At M·E·L Research we believe that brand strength is built in different ways, but fundamentally being authentic to your brand identity throughout all contact points is essential. This authenticity with customers helps to maintain brand positioning (from adverts through to contact and touchpoints, to service experiences). Our approach to brand tracking research gives careful consideration to the following:
There are many ways to build brand strength, and to build brand equity – being well known/familiar, credible, appealing, being different from others in the same/perceived same market, being top of mind/seen in an advert recently, price (although this will only work in the short term)
People often make quick decisions when making a choice, so differentiation from competitors is vital.
Building a strong relationship with customers will further build and enhance brand strength
We can offer a range of approaches for organisations seeking to both understand and strengthen their brand perceptions. Crucially these approaches are suitable for organisations whose ethos is not entirely commercial such as charities, support organisations , advocacy/membership bodies and arts and culture creators, as well as those in monopoly markets where elements such as ‘preference’ can be less valuable than ‘trust’.
Our proven expertise in reaching particular groups of stakeholders, consumers and professionals supports our brand related research, with our experience of employee and customer experience research giving us a comprehensive suite of methods to deploy to drive improvements.
At MEL Research we work with a wide range of organisations which operate in ‘effective monopolies’ – e.g. electricity DNOs, local authorities, NHS trusts and utilities providers for instance. In many of these instances, traditional brand thinking does not translate, as there is little to no choice for the consumer. Thus, terms such as ‘preference’ or ‘salience’ within a product category are less relevant.
As such, we have developed our own model of social branding which focuses on Awareness, Knowledge, Closeness and Trust, with Advocacy included where relevant. This model encourages our clients in the public sector to AKCT with a view to improving Advocacy.
Doorstep engagement provides a direct and effective way for councils, housing providers, utilities, charities and other public service organisations to reach people in their own communities.
A well-designed doorstep engagement programme can do more than distribute information. It can help organisations understand why people are not using a service, address practical barriers, provide tailored support and encourage lasting behaviour change.
In order to maximise the impact of campaign investment M.E.L Research can test early creative ideas, through to final copies of creative. We can offer feedback on all types of creative including TV, posters, press, online, social media and radio. This can be done using various methodologies depending on the type of feedback needed, and the type of creative.
We specialise in large scale national polling to help policymakers and organisation leaders make informed decisions. Our accurate, reliable, and unbiased insights help to explore public attitudes on a range of social issues.
We have considerable expertise in engaging with residents in order to provide local authorities with an understanding of local priorities, neighbourhood issues and the quality of local service delivery. We are passionate about giving residents a clear voice in shaping services and improving neighbourhoods.
At M·E·L Research we believe that brand strength is built in different ways, but fundamentally being authentic to your brand identity throughout all contact points is essential.
Our dedicated team is poised to offer unparalleled support across various research requirements, adhering strictly to the highest ethical standards, ensuring every project we undertake is trauma-informed and fully integrates Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) principles, and utilising our own in-house team for the full range of fieldwork and analysis approaches.
The M·E·L Research Panel members take part in a variety of qualitative research, including one-to-one interviews, focus groups, and online workshops. Each project explores real-world social issues that matter, covering topics such as health, education, local government, and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), plus much more.
We have over 35 years’ experience in running quantitative research studies for a range of public services clients; from residents consultations to health and well-being studies to Survey of Tenants And Residents (STAR) projects amongst others.
NSPCC commissioned M·E·L Research to deliver an annual brand tracking study among professionals working to keep children safe. This study formed part of a longitudinal programme, with this wave representing the fifth iteration, enabling robust trend analysis over time. The core purpose of the research was to monitor NSPCC’s brand health, understand perceptions and usage of its services, and identify emerging safeguarding challenges to inform strategic decision-making.
The target audience comprised safeguarding professionals with decision-making responsibilities across a range of…
We work across UNBOXED in several different research and insight strands, a part of which is undertaking brand awareness tracking across the UK, using a place-based approach to focus in on communities which should have been impacted by the events.
NSPCC is the UK’s leading children’s charity. The NSPCC Professionals Brand Tracking survey and sampling were completely redesigned for 2021 by MEL Research. We developed a new approach to sampling, a new survey with new questions and conducted fieldwork in a new period.
