Mixed-Methods Primary Research Delivers Brand Insights

KSBJ 89.3 in Houston, TX has a long legacy of providing quality radio and events to the community in support of their mission. When internal tensions and listener confusion arose around the presentation and branding of the radio station, live events, and youth-oriented NGEN Radio, KSBJ looked to Idea (now Astadia) for help. KSBJ and Idea agreed that we needed a better understanding of how listeners viewed the KSBJ brand, its radio station, and its events in order to sort things out.

Approach

As the lead researcher on the team, I recommended that we conduct a mix of qualitative and quantitative research in order to understand how listeners viewed KSBJ and its properties. Within the constraints of the budget, I planned to use focus groups to quickly learn the "native language" of KSBJ listeners and then run a large survey, based on the focus group findings, to gather data on the listener population at large.

Working with a junior strategist, I began our search for answers with internal stakeholder interviews of all of the key staff at KSBJ. These interviews gave us the foundational knowledge we needed to fully understand KSBJ's business, its internal brand problems, and its perception of its listeners.

Next, I developed project research questions based on the background information from our interviews. These research questions guided the creation of our focus group discussion guide, which covered brand topics, events, and other items of interest to the stakeholders. I personally moderated the subsequent focus groups and led the analysis with the junior strategist.

The focus groups provided us with an excellent set of hunches about how listeners viewed KSBJ and its events. We then conducted a large survey of over 600 listeners to validate these hunches and expand our picture of the KSBJ audience. I personally authored the survey questions and conducted the analysis using SPSS.

Deliverables and Impact

I combined the findings from the focus groups and survey into a detailed presentation that I delivered to the KSBJ leadership. The client team was impressed with the richness of the report and the details of many of the findings. Moreover, as intended, our results helped to settle several internal issues regarding KSBJ's brand. Finally, this brand research project further strengthened Idea's relationship with KSBJ and helped to accelerate a pending deal to redesign KSBJ.org by our team.

Sample Final Presentation Slides