Tel:

enquiries@bluemarbleresearch.co.uk

We've included below some examples of the work that we do.

Policy & Regulation

Working both for regulators and companies in regulated sectors, we understand the particular challenges of research in this field.

Regulator-facing research risks becoming a tick box exercise: we mitigate this risk by designing research that enables customers/citizens to engage with the subject matter. We help clients to translate policy detail or business plans into plain English; design deliberative research events and have developed innovative tools to ensure the data is meaningful.

The water sector places huge importance on putting consumers at the heart of its regulatory process – but what do these consumers want to be consulted on? And are the types of research currently used across the sector delivering meaningful data? This research marked a major review of customer engagement practices across the sector and has already made a significant contribution to debate across the industry - our report is available here: https://www.ccwater.org.uk/research/engaging-water-customers-for-better-consumer-and-business-outcomes/  
water

CCW – Improving the quality of engagement across the water sector
Blue Marble analysed responses to a major consultation on Defra’s flagship Environmental Land Management scheme, which aims to incentivise farmers to farm in environmentally responsible ways. We authored a detailed report on how Defra’s stakeholders think the new system should be implemented, which is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/959727/elm-policy-discussion-document-analysis-responses.pdf.

Defra – Environmental Land Management Policy Discussion Document
Blue Marble spent the best part of 2 years working with Heathrow to identify the ‘enduring’ customer needs on which its regulatory outcomes should be based. This was an iterative project which involved reviewing Heathrow’s archive of over 200 research reports and publications – and validating the needs with domestic and international passengers.

Heathrow Airport – Identifying passenger needs

Community & Stakeholder Engagement

Market research can represent much more than collecting data and insight; it can be part of an organisation’s armoury to engage customers, staff and stakeholders. The principles of participative research underpin our approaches.

  • Making participation more experiential by running consultation events, or using existing events
  • Bringing our clients and their stakeholders/communities together in deliberative events and workshops.
  • Being inclusive – which can involve large samples, census approaches & hard to reach audiences.
  • Communicating with stakeholders at all stages of the process. From the outset: the reasons for the consultation exercise, to the end point: the actions resulting from the research.
We have been working with Citizens Advice since October 2021 to follow the experiences of vulnerable households as energy prices have risen dramatically. This major longitudinal study, involving a regular programme of extended depth interviews and online qualitative tasks, has played a key role in informing the charity's response to the crisis. Photo by Mykola Makhlai on Unsplash.

Understanding the cost of living crisis
@revoltassault is a new campaigning organisation founded by recent graduates to spotlight the true nature and extent of sexual assault and harassment in Universities. Blue Marble helped to deliver robust data from across 150+ institutions to support the charity’s campaign work.  

Supporting a new charity to deliver powerful data
Our ‘Youth Boards’ are a co-creative approach bringing senior leaders together with ‘future customers’ with the aim of driving innovation. Used effectively in the utilities sector e.g. to generate ideas for reducing water consumption, improving uptake of smart metering and improving sustainable behaviours in the home. Companies who have used this approach (and some have adopted it as an annual event because they learn so much from it) have implemented new services and campaigns resulting directly from the ideas of future customers.

Bringing the voices of future customers into business planning

Sustainability & Ethics

Blue Marble’s core business is working for brands and businesses who have a sustainability, environmental and/or ethical dimensions. And for organizations who are moving from a purely CSR agenda to the all-encompassing need for sustainability. We work in this field in many contexts.

  • Commercial: developing and testing the most credible and compelling ‘ethical’ positionings which add value to the brand and to the bottom line.
  • Regulatory: evaluating attitudes and adoption of sustainable behaviours.
  • Environmental: measuring both economic value and quality of life
  • Communications: using research to inform the message and channel to various customer segments.
We partnered with the Soil Association to understand the barriers and knowledge gaps that exist around food and climate change. We also tracked sentiment changes around climate and food, identified barriers to greater engagement with the charity and explored fundraising asks. The research resulted in smarter digital campaigning tools, a comprehensive “ladder of engagement” model to inform campaigning work, and a refinement of the Soil Association's audience personas. Photo by nrd on Unsplash.

Growing the Soil Association’s movement for change
In 2021, Blue Marble worked with CCW (formerly the Consumer Council for Water) to conduct an observational study which broke new ground for the water industry. We observed kitchen sink water use in 15 households, using motion-sensitive cameras. As far as we are aware, the water sector has never previously used video technology to research household water usage. Our research was highly commended for the Market Research Society's New Consumer Insights award and the Association for Qualitative Research's Qualitative Excellence award.

Exploring the gap between reported and actual behaviour
The Work Foundation wanted to understand the skill needs of Lancashire's Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy (LCREE), to inform the development of the Lancashire Local Industrial Strategy. Through a survey of local employers and depth interviews, we analysed business confidence, staff development, and hiring expectations and informed the Work Foundation’s recommendations to the Lancashire LEP. Photo by Clément Rémond on Unsplash.

Researching skills gaps in the low carbon economy

New Product / Opportunity Development

From the germ of an idea to its execution and communication, research insight takes the risk out of launching and revamping new products.

  • By evaluating the proposition within the right context .
  • By identifying target markets via segmentation analysis.
  • By measuring appeal against the competitive set.

A mainstream food brand throughout much of the world, Lee Kum Kee sits in the specialist ‘world food aisle’ here in the UK. Our research tapped into UK consumers' deeply held beliefs about Chinese cuisine. Category analysis revealed new opportunities to support Lee Kum Kee’s UK growth strategy.

Lee Kum Kee – understanding the UK consumer

Lee Kum Kee – understanding the UK consumer

Ethically sourced ingredients lie at the heart of this brand. We have recently conducted in depth research to explore perceptions of product benefits, names and packaging to inform the positioning of the tea and herbal remedy categories for a specific target audience.
Pukka Herbs – range development

Pukka Herbs – range development

Higgidy has big plans to become an iconic British brand: it is unrivalled in terms of product quality and is set to grow its market significantly. We conducted a major study to help the team at Higgidy define its target audiences.
Higgidy – brand development

Higgidy – brand development

Communications & Branding

At the heart of our experience, we have worked with many brand and customer teams.

  • To provide insight supporting brand and campaign development.
  • To evaluate campaigns and customer/stakeholder communications.
  • To benchmark and measure behaviour change in relation to public information campaigns.
  • To measure trends and successes via tracking studies

We have worked closely with RNIB in developing insight from research with both sighted and registered blind supporters about the highly sensitive topic of legacy giving. As well as the ethical considerations of conducting research with registered blind participants, the research explored communication routes in the context of the charity’s brand image and supporter relationships.

RNIB – Campaign development

RNIB – Campaign development
To support their ambition to expand their herbal tea and supplement range into the US market Pukka needed to understand the US consumer mindset.  Blue Marble conducted a series of group discussions from NY to LA to explore consumer response to the Pukka brand and product range and how this compares with perceptions of the current competitive set.  

Pukka – Understanding the US Consumer
We conducted a rapid programme of creative testing research to inform Defra's communications around its 2021-22 England Tree Planting Programme. Through depth interviews with farmers and landowners, we explored responses to a series of messages and advertising concepts - ultimately providing recommendations on the most effective route for the campaign to take. Photo by Tom Allport on Unsplash.

Encouraging farmers and landowners to plant trees