Market research services

Tender description

United Utilities is mandated by the water industry regulator, Ofwat, to ensure customer priorities are appropriately reflected in its business plan and activity. United Utilities is encouraged to invest in gathering meaningful insight about customer needs and expectations, to help provide the evidence the business needs to embed customer priorities into the centre of its ways of working. A primary objective of this framework is to future proof market research provisions in order to meet necessary service requirements for the delivery of the next price review and all other strategic programmes during the period of the agreement. Research activity in this area may include but not be limited to: — literature reviews, — analysing existing data/sources, — stakeholder or expert interviews which might be needed to supplement and contextualise any documented knowledge. Research activity in this area may include but not be limited to: — research for informing policy design and formulation, — market reviews and analysis, — attitudinal and behavioural research, — customer profiling and segmentation, — informing strategic communications development, — insight into social, environmental, political and economic trends to identify and inform future strategy/policy. Research activity in this area may include but not be limited to: — communications and branding research, — brand development and testing, — proposition development and testing, — message testing, — creative development research, — channel testing, — new product/service development and concept testing, — ethnographic research, political and economic trends to identify and inform future strategy/policy. Research activity in this area may include but not be limited to: — customer/stakeholder satisfaction research, — customer/stakeholder service evaluation research, — customer/stakeholder perceptions research, — performance measurement, — reputation tracking and sentiment evaluation through social media, — understanding behavioural change in response to communications activities, — reputation tracking/audit and campaign/brand evaluation through social media. Research activity in this area may include but not be limited to: — participant recruitment, — participant interviewing, — data analysis and manipulation, — expert statistical advice, — expert economic advice, — expert behavioural economics advice, — advanced data analysis, — statistical modelling, — report writing, — qualitative and quantitative research method expertise, — qualitative and qualitative research methods, — online community panel platforms and capability.