Calling all opinionated Hampsteadpeople

Earlier today I met Sue Maldonado who heads up The Research House, a market research company based in the West End

that is looking to recruit people who live or work in Hampstead for

its focus groups. (You can apply to be on a focus group by clicking here.)

We met in one of the market research rooms, complete with a one-way

mirror behind which market researchers normally sit and listen to the

reactions of ordinary people to their new brands, their new ad campaigns

or their new products. Then they take those reactions and use them to

make a better brand, a better ad, a better car or lipstick or coffee.

It's a fascinating part of the whole process of getting something from

the idea stage to being a real product on the shelves, and given how

relatively small these focus groups are everyone involved in one can

have a real impact on the development of the product they see.

I asked Sue what sort of people she was looking for at the moment

to join panels and she told me that they want a genuinely

representative cross-section of people from Hampstead for their latest

panels. The next few focus groups are looking for an entertaingly

diverse range of people: people who use high-end cosmetics; coffee

enthusiasts; smartphone users; people interested in cars; and people

with diabetes or a heart condition.

"People who come really enjoy the experience", Sue told me, and

went on to tell the tale of one man who turned up for a panel in the

morning and then tried to sneak into a different one in the afternoon by

shaving off his beard and putting on a different hat! Staff at The

Research House were not fooled. Professional market research companies

are covered by strict guidelines laid down by the Market Research Society, governing things like maintaining the anonymity of attendees,

ensuring market research is not used as a front for selling anything,

and making sure that panels are made up of genuine members of the public

rather than "professional focus group attendees". Needless to say, putting on a different hat or having a shave is not sufficient to get around these rules.

People who join the Research House's focus groups are normally

paid between £50 and £100 for a two-hour session, and they get to see

new products, new campaigns or new brands well before they hit the

shelves. So if you live or work in Hampstead and think you'd like to go

along to talk about the products that interest you with the people who

make them, why not give them a try?