At Lab42, we are incredibly proud of our absolutely awesome clients and all the great work that they do. In this month’s client spotlight, we’re highlighting one in particular: Zócalo Group, a fellow Chicago-based company whose ultimate mission is to help their clients be recommended.

Zócalo’s expertise is in helping drive consumer recommendations to their clients’ brands by seamlessly building out fully integrated messaging campaigns.We love working with Zócalo’s research team because they bring forward-thinking, innovative ideas to their clients.  I had the pleasure to connect with one of Zócalo’s lead Research Managers, Jennifer White, to discuss the impact social media has had on market research. Her views on the subject are incredibly insightful. 

How has social media played a role in your research innovation efforts?
“Social media allows us to know more about consumers and how they recommend brands to one another.  We work with our clients to help them become the most recommended in their category – and social media fits right in with that goal.  Even just six years ago, we never would have dreamed to be able to reach exactly who we’re looking for so easily.  We can now help our clients engage more with their consumers on an interesting and relevant level.”

How has social media (or respondents who engage with social entities, i.e. Facebook & Twitter) impacted the speed and quality of the research you conduct?
“We can now reach out directly to our target audience and receive feedback the very same day if necessary.  Surveys allow us to directly reach our target – from this gathered information we can create content that is more engaging to our audience and can create deeper connections with our clients’ consumers.”

In the world of 140 character tweets and text messages, do you think infographics are a useful tool in that they similarly act to condense larger messages to be more rapidly digestible?
“At the Zócalo Group, we’re constantly trying to come up with new ways to share data and information in fun, relevant ways for our clients’ audiences.  Realizing that text-heavy posts are quickly becoming a thing of the past, infographics are a visual, interesting way to share pertinent information.

”Recently, we worked together on a custom research and infographic project for Blick Art Materials, a leader in providing the best products and service to anyone requiring quality art materials for work or pleasure. In 2009, Blick took it one step further and developed a wonderful initiative called “Art Room Aid” which was created to help raise money to support arts education in diverse ways.

On behalf of the Lab42 team, we hope you enjoy and are inspired by the message behind “The Stroke of Genius” infographic. 

About the Surveys
Survey results were extrapolated from a national online survey of:500 Americans who self-identified as artists, either by trade or hobby (Artists’ Inspiration Survey)1,000 Americans (Art Education Survey)The surveys were conducted by Lab42 from November 16–21, 2012. The margin of error for national findings is +/- 3.1 percentage points.

About Art Room Aid
Art Room Aid was created in 2009. If you’re an art educator, Art Room Aid provides the tools to easily share your dreams and funding needs without complicated applications or fees that take away from contributions. If you’re an arts advocate, you can quickly locate a project that resonates with you and make a high-quality contribution that will go directly to a project in need.

About Blick Art Materials
Blick Art Materials is one of the largest and oldest providers of art supplies in the United States. Its products cater to the full spectrum of artists — from the youngest child ready to scribble with his or her first crayon to well-known, gallery-represented professionals. The company’s extensive selection, competitive prices, and superior customer service make Blick the choice for professional and amateur artists, art educators, architects, designers, students, hobbyists, or anyone requiring quality art materials for work or pleasure. Visit www.dickblick.com for more information.