OUR SOLUTIONS

Client context

• Our clients use these studies to:
• Understand the reputational landscape in which their company or organisation operates
• Investigate opinions on key, current issues affecting the sector
• Measure and track their reputation compared to similar organisations or competitors
• Identify the factors that drive favourability and advocacy amongst these important groups
• Identify activities and communication messages which develop and maintain an organisation’s reputation

Our Solutions

A syndicated study is to research what a car pool is to commuters – it’s a shared vehicle with shared costs. In a syndicated study, subscribers share the cost of data collection for the set of core questions. Thus, the report cost is only a fraction of what it would have been if a custom study had been done for you.

We offer a suite of syndicated studies, covering a broad range of topics, sectors, industries and trends.

The KIT programme includes the following surveys:
UK Government

• House of Commons (twice a year)
• Scottish Parliament
• Welsh Parliament / Senedd Cymru
• Northern Ireland Assembly

Business and Financial Press

• Business and Financial Journalists (twice a year)
• Personal Finance Journalists

Business Leaders

• Captains of Industry

Transport Journalists

• Transport Journalists

Corporate Responsibility and the General Public

• Sustainable Business Monitor

House of Commons (twice a year)

MPs have the power to change the way any organisation operates; their decisions can alter the legal and business landscape in the UK. If you know what MPs think about your sector and organisation, you can start to build a relationship with them based on issues that are important to you both.

• Download our MPs Survey prospectus

Twice a year we conduct around 100 face-to-face interviews with MPs. This is a representative survey and for 40 years we have helped our clients to better explore their relationship, reputation and communications with the House of Commons. Using our expert, highly trained interviewers, we explore the attitudes and opinions of MPs, probing at key points during our interviews to make sure the answers we get are high quality and at the heart of the issues you are exploring.

• Our Core Package
  This includes a carefully designed questionnaire that measures core reputation metrics that Ipsos has identified and refined over the years. This is a tried and tested starting point for measuring your reputation in Westminster. 
  Cost: £14,000+VAT
• Our Bespoke Packages
  This allows you to investigate unique or complex issues. We will design a questionnaire from scratch to achieve the insight you need. Costs are calculated on a question-by-question basis.
  Indicative costs are: £1,800+VAT per pre-coded question; £2,600+VAT per open-ended question.
• Both packages include a fully tailored report, fully contextualised in the business, regulatory and economic environment. We can present the findings to your internal and external stakeholders or set up a workshop to disseminate the findings and use these to formulate effective communications and policy strategy at your organisation. 
• Timetable:

  Summer Survey: Confirmation of participation: Late April; Questionnaire finalisation: Early May; Interviewing: Early June to mid July; Topline results: Early August; Reports: Early September; Presentations to follow.
  Winter Survey: Confirmation of participation: Late September; Questionnaire finalisation: Early October; Interviewing: Early November to mid December; Topline results: Early January; Reports: Early February; Presentations to follow.

Scottish Parliament

The MSPs survey helps public and private sector organisations understand their profile and reputation in the Scottish Parliament. The survey provides feedback from MSPs on what makes for good relations, the criteria they use in making judgements about organisations, the issues being raised by constituents and the sources of information they commonly access.

The survey is conducted every autumn, using one-to-one interviewing.

MSPs are unaware of client identities and their opinions are unattributable, so their replies are honest and impartial.

Welsh Parliament / Senedd Cymru

Members of the Senedd are becoming increasingly influential on the reputation of businesses and organisations in Wales and on their license to operate. If you know how your organisation and your sector are perceived by those who sit in power in the Senedd, you can start to build relationships with them on issues that matter to you both. 

We can help you. We conduct an annual survey of Members of the Senedd (MSs) which can provide you with detailed and independent insight into what MSs think about you. Set up in 2007, our survey provides valuable guidance to organisations from the public and private sector from across a wide range of industries.

Tap into the expertise of a large team of researchers who specialise in corporate reputation and communications research and, with our help, you can:

• Understand how MSs perceive you, your competitors and your sector at large
• Find out what MSs think about issues that affect your organisation
• Identify barriers to your organisation’s goals
• Learn how to reach targeted groups within the Senedd
• Track how opinion changes over time

We interview around 30 face-to-face interviews (more than half the Senedd), with a representative sample of all of the political parties.

Interviews are face-to-face, which allows us to probe for in-depth sentiment to help us understand the meaning behind MSs’ opinions. Verbatim comments give you a full context to your results. With our multi-client survey, we provide a high quality but cost-effective vehicle to research such hard-to-reach and influential stakeholders. 

Your results will come in a tailored report, fully contextualised in the business, regulatory and economic environment. We can present your results in person, or we can organise a workshop for your key internal stakeholders, helping them to get to grips with how to utilise the results to drive communications and policy strategy in the most effective way to help shape the debate in the Senedd.

We are flexible about the issues that you wish to cover on the survey. You can choose between the core pack of questions or tailor-made questions, or you can combine the two.

The core pack costs £7,000 and includes the following:

• Familiarity, favourability and advocacy of your organisation
• Familiarity, favourability and advocacy of three comparator organisations of your choice
• Open ended question asking why do MSs speak highly or critically about your organisation
• Image ratings asking MSs to rate your organisation on different attributes
• The same image ratings about a nominated comparator to allow you to compare your performance against a key competitor
• The results from a wide range of background questions

Costs of asking tailored questions, either in addition or instead of the core pack, are as follows

• Standard pre-coded question: £900+VAT
• Open-ended question: £1,300+VAT

Contact us to see what we can already tell you about your organisation’s reputation in the Senedd or to find out how else we can help you improve your communications with MSs.

• Timetable: Deadline for participation: Early October; Questionnaire finalisation: Mid October; Interviewing: November - December; Topline results: Early January; Reports: Early February; Presentations to follow

Northern Ireland Assembly

Following the success of the MLA survey in previous years, we are now offering clients the opportunity to join the 2016 study. This is a syndicated survey designed to provide detailed insight into the opinions MLAs hold. The survey provides valuable guidance to clients from both the public and private sector.

The survey itself consists of c.50 face to face interviews with MLAs, with interviews distributed amongst the different political parties to ensure that the survey results are statistically representative of the Assembly as a whole.

Data collected face to face is of the highest quality, and there is no better way to probe for the sentiment and meaning behind stated opinions. Online or postal surveys are simply less effective at obtaining such a detailed level of understanding about how MLAs think, as the verbatim comments supplement and complement the quantitative data collected.

It is a multi-client survey which represents a cost-effective way of obtaining access to the views of a robust sample of MLAs.

Ipsos' MLAs survey is the definitive vehicle for measuring your organisation’s reputation in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and the only survey of its kind offered in Great Britain or Northern Ireland.

• Core Package: 
  Your organisation’s performance compared to your main sector competitors in terms of familiarity, favourability and advocacy. 
  Open ended questions to explore the reasons MLAs speak highly, or are critical, of your organisation. 
  A set of image rating questions that will enable MLAs to rate your performance across a series of attributes to enable us to make a judgement of your organisation’s performance in the eyes of MLAs. To better understand your performance an organisation or company of your choice will also be tested in the same manner and the results of both will be compared to our database of industry averages
  A wide range of background questions that explore what MLAs think about current economic and business trends, as well as tips on the best ways of maintaining a working relationship with the Northern Ireland Assembly
  Cost: £6,250 + VAT per wave
• Other packages and examples: 
  The full study package (which includes 15 questions) is £6,250 + VAT.
  For £850 + VAT you could ask MLAs their familiarity, favourability advocacy of your organisation.
  For £1,650 + VAT, you could ask MLAs their familiarity, favourability advocacy of your organisation and 3 comparator organisations.
  For £2,650 + VAT, you could assess the attitudes of MLAs towards selected sectors, your organisation and comparator organisations.
  Added specific questions are from £750+VAT.
  You are also welcome to ask further tailored questions either in addition or instead of the above core package.

Business Journalists

The Ipsos survey of Business Journalists (Business & Financial Journalists) provides key insights into the relationship of businesses with the media, and allows clients to gain detailed information on the opinions of one of the best-informed and influential stakeholder groups in their industry.

• Download our Business Journalists prospectus

Business journalists are an important source of knowledge on what is happening in your sector and have a great influence on the views of key players as well as their readers and consumers more generally.

Organisations may get feedback from journalists, but often this is piecemeal and incomplete. Ipsos can offer an independent, systematic review of key journalists’ opinions on both you and your competitors.

This research will enable you to:

• understand how these key opinion shapers perceive your and your competitors’ brands
• evaluate the effectiveness of your communications and press relations
• highlight the importance of your input
• pinpoint areas for improvement and plan future communications and press relations strategies

Our extensive heritage of tracking the country’s top business journalists, combined with our understanding of this key stakeholder group, gives our analysis and results interpretation a unique depth. In our face-to-face presentations we contextualise the survey data against the economic and business environment to draw out key insights for our clients. 

This is a unique survey and offers an independent and authoritative audit of the views of the key journalists who write about business in the UK at the moment. The survey is outstanding value for money because costs are shared by multiple subscribing clients.

Fieldwork is conducted face-to-face to ensure that the data collected is of the highest quality. Face-to-face research is the best way to maximise the potential of each interview, and there is no better way to probe for sentiment.

Between 80 and 90 interviews with key business and financial journalists will be conducted in each wave of the survey. Early subscribers will be able to nominate specific journalists for inclusion and additional journalists of relevance to individual clients can also be included.

• The core package of questions includes the following:
  Your company performance benchmarked against 4 comparator brands in terms of familiarity, favourability, advocacy and media relations. Detailed perceptions and ratings on aspects of your media relations. Verbatim comments of your company’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as comments on the performance of your media relations team. Methods of contact with your company. Interpretation of how you should improve your relationship with the media. Relevant tracking data (where available) from our database of more than 1500 companies. Contextual information on expectations and attitudes of Business Journalists.
• You are also welcome to ask tailored questions in addition of the above core package.
• Costs: Full Basic Package per wave: £10,000; Financial module: £4,000; Additional pre-coded question: £1,500; Additional 'open' question: £2,600

Personal Finance Journalists

Do you need to know what Personal Finance journalists think about your organisation and products? Our Personal Finance journalists’ survey offers an independent, systematic review opinion towards the UK’s retail financial services companies, which will enable you to:

• understand how journalists perceive you and your competitors’ brand, product quality and marketing
• evaluate the effectiveness of your communications and press relations
• pinpoint areas for improvement and plan future communications and press relations strategies

For over 20 years, this study has been widely acknowledged as the authoritative source of opinion of Britain’s key journalists and editors. We interview around 170 of the country’s top personal finance journalists face-to-face to ensure that the data collected is of the highest quality.

The survey is flexible to suit your needs and tailored questions can be added to the core package. If you nominate specific journalists for inclusion in the core sample, we will provide a set of additional analysis by your key journalists as part of the survey cost.

• Core package: Familiarity, favourability, product quality, product promotion and press relations;Which companies are rated highest for each financial product; Verbatim comments on favourability, product quality, product promotion and press relations; An extensive selection of image ratings including trustworthiness and commitment to excellent customer service; Background information, including criteria for judging companies and economic optimism; Relevant tracking data (where available) 
  Cost: £11,000 per wave (also available – reduced core packages from just £6,500 – ask for more details)
• Additional press module: Criteria for judging media relations; Regularity of contact; Ratings on six additional press relations statements including speed and efficiency, knowledge and expertise, and quality of company spokespeople
  Cost: £3,000; Additional pre-coded question: £1,600; Additional 'open' question: £3,200
  Timetable: Deadline for participation: Mid March; Questionnaire finalisation: Late March; Interviewing: Mid April – Mid May; Toplines: Early June; Reports: Late June; Presentations to follow
• Download our prospectus (PDF)

Captains of Industry

Responsible for such a large proportion of the UK economy, Britain’s most senior business leaders have tremendous power to shape both the corporate and political worlds, but finding out what they think can be very difficult. Our annual Captains of Industry study offers organisations unique insights from one of the country’s most highly influential groups.

Transport Journalists

What do Transport journalists think of your organisation’s press relations and wider reputation? Find out the perceptions of this group of key influencers with our Transport journalists survey and get an independent, systematic review of key journalists' opinions on both you and your competitors. This will enable you to:

• Understand how journalists’ perceive your organisation and how you can shape it
• Benchmark against competitors of your choice
• Evaluate the effectiveness of your communications and media relations
• Gain insight into topical issues affecting your organisation
• Pinpoint areas for improvement and plan future communications and media relations strategies

For over 30 years, this study has been widely acknowledged as the authoritative source of opinion of Britain's key transport journalists and editors. We conduct approximately 60-70 face-to-face interviews with key transport journalists writing for the national newspapers, regional press and sector specific publications.

• Core package: Transport journalists' familiarity, favourability and advocacy of your organisation and your competitors' organisations to allow you to benchmark against your competitors; The effectiveness and detailed perceptions of your communications and media relations and those of your competitors; Verbatim comments on perceived strengths and weaknesses in your organisation; Perceptions of the main issues in the transport sector; Opinion on current and possible future transport policies; Background information including criteria for judging companies; Tracking data (where available)
  Cost: £8,500 per year
• Reduced core package: Transport journalists’ familiarity, favourability and advocacy of your organisation and up to three competitor organisations to allow you to benchmark against your competitors; Ratings of your and said competitors’ press relations; Perceptions of the main issues in the transport sector; Background information including criteria for judging companies
  Cost: £4,500 per year
• Bespoke package: You can add questions to the core package to investigate themes relevant to your organisation.  With your input, we will design questions or whole sections of the survey to help you gain a deeper understanding into these areas. Cost: £900 per pre-coded question; £1,600 per open ended question

Contact David Ireland (020 7347 3228) for more information.

Sustainable Business Monitor

Companies that are taking sustainability seriously are increasing their chances of business success in both the short and long term. Making sustainability central to your business strategy, innovation and marketing reduces the risks to your business as well as identifying new opportunities for growth. Tracking your company’s reputation for sustainability is vital in developing your public-facing sustainability programme. The Ipsos  Sustainable Business Monitor benchmarks and tracks your sustainability performance, in the eyes of the public and your customers.

The nuts and bolts

• 2,000 interviews, representative of the online British public aged 16-75,
• Your customers’ views are included throughout,
• 3 nominated benchmark companies, plus findings for leading companies from a wide range of industry sectors,
• Exclusive tailored questions available, if required.

Costs: Standard package available (measuring key aspects of your sustainability and reputation, and comparing these measures against your comparators) at just £5,000 + VAT, together with other bespoke options.

Case studies