TS2: Trends, Strategies and Solutions Case Studies

		State Farm Insurance When the Texas branch of State Farm Insurance decided to do a series of in-depth statewide and regional market research surveys, they turned to us. Beginning in May 2002 with a benchmark survey of new customers, and continuing later that year with a thousand-person statewide survey of perceptions about insurance providers, we have conducted a total of eight surveys for State Farm. Some of the surveys have tested specific services offered by State Farm; others have tested specific regions of the state to determine how that region’s insurance perceptions and preferences differ. We have also done research targeting different demographic groups and their insurance buying preferences and habits, as well as research probing new State Farm customers and those who have left State Farm.

		The University of Texas at Brownsville In August 2004, the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College was considering putting a much-needed bond initiative on the November ballot. But the year before, a similar bond initiative had been turned down by the voters. In fact, no bond or sales tax initiative had passed in Cameron County since 1997. So the administration wanted to make sure that this initiative met the community’s needs. Our 400-person survey in the UTB/TSC taxing district tested the different potential components of the bond package and helped determine not just the general level of public support for the bonds, but also where the community saw the greatest needs at the school. The bond package passed with flying colors.

		City of Round Rock In the 1990s, the City of Round Rock faced astonishing growth rates. As the city was transformed from a sleepy small town to a thriving bedroom community of Austin to a small city in its own right, internal planners and managers decided to make getting citizen feedback an important priority. In the spring of 1998, the City hired us to do two surveys. One was an overview of city services, with special emphasis on citizen ratings of services and departments. The other tested attitudes and opinions on various planning issues affecting the future of Round Rock, such as housing, transportation, and development. Since that time, we have conducted a total of seven surveys for the City of Round Rock, most recently two in the spring of 2004 that followed up on those 1998 surveys to test changes in citizens’ attitudes and opinions. In between, we did mid-term followups on city services every two years. In May 1999, we also did a survey on citizen satisfaction with cable television choices in Round Rock. For all seven surveys, we wrote the scripts, ordered the samples, did the phoning, and wrote analyses, which at the request of the client included multiple booklets with full-color graphs and charts of the results. Jeff Montgomery also formally presented our findings for each survey at City Council meetings, and had extensive, more informal meetings with city staff to discuss the results of the surveys.

		St Edward’s University St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas was seeking a way to improve its fit with potential students—both traditional undergraduates and those hoping to attain a BA or graduate degree by studying in the evening and on weekends. In the spring of 1999, we did two separate surveys to help St Edward’s achieve this goal. The first sampled 400 parents of college-bound children in Central Texas, testing their attitudes and opinions about general college selection criteria and about St. Edward’s University’s image in particular. In a separate survey, we tested 403 Central Texas residents who were presently considering or in fact taking college or graduate school classes. In order to address the growing movement for non-traditional programs for undergraduate and graduate degrees, we asked a wide range of questions, on topics ranging from program flexibility to the location of a new satellite campus to St. Edward’s position in the market.