HPI

About the company
We are the UK’s largest independent fullservice agency – with a staff of 60 above Smithfield Market in London and a turnover in excess of £10 million. We excel in the creative use of both qualitative and quantitative techniques worldwide. The company is owned by its partners and we are all committed to ensuring our clients discover more from the research we produce and interpret.

The HPI philosophy
We recognise the fact that online research techniques have challenged traditional practices and we have enthusiastically embraced the new opportunities. However, we are not a ‘one-trick-pony’ dedicated online agency. Our philosophy starts with the research brief and not with any pre-conceived methodological imperative.

What sets us apart is our design and interpretation skills – including bringing the final debrief to life in a way that promotes understanding and encourages effective action. New online techniques help us to achieve this difference through our exploitation of the opportunities and avoidance of the pitfalls of web surveys.

In terms of the less glamorous side of quality control we have a five-point checklist to remove bogus responses, which is applied to all our surveys, whichever panel supplier is used.

Experience
Online techniques account for the major share of our quantitative output and are a growing element within the qualitative arena. Experience includes:

• several large-scale continuous trackers where we adopt a ‘panel of panels’ approach to ensure a sufficient supply of fresh sample each week
• combined methodology surveys to counteract the bias presented by panel domination by broadband subscribers (bias particularly affects older age groups and anyone living in less permanent accommodation)
• communications testing that includes instant visual scales to tap emotional responses and ‘hotspot’ evaluation to identify the elements that catch target group attention
• simple surveys scripted internally for very rapid market feedback
• higher-level online techniques to include conjoint and key driver analyses – particularly useful for new product development
• our own chatrooms, often used to allow focus group respondents to deliberate further on what happened in the group
• fully online qualitative – including virtual focus groups for certain youth targets where everyone (including the moderator) is represented by avatars.

Coverage
Worldwide

Type of contact
Because we generally buy in samples or use client lists then virtually all contacts that are possible at all are also available through HPI. This has included office-based business samples around the world.

Major research activities
Our scope is truly eclectic but with four areas of particular expertise:

• projects of all kinds involving communication assessment, whether pre- or post-launch, and including experiential as well as more conventional media activity
• projects of all kinds involving a deep understanding of brand building, brand equity assessment or brand elasticity
• projects of all kinds involving new product development
• projects of all kinds involving market segmentation for differential marketing approaches.

Branded offerings
Our branded offerings relate to the core competences, listed above, rather than to specific online techniques.

The one exception is our ‘Global Meeting Place’, which includes chat room, bulletin board and secure file-sharing.

Typical projects
For us the web is a tool and our online research studies are as varied as our total project mix.

Further information
Just email us!