Your Link to the mind of the customer.
‘A-ha!’ moments you can act on.
Research-Based Solutions
First, we listen. Then, we design.
A deep and nuanced understanding of the customer is the crux of success in today’s markets. Thoughtful research begins by entrenching ourselves inside your brand and deeply understanding the goals. It’s more than finding an answer to your business question, it’s finding the right way to get to the most meaningful answer. It’s creating a foundation of knowledge so your customers think: this brand gets me.
Our solutions span the entire brand life cycle, accessing a broad and cutting-edge toolbox. We mix offerings like our proprietary implicit emotional measurement and high-end modeling analytics with masterful depth and focus group interviewing – but always custom and always creative. Click in the boxes for some out-of-the-box thinking:
Strategy and Consultation
We become a part of your team — a true partner.
Great ideas don’t just jump out of focus groups and data tables. They come from inquisitive quick-thinkers connecting the dots and sparking an effervescent dialogue with a team. Linkers are pros at engaging your internal stakeholders throughout a dynamic & strategic research process, which is key to asking questions that matter. We have a deep intuition about where to probe and when to push the envelope, believing that while a good question gets an answer – a great question ignites a conversation. Get ready for those ‘a-ha’ moments.
Facilitation
We’re more than moderators; we skillfully lead debriefs, keeping multi-faceted teams on track by championing the objectives and always pushing towards the “so what.” Backroom listening guides, daily research recaps, and star interviews are just a few tools in our arsenal to engage your team.
Frameworks
We implement strategic frameworks that organize, enhance, and elucidate the research findings to help create a clarity edge and decision advantage. Whether it’s Jobs to Be Done, the Fogg Behavior Model, or our very own Truth-Goal-Tension framework, we tie the approach to the business need.
Workshops
Ideation, Positioning, & Segmentation all require leveraging broad stakeholder knowledge – and we’re experts at harnessing it. Our brand strategists build and lead immersive, hands-on, and engaging workshops that draw out the best ideas. We guarantee they’ll be fruitful and fun.
Research Integrity
How matters.
The details can never be sacrificed for the big picture. Trust in data is everything. Executing research of the highest integrity is our priority, and we take a rigorous approach so that you know things will be done right.
Research Inclusion
While our industry and panels have a long way to go toward representation, it starts with us. The Link Group is committed to asking the necessary questions to help us strive toward higher quality and more representative samples.
Privacy & Compliance
From protecting participant data to abiding by global privacy laws, we are diligent in executing compliant research. We consider this not only good business practice, but an issue of trust between us, you, and your customers.
Data Quality
We know a study’s results are only as strong as the data behind it – and we’re committed to delivering the best. We’ve got our eye on data quality from panel selection to questionnaire design to daily data cleaning to ensure you can feel confident in the final output.
Vetted Partners
We’ve been told we have high standards, and we’re proud of that. We meticulously vet and select the highest-quality partners for recruitment, sampling, and global research moderation that preserve the same standards for inclusion, compliance, and quality as we do.
Differentiated Deliverables
The most influential insights are the ones that go viral.
Wow your stakeholders through reports and presentations that cut to the heart of the matter and stay #sticky. Our analysis is comprehensive, but the output is laser-focused. The goal is to enable you to inspire your organization; pretty soon, you’ll be known as an influencer.
Actionable
We separate insight from noise.
With your objectives as a north star, our relentless opportunity mindset means we tell you what you should care about – reports shouldn’t be a re-play.
No data dumps here: We’re insatiably curious and dig until we find the most meaningful story in your data. Every slide has a takeaway, not a title.
The “now what:” Our marketing acumen mean we know what it all means. We identify opportunities, offer strategic implications, and make recommendations to power your business forward.
Digestible
We tailor the output to the target.
Whether you need something complete or bite-size, getting the attention of decision makers in today’s cluttered digital world is key. We offer:
Clean & readable visualizations
Crisp executive summaries
“Shoppable” insights & modular reports
Infographics
Pocket profiles
Video reels
Podcast highlights
And more… just ask!
Memorable
We believe in the power of storytelling.
Connecting insights to narratives means our findings are unforgettable. Just one example of a story our clients are still talking about:
“Migraine in a Box” Experiential Empathy: Our clients donned “drunk goggles” to see through dizzy eyes, wore a mask coated in nausea-inducing smells, and carried weights on their shoulders – all while trying to complete their daily tasks. Though just a fraction of the real migraine experience, they deeply connected with the target patient insights we presented that day.
“We really appreciate the time, energy and effort that went into this project. The Link Group provided great insights that will guide our refinement and finalization of our future product lineup and all other relevant marketing materials.”
Consumer Technology Client
“We have had nothing but good experiences working with The Link Group. They are professional, knowledgeable, easy to work with, and always return us valuable insights. They really listen to the details of each project, which allows them to apply the right research approach and get us deeper, higher quality insights. We love working with them!”
Retail Client
“The Link Group consistently delivers excellent work, with highly skilled moderators and strategic thought partnership that results in reports that capture meaningful insights and business impact every time.”
Pharmaceutical Client
“This segmentation should serve as an example for every brand within our company of what a good segmentation looks like.”
Pharmaceutical Client
Market Understanding
Opportunity Awaits.
Before you can figure out the best next step, you need to know exactly who and what you’re dealing with – on the surface and beneath it. Talk to core players and adjacent influencers. Understand what came before, in order to appreciate what is. We like to surround it, then solve it. The goal is to gather a full, multi-vantage understanding of the market so that opportunities can surface from a variety of angles.
How do you get there? TLG moderators are known for an empathetic and disarming approach that allows customers to be vulnerable. Our expertise in a broad array of projective techniques lets us discover their subconscious drivers and illuminate the whitespace.
Immersive Ethnography
The best way to uncover unmet needs?
Observe customer behavior and look for what they don’t articulate. What are their workarounds? What are the pain points? Through a combination of anthropologic observation and traditional market research immersed in natural environments, we link you to insights rooted in reality.
Executing this type of research well takes expertise – and Onsite Insights™ has been a hallmark of our toolbox since inception. We’re meticulous about the logistics, earning your customers’ trust in the process as they let us into their space and delve deeper into their lives.
In-the-wild
- Enthusiast activities
- Lifestyle events
- Tradeshows
In-home
- Environmental observation
- Activity and behavioral observation
- Closet, pantry, and medicine cabinet tours
- Injection administration experience
In-office
- Office tours: exam rooms, medical equipment, storage, support materials
- Process and disease education observation
- Specialized facilities: infusion centers, operating rooms, commercial kitchens, hotels
Segmentation & Targeting
We produce the best segmentations in the business.
Yes, we’re that confident. We embrace the balance of science & art, behaviors & attitudes, and the big picture vs. the details to craft optimal solutions. Our approach, honed over nearly 3 decades is…
Custom
There are no “black boxes.” Every segmentation is unique and built with solutions designed to meet your specific needs. With sophisticated and rigorous techniques, we have the tools to find the perfect model.
Actionable
We understand a segmentation must be both actionable and strategic or it won’t be used. Not only do we work in lock-step with the brand’s strategy, but we include an incredibly user-friendly typing tool that allows you to easily & accurately identify your target segments.
Product Development
We know how to test the tradeoffs.
How much do your customers value that feature? How do you make it usable and deliver on the promise? If you do “X,” what will demand be? We get prototypes in people’s hands (or at least profiles on their screens), and then we refine, refine, refine until you’re ready to hit the shelf.
Bonus? Our conjoint simulators are the easiest to use in the business, so you’ll get all the high-end analytics without the high-end hassle. How’s that for living up to our promise?
Product Design
- New concept testing
- Prototype Central Locating Testing (C.L.T.)
- Product feature conjoint
- Draft launch label conjoint
- Clinical trial design
- Demand forecasting
- Target product profile
Usability
- Device testing
- Directions for Use
- At-home use tests
- Mobile app/website development & usability
Packaging Design
- Packaging design & usability
- Shelf tests & eye-tracking
- At-home un-boxing
Marketing Optimization
- Pricing
- Coupons & services
- Product mix (T.U.R.F analyses)
Brand Creation
Pre-launch anticipation, igniting imagination.
Making that first impression with your message in market is everything. In preparation, we help you find disconnects, emotional whitespace, & new angles, so your brand can speak to your customer’s deep truths, goals, & tensions with resonant communication. We lead you through a strategic branding process from beginning to end, unlocking & activating on the magnetic insight of the moment right on time for launch.
Yes, we have a framework for that.
Disciplined thinking about research gives you the freedom to explore all creative content possibilities. That’s what we call “flexibility within a framework.”
- Truth – Goal – Tension
- Data – Experience – Emotion
- Activate – Communicate – Engage
- LinkEQ™
Strategic Brand Positioning & Campaign Development
- Positioning & placement
- Strategic communication blueprints (Insights, Benefits, Reasons to Believe)
- Campaign & creative
Brand Communication
& Messaging
- Name & logo
- Core message elements
- Copy testing & digital ad effectiveness (with norms!)
- Sales detail development & implementation
Brand Evolution
Opportunity awaits. Again.
From the moment you launch, the game changes – with new entrants, new indications, and new challenges you didn’t anticipate. The process of repositioning, counter-positioning, creating product line extensions, or adding treatment indications requires you to know what your existing brand equity is and how to leverage it. The long lifespan of brands means this is where the ball can easily be dropped.
Our enduring partnerships means we’ve seen brands grow up. Just call us the brand historian – we’re often the last people standing on a team, and we’re called upon to bring new marketers up to speed with the institutional knowledge we possess. Why was that decision made? How does customer reaction today compare to 3 years ago? What mistakes can we avoid repeating? Partnering with us today means putting your brand in steady hands for the future.
Brand Performance
Trackers that don’t feel like trackers.
By crafting the most thoughtful surveys from the start, we set tracking programs up for success. Never on auto-pilot, we advocate for fresh & strategic analysis each wave. We move past pure measurement and dissect the drivers to help you influence performance. Perceptual maps draw the battle lines of the mind-space you occupy vs. your competitors as the market evolves. Need-gap analysis pinpoints opportunities worth seizing. Like we said, fresh. Capture the past, then lean strongly toward thinking about the future.
And with in-house programmers, anything is possible. We’ve built largescale loyalty tracking programs for national retailers. 10,000 completes per day? We won’t even blink an eye. Interactive dashboards? Yup. Integration with real-time qualitative chats? Check. Go ahead, challenge us – we’re ready to perform.
In-Store Experience
We meet your customers where they are.
Figuring out how to grow the cart means getting as close to the cart as possible. In the moment of truth, actually in the shopping experience (which sometimes means being in the drive-thru).
It sounds simple, but it’s ridiculously hard to deliver and takes incredible project management skills to execute. Lucky for you, that’s exactly what we’ve got, along with decades of finely-honed best practices for getting boots on the ground. And the payoff is worth it. No faulty recall here – insights are immediate and actionable.
Store Testing
- Quantitative intercepts (Pilot / Pre / Post Store Evaluations)
- Traffic flow & hot spots
- Store design / planograms
Shopping Experience
- Shelf design w/ eye-tracking & biometrics
- Qualitative shop-alongs
- Mobile groups
- Mystery shopping