Omnibus surveys

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Question - how do I get quick, cheap and easy research results from a nationally representative sample of 1,000 or 2,000 people?

Answer - this is what omnibus surveys are designed to do, running typically on a weekly or twice-weekly basis, using face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews or e-survey techniques

Key Action Points

Design your questionnaire. Send it in. Receive the draft agency questionnaire for approval. Wait 10 days for results.

Yes, it really is that simple.

The trick is in designing short, crisp questionnaires that elicit the information in the fewest number of questions.

In more detail.....

Omnibus surveys are where marketing research agencies run regular polls of general consumer, and sometimes specialist business, audiences and allow different clients to place their own questions in the survey.

Respondents (who will be interviewed face-to-face in their homes, by telephone or in the street), will therefore face a broad set of questions that could range from their attitudes to a specific social issue, to their preferred brand of breakfast cereal, to which car they plan to buy next, to where they are going on holiday this summer, to which political party they would vote for.

Consumer omnibus surveys usually run weekly in the USA and Western Europe, and comprise a 1,000 or 2,000 nationally representative sample. In Eastern Europe and much of the rest of the world they tend to run less often.

Questions are bought by number and by type. Different types of question include:

• Yes/no questions
• Single response closed (tick box) questions
• Multiple response closed (tick box) questions
• Open (free text) questions

Yes/no questions are the cheapest. Open questions are the most expensive.

Omnibus surveys work best for very simple questions where you want a large sample. There is little room for subtlety as both the interviewers and respondents are jumping from topic to topic. It should also be recognised that responses may be influenced by earlier questions on completely different topics, so it is wise to arrange for attitude-based questions to be positioned early in the survey.

Turnaround times are quick. You can often place your questions in an omnibus survey 2-3 days before it is run, and get results back within 7-10 days.

You are usually offered a basic report of the answers to your questions, tabulated against the main demographics - age, sex, socio-economic group, geography etc.. However, it is best to ask for the information electronically, because the agency will then offer you a very broad range of demographics against which to tabulate the answers to your questions.

Omnibus surveys are ideal for brand tracking if your audience is surveyed and you use a small number of questions. You can get very detailed tracking data for a few thousand dollars per country. This allows you to track your audience more often, and to run continuous tracking during times of turbulence or crisis.

They can also be used for quantified market segmentation. Ultimately, to have an effective complex segmentation (including needs/values and behaviors), you need to be able to identify your target audience with a small number of simple questions. If you have got to the point where you can segment your audience in an omnibus survey, you are probably there.

We can help you in two ways - we have a mass of smart strategic brand marketing tools, processes and workshop techniques for you to use, and a mass of smart brand marketing agencies as members across the world with niche knowledge and experience to support you thereafter.

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