Stagetext

Subtitles an unexpected hit, in so raising the visibility of Captioning Awareness Week.

The brief

As a charity dedicated to making art more accessible to the deaf community, Stagetext wanted to know how people in the UK feel about subtitles, and whether they would support their bid to make them more available in live shows, like musicals and plays. The project aimed to raise visibility of Captioning Awareness Week.

No research around the subject existed yet, so Stagetext aimed to use the exclusivity of the data to support their thought leadership efforts.

Stagetext wanted to know how people in the UK feel about subtitles

We collected the opinions of 2003 people in the UK

Our solution

After a brief stage of questionnaire advice, we put a quantitative survey in field, collecting the opinions of 2003 people in the UK, spanning every range and gender. The data took five working days to collect, and at the end it yielded some very interesting findings for Stagetext, including the fact that the younger generations – deaf or otherwise – make ample use of subtitles and would welcome them at live events too.

The news of the research was covered by top tier new outlets

The outcome

The data provided Stagetext with a new, exclusive point of view, which they used to fuel a successful thought leadership campaign. The news of the research was covered by top tier new outlets, like the BBC, The Times, The Huffington Post and The Guardian. It was even mentioned in overseas papers, Il Corriere della Sera in Italy, just to name one.

Stagetext also had the chance to talk about the findings in an interview at London Live.

The stats will still being publicly quoted on national and international news one year later, exceeding the camping metrics. This was compounded by public support from the likes of Donmar Warehouse, British Museum, the Barbican, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Royal Exchange Manchester.

“The fact that the data was so unique really helped them get the coverage”
Ian Morton from Campaign Collective, the communication agency supporting Stagetext

‹ Success Stories

The Together Project

Sapio Research’s charitable initiative enables The Together Project to raise funds to launch Crafting Connections.

The brief

The Together Project is a charity that creates intergenerational experiences, boosting wellbeing, reducing loneliness and enabling stronger, happier communities.

During the first lockdown in March 2020 The Together Project had to cease their intergenerational music group, ‘Songs & Smiles’ which invited 0-4 year olds (and their grown ups) into older people’s care homes and communal spaces.

However, they soon launched Hand in Hand Together, an initiative aimed at reducing the isolation that the lockdown brought. Children were encouraged to create hand print art works, which were then sent to residents of care homes – and vice versa. Stories and pictures were swapped in the post, allowing the youngest, oldest and in-between generations to feel connected and spread a bit of happiness between themselves.

This initiative sparked the idea for Crafting Connections – an arts and crafts exchange, pairing children with care home residents. However, the team at The Together Project wanted to find out more about their potential audience and whether this initiative was just an idea or had grounding as a live project.

Through the research they wanted to:

Speak to parents, guardians and carers of children aged 0-14
Understand their opinions and values around intergenerational contact
Hear what effect the pandemic has had on families
Understand how frequently children and grown ups do arts and crafts
Know the barriers and benefits to doing arts and crafts activities
Understand charitable donation habits
Understand behaviours regarding subscription boxes for children
Measure consideration of the proposed concept

This insight would enable them to:

Decide whether to move ahead with the project
Scope and refine the offering
Create materials to support grant applications

Our solution

Sapio Research’s first charity giveaway was launched at just the right time. The Together Project applied via our online form, and were randomly selected via an online generator as the lucky winners.

Sapio donated a project worth over £2,500 which included:

Questionnaire advice and consultancy support
Survey programming, hosting and incentives
2,000 consumers’ opinions
A PPT report outlining the key findings and next steps signposting.

Key findings

The research revealed that 86% of parents and carers would like to do more arts and crafts with their children, and 90% were interested in taking part in the initiative.

We also learned that the majority feel it is important for their children to interact with people of different ages and backgrounds.

Those interested in taking part in the initiative would expect to pay an average of £10 per month.

The Together Project supplemented the consumer research that Sapio ran with interviews with care homes and their residents, who expressed great excitement about the idea.

The insights gave them confidence to proceed with their plans and evidence to demonstrate the potential value the programme would bring.

Outcome

Research insights allowed the team at The Together Project to substantiate grant applications and create materials to support fundraising efforts to get the project off the ground. £45,000 was required to take Crafting Connection to market and create the first 500 friendships (at which point it would become self funding). Thanks in big part to the consumer demand demonstrated by the research, the funding target was achieved.

In February 2022, Louise Goulden, founder and CEO of The Together Project got in touch to let us know that Crafting Connections had been created and launched and we couldn’t be happier for them.

The project was the epitome of a well-rounded and thorough research project and we’re so glad that Crafting Connections has been launched and is bringing joy and friendship to people around the country. A great example of the power of market research.

“I’m truly delighted to be Crafting Connections’ ambassador. Creating art has so many benefits, whatever your age – from enhancing imaginative thinking and improving coordination skills to boosting your mood – and I love that this project has such a worthwhile purpose at its heart. I can really imagine the joy that both the children and the older people will experience when they open their friends’ pictures each month – what a wonderful thing to be part of”
Award-winning illustrator and author Nick Sharratt is Crafting Connections ambassador

The research project has been such a valuable tool, both for giving us the confidence to proceed and for bringing funders on-board. As a relatively young, small charity, market research at this scale is not something we’d engaged in before, but the insights delivered means we’re definitely considering it for future initiatives.

Louise Goulden
Founder & CEO
The Together Project

‹ Success Stories

Tangle Teezer

Award-Winning PR | Hair-raising research tackles underrepresentation and wins hearts.

As a workplace strategy consultancy, engaging effectively with our client’s employees is critical and Sapio is our go-to supplier for staff surveys. The process is always stress-free and turnaround times for both building the survey and providing the results data are very quick. I particularly appreciate the way Sapio demonstrate a real concern for quality and frequently make helpful suggestions regarding question formats or raise a query if something doesn’t look right in the question set. I have found them to be unfailingly helpful and responsive and would not hesitate to recommend them.

Judy Gavan
Associate Director
HCG

The brief

Tangle Teezer wanted to create an authentic emotional connection with the natural hair community. They hired Don’t Cry Wolf to create an activism campaign to celebrate Black and afro hair, engage the natural hair community, and improve representation.

Knowing that the right tone and angle would be crucial to the campaign, Don’t Cry Wolf commissioned Sapio Research to:

Understand perceptions of beauty and representation through media and literature.
Create content to support the launch of Tangle Teezer’s HairyTales.
Inform the creation of a new line of brushes for kids with Black heritage hairstyles.

Create an authentic emotional connection with the natural hair community

1,800 online interviews with self-identified Black parents and children (aged 6-17) across the UK and US

What we did

To reach the heart of the target audience, we conducted 1,800 online interviews with self-identified Black parents and children (aged 6-17) across the UK and US.

We used a series of images to gather perceptions of beauty from children of Black ethnicities aged 6-17 and their parents.

A considered analysis provided thought-provoking data and headline statistics to enable Tangle Teezer to start relevant conversations with their desired audience.

Key findings

The research revealed that more than half of Black parents in the US (51%) and the UK (59%) said Black characters in books usually play on stereotypes and negatively depict Black culture.

We also learned that the target audience comprises avid readers, with books and literature being their 5th most popular topic of conversation. But only 12% of children’s books in the US and 2% in the UK feature Black characters.

The outcome

Research insights inspired Don’t Cry Wolf to help children see more heroes who look like them through bedtime stories. The solution would engage the whole family and tackle the genuine problem of underrepresentation.

Enter HairyTales, a series of books that re-write classic fairy tales—placing Black protagonists and afro-textured hair centre stage.

Our research also enabled Tangle Teezer to launch a new hairbrush line alongside the PR campaign.

Best Selling, Multiple-Award-Winning Results

The campaign was a rip-roaring success!

300 press and influencer coverage pieces, including three one-minute segments on ABC’s Good Morning America and BBC News.
Over 60,000 site visits to the publisher’s site following the TV segments.
A subsequent distribution deal with one of USA’s top department stores.
One of the books was adapted into an animated video with over 250,000 views on YouTube.
Don’t Cry Wolf report a 10 x bigger return on investment compared to other Tangle Teezer YouTube content.

“Over half a million people in our target audience took action by buying books, watching the film or engaging directly with it on social media.”
Don’t Cry Wolf

The campaign received numerous accolades:

The Drum Awards for Social Purpose

🏆Winner
Campaign of the Year
(for profit)

🏆Winner
Best PR Campaign

🏆Winner
Chair Award

Nominated

Best in Representation of Diversity & Inclusivity in a Campaign

Brand Film Awards

🏅Finalist
Consumer Goods

PRCA National Awards

🏅Finalist
Purpose Award

‹ Success Stories

Foxtrot Papa

Audience understanding to improve content impact.

The brief

Foxtrot Papa, an automotive content and experience agency wanted to raise their visibility among Comms Directors and Brand Directors in the Automotive sector. Foxtrot Papa needed to create their own thought leadership that demonstrated their understanding in their target market’s customer base and collect insights that would enable them to offer better counsel. So, Foxtrot Papa set out to potentially explore a number of topical issues but didn’t have direct access to their clients’ customer base.

Creating their own thought leadership that demonstrated their understanding in their target market’s customer base

Workshops and interviews with insights used as a basis for a launch event

What we did

After leading a number of workshops we focused on a topic that was both future facing and would generate information to overcome sales objections. We got around the lack of direct access to their clients’ customer base by selecting a topic that was relevant to the whole of the UK adult population, and using our specially selected panel partners. Once we had an agreed questionnaire, we completed over 1,000 interviews with UK consumers in less than a week. Outputs were reported in several stages, initially via Excel data tables with an annotated presentation highlighting significant differences and story lines, followed by additional data cuts. Sapio met again with Foxtrot Papa to run through the results and brainstorm on the storyline for the report, written by Sapio, which Foxtrot Papa typeset and used as a basis for a launch event with supporting social content.

The outcome

The event drew a packed house for a panel discussion formed off the back of the insights. The event was a lever to invite both current and potential clients not only to attend but participate in the panel too. The Electric is Now report received coverage in both the automotive and marketing press. It also resulted in a direct lead at the event itself.

A packed house for a panel discussion

‹ Success Stories

Whirli

Discovering engaging headlines that convince parents about the benefits of using the novel toy-sharing service.

The brief

Whirli is a unique and new to the market toy subscription service. Consumers pay monthly for different sized ‘toy boxes’; they choose their toys and their children play with them at leisure. When toys are got bored of, grown out of or forgotten, they are sent back for a new set and so on, helping to reduce costs and waste. At the end of 2018 they started a trial service run with customers who had registered their interest with the service. At this same time Whirli were looking to run some research with parents of children aged 0-7 in order to generate some headline stats which could be used to showcase the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling toys. Whirli were also hoping to understanding a bit more about how their target audience buy, manage, play and dispose of toys. The brief included full questionnaire design and collaboration, a 2,000-consumer survey plus analysis.

Generating headline stats which can be used to showcase the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling toys

Questionnaire design and an online survey reaching 2,000 parents of 0-7 year olds

What we did

Sapio met with Whirli in the first instance for a brainstorming session. This helped Sapio to understand exactly what was required and informed the questionnaire design process. The research had been pre-thought out and consequently there was flexible and sufficient timings to allow for a well-researched questionnaire design phase. Sapio created the first draft, then worked with Whirli and their own PR agency to refine the questions. Once this was finalised, fieldwork commenced using an online survey to reach 2,000 parents of 0-7 year olds.

The outcome

The findings have been used in numerous ways – both to talk to news outlets with, for Whirli’s own marketing messaging and on their website, showing just how versatile a single research project can be.

The findings have been used in numerous ways

As a novel start-up in a poorly-researched space, we needed to validate the problems Whirli is solving. Sapio Research were fantastic partners from start to finish – creative in brainstorming angles, careful in designing the questions, and rigorous in analysing the results. The research brought a wealth of insights, backed by hard figures, for our business decision making and for us to talk about publicly in the press.

Nigel Phan
Founder
Whirli

‹ Success Stories

Flight Club

Helping an agency succeed their campaign to increase visitors at the hand of trend spotting online quantitative research.

The brief

A themed London based bar wanted to launch the brand in new cities and locations. It wanted to do this in an elegant, on-brand way that wasn’t just another bunch of London luvvies demanding adoration from ‘the regions’ but instead ensured that the brand weaved itself into the local communities.

Launching the brand into the local communities

Geographically and profile targeted online quantitative research

What we did

To support the findings of focus groups in the cities of the planned launches, we undertook geographically and profile targeted online quantitative research to confirm some of the trends and local nuances, as well as getting more of an understanding of the culture.

The outcome

Identified tier one and two media and influencers were invited to the London venue before returning to their own location as advocates. The Agency then built bespoke creative themes to fit the fabric of each city and made sure that the right people turned up to the launch. ‘Flight Club Characters’ played by actors, brought the brands’ philosophy of fun, invention, luck and surprise to life.

During the Manchester campaign they increased traffic to Flight Club’s booking areas by 53%, saw 25,000 visit the Manchester page on launch day, and generated 487 pre-bookings in two months. They also generated 76 pieces of coverage.

The Agency has since been nominated for a CIM award for best use of Data and Insight – SME

Increase of booking areas

Visits on launch day

Pre-bookings in two months

Pieces of coverage

‹ Success Stories

Praxis Medicare

Understanding market opportunity for an AI-driven digital healthcare technology solution.

The brief

The start-up Praxis Medicare was looking to understand the market opportunity for a digital healthcare technology solution. Designed to help organisations (particularly SMEs), the system, which is based on historical healthcare data, uses Artificial Intelligence (AI), plus employees’ responses to help minimise absenteeism, improve engagement, increase staff retention levels and attract high calibre members of staff.

The advanced digital health risk analytics programme was awarded a grant by Innovate UK to test its commercial feasibility as it fitted into the Government brief of:

improving patient outcomes
offering new approaches to healthcare that transform its delivery
reducing the demand on the health system

This feasibility project specifically set-out to understand the required tonality of an AI proposition and its resonance if the output was Productivity/Econometrics based or Employee Engagement/Retention focused.

Understanding the market opportunity for a digital healthcare technology solution

A series of exploratory in-depth face-to-face interviews and a quantitative research phase

What we did

A series of exploratory in-depth face-to-face interviews, using professionally developed customer journey stimulus and story boards, were completed to explain the concept and help to understand the potential issues and perceived benefits. This was then complemented by a quantitative research phase to validate the findings and help develop a go-to-market strategy. Particular insight was provided around dashboard UX/tonality, price point analysis and the characteristics that prospects needed to exhibit. All of the interviews were completed with business managers in high churn industries with specific responsibly for HR and talent acquisition.

The outcome

The project gave Praxis the evidence it needed to meet the review criteria of Innovate UK, the insight required to develop the system further and a route map to take the solution to market.

‹ Success Stories

Jungheinrich

Power Buy the Hour - Using audience understanding to get true impact and innovation.

The brief

Jungheinrich, the leading intralogistics solution provider in Europe wanted to understand the market opportunity for an initiative, using the UK as a test bed. It was an entirely new truck acquisition and charging model based on the use of Telematics data; a technology which has the possibility of redefining the short term rental market for Fork Lift Trucks. Project requirements were two fold, not only generating strategic insights, but also forming part of a thought leadership campaign.

Understanding market opportunity

300 interviews with managers and directors responsible for Fork Lift truck fleets

What we did

Working with Jungheinrich to map out and define the challenges, using the principles of design thinking, Sapio designed the project. Sapio completed 300 interviews with managers and directors responsible for Fork Lift truck fleets. The research, which looked at three key principles of innovation: Desirability, Viability and Feasibility, highlighted the issues that would both encourage and inhibit adoption.

The outcome

The research showed how the complex proposition could be broken down, developed and marketed around three key pillars:

Emotional Innovation
Functional Innovation
Process Innovation

It provided a route map that helped Jungheinrich evaluate the opportunity. The report included price point analysis, recommendations on the proposition structure and tactics on taking the product to market. Within the first six months, a new app was created and launch targets smashed. The pilot launch quickly identified internal training requirements, led to business restructuring and redefining of the brand promise. The new proposition was adopted throughout Europe within nine months. An amazingly agile response from a global giant.

Discovery of 3 marketing pillars

Coverage success

The new proposition was received well by market influencers with many pieces of coverage such as in Logistics Manager. The supporting PR campaign was one of the client’s most successful, even before it pitched its Thought Leadership paper.

The insight findings were presented at the Market Research Society (MRS) conference “Driving Transformation Through Insight”. The presentation summarising key findings is available as a download. A White Paper on the research and proposition is available as a PDF report with the findings published by Research Live.

‹ Success Stories

Maths – No Problem!

Enabling a disruptor in Education Publishing.

The brief

Maths – No Problem!, a family owned publisher offering a teaching maths for mastery programme consisting of a print, digital and CPD offering, is on the brink of becoming one of the biggest disruptors in its space.

As the only provider to be approved for the Government’s Maths Mastery programme (a £41 million Government investment, match funding mastery textbooks for 8,000 Primary Schools), Maths – No Problem! wanted to fully harness this opportunity, whilst maintaining the integrity of its programme. Maths – No Problem! wanted to understand the competitive landscape, what drives schools to choose its programme, what’s working well and understand areas for potential improvement. Although the feedback needed to be from users, it couldn’t be a conventional customer survey as the users are not yet experts in the new maths system; their opinions needed to viewed from a different perspective as Maths – No Problem! drives programmes that will impact the leaders of tomorrow.

Understanding the competitive landscape, what drives schools to choose its programme, what’s working well and understand areas for potential improvement

Twelve tele-depth interviews

Solution

A phased, mixed methodology was designed which complemented the customer immersion work already being undertaken by the organisation. Twelve tele-depth interviews were conducted with maths leads in new and old accounts that covered a range of primary school demographics. While many findings were expected a number threw a curved ball into the understanding of the competitive landscape. The programme progressed to the quantification stage as planned, but upon reflection of the insights its focus was quite different. There followed 147 online interviews were subsequently conducted online.

The outcome

Not only did the programme produce a raft of insights relevant to product development needs, but insights around platform UX, marketing campaigns and customer service were also identified. The results solidified current thinking and took it way beyond the project’s initial objectives; the qualitative stage alone being credited as being more helpful in terms of strategy development than the outputs of a conventional consultant commissioned a little earlier.

Although the use of the insights is in its early stages, Maths No Problem! is already well on the way to smashing renewal and new business targets, and its Net Promotor Score is outstanding. It’s also won the IPG Independent Publishing Award for Education Publisher of the year 2017 and the disquiet among competitors suggests that it’s a disruptor to be reckoned with.

The Maths — No Problem! Primary Series is now the only recommended textbook for schools on the mastery programme.

The Maths — No Problem! Primary Series is now the only recommended textbook for schools on the mastery programme

‹ Success Stories

Kingsmill

Making a relevant and lasting impact to support the launch of a new line of products, enhancing the baker Kingsmill’s reputation.

The brief

Make a relevant and lasting impact to support the launch of a new line of products, enhancing the baker Kingsmill’s reputation. The original research stats needed to be a foundation, highlighting a problem upon which a partner influencer could base their story and go onto sharing handy lunchbox hints and tips aimed at the target audience.

Making a relevant and lasting impact to support the launch of a new line of products

An online survey with 1,000 UK parents

What we did

After checking the research participants and question structures were relevant for the kind of headlines sought we conducted a quick online survey with 1,000 UK parents. The team were new so we not only pulled out the results verbally but popped into the agency to give them a quick master class on how to read data tables.

The outcome

A snappy press release and briefing of media influencers lead to wide coverage in the Daily Mail and discussions on Good Morning Britain and Mumsnet, so comfortably meeting client KPIs.

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The brief

Stagetext wanted to know how people in the UK feel about subtitles

We collected the opinions of 2003 people in the UK

Our solution

The news of the research was covered by top tier new outlets

The outcome

Need help figuring out the research you need?

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The brief

Our solution

Key findings

The insights gave them confidence to proceed with their plans and evidence to demonstrate the potential value the programme would bring.

Outcome

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The brief

Create an authentic emotional connection with the natural hair community

1,800 online interviews with self-identified Black parents and children (aged 6-17) across the UK and US

What we did

Key findings

The outcome

Best Selling, Multiple-Award-Winning Results

The Drum Awards for Social Purpose

Nominated

Brand Film Awards

PRCA National Awards

Need help figuring out the research you need?

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The brief

Creating their own thought leadership that demonstrated their understanding in their target market’s customer base

Workshops and interviews with insights used as a basis for a launch event

What we did

The outcome

A packed house for a panel discussion

Need help figuring out the research you need?

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The brief

Generating headline stats which can be used to showcase the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling toys

Questionnaire design and an online survey reaching 2,000 parents of 0-7 year olds

What we did

The outcome

The findings have been used in numerous ways

Need help figuring out the research you need?

Topical tips, insights and more delivered to your inbox

Need something similar?

Highlighted services

The brief

Launching the brand into the local communities

Geographically and profile targeted online quantitative research

What we did

The outcome

Need help figuring out the research you need?

Topical tips, insights and more delivered to your inbox

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Highlighted services

The brief

Understanding the market opportunity for a digital healthcare technology solution

A series of exploratory in-depth face-to-face interviews and a quantitative research phase

What we did

The outcome

Need help figuring out the research you need?

Topical tips, insights and more delivered to your inbox

Need something similar?

Highlighted services

The brief

Understanding market opportunity

300 interviews with managers and directors responsible for Fork Lift truck fleets

What we did

The outcome