Majestic/Major League Baseball
Research Essentials completed intercept interviews in the official Clubhouse stores of Major League Baseball stadiums before, during and after games in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Texas and Washington, D.C. Our goal was to understand why baseball fans, shop for, purchase and wear their team’s jerseys. We identified key experience drivers – and roadblocks – for purchase and wearing of licensed MLB jerseys. Our findings were delivered in-person to the executive team at Majestic Athletic Inc., the official supplier of jerseys to MLB.
USA Swimming
In Denver and Phoenix, Research Essentials was asked to participate in research for USA Swimming that focused on parents whose children participated in local sanctioned, organized USA Swimming teams. Braving the summer sun at temps around 115 degrees, we completed intercept interviews poolside (and in shade where we could find it). While kids swam laps nearby – cheering each other on – we discussed parents’ motivations for having their kids participate in organized swim teams. We also learned about parents’ fears and anxieties before their kids joined a league and how those fears played out. Ultimately we presented our findings to the executive team of USA Swimming in Colorado Springs, CO.
Boa Technology, makers of the Boa lacing system that can be found on everything from snowboard boots and bicycling shoes to medical braces and prosthetics, engaged Research Essentials to understand the in-store reactions of consumers – and store employees – to the Boa lacing system on trail running shoes. We completed 4 days of observations and intercept interviews in Denver and Boulder at local stores that carry Boa-equipped trail running shoes. Ultimately we discovered that consumer fears around the system – and well as an almost complete lack of consumer information about the Boa lacing system – was hurting the sales process. Our engagements with store employees showed a similar lack of knowledge around the Boa system. Ultimately, our work lead to a revised messaging and training strategy in retail stores nationwide.
We began with in-home ethnographic research, engaging homeowners who were in the midst-of or had recently completed some type of home remodel. We wanted to understand the process and experience to gauge where the white spaces and opportunities were in the home remodel space. From that opportunity exploration came the idea for adorne – a line of modern switches, dimmers and outlets that could fit one-to-one in current electrical boxes.
Working as an outside research supplier – and in conjunction with outside designers – Research Essentials employed a range of qualitative research methods to develop, refine and, ultimately, bring to market Henry’s Hard Soda and Henry’s Hard Sparkling. Relying on in-home ethnographic tours and interviews, in-home buddy groups, product sampling, store visits and focus groups, our research team helped not only bring to life Henry’s Hard Soda in 2016, but also worked on the line expansion to Henry’s Hard Sparkling, which was introduced less than a year later. Our work encompassed concept testing and refinement, packaging testing and refinement, ad testing, product sampling and, overall, understanding the consumer desire, proposed occasions and product trade-outs for the concepts that eventually became Henry’s Hard Soda and Henry’s Hard Sparkling.