PluggedIN Company News and Press Releases

Former Senior Vice President at Harris Interactive brings 25 years of market research experience in guiding the firm's market research online community (MROC) strategy

Rochester, NY - April 8, 2010 - PluggedIN, specialists in online communities for market research and consumer insights, today announced the appointment of Mark Stapylton as Managing Partner and Senior Consultant.  

Stapylton, who joins the company with more than 25 years' experience in research-based consulting on both sides of the Atlantic, specializes in brand and communications strategy, consumer insights, innovation and ideation, and brand engagement.

Most recently, he worked as Senior Vice President of Brand and Communications at Harris Interactive, prior to which he held senior positions at Wirthlin Worldwide, Knowledge Networks, Research International, AC Nielsen, Burke International and Young & Rubicam. 

At PluggedIN, Stapylton will work with the partners to guide the strategic vision and direction of the company, while helping to develop and refine new market research online community product offerings that deliver strategic value to clients' organizations.

Commenting on the appointment, Ben Werzinger, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, said, "Mark brings so much to the table in terms of providing strategic vision for PluggedIN and helping our clients realize the full value of community-based research."  Matt Foley, Co-Founder and Managing Partner added, "Mark has years of experience across a range of industries and methods that will help inform our MROC approach, while ensuring we continue to deliver superior insights and recommendations to existing clients."

For additional information on PluggedIN and the company's approach to market research online communities, visit http://www.pluggedinco.com.

About PluggedIN:
Rochester, NY-based PluggedIN Co. specializes in the development of online communities for market research and consumer insights.

Contact:
Matt Foley
Managing Partner
PluggedIN Co.
585-286-5816
mfoley(at)pluggedinco(dot)com
http://www.pluggedinco.com

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Instant community deployment and integration with third-party applications among the latest improvements to the market research online community (MROC) platform.

Rochester, NY (PRWEB) February 17, 2010 - PluggedIN, a provider of software and services for managing market research online communities (MROCs), today released Version 2.0 of their MROC software.  The PluggedIN Platform is a customized social networking and online community platform for powering market research online communities and online qualitative research studies.

PluggedIN Platform V2.0 represents a significant shift in the development of the platform, with a complete re-architecture to better position the application for frequent upgrades and new feature releases.  With V2.0, new communities can now be deployed instantly, allowing researchers to setup and launch new MROCs faster than ever before.  The release also allows for a tighter integration with third-party applications and systems, allowing it to become a hub for market research exercises beyond those typically available in a MROC.  In addition, the re-architecture creates opportunities for scaling communities to many thousands of members.

Commenting on the platform release, VP of Design and Technology Lail Brown said, "Version 2.0 of the PluggedIN Platform represents our best thinking as to where MROC platforms are going, and puts the PluggedIN Platform in a position to be the standard global platform for building and deploying market research online communities."

In addition to the re-architecture, numerous usability enhancements were made as part of the 2.0 release.  These enhancements are part of ongoing research into optimizing the community member experience and ensuring that people of all ages and backgrounds find the platform to be highly usable and user friendly.

Matt Foley, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, added on the V2.0 release, "This version is going to help us deliver new features faster than ever before, and quickly adapt to the needs of our platform customers.  It's part of our focus on making the most valuable social media tools available to market researchers, and allowing them to easily integrate these tools into their repertoire."

For additional information on the PluggedIN Platform, or for a demo of PluggedIN's approach to market research online communities, visit http://www.pluggedinco.com.

About PluggedIN:
Rochester, NY-based PluggedIN Co. provides software and services for companies interesting in setting up their own market research online communities (MROCs).

Contact:
Matt Foley
Managing Partner
PluggedIN Co.
585-286-5816
mfoley(at)pluggedinco(dot)com
http://www.pluggedinco.com

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Social media integration and advanced analytical tools among latest improvements to the proprietary market research online community (MROC) platform.

Rochester, NY - September 2, 2009 - PluggedIN, specialists in online communities for market research and consumer insights, today released V1.6 of their proprietary market research online community software.  The PluggedIN Platform is a customized social networking and community application for powering market research online communities and online qualitative research studies.

The V1.6 update to the PluggedIN Platform includes social media integration with external sites and applications, allowing market researchers to track what their target audiences are sharing across the social media landscape.  In addition, a new Twitter-style messaging system allows researchers to track day-to-day experiences of members.  Version 1.6 also offers upgrades to researcher analysis tools, including customizable member statistics available throughout the community and admin-definable transcript downloads. 

Commenting on the platform release, Partner and Senior Consultant Ben Werzinger said, "Market researchers must find ways to harness feedback across the social media landscape to gain a true understanding of what their participants are like, beyond what they tell you through structured research activities.  This new release will help qualitative researchers develop that deeper understanding, while creating new opportunities for in-depth community conversations around topics relevant to the audience."

In addition to these new features, numerous usability and member experience enhancements were made as part of the V1.6 release.   

Lail Brown, VP of Design and Technology, added on the V1.6 release, "These latest enhancements will refine the user experience for participants and moderators, while giving participants new ways to share their online lives right inside the community platform.  Most importantly, the release will provide researchers with new tools to put the most important information at their fingertips."

For additional information on the PluggedIN Platform, or for a demo of PluggedIN's approach to market research online communities, visit http://www.pluggedinco.com.

About PluggedIN:
Rochester, NY-based PluggedIN Co. is a full service market research firm specializing in market research online communities (MROCs).

Contact:
Matt Foley
Managing Partner
PluggedIN Co.
585-325-7910
mfoley@pluggedinco.com
http://www.pluggedinco.com

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The latest version of the PluggedIN Platform helps qualitative market researchers better engage participants through market research online communities.

Rochester, NY - May 5, 2009 - PluggedIN, a qualitative market research firm specializing in market research online communities (MROCs), today released V1.5 of their proprietary market research online community software.  The PluggedIN Platform, which combines various social networking and community features with capabilities necessary for market research, is ideal for running market research online communities and extended online qualitative research studies.

The latest update to the PluggedIN Platform enhances the existing discussion forum functionality with new features designed to streamline the member and moderator experience.  In addition, V1.5 includes upgrades to the community-wide comment notification system, allowing participants to quickly and easily locate follow-up probes from site moderators, administrators and fellow community members.

Commenting on the release, Managing Partner and Senior Research Consultant Matt Foley said, "We've been listening closely to the needs of participants and researchers following the launch the PluggedIN Platform, and feel that this latest release will significantly enhance the user experience for participants, researchers and clients alike."

Market researchers can license one of three hosted editions of the platform, based on their research objectives and community size.  Companies selecting the "Plus" or "Premium" editions of the PluggedIN Platform will have access to a new site design as part of the V1.5 release.  The new site design adds capabilities for featuring key content and research activities to the entire community or a subset of participants.

Ben Werzinger, Partner and Senior Consultant, added on the V1.5 release, "Researchers are looking for ways to create an experience for participants, beyond simple survey or community forum software.  The new design is part of our effort to make the member experience and enjoyable as possible, while still providing the tools and capabilities necessary for qualitative market researchers."

Existing customers will be upgraded automatically to V1.5 as part of the software-as-a-service offering. 

For additional information on the PluggedIN Platform, or for a demo of the technology, contact Matt Foley.

About PluggedIN:
Rochester, NY-based PluggedIN Co. is a full-service qualitative market research agency specializing in market research online communities (MROCs). 

Contact:
Matt Foley, Managing Parter & Senior Research Consultant
PluggedIN Co.
585-325-7910
mfoley@pluggedinco.com
http://www.pluggedinco.com

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The PluggedIN Platform helps market researchers run cost effective and engaging online qualitative research studies using a combination of social networking and community features.

Rochester, NY - March 12, 2009 - PluggedIN, a research firm specializing in online communities for market research and consumer insights, has opened their proprietary online community platform for use by market researchers seeking to run their own online research communities.

The PluggedIN Platform, which combines a variety of social networking and community features with capabilities necessary for market research, is ideal for running extended qualitative research studies, including online communities, virtual ethnography and diary research.

Market researchers can license one of three hosted editions of the platform, ranging from a version designed for short-term online focus group studies to a full-featured version designed for ongoing market research online communities.

Commenting on the launch, Partner and Senior Research Consultant Matt Foley said, "We are excited to launch the platform formally beyond our current work with a select group of research and consulting agencies. We believe our work with qualitative researchers will allow us to create the industry standard platform for longitudinal online qualitative research studies."

Ben Werzinger, Partner and Senior Consultant, added, "Qualitative researchers are constantly looking for new ways to connect with the audiences they are studying. The PluggedIN Platform opens up new ways for researchers to connect with and truly understand their respondents, while significantly cutting the time and expense involved with traditional methodologies."

For additional information on the PluggedIN Platform, or for a demo of the technology, contact Matt Foley.

About PluggedIN:
Rochester, NY-based PluggedIN Co. is a full-service provider of online communities for market research and consumer insights.

Contact:
Matt Foley, Partner & Senior Research Consultant
PluggedIN Co.
585-325-7910
http://www.pluggedinco.com

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The PluggedIN Nation | Teen Community allows multiple clients to tap into a single market research community to study a variety of issues exclusively with Teens.

Rochester, NY - January 20, 2008 - PluggedIN Co., a leader in online communities for market research, today launched the "PluggedIN Nation | Teen," an omnibus online research community designed to provide market researchers and consumer insights specialists with quick, cost-effective qualitative insights exclusively from Teens. 

There are over 30 million Teens in the US today and considering that the market for products bought by and for teens is over $189 billion, Teens are an increasingly important group. Teens are also the trendsetters for a variety of industries and starting to change the way that people market to young consumers.  The PluggedIN Nation | Teen provides companies with a cost effective way to tap into this important audience using a medium that Teens are naturally adept at using.

"We are really excited to launch this new Teen community. I think Teens are a fascinating audience and one that marketers and researchers are going to pay even more attention to over time," said Ben Werzinger, Senior Research Community Consultant at PluggedIN, "and it's a perfect online environment for them to connect with fellow Teens and share their opinions about the brands they use everyday."

Companies can tap into the PluggedIN Nation | Teen in two ways.  They can post a series of qualitative research activities to the research community as a whole or clients can also set up their own private group within the main community for running ongoing research activities with a targeted audience of Teens. 

"In these times, we think it is crucial to provide more efficient ways for our clients to access targeted audiences through communities," Werzinger said.  "Teens are such an important audience for many of our clients. Our Teen research community helps clients tap into this audience and experience many of the advantages of online research communities in a cost-effective manner."

PluggedIN Co. also offers private online communities for companies interested in designing their own venue for customer insights, as well as SaaS (software-as-a-service) options for market research consultants.

For additional information on PluggedIN Nation shared communities, contact Ben Werzinger.

About PluggedIN Co.:
PluggedIN Co. is a qualitative market research agency that specializes in designing and facilitating online research communities.

Contact:
Ben Werzinger, Partner and Senior Community Consultant
PluggedIN Co.
bwerzinger@pluggedinco.com
585-325-7910
http://www.pluggedinco.com
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Omnibus online research community allows multiple clients to tap into single research community, providing opportunities for quick, cost effective qualitative market research insights.

Rochester, NY - November 13, 2008 - PluggedIN Co., a specialist in online communities for market research, today launched the "PluggedIN Nation," an omnibus online research community designed to provide market researchers and consumer insights specialists with quick, cost-effective qualitative research insights.  

In a 2008 report on research communities, Forrester Research noted how "market research online communities (MROCs) will shock the qualitative market research world [as] they provide cheaper, faster, and newer types of insights that today's traditional qualitative research modes, such as focus groups, don't currently provide."  The PluggedIN Nation provides companies with many of the benefits of market research online communities, without the upfront setup and ongoing administration expenses.

"For years market researchers have benefited from omnibus surveys, but very little has been done in the way of omnibus qualitative research," said Matt Foley, Senior Research Community Consultant at PluggedIN, "and we're excited to have a venue to offer this capability to market researchers."

Companies can tap into the PluggedIN Nation in two ways.  First, they can post a series of qualitative research activities to a targeted sub-set of the research community.  Researchers can also set up their own private group within the PluggedIN Nation for running ongoing research activities with a targeted audience of community members.  More information on PluggedIN Nation research products can be found at http://www.pluggedinco.com/shared-communities 

The PluggedIN Nation is helping to eliminate the barriers to entry for companies interested in online research communities, Foley said.  "We see this as meeting a direct need in the market research community.  Market researchers want to take advantage of Web 2.0 for consumer insights by using online research communities, but often don't have the large budgets needed to set up their own research community.  The PluggedIN Nation research community solves this problem by providing researchers with many of the advantages of online research communities in a cost-effective manner."

Ben Werzinger, Senior Research Community Consultant at PluggedIN Co., suggests the PluggedIN Nation will help clients who are now working with tighter research budgets as a result of the recent economic downturn.  "Given the current economic environment, this type of research methodology is critical to helping market researchers and consumer insights specialists be more effective in the ways they use their research budgets."

PluggedIN Co. also offers private online communities for companies interested in designing their own venue for customer insights, as well as SaaS (software-as-a-service) options for market research consultants. 

For additional information on PluggedIN Nation, contact Matt Foley or visit http://www.pluggedinco.com/shared-communities. 

About PluggedIN Co.:
PluggedIN Co. is a qualitative market research agency that specializes in designing and facilitating online research communities.

Contact:
Matt Foley, Partner and Senior Community Consultant
PluggedIN Co.
mfoley@pluggedinco.com
585-325-7910
http://www.pluggedinco.com