Better Brand Health Tracking Based on The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute

Traditional brand tracking approaches often involve lengthy, manual processes and multiple points of contact for data collection, analysis, and reporting. Modern brand tracking software automates and speeds up these steps through pre-built survey templates, automated data collection (and cleaning), and real-time dashboards that automatically update as soon as new data is available.

With most brand tracking software, you can even see trends developing while your study is still in field, significantly speeding up the time to data-backed business decisions. 

With an automated platform like quantilope, you can launch new waves of tracking studies with just a few clicks. This replaces the process of rebuilding entire surveys from scratch, sending them to a data processing team, and building reports from square one. quantilope's platform even has an integrated AI co-pilot, quinn, helping to guide and inspire researchers at every step. 

Brand tracking software frees up researchers' time to focus on strategic analysis and business recommendations rather than managing tedious administrative tasks. 

The best way to ensure quality insights is to select a platform that considers data quality at every step of the research process, from survey creation and trusted panel partnerships to data cleaning and final reporting. Beyond these standard elements of data quality, also look for software that offers advanced research methodologies. Advanced methods go a step further than traditional usage & attitude (A&U) metrics for richer, more actionable insights.

Specifically for tracking, consistency plays a huge role in the quality and reliability of your insights. Make sure to keep most core metrics consistent across waves and to launch each wave of your tracker in evenly-spaced intervals (waves). Most brand tracking software will also offer statistical testing which provides further validity and quality to your findings. 

When looking for software platforms, choose one that allows for customization while maintaining methodological guardrails - this ensures your tracking study addresses your specific business needs without sacrificing quality.

Aside from the time saved through brand tracking software, it also allows research teams to generally work more efficiently.

Platforms like quantilope centralize data into a single source, enabling collaborative analysis across teams and eliminating version control issues. This means no longer needing to coordinate between multiple vendors for questionnaire programming, sample management, data processing, and reporting.

With real-time access to insights at any hour of the day, teams across the globe can respond to questionnaire comments and make report changes that will reflect for all others, instantaneously. 

Brand tracking software pricing varies widely based on several factors:

• Scale of tracking (number of markets, brands, competitors)
• Frequency of measurement (e.g. quarterly, annually) 
• Sample requirements (number of respondents needed, screening criteria)
• Depth of analysis (reporting expectations) 
• Customization (how standardized or customizable the tracking survey can be) 

Most platforms offer flexible pricing options or tiers based on your specific needs and research objectives. For the most accurate pricing information tailored to your situation, we recommend contacting providers directly for a custom quote.

Return-on-investment (ROI) is measured through a number of factors, including:

• Time savings in research and reporting processes
• Improved marketing effectiveness from data-driven decision making
• Early identification of brand challenges before they impact revenue
• Optimization of marketing spend based on performance insights

Yes, modern brand tracking software offers flexibility to add or modify metrics as brand priorities shift, adjust survey questions without disrupting trend data, and incorporate new data sources as they become relevant. This adaptability may go against traditional agency advice to keep trackers 100% consistent wave-over-wave, but the reality is that markets and business objectives change over time, so your survey should be able to as well.

With automated platforms, you're not locked into rigid tracking structures. If you find that certain metrics aren't providing value anymore, you can easily swap them out with ones that do. Brand tracking software makes this process easy, without any need for color-coded documents edits that get passed-and-forth between teams and inevitably get mixed up. Instead, make any necessary changes directly in your software tool where all team members can see edits reflected in real time. 

AI-supported brand tracking solutions can identify patterns and correlations humans might miss with their own eyes. Alongside providing a unique perspective to find otherwise 'hidden' insights, AI tools automate routine analysis tasks and can analyze unstructured data like social conversations to uncover consumer sentiments. 

Advanced platforms with integrated AI co-pilots – like quantilope's quinn, help at every stage of the research process, starting with questionnaire input suggestions and later helping to generate and summarize report headlines and takeaways. 

By handling the time-consuming aspects of market research, AI allows researchers to spend more time on strategic interpretation and application of insights, ultimately making tracking research more valuable to the business.

Effective implementation starts with determining your key brand metrics and KPIs, establishing a reliable baseline measurement, and setting up consistent tracking intervals.

When selecting a platform, prioritize those that offer API connections to marketing automation platforms, integration with customer data platforms (CDPs), connections to business intelligence tools, and data warehousing connections for enterprise systems.

Training is critical to ensure your team understands how to use the software effectively, including all features and capabilities. Many software providers (like quantilope) will dedicate a team of consultants to each project to provide ongoing, focused support.

When implementing a new brand tracking software for the first time, be mindful of your sample source and aim to keep this consistent in subsequent waves for fair comparison.

Finally, ensure compliance with relevant privacy regulations and industry standards when collecting and storing consumer data.

Traditional brand tracking software typically focuses on brand funnel metrics: brand awareness, brand consideration, and brand usage.

While valuable, brand funnel metrics sometimes lack actionability and may not fully explain the "why" behind consumer behavior or provide clear direction on how to grow your brand.
Better Brand Health Tracking (BBHT) explores these insights in more detail by incorporating concepts known as Category Entry Points (the situations that prompt consumers to think about a category), Mental Availability (how easily a brand comes to mind in those buying situations), and Mental Advantage analysis (how brands perform relative to expectations based on their size).

BBHT provides more actionable brand insights by focusing on how consumers actually make purchase decisions and identifying specific opportunities for brand growth.