Carat launches “Consumer Connection Study” in South Africa

Leading local media agency Carat SA has launched the groundbreaking Consumer Connection Study (‘CCS’) into the South African marketplace.  Described as a ‘consumer, lifestyle and product survey’, CCS is widely regarded as the most in-depth single source of media, marketing and consumer-targeting data in the world.

Quinton Jones, Managing Director of Carat South Africa, says that CCS has been specifically designed to support Carat’s consumer-centric approach, by delivering insights into how consumers engage with the media and their receptivity towards commercial messages across more than 50 digital, experiential and media channels.

“The fundamental role of media and marketing is to deliver the right message to the right consumer through the right channel and at the right time.  A tool that is able to provide precise information on how, when and where different consumers relate to marketing messages, and the attitudinal and behavioural effects of those messages on the consumer, will provide inestimable value in the marketing process.  CCS is that tool,” he says.

CCS was first launched in the UK in the late 90’s by Carat parent company Aegis. The benchmark survey has been conducted on an annual basis ever since, expanding globally over the years.  The study has been conducted in more than 30 countries which together account for some 85% of global advertising expenditure.  Of the 340 000+ interviews conducted amongst some 180 000+ respondents, 2000 were conducted in South Africa following the investment by Carat South Africa.

“CCS is a tried and tested product which has been successfully used by a very wide range of companies across the globe to drive more effective communication strategies and to deliver efficiencies in targeting and budgeting.  These include big names like Adidas, Philips, Johnson & Johnson, Disney and very many others,” says Jones.

He explains that CCS not only provides companies with both global and regional data, but also allows clients the opportunity to include tailor-made questions in the survey that will provide them with access to ‘bespoke’ or client-specific insights.

“The annual CCS benchmark survey covers all touchpoints in consumers lives, be it what they do in their daily lives, their passions, favourite brands, attitudes to advertising and product categories, how they use different channels and so on, and this is available to all Carat clients.  In addition, CCS allows clients to develop specific tailor-made questionnaires, if they so choose, for the purpose of a re-contact study that will allow for even greater precision in communications planning,” he says.

Jones notes that while CCS provides deeper insights relative to other industry surveys, such as AMPS and TGI, it should be used in conjunction with these other surveys.

“CCS is more in tune with consumer behaviour and client needs than any other industry survey, and is the only one that can make bespoke consumer segmentation truly actionable through communication. 

“That said, the intention was never that CCS should duplicate information available elsewhere, and for this reason we offer CCS as an additional, rather than a stand-alone, tool for the purposes of optimising media strategies.  It also feeds into a number of other media tools, such as ‘Media Chemistry’, which, together with CCS, are exclusive to Carat,” he says.

CCS is available at no cost to clients of Carat and is also available, at a fee, to media owners and other parties promoting non-competing brands. The next benchmark survey will be carried out in February 2011 and Jones is confident that the value it will add to South African clients will fully justify the local investment by Carat.

“The investment into CCS is further proof of our commitment to the local market and our absolute intention to remain at the cutting edge of innovation.  By supplying answers to questions about consumer behaviour and the relationships that people have with the media that no other research survey can provide, we truly believe that CCS will prove to be an invaluable asset to our clients,” he concludes.

Carat was recently named AdReview’s “media agency of the year”.