The essential purpose of any marketing research effort is to make well-informed, strategically appropriate business decisions.  The Sawtooth Technologies Consulting Group helps companies support such high-level decisions with the most effective use of conjoint analysis.  Part of the team that pioneered the application of conjoint analysis to business problems, Sawtooth Technologies Consulting Group brings a wealth of experience to the design of every project. Our team has directed the implementation of literally hundreds of conjoint and choice studies.

Conjoint, choice and MaxDiff scaling are the best approaches for answering many types of product development and segmentation questions:

Product/Service Design

·    What combination of features should a new or current offering have?

·    How should a new or current offering be priced? 

Segmentation

·    How is the market segmented in terms of the benefits buyers seek?

·    Which segments should we target? 

Product/Service Line Optimization

·    How should the offerings in our line be configured?

·    How can we minimize cannibalization of our current offering(s)? 

Competition

·    How well do we expect a new offering to compete?

·    How can we best defend ourselves against competitive response?

Our services range from fully implemented conjoint, choice and MaxDiff assignments to more informal coaching and consulting designed to get novices up to speed with these advanced research techniques. Choose just the services you need - extensive or limited - for all or part of your projects. We offer expert custom assistance within each of these areas:

Study Implementation

From study design through analysis, we offer decades of experience in:

·   Framing your business problem and selecting the appropriate conjoint methodology to meet your objectives.

·   Designing simple or complex conjoint studies, whether adaptive or choice based.

·   Developing and programming questionnaires.

·   Ensuring that sample design is appropriate to the study objectives.

·   Managing the data collection process.

·   Providing in-depth data analysis for the overall market as well as relevant segments.

·   Offering strategic guidance in using study information to solve business problems.

Partnering with Research Suppliers

Other researchers often request our assistance in:

·   Helping to select the proper conjoint methodology and identifying appropriate areas of investigation.

·   Assisting with the design of attribute lists, questions formats, and approaches that result in valid, actionable results.

·   Guiding the examination and interpretation of study results.

Individual, Group and On-the-Job Training*

We also offer:

·   One-day training sessions covering the theory and practice of conjoint, choice and MaxDiff.

·   Two-day training sessions that include consultation on specific projects.

·   On-the-job ACA, CBC and MaxDiff  training to assist first-time users.

·   Scheduled Seminars

Sawtooth Technologies Consulting Group brings years of practical experience to help companies of all sizes across a wide variety of industries.

Team Biographies

Carol White has more than 20 years of experience in the application of conjoint and choice tools to business problems. She has conducted hundreds of projects for Fortune 200 and equivalent-sized companies, in industries as varied as financial services, industrial and consumer products, and higher education. She has guest lectured on conjoint analysis at Stanford and University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. She earned her B.A. in Economics at the University of Michigan and her M.B.A. in Marketing at the University of Chicago.

Suzanne Weiss has more than 20 years of experience in marketing strategy and implementation. As a marketing research strategy consultant she worked extensively with conjoint analysis, serving clients as diverse as Federal Express, Nissan, Texas Instruments, Heublein, and Bank of America. Sue has lectured on conjoint and other modeling techniques at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.  She is currently a Senior Lecturer at Illinois Institute of Technology’s Stuart Graduate School of Business. Sue earned an M.B.A. in Marketing and Statistics at the University of Chicago.

Erika Bruhn has 15 years of experience developing consumer-driven strategies for her clients.  She specializes in strategic marketing issues, including brand strategy, new product development, segmentation and positioning.  Erika has worked with some of the world’s leading companies, including General Motors, Kraft Foods, Honeywell, Sara Lee, Allstate, Quaker Oats, Siemens and Warner Bros.  Erika holds a B.A. in Economics and an M.B.A. in Marketing and Finance from the University of Chicago.

Joe Curry has been involved in the application, software development, and teaching of conjoint and choice-based conjoint techniques throughout his career. His clients have included Fortune 200 firms in the high-tech, pharmaceutical, industrial, and automotive sectors. Joe has been an adjunct professor of marketing at Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics and an M.B.A. in Marketing from the University of Chicago.

Contact Carol White at 847/239-7300 or consulting@sawtooth.com to discuss how our consulting services can help you deliver effective strategic business results.