An offline focus group is an interactive 1-2 hours discussion within a group of 6-8 people part of a specific audience, moderated by an experienced professional who is looking to collect instant valuable feedback from respondents that can be later used to conduct a quantitative research. The discussion is supervised and monitored by both the agency conducting the focus group and client’s representative(s).

Capabilities

GCS does focus groups in all the countries where we own strong and fast growing proprietary online panels across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, as well as around the world via carefully chosen local partners.

Our local focus group providers own professional studios in main cities of each country and use professional moderators who are native speakers of local official languages and are experienced in carrying in-depth discussions on various topics. Alternatively, if client prefers to provide own moderators we can also accommodate that – in such scenario, we would handle the recruitment and the studios where the offline focus groups discussions will take place, along with associated services, such as catering and transportation.

The offline focus group sessions are video and audio recorded and they can also be broadcasted live on the Internet so that client is able to monitor the process in real time.

Quality control

We employ several methods to ensure best quality for the data collected in offline focus groups:

• Apart from the project manager that is in permanent contact with client, two senior level local supervisors work on each project, ensuring backup throughout the project and availability of a knowledgeable contact at all times

• Project materials are proofed for translation by native speakers of each language, to make sure that client’s original goals are not missed due to poor translation

• Thorough briefing and debriefing of the moderator(s)

• Moderators are chosen based on their experience with the topic and are always native speakers of the official local language(s)

• Attendance at all focus groups to provide a first-hand account of consumer’s issues

• Deliverables are thoroughly checked by two different experienced analysts to ensure accuracy before they are sent over to client.

Works best for ...

• Getting valuable in-depth insights on products found in a prototype stage or those that are declining in terms of sales. Helps to find answers that quantitative research can later develop into actionable results.