Research confirms that APEM are viewed as a leader in our industry

Our first acquisition took place, we doubled our headcount with an additional 165 team members, and we revealed new innovations such as COVER+®, LiDAR to measure bird flight heights and a new Taxonomic Discrimination Protocol (TDP). However, in times of change it’s important to reflect and look at what works, what doesn’t work and how to improve.

By nature, we like to analyse and interpret – we are mainly scientists after all! And APEM’s marketing team are no exception. We love statistics and data and return on investment is a term frequently expressed by our marketing manager. Therefore, it seemed natural to take steps to establish a framework to measure brand awareness, perception and value across all of our stakeholders.

We like to ‘practice what we preach’ and engaged specialist communications consultancy becg to help us and to provide an independent viewpoint and analysis. becg proposed a programme of work that included a blended approach of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. We engaged with an audience that included current and lapsed clients, prospective clients, competitors and the wider industry, regulators and (last but by no means least) the APEM team itself.

Questions asked centred around awareness and understanding, performance, brand and identity, user decisions and market opportunities and challenges.

becg director, Verity Barr commented:

Getting unbiased feedback from a range of stakeholders is an invaluable insight into how an organisation is perceived.  It allows you to identify your strengths and areas which may need more focus, as well as gaining a better understanding of your clients’ challenges and exploring new opportunities with them.

The key takeaways left us bursting with pride.

95% of clients said they would recommend us and that APEM are viewed as a leader in our industry.

This is every organisation’s dream and to have that confirmed by independent research is a huge achievement for the APEM team.

Other outputs provoked deep thought and action:

• Using less scientific jargon in initial communications
• APEM were repeatedly referred to as ‘professional’, ‘reliable’, ‘specialist’ and ‘knowledgeable’
• Requests for more ‘on demand’ digital assets – people want to engage with us digitally first at their own pace and time
• We could be better at showcasing our innovations

APEM’s marketing team are already implementing changes. A new website was launched late last year along with new video and digital content. We’d love to hear your thoughts so please drop us an email.

Being able to demonstrably track brand awareness and perceived value at defined points in time has provided us with invaluable insight that has been illuminating and hugely satisfying. Plans are already in place for a follow up piece of research and further brand development and expansion of the APEM Group planned. Keep an eye on our social channels for the latest news and updates.