We’re always pushing the envelope.

EB: Knowing what you know about CMB what else could “CMB” stand for?
LC: Constantly Making Breakthroughs

EB: If CMB won an academy award what would it be for?
LC: Best Costume Design because we dress up our reports so well. ;)

Interested in joining our team? Check out our Careers page for more about CMB and job opportunities.

Posted by Emily Brouwer. Emily is CMB’s marketing intern, this fall she'll enter her senior year at Connecticut College, where she'll be writing her thesis on Portuguese migration, women’s rights, and education. She'll also be rowing, sailing, singing, and working as the news editor of Conn’s college paper, and when she has a free moment apple picking. She's been an absolute pleasure to work with and the marketing team will miss her terribly.