A state department of health launched a three-year process improvement program to enhance the patient journey through public hospitals. Think consultants were contracted to conduct a qualitative multi-stakeholder perception study of the program during the implementation phase in order to provide a real-time feedback to the client team. This use of real-time qualitative research had obvious advantages over waiting until the program was fully implemented in order to begin the evaluation. The study involved one-on-one depth interviews with 25 senior policymakers, 50 hospital-based administrators and more than 90 patients. A Think consultant led the team of researchers that conducted the interviews and wrote all the reports. The insights generated by the study were corroborated by a parallel quantitative study conducted by a leading university research team.

A large private health insurance company wanted to conduct an evaluation of its relationships among a number of stakeholders including hospital administrators, regulators, policymakers and journalists. The findings would be used to evaluate the efforts of the corporate affairs team and to chart a fresh government relations strategy. Think consultants designed a study composed of several research methodologies to capture the full range of opinion about the organisation and its progress. Think was able to secure interviews with difficult-to-access stakeholders by demonstrating a genuine public policy benefit for the project and a win-win outcome for all participants. The client pursued the lobbying strategy recommended by the Think consultants. Subsequently, the federal government announced its support for the client’s policy proposal.

A public sector union of professionals retained Think to test the effectiveness of an advocacy advertising campaign. Since the advertising materials were already in production at the time Think was contracted, the results would not change the creative direction of the campaign. However, the findings would be used to allocate air time and to plan future campaigns.

Think conducted a series of focus groups with union members and with the general public. Following the focus groups, an Internet study was undertaken to determine if the broader community agreed with the focus group participants. The online study confirmed the focus group findings. The study found that while some members supported the direction the advertising was taking, some others objected. A considerable percentage of the general public also disliked the tone and manner of the campaign. Think reinforced the importance of creating advertising that would appeal to a broad range of stakeholders and recommended pre-testing of advertising materials in future.

One year later, Think was retained again; this time to test materials for a new campaign before they went into production. It became apparent at this early concept stage that there was a wide range of stakeholder opinion. Think worked closely with the advertising agency to develop a campaign that would have broader appeal. Think undertook a second round of focus groups to test reaction to the finished materials prior to broadcast. The results across all stakeholder groups were positive. The client sent the campaign to air with the confidence knowing it would be well-received.