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Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum Mobile Reseach Project
The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum was host to a traveling exhibit featuring Bob the Builder and needed to gather data about the exhibit from visitors. The data helped the museum gauge the overall success of the exhibit, determine the demographic makeup of attendees, and assist in new exhibit planning.
Project Goals
The overall goal of the project was to answer the following questions:

How did Bob the Builder affect attendance?

Who was the audience for Bob the Builder?

What attracted people to come to the Bob the Builder exhibit?

What "post-Bob" options most appeal to visitors?

Data Collection Procedures
As visitors walked through the main concourse of the Museum, museum staff stopped adults and asked if they were willing to participate in a 5-7 minute interview while their children completed a short activity with museum staff. Data was collected using an interactive mobile survey on an iPod Touch.
Benefits of Mobile Surveys
According to the staff at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum the mobile survey had many benefits:

With a traditional paper/pencil survey, data entry would have been time-consuming and error-prone. The mobile survey eliminated data entry and reduced the possibility of error.

The iPod Touch was portable so the museum staff could easily walk around the exhibit and engage visitors.

Visitors enjoyed using the iPod touch. The interactive survey was fun to use and easy.

Mr. Chain
Mr. Chain is a crowd-control plastic chain and stanchion manufacturer located in Copemish, Michigan. For over 50 years, Mr. Chain has performed injection molding and extrusion of plastic products. The company was interested in learning how often it should communicate with customers and which types of communications would be most effective. The company also wanted to refresh their brand with a revised logo and modernized look and feel. Power Marketing and Research was asked to complete the following elements:

Mr. Chain completed selected pages from the PM&R marketing workbook. This crystallized several critical areas related to target marketing and customer profile.

Power Marketing and Research developed a brief survey for customers, which was delivered to Mr. Chain's top 25 customers.

A creative brief was developed, revised, and approved by Mr. Chain. The creative brief served as the basis for the rebranding effort, which includes creation of a revised Mr. Chain logo. Draft logos were presented to Mr. Chain and revisions were made. A final logo was then chosen.

A brand standards toolkit, email newsletter template, and package labeling was designed based on the new brand.

Creation of a comprehensive marketing plan which included:

A series of strategic marketing goals and measurable objectives.
Target audience persona description for the various customer segments.
Proposed guideline and methods for reaching out to the markets most effectively via marketing channels.
Identification of proposed marketing materials and supporting documents.
Proposed methods for customer follow-up to marketing initiatives.
Proposed marketing and promotional activities.
Methods for measuring of the success of initiatives.

BetterBuildings for Michigan
The BetterBuildings for Michigan residential program provides direct support — including home energy assessments, incentives and access to affordable loan options — to Michigan homeowners looking to make their homes more energy efficient. The commercial program — SmartBuildings Detroit — leverages other incentives and energy optimization programs available to commercial property owners to encourage energy-efficiency improvements in commercial, institutional and public buildings in downtown Detroit.
Power Marketing and Research assisted in facilitating marketing workshop sessions with the BetterBuildings for Michigan partners. Our marketing workbook was distributed to the partners; we assembled the responses to the workbook into a report; and presented the results during the workshop sessions. Our goal was to bring the group to consensus on key marketing and programmatic issues. We also created a set of branding guidelines for use of the BetterBuildings for Michigan logo.

Builders & Remodelers Association of Greater Ann Arbor
The Builders & Remodelers Association of Greater Ann Arbor (BRAG) is a member-supported organization of homebuilders, remodelers, building trades, design professionals, suppliers and associates in the greater Ann Arbor area. BRAG helps its members grow their business through networking, training, marketing, and advocacy.
Power Marketing and Research conducted a series of focus groups for BRAG with past customers of BRAG members, and prospective customers. The purpose of the sessions was to discover how homeowners choose a contractor or remodeler; to test a series of marketing campaign and messaging; test usage of local media sources; and overall awareness and perceptions of BRAG.

Eaton Rapids Medical Center
Eaton Rapids Medical Center (ERMC) is an Eaton Rapids based critical-access hospital with twenty beds, a number of specialty clinics, and an emergency department. In 2005, a series of major improvements were completed, including the addition of a new operating room and expansion of the prep and recovery area in surgery.
ERMC was interested in gathering information about local residents and looked to Power Marketing and Research for assistance. We conducted a series of four focus group sessions with residents in varying demographic categories. The purpose of the focus groups was to gather opinions and perceptions about local health care providers; discuss how residents choose a healthcare provider; collect opinions about ERMC; and discuss community awareness of ERMC.
Power Marketing and Research assisted ERMC further by using the results of the focus groups guide their strategic marketing plan. Finally, we helped ERMC develop a postcard campaign to reach out their target audience.

Burcham Hills Center for Health and Rehabilitation
Burcham Hills is a nonprofit retirement community located in East Lansing, Michigan. The organization has launched a new rehabilitation services division called the Burcham Hills Center for Health and Rehabilitation. Our goal was to gather data about the public's general perceptions about rehabilitation centers; measure brand awareness; and test a series of potential new identities.
Brand Identity
The process began with the staff of Burcham Hills completing the Power Marketing and Research marketing workbook (link to workbook page). This tool provided guidance on how to craft the new identity. It also helped solidify what really set Burcham Hills apart from their competition. This differentiator helped serve as the basis for the new identity. After a series of potential logos and taglines were developed, we were ready for a test run.
Focus Groups
We conducted two focus groups for Burcham Hills — one with a group of past clients and one with a set of potential clients. In this case, focus groups helped the organization get a clearer picture of the their current and potential clients. What factors are important when choosing a rehabilitation center? What makes on center better than another? Where could Burcham Hills make improvements? We also tested a series of possible logos and taglines to gauge relative effectiveness. The project concluded with Burcham Hills choosing a new identity and Power Marketing and Research creating a new corporate brochure to reflect that identity.

Michigan Saves
Power Marketing and Research was asked to assist with branding, strategic communications planning, and creation of a marketing toolkit for the Michigan Saves Home Energy Loan Program. This program offers energy loans to help finance the cost of energy efficiency improvements for Michigan energy consumers including businesses, municipalities and residents.
The program is marketed directly to homeowners through home contractors and lenders, so an important goal was to put an effective set of tools into the hands of these communicators.
Brand Identity
Using the proprietary Power Marketing and Research marketing workbook — "Your Path to Marketing Success" — we conducted a branding workshop with the Michigan Saves Team. The group discussed critical issues around target audiences, competitors, positioning, and brand identity. Using this information a creative brief was developed, and later a logo.
We also helped create the Michigan Saves tagline — "Easy. Affordable. Smart." — and the elevator speech: "Michigan Saves is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making energy improvements easy and affordable."
Strategic Communications Plan
Michigan Saves also needed guidance on how to leverage the program among their target market using some of their key communicators. We provided direction on the target communities within Michigan to initially roll out the program. The strategic communication plan included details on how to use the tagline to deliver the message of energy efficiency to the homeowner, which communication mechanisms to use, and what tools should be created. The structure and content recommendations for the Michigan Saves website rounded out the plan.
Marketing Toolkit
Once the identity was created, a series of marketing tools needed to be designed so the program could be communicated effectively. We developed a business card, rack cards, mailing inserts, web ads, newsletter articles, PowerPoint template, and more. For appearances at events and workshops it was important to have branded apparel, so we made sure the new logo was front and center on polo shirts.

Detroit Science Center Exhibit Research
Power Marketing and Research was asked to partner with the University of Michigan and the Detroit Science Center to help design and develop two exhibits. This presented a unique opportunity to interact with the general public during the actual creation of an exhibit that would eventually be used by thousands of people.
The exhibits focus on medical research and providing information about the consent process for adults and children. Three sets of focus groups were conducted, one with adults, one with youth ages 8-12, and another with youth ages 13-18.
The focus group sessions were conducted during various stages:

Front end: To develop the overall goals for the exhibit.
Formative: To gather feedback on the prototype text, graphics, and interactive exhibit features.
Remedial: To refine and enhance the exhibit.
Summative: To gather comments about the overall exhibit effectiveness and future directions for research.
In addition, we conducted in-depth interviews on the floor of the Detroit Science Center with visitors after they used the exhibits. These on the spot interviews gave us immediate insight into reactions to the exhibit and how visitors felt about their experience.
After the initial exhibit was put on the exhibit floor, it was determined that the content might be better suited to another location. You'll now find the "Medical Breakthroughs" exhibit at the Mott Children's Hospital in the University of Michigan Hospital.
The "What's Up Doc" exhibit is on display at the Detroit Science Center. The next time you visit be sure to enjoy the exhibit — brought to life through the marketing research process!

Ann Arbor Art Fairs
Power Marketing and Research conducted over 800 intercept-style interviews with attendees at the 2008 Ann Arbor Art Fairs. The project required design and development of a survey instrument, training of staff to deploy the survey, successful deployment of the survey during the Art Fairs, development of a survey report and a community presentation tool.

Thomson-Shore
Power Marketing and Research conducted a customer survey for employee-owned Thomson-Shore to measure attitudes and perceptions towards the company, gauge brand awareness and favorability towards the Thomson-Shore brand, gather opinions on motivations for using Thomson-Shore, and to compare and contrast Thomson-Shore to the competition to discover competitive advantages and learn areas that may need improvement. The survey was followed by a series of focus groups with the entire staff (225 employees) of Thomson-Shore. Additionally, branding workshops were conducted with the staff to help determine and refine the Thomson-Shore brand.

University of Michigan — Department of Family Medicine
Power Marketing and Research has conducted several research studies for the University of Michigan Department of Family Medicine. Projects include a series of focus groups on colorectal cancer with Drs. Michael Fetters and Mack Ruffin. This project began with a series of ten focus groups measuring attitudes and opinions on the health issue. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted to formulate a website based upon the focus groups. Once the website was complete, a series of usability testing sessions were conducted. All sessions were held in a variety of locations in Michigan with a demographic and ethnic mix of participants.
Another major project for Family Medicine was development of a logo and assisting with website usability testing for the "Stepping Up to Health" project being conducted by Dr. Caroline Richardson. Power Marketing and Research also worked with Dr. Masahito Jimbo on a series of focus groups with clinics currently utilizing the ClinfoTracker software. These focus groups assessed how current clinics are using the colorectal cancer screening portion of ClinfoTracker to track patients. The goal of that project was to learn how to improve the overall shared decision-making process between physicians and patients through ClinfoTracker. We are currently conducting focus groups with physicians, their office staff, and patients about Cielo Clinic, a patient management system. This is being conducted with Family Medicine and Cielo MedSolutions.

National Association of Home Buyer's Agents
Power Marketing and Research has developed, written and distributed press releases and accompanying detailed reports for the National Associate of Home Buyer's Agents (NAEBA). These releases were written with unique angles and positioned carefully to demonstrate that the association was providing consumer information of interest to a broad range of target audiences. The press releases and reports have been highly successful, yielding placement in publications as diverse as the Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning Times, Realtor Magazine, Realtor Times, The Nigerian Times, and numerous blog entries.

Ann Arbor getDowntown Program
Power Marketing and Research developed and implemented a public relations and marketing plan for the getDowtown Program and Curb Your Car Month. The plan included a strategic list of the recommended methods for communicating Curb Your Car Month to the target audiences; strategies to provide exposure for getDowntown Program; an evaluation of the current and potential communications opportunities for Curb Your Car Month; a series of suggested communications vehicles to fill any gaps in internal or external audiences; press release schedule and topics; and more. Power Marketing and Research developed and executed a media tour in May 2008 that yielded several press placements, and also coordinated radio interviews for staff and getDowntown Ambassadors.

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Participate in Research Marketing Workshop Focus Groups Surveys Brand Strategy Mystery Shopping Public Relations Web Site Usability Healthcare Research	Your Message Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum Mobile Reseach Project The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum was host to a traveling exhibit featuring Bob the Builder and needed to gather data about the exhibit from visitors. The data helped the museum gauge the overall success of the exhibit, determine the demographic makeup of attendees, and assist in new exhibit planning. Project Goals The overall goal of the project was to answer the following questions: How did Bob the Builder affect attendance? Who was the audience for Bob the Builder? What attracted people to come to the Bob the Builder exhibit? What "post-Bob" options most appeal to visitors? Data Collection Procedures As visitors walked through the main concourse of the Museum, museum staff stopped adults and asked if they were willing to participate in a 5-7 minute interview while their children completed a short activity with museum staff. Data was collected using an interactive mobile survey on an iPod Touch. Benefits of Mobile Surveys According to the staff at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum the mobile survey had many benefits: With a traditional paper/pencil survey, data entry would have been time-consuming and error-prone. The mobile survey eliminated data entry and reduced the possibility of error. The iPod Touch was portable so the museum staff could easily walk around the exhibit and engage visitors. Visitors enjoyed using the iPod touch. The interactive survey was fun to use and easy. Mr. Chain Mr. Chain is a crowd-control plastic chain and stanchion manufacturer located in Copemish, Michigan. For over 50 years, Mr. Chain has performed injection molding and extrusion of plastic products. The company was interested in learning how often it should communicate with customers and which types of communications would be most effective. The company also wanted to refresh their brand with a revised logo and modernized look and feel. Power Marketing and Research was asked to complete the following elements: Mr. Chain completed selected pages from the PM&R marketing workbook. This crystallized several critical areas related to target marketing and customer profile. Power Marketing and Research developed a brief survey for customers, which was delivered to Mr. Chain's top 25 customers. A creative brief was developed, revised, and approved by Mr. Chain. The creative brief served as the basis for the rebranding effort, which includes creation of a revised Mr. Chain logo. Draft logos were presented to Mr. Chain and revisions were made. A final logo was then chosen. A brand standards toolkit, email newsletter template, and package labeling was designed based on the new brand. Creation of a comprehensive marketing plan which included: A series of strategic marketing goals and measurable objectives. Target audience persona description for the various customer segments. Proposed guideline and methods for reaching out to the markets most effectively via marketing channels. Identification of proposed marketing materials and supporting documents. Proposed methods for customer follow-up to marketing initiatives. Proposed marketing and promotional activities. Methods for measuring of the success of initiatives. BetterBuildings for Michigan The BetterBuildings for Michigan residential program provides direct support — including home energy assessments, incentives and access to affordable loan options — to Michigan homeowners looking to make their homes more energy efficient. The commercial program — SmartBuildings Detroit — leverages other incentives and energy optimization programs available to commercial property owners to encourage energy-efficiency improvements in commercial, institutional and public buildings in downtown Detroit. Power Marketing and Research assisted in facilitating marketing workshop sessions with the BetterBuildings for Michigan partners. Our marketing workbook was distributed to the partners; we assembled the responses to the workbook into a report; and presented the results during the workshop sessions. Our goal was to bring the group to consensus on key marketing and programmatic issues. We also created a set of branding guidelines for use of the BetterBuildings for Michigan logo. Builders & Remodelers Association of Greater Ann Arbor The Builders & Remodelers Association of Greater Ann Arbor (BRAG) is a member-supported organization of homebuilders, remodelers, building trades, design professionals, suppliers and associates in the greater Ann Arbor area. BRAG helps its members grow their business through networking, training, marketing, and advocacy. Power Marketing and Research conducted a series of focus groups for BRAG with past customers of BRAG members, and prospective customers. The purpose of the sessions was to discover how homeowners choose a contractor or remodeler; to test a series of marketing campaign and messaging; test usage of local media sources; and overall awareness and perceptions of BRAG. Eaton Rapids Medical Center Eaton Rapids Medical Center (ERMC) is an Eaton Rapids based critical-access hospital with twenty beds, a number of specialty clinics, and an emergency department. In 2005, a series of major improvements were completed, including the addition of a new operating room and expansion of the prep and recovery area in surgery. ERMC was interested in gathering information about local residents and looked to Power Marketing and Research for assistance. We conducted a series of four focus group sessions with residents in varying demographic categories. The purpose of the focus groups was to gather opinions and perceptions about local health care providers; discuss how residents choose a healthcare provider; collect opinions about ERMC; and discuss community awareness of ERMC. Power Marketing and Research assisted ERMC further by using the results of the focus groups guide their strategic marketing plan. Finally, we helped ERMC develop a postcard campaign to reach out their target audience. Burcham Hills Center for Health and Rehabilitation Burcham Hills is a nonprofit retirement community located in East Lansing, Michigan. The organization has launched a new rehabilitation services division called the Burcham Hills Center for Health and Rehabilitation. Our goal was to gather data about the public's general perceptions about rehabilitation centers; measure brand awareness; and test a series of potential new identities. Brand Identity The process began with the staff of Burcham Hills completing the Power Marketing and Research marketing workbook (link to workbook page). This tool provided guidance on how to craft the new identity. It also helped solidify what really set Burcham Hills apart from their competition. This differentiator helped serve as the basis for the new identity. After a series of potential logos and taglines were developed, we were ready for a test run. Focus Groups We conducted two focus groups for Burcham Hills — one with a group of past clients and one with a set of potential clients. In this case, focus groups helped the organization get a clearer picture of the their current and potential clients. What factors are important when choosing a rehabilitation center? What makes on center better than another? Where could Burcham Hills make improvements? We also tested a series of possible logos and taglines to gauge relative effectiveness. The project concluded with Burcham Hills choosing a new identity and Power Marketing and Research creating a new corporate brochure to reflect that identity. Michigan Saves Power Marketing and Research was asked to assist with branding, strategic communications planning, and creation of a marketing toolkit for the Michigan Saves Home Energy Loan Program. This program offers energy loans to help finance the cost of energy efficiency improvements for Michigan energy consumers including businesses, municipalities and residents. The program is marketed directly to homeowners through home contractors and lenders, so an important goal was to put an effective set of tools into the hands of these communicators. Brand Identity Using the proprietary Power Marketing and Research marketing workbook — "Your Path to Marketing Success" — we conducted a branding workshop with the Michigan Saves Team. The group discussed critical issues around target audiences, competitors, positioning, and brand identity. Using this information a creative brief was developed, and later a logo. We also helped create the Michigan Saves tagline — "Easy. Affordable. Smart." — and the elevator speech: "Michigan Saves is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making energy improvements easy and affordable." Strategic Communications Plan Michigan Saves also needed guidance on how to leverage the program among their target market using some of their key communicators. We provided direction on the target communities within Michigan to initially roll out the program. The strategic communication plan included details on how to use the tagline to deliver the message of energy efficiency to the homeowner, which communication mechanisms to use, and what tools should be created. The structure and content recommendations for the Michigan Saves website rounded out the plan. Marketing Toolkit Once the identity was created, a series of marketing tools needed to be designed so the program could be communicated effectively. We developed a business card, rack cards, mailing inserts, web ads, newsletter articles, PowerPoint template, and more. For appearances at events and workshops it was important to have branded apparel, so we made sure the new logo was front and center on polo shirts. Detroit Science Center Exhibit Research Power Marketing and Research was asked to partner with the University of Michigan and the Detroit Science Center to help design and develop two exhibits. This presented a unique opportunity to interact with the general public during the actual creation of an exhibit that would eventually be used by thousands of people. The exhibits focus on medical research and providing information about the consent process for adults and children. Three sets of focus groups were conducted, one with adults, one with youth ages 8-12, and another with youth ages 13-18. The focus group sessions were conducted during various stages: Front end: To develop the overall goals for the exhibit. Formative: To gather feedback on the prototype text, graphics, and interactive exhibit features. Remedial: To refine and enhance the exhibit. Summative: To gather comments about the overall exhibit effectiveness and future directions for research. In addition, we conducted in-depth interviews on the floor of the Detroit Science Center with visitors after they used the exhibits. These on the spot interviews gave us immediate insight into reactions to the exhibit and how visitors felt about their experience. After the initial exhibit was put on the exhibit floor, it was determined that the content might be better suited to another location. You'll now find the "Medical Breakthroughs" exhibit at the Mott Children's Hospital in the University of Michigan Hospital. The "What's Up Doc" exhibit is on display at the Detroit Science Center. The next time you visit be sure to enjoy the exhibit — brought to life through the marketing research process! Ann Arbor Art Fairs Power Marketing and Research conducted over 800 intercept-style interviews with attendees at the 2008 Ann Arbor Art Fairs. The project required design and development of a survey instrument, training of staff to deploy the survey, successful deployment of the survey during the Art Fairs, development of a survey report and a community presentation tool. Thomson-Shore Power Marketing and Research conducted a customer survey for employee-owned Thomson-Shore to measure attitudes and perceptions towards the company, gauge brand awareness and favorability towards the Thomson-Shore brand, gather opinions on motivations for using Thomson-Shore, and to compare and contrast Thomson-Shore to the competition to discover competitive advantages and learn areas that may need improvement. The survey was followed by a series of focus groups with the entire staff (225 employees) of Thomson-Shore. Additionally, branding workshops were conducted with the staff to help determine and refine the Thomson-Shore brand. University of Michigan — Department of Family Medicine Power Marketing and Research has conducted several research studies for the University of Michigan Department of Family Medicine. Projects include a series of focus groups on colorectal cancer with Drs. Michael Fetters and Mack Ruffin. This project began with a series of ten focus groups measuring attitudes and opinions on the health issue. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted to formulate a website based upon the focus groups. Once the website was complete, a series of usability testing sessions were conducted. All sessions were held in a variety of locations in Michigan with a demographic and ethnic mix of participants. Another major project for Family Medicine was development of a logo and assisting with website usability testing for the "Stepping Up to Health" project being conducted by Dr. Caroline Richardson. Power Marketing and Research also worked with Dr. Masahito Jimbo on a series of focus groups with clinics currently utilizing the ClinfoTracker software. These focus groups assessed how current clinics are using the colorectal cancer screening portion of ClinfoTracker to track patients. The goal of that project was to learn how to improve the overall shared decision-making process between physicians and patients through ClinfoTracker. We are currently conducting focus groups with physicians, their office staff, and patients about Cielo Clinic, a patient management system. This is being conducted with Family Medicine and Cielo MedSolutions. National Association of Home Buyer's Agents Power Marketing and Research has developed, written and distributed press releases and accompanying detailed reports for the National Associate of Home Buyer's Agents (NAEBA). These releases were written with unique angles and positioned carefully to demonstrate that the association was providing consumer information of interest to a broad range of target audiences. The press releases and reports have been highly successful, yielding placement in publications as diverse as the Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning Times, Realtor Magazine, Realtor Times, The Nigerian Times, and numerous blog entries. Ann Arbor getDowntown Program Power Marketing and Research developed and implemented a public relations and marketing plan for the getDowtown Program and Curb Your Car Month. The plan included a strategic list of the recommended methods for communicating Curb Your Car Month to the target audiences; strategies to provide exposure for getDowntown Program; an evaluation of the current and potential communications opportunities for Curb Your Car Month; a series of suggested communications vehicles to fill any gaps in internal or external audiences; press release schedule and topics; and more. Power Marketing and Research developed and executed a media tour in May 2008 that yielded several press placements, and also coordinated radio interviews for staff and getDowntown Ambassadors.