1. © TNS
Jon Puleston
VP Innovation
Lightspeed GMI
Amy Cashman
MD Technology & Finance
TNS
It’s not business
It’s personal

2. © TNS
Today’s session coverage
A new approach
to survey design
Our SME survey
The story the
survey told
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Survey design seen as a functional process
Surveys by and
large are simply a
long list of things
we want to know
Evolved out of
spoken interview
methods
We use a set of
rules to write
them
?
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We forget…
Whether or not anyone wants to read the
questions we write
....and if anyone want to answer them?
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What can advertising
teach us?

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A survey question
This is a message I want you to read and think about and
respond to
And I want you to read this bit
And this bit
And this bit
And this bit
And this bit
And this bit too
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An advert
This is a message I want you to read and think about and
respond to
And I want you to read this bit
And this bit
And this bit
And this bit
And this bit
And this bit too
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Same challenge but…
Their focus is on motivating
you to consume their
messages
They reward you for
consuming them by making
the process pleasurable /fun
/intriguing /surprising
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We take pleasure from looking at this ad
Visual
reward
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Humour
I am entertained by reading this ad
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Titillation
= mild sexual pleasure
Double entendre
= mental puzzle
Sexual and intellectual rewards for reading this ad
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Mental
challenge
Intellectual reward for reading the copy
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Surprise
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Wallpaper
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Learning from what advertisers do?
The art of copywriting
is all about making a
connection with the
consumer
Understanding who you are talking
to and adapting the message
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Learning from what advertiser do?
Ads fail when advertisers focus
purely on what they want
to tell you
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What can we learn from advertising?
A change of
mind-set
about a
survey
Focus on
making it
pleasurable
Using visuals
more
effectively
To
communicate
question
content
To help
motivate
people to
think
Reworking questions:
More surprising and challenging
Using a language that connects with the consumer
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Here is how a typical survey might start
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Think about the first
page of a survey
as the ad for
that survey

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Treat the opening page as the ad for the survey
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Be more
surprising:
Please rate your
bank?

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Is your bank perfect?
YES NO
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How close to perfect is it?
No where near Close to perfect
Perfect Bank
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Making better use of
visuals

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Think of icons as ads for the options!
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Think of icons as ads for the options!
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Average option selection rate
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Making the whole survey a pleasurable experience
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The challenges we face as
researchers are in many ways more
complex than the challenges of
advertising
We have to hold people’s attention
not for 30 seconds but for several
minutes
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Film makers
manage to
keep our
attention
for hours
So what can
we learn
from them?
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What can we learn from what script writers do?
Good scripts
grab your
attention from
the off by posing
a great question
Narrative
structure is key
They construct
Heros through
which the story
is told
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Recommended reading matter

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At the heart of a good film script is a really good question
What if every day was the same?
Groundhog day
What if a nun was made to be a nanny?
The sound of music
What if a really smart innocent person went to prison?
Shawshank redemption
What if dreams and reality were inter-changeable?
Matrix
1
2
3
4
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A survey can be
built around a
really good
question

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What is the secret
of a really great
shampoo?

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A life of hair
washing… what
have you learnt?

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Learning from script writers
Narrative structure is the key to
good surveys
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The trial narrative
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The trial narrative
Case for the
prosecution
Case for the
defence
Jury
discussion
Verdict
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Learning from publishers
The techniques of mix advertising and
editorial content
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Content readers
want to look at
Content publishers
want you to look at
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Survey questions
researchers want
respondents to answer
What brands of
toothpaste are you
aware of?
Survey questions
respondents want to answer
Your
nominations for
the toothpaste
of the year
awards
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The challenge of survey design more complex than film making
too…
Not asking people to passively consume
but actively think and respond
This is where understanding game play
becomes important and we have taken
a huge number of learnings from the
computer gaming industry
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What we learn from what game designers do?
They challenge us by asking really
difficult questions! - forcing us to think
really hard
They deliver rewards
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Prediction games
This is an example of how this betting approach is being used in practice to copy-
test book cover designs
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Improved enjoyment
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Less sample to get stable answer
60 v 40
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Tests/quizzes
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Tests/quizzes
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Test/quiz
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Personality tests
A repetitive set of attitude statements can be transformed into a more rewarding
experience for respondents by positioning it as a personality test. This technique
can be applied in virtually any survey but does require some setup and thought.
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Key Learnings
Think like an advertiser
Structure your story like a film marker
Suspend your agenda about what you want to know
Think like a gamer and make things more fun!
1
2
3
4
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Treat them like a
human being

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Our SME survey

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A survey built around a really good question
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A more visual approach
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The respondents
became the hero
of their own story

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Built around a strong narrative structure
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Injecting some fun: thinking about these business people as
human beings!
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The fact it was all about me and my life! ;-)
I felt the person who wrote this survey really
understood me and my business concerns
It challenged me to really think about me and my
business objectively
What did you like about this survey?
“
”
“
”
“
”
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And the results speak for themselves
highest
B2B
survey score
enjoyment
score of
8.25
in the top
10%
of all surveys
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The story our survey told

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In the beginning
24%
To earn
money
24%
To be my
own boss
17%
Saw an
opportunity/gap
in the market
16%
Broader social
purpose
13%
Control of
my future
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People are seen as critical drivers to achieving their ambitions
22%
Business
employees
15%
Personal/family
contribution
15%
Business
improvement
18%
Business
reputation
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Business is personal: 85% see themselves, their family, friends
or employees as the biggest contributors to success
%
62
23
Me and my family
Staff
Business
improvement
Clients/customers
Bank /Gov
19 16 9 6
Myself Determination
Family Friends
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Family/friends are seen to play a more important role than any
professional body in their business success
16
22
20
56
69
43
44
35
22
18
9
6
Family / friends
Bank
Accountant
Govt agency
Non-bank lender
Solicitor
Large role No role
%
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Whilst family/friends are important for all SMEs, they are of
greatest importance to Micros
Role played by Family/friends
44
67
43
46
37
Whole sample
1 to 10
11 to 50
51 to 100
101 to 250
16
9
16
18
22
Large role No role
%
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Introducing Micro
Managers and
Bullish Builders

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Micro Managers & Bullish Builders show diverging characteristics
Bullish BuildersMicro Managers
Spontaneous and
chance taking
Practical and affirmed
in their ways
Empathetic
and affable
Organised and
systematic
Creative and curious
for innovation
Calculated and goal-
driven
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Snapshot of Micro Managers
Numerically important
1 million
Motivated by independence
47%Be my
own boss
Friends and family are key Technology not seen as main
success driver
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For micros, family/ friends play a broader strategic role in
terms of…
55%
Idea
generation
52%
Financial
support
48%
Networking
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Snapshot of Bullish Builders
33%
High potential/high
growth companies
Investing heavily in their businesses
Equally motivated by
opportunity and money
invest
over 100k
21% To earn money
20% Saw a gap
in the market +65%
+79%time
put in
effort
made
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They are intent on growth
+55%
Productivity
+33%
New products
+38%
New customer
acquisitions
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“I want to be
the dominant force in
English wine.”
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The story of our survey told us SMEs want to be…
…the same is true of respondents, be they consumers or business
people
RecognisedValuedUnderstood
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79. Business Personality Tests
Access at:
http://question-science.blogspot.co.uk/

80. Copyright © 2014 Lightspeed, LLC. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
THE AVERAGE SMALL BUSINESS IS:
65%
Creative
49%
Gambler
60%
Socialite
30%
Business
Tycoon
55%
Micro
Manager

81. Copyright © 2014 Lightspeed, LLC. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
SMALL BUSINESS v RESEARCH BUSINESS:
65%
49%
60%
30%
55%55%
41%
51%
35%
49%
Creative Gambler Socialite Business Tycoon Micro-Manager
SME's Research companies

82. Copyright © 2014 Lightspeed, LLC. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
THE AVERAGE RESEARCHER SEE THEMSELVES AS:
60%
Artist
40%
Scientist
50%
Rock ‘N’ Roll
40%
Classical

83. © TNS
Thank you
Jon Puleston
VP Innovation
Lightspeed GMI
Amy Cashman
MD Technology & Finance
TNS