The ICG has some of the most talented and experienced researchers in our industry and we are delighted to have them recognised in the MRS’s awards process. The MRS/ICG Award for Independent Consultants, now in its sixth year, is designed to recognise the contribution of researchers who choose to work as micro-businesses rather than in a larger agency environment.
Spotlight today is on our Finalist Tom Woodnutt, Feeling Mutual, and Virgin Pure
How Qualitative Research Helped Virgin Pure Build A New Product Category
Virgin Pure is a drinking water dispenser that provides filtered water at the touch of a button (while reducing plastic waste). They face the challenge of having to build a new product category from scratch. Over two years, Feeling Mutual used a range of qualitative methods to inform senior management decisions from ethnography (to inspire advertising strategy), to UX lab-testing (to guide a website rebuild), depth interviews (for new product testing) and online and mobile qualitative co-creation (to help shape retention strategy). Virgin Pure’s CEO, Tom Stazicher said:
“Feeling Mutual’s insight drove a game changing 50%+ improvement in conversion rate on the launch of the new website and guided a restructure of the business around a new Customer Experience function”.
What Tom loves about being an independent consultant and his membership of the ICG:
I’ve been independent for over 10 years. The main benefit to me is having more autonomy over my work and therefore life. Working for myself has given me more opportunity to work the hours that I want, with the clients that I like, using the methods I really believe in. As a father of a young child this has been vital to both our well-being.
This is my third attempt at winning this award – so I hope the old adage about luck holds true!
“The ICG has been critical to my business through the sage advice of its members, the contact recommendations they have shared and perhaps most importantly, the sense that we are not all at it alone.”
