Latest news

London, UK, 11th June2009 - Foviance, the expert in customer experience, reveals how subconscious behaviour can be better understood through research into emotional engagement.

The research, conducted initially in the gaming sector with PKR, reveals 5 measures of emotional engagement that reveal a great deal about customer experience at a subconscious level. A great deal of consumer behaviour has been conclusively demonstrated by psychologists as irrational and that emotion invariably trumps logical thinking. Until now there has been limited research in to emotional engagement online.

“It is no longer sufficient to create websites which are just easy to use, or have value for money products associated with them. Websites need to appeal to the subconscious; to engage with consumers at an emotional level” says Catriona Campbell, founder of Foviance with a background in behavioural psychology.

Revealing how people respond to specific aspects of an experience has been hard to measure, but by combining electroencephalography (EEG) with other research methodologies it is possible to accurately gauge emotional engagement.
Foviance’s approach, EEM^TM (emotional engagement measurement^TM) has been shown to offer significant new insights and enable brands to better meet the needs of the market.

“At Foviance we have proven with a number of brands that this holds true for websites. Using our neuro-technology to have a deeper understanding of the emotional facet of the customer experience, we have found we can deliver insight that other methods previously haven’t” says Campbell.

The film and advertising industries have widely used approaches combining EEG and qualitative research methods to help explore the depths of the subconscious, helping to create successful merchandising, packaging and creative conceptual ideas that people want.

Microsoft’s Halo 3, because of its player engagement, was the first person shooter
game to become the fastest selling entertainment product of all time. Microsoft’s Dennis Wixon comments, “Building Halo 3 with emotional engagement methodologies was essential to the product”.

When focused on a sector like the gaming industry, EEM^TM has enabled Foviance delve further into customers’ perceptions and responses. “It has helped us understand in more detail the satisfaction and impact something like a ‘hard luck’ or ‘congratulatory’ message may have. The implications for businesses in all sectors are extensive” says Marty Carroll, Consultancy Director at Foviance, and author of the white paper “Unlocking the subconscious: Understanding emotional engagement” available for download from the Foviance.com website.

Press Coverage:

Congoo.com: Online Gambling Subconscious Reasoning Measured
Posted by Congoo.com, May 30, 2009

OnlineCasinos: Online Gambling Subconscious Reasoning Measured
Posted by Online-Casinos.com, May 29, 2009

RecentPoker.com: Foviance Gambling Study
Posted by Pokerstars BonusCode - Use Pokerstars Bonus Code RECENTPOKER.COM for an exclusive 100% first deposit bonus, May 27, 2009

London, UK, 16 April 2009 - Foviance, the expert in digital and offline customer experiences, has been selected by Sky to provide impartial consultancy and best-practice guidance during the implementation of Omniture website analytics software. Omniture Site Catalyst will be used on Sky.com to capture and analyse information about the checkout process, site performance and conversion rates so that Sky can improve the customer experience it offers.

Foviance will act as solution architects and project managers during the implementation, which is being carried out by Sky’s in-house analytics team. The goal is to ensure that the analytics software is aligned with Sky’s business objectives, and can be used to inform decision making and customer experience initiatives. Foviance will also provide ongoing support to ensure that Sky is able to unlock the full value from its software investment.

Sky chose Foviance for its analytical expertise after Foviance’s recent acquisition of analytics consultancy Applied Insights. Sky will also benefit from Foviance’s Omniture accreditation and Foviance’s deep understanding of Sky’s business, following many previous projects.

Alasdair Wright, Director Online and Interactive, Customer Group at Sky, explained: “The acquisition of Applied Insights by Foviance meant that they not only had the Omniture accredited consulting team we needed, but also the strategic data analytics capability to add real value over and above simple report creation. Foviance therefore is providing us with the correct tools to identify what we need to measure and also how we configure Omniture Site Catalyst to capture the customer data. The first phase is now complete and the solution design is an excellent piece of work. We are reaping the benefits from Foviance’s customer centric approach.”

Account Director, David Bomphrey, Foviance, said: “We have worked with Sky for more than eight years and always strived to provide experience management consultancy to ensure Sky is completely in tune with its core customer base. The use of analytics at the point of sale stage on Sky.com is an essential foundation for any work to improve the buying experience and to increase conversion. Foviance has extensive experience of best practice using Omniture, which means we’re able to create a solution architecture that will ensure Sky has the data to meet its business objectives.”

Press Coverage:

Netimperative: Sky hires Foviance to boost online sales
Posted by Netimperative, April 17, 2009

TheMarketingBlog:
Posted by Purple Penguin, April 23, 2009

Sean Burton, Analytic Consultant within Foviance’s Applied Insights team recently spoke at NMA’s Live ‘09 event on optimising online spend. The one-day conference focused on maximising the return from online investments.

He said “the presentation focused on the comparison of on-line & off-line conversion rates, highlighting the fact that typical on-line conversion rates are less below 10% and that in today’s current economic climate this is simply unacceptable.”

Sean referenced two case studies showing the value of online analysis from web analytics and surveys to highlight key pain points suffered by your customers allowing you to prioritise site changes based on true ROI.

A synopsis of the presenation “Optimising Your Online Budget” can be viewed below:

Foviance compared the online user experience of the 4 top mobile providers in the UK to see if they are optimising their online user experience in the UK:

• Orange Shop (rather than the portal page)
• Vodafone
• T-Mobile
• O2

The comparable experience was assessed across the homepage, navigation and 3 key user journeys - phone comparison, accounts online and online help.

The websites were scored according to their performance in relation to these areas. 

Foviance has provided a taster of our findings with some points of interest highlighted. In addition, online accounts findings were elaborated on for demonstration purposes.

Please use slideshare button to view in fullscreen

Foviance Lead Consultant, Tobias Misera spoke at the Clarion Gaming’s BetMarkets in March 2009. The conference took place in Vienna, Austria and focused on improving customer acquisition, expanding abroad and domestically, and the importance of diversifying revenue channels. 

The presentation was concerned with “The players’ experience of sports betting” and Tobais was fortunate to have a prime speaking slot on the first day of the conference.

Halfway through his talk he invited a member of the audience to join him at the podium and to demonstrate the difficulties users experience when placing a bet. After asking the audience for a random sportsbook site to test with, he set a simple task of placing a bet on a football game. Tobias explained “While the audience looked on, my volunteer struggled to find the correct market and eventually gave up, explaining that by now he would go to a different site. This demonstration only took 5 minutes but it summarised my talk perfectly: “How can you afford not to test your products with customers.”

“I’m still surprised that companies invest so little in creating a positive online experience for their customers while it is so easy for us to measure the experience and to improve it.” said Tobias.

A synopsis of the presenation can be viewed on our Events page.

London, UK, 26 March 2009 - Foviance, the expert in customer experience, has been selected by Clearlybusiness to help design a new, easy-to-use and intuitive external website for its credit service product, CREDITFOCUS. The new site will help Clearlybusiness to better service the needs of its customers.

CREDITFOCUS is an award-winning, unique web-based service specifically designed to protect SMEs from the risks of late payment and bad debts by allowing them to check, monitor and chase their business customers.

With Foviance’s consultancy, CREDITFOCUS now has a website that is easy to navigate and replaces the previous access page that contained limited information. The CREDITFOCUS website now showcases and visually brings to life the web-based service, customer feedback and press and award coverage. The new website contains a look and feel that better communicates the product encouraging new customers to sign-up as well as servicing existing ones to utilise the CREDITFOCUS service offerings.

Conrad Ford, Head of Existing Businesses at Clearlybusiness said: “In the current economic climate it is crucial that we upgrade the quality of our website to make it easier for our customers to find the information they need to utilise our services. We initially selected Foviance due to their market-leading position and high calibre of clients and we’ve continued to work with them for this project. We’ve been consistently delighted with insights beyond our expectations as Foviance’s consultancy has enabled measurable improvements in critical metrics such as our conversion ratios which mean that we can already say we’ve seen a clear return on our spend.”

Paul Blunden, CEO, Foviance, said: “Having worked with Clearlybusiness previously we understood how their business worked and made sure we were flexible and could deliver a website with all the specifications they needed within a short timeframe. We have a high success rate in developing websites that improve the customer experience and increase conversion rates and welcome Clearlybusiness to our roster of key financial sector customers.”

About Clearlybusiness
Clearlybusiness is an innovation unit of one of the world’s leading financial services companies. Clearlybusiness specialises in developing and providing software and services designed to ensure the growth, efficiency and success of SMEs. For further information please visit: www.clearlybusiness.com

Press Coverage:

CallCentreCinic: Clearlybusiness chooses Foviance to increase customer conversion rates
Posted by Call Centre Clinic, March 26, 2009

Netimperative: Clearlybusiness picks Foviance to boost conversions
Posted by Netimperative, March 27, 2009

Prompt Communications, a specialist in PR, marketing and social media communications, has been awarded the UK PR account for Foviance, a cross-channel user experience consultancy to the world’s leading brands.Prompt will work with Foviance to develop thought leadership initiatives, increase brand awareness and ultimately drive lead generation through a mixture of traditional media outreach, analyst relations, social media, thought leadership communications, and speaker engagements.

Foviance uses expert consultants and advanced technology to improve customer experience, which enables companies to optimise usability, conversion rates and retention. Foviance’s capabilities include researching the customer experience across multiple channels, such as call centres, mobile, iTV, handheld devices and catalogue marketing.

“We see Prompt as an extension of our marketing department and selected the team to add a fresh perspective to the design and operation of our communications programme,” said Paul Blunden, CEO, Foviance. “With our specialism in cross-channel customer experience and the recent addition of our data analytics capabilities, it is important to have an agency that demonstrates a solid understanding of our technologies, services and business model. Most importantly, we needed an agency with experience in delivering consistent, measurable results.”

“Working with Foviance is a fantastic opportunity to further utilise the depth of expertise we have in the cross channel marketing and technology arena,” said Hazel Butters, managing director of Prompt Communications. “Foviance’s unique value proposition enables its blue chip customer base to improve the customer experience globally. We look forward to helping Foviance achieve its goals by creating awareness across traditional and social media channels.”

About Foviance

Foviance is a leading customer experience consultancy that works globally with some of the world’s best known brands to deliver measurable improvements in performance.

Founded in 2001 and with a heritage in website usability and data analytics, Foviance delivers consultancy to its clients about the effectiveness of their individual channels, such as mobile, web and call centre and how they combine in a cross-channel environment. For many clients, insight is provided not only in their home market, but also internationally through Foviance extensive alliance network.

Foviance engages with its customers wherever they are in their product lifecycle, and provides insight so they understand how to improve, create and deliver excellent customer experiences.

Foviance boasts 43 of the UK FTSE 100 companies among its client roster, including Barclays, BSkyB, and Sainsbury’s. In addition Foviance works with International brands such as Astrazeneca, Dell and Nokia.

Press Coverage:

ResponseSource: Foviance appoints Prompt Communications as UK PR agency
By Prompt Communications, February 24, 2009

CallCentreClinic: Foviance appoints Prompt Communications as UK PR agency
By OneWeek Media Ltd, February 24, 2009

For more information or interviews please contact press contacts:
UK: Ellie Turner
Prompt Communications, London
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8996 1650
ellie@prompt-communications.com

Group panel Q&A session with Neil Mason, Director of Analytical Consulting, Foviance, moderated by Mike Grehan.

SearchMarketingGurus: SES London - Measuring Success in a 2.0 world
By SEOidiot, February 17, 2009