Best-in-Class Marketing and Research Agencies Partner to Form Mindtap Insight Network

WILTON, Conn., Sept. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Six of the country's leading marketing strategy and research companies have come together to form a best-in-class insights consultancy network that offers marketers a seamless, comprehensive resource for brands seeking an integrated shopper insights solution.

Mindtap Insight Network (www.mindtapinsight.com) enables faster, easier, and smarter decision-making for senior-level shopper marketing executives inundated with information in today's challenging and fast-changing environment. The network's comprehensive solution helps clients to elevate the role and impact of shopper marketing by delivering the right insights to drive more effective shopper strategies and implementation for brands.  It does this by incorporating a customized variety of research perspectives in one integrated insights-to-execution plan.

Mindtap comprises: BIGresearch, D. L. Ryan Companies, Ltd., GfK Interscope, RetailNet Group, SmartRevenue and Spire.

"Many CPGs cannot keep up with the speed at which shopper marketing is evolving, and often go to 5 or 6 vendors to get research and data for effective shopper insights," explained D. L. Ryan COO, Paul Kramer. "Which is where Mindtap comes in," he continued. "With Mindtap, you get an integrated insight plan coordinated by a single strategist that orchestrates the contributions of our many partners. Mindtap partners work with the top retailers and know the type of data each will find most compelling."  

"Some retailers want hard panel data. Others want ethnographic data from their stores. While others are looking for analytics based on their shopper card data," said Tim O'Connor, Vice President of RetailNet Group. "With our lineup of partners, we can respond to these needs as efficiently and effectively as possible."

For example, John Dranow, founder and CEO of Smart Revenue said, "One of the questions shopper marketers increasingly are asking themselves is, 'Why are this retailer's shoppers behaving the way they are, and how is this different from what our consumer research is telling us?'  Mindtap can approach this question and activate solutions from several points of view, so we are able to be a more comprehensive resource than any individual firm ever could.  Think of it as an intelligence and activation consortium."

Shopper marketing data is expanding at an exponential rate, which makes it difficult for even veteran marketers to perform a timely and accurate assessment of how shopper behavior is changing, especially at the macro level. Mindtap is a cohesive resource that fully integrates the core shopper insights that executives need to be effective, along with a senior-level strategist to help develop the plan and provide the macro-level integration that drives effective strategy and execution.

"Many organizations have lots of data, locked away in different silos, including category management, finance, shopper insights and market research. The big industry opportunity is more integrated insights and the capability to integrate insights and translate them to action," explained Alison Chaltas, Principal of GfK Interscope. She continued, "Working with the Mindtap Insight Network, we can integrate research and data needs at the outset, improving efficiency and applying a wide range of expertise to create ideas that work at retail."

"Being part of Mindtap allows us the tremendous opportunity to work with thought leaders across the shopper spectrum and bring more of a seamless solution to life, from strategy all the way through to creative execution," Paul Taylor, CEO of Spire, said. "The chance to work with other experts makes for a collaborative, enjoyable experience."

The flexibility that Mindtap delivers to clients is in building only the research that each client needs, Taylor noted, adding that the organizational structure of the new network allows for more efficient solutions.

What Mindtap provides is:

• Qualitative and quantitative shopper research
• Multichannel retailer intelligence (strategic and implementation)
• Synthesis and recommendations for real-world implementation from both creative and execution experts
• Tools and training that build your organization's capability to win at the point of sale
• Performance measurement, using consumer purchase data and advanced analytical techniques

Mindtap integrates the following "insight" services:

Shopper Research

• Quantitative retailer-specific shopper information
• Ongoing tracking
• Custom studies
• Store-level ethnographies
• Hispanic retailer-specific shopper tracking

Category Analysis

• Shopper-card driven analysis of category dynamics
• Integration of massive data sets
• Development of strategies and solutions that win at point of sale

Shopper Activity Measurement/Analytics

• Shopper-card driven analysis of shopper behavior
• Behavior-based shopper targeted marketing
• Advanced analytic capabilities to measure program effectiveness and ROI

Retailer Insight & Activity

• In-depth strategic analysis of specific retail banners and trends
• National database of category activities/tactics by retail banner
• Comprehensive virtual e-tailer activity tracking/evaluation

Strategic Integration

• Actionable conclusions from combined sources
• Strategic direction
• Focus on making sure insights are executable

Kim Finnerty, VP Insights of D. L. Ryan Companies, Ltd. and Candace Adams, President of Global Retail Strategy of Smart Revenue, along with Kim Rayburn, SVP of Client Solutions for BIGresearch and Keith Anderson, Senior Analyst with RetailNet Group, will be presenting at PMA's Digital Shopper Marketing Summit 2011. Titled "The Smarter Shopper: Marketing to the Digital Consumer," the summit will be held Sept. 20–21 at the Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa in Stamford, Conn.

About Mindtap Insight Network

Mindtap Insight Network is the new best-in-class consortium that brings together insights partners from across the shopper-marketing spectrum. The consortium, which includes BIGresearch, D. L. Ryan Companies, Ltd., GfK Interscope, Retailnet Group, SmartRevenue and Spire, enables clients to develop more effective shopper marketing programs, thus maximizing speed and efficiency of the research process. Mindtap clients receive shopper insights in a completely integrated, actionable and real-time format that allows for well-informed, well-targeted, responsive decision-making. Mindtap provides only the research that senior-level shopper marketing executives need to move faster and smarter in a fast-changing shopper-marketing environment. Visit Mindtap at: www.mindtapinsight.com

SOURCE Mindtap Insight Network