Case Study

 You might be asking yourself, how could an online survey be so fabulous that someone would take the time to write a success story about it? If so, odds are you’re not capitalizing on all the awesome opportunities that free online surveys provide to engage with your customers and employees. Fortunately, our forward-thinking, successful survey-makers have some stories that can help steer you in the right direction.

Reset San Francisco — Improving San Francisco, One Survey at a Time

Using online surveys to tap the wisdom of San Franciscans for city-wide good? That’s exactly what Reset San Francisco had in mind when they approached Zoomerang with their idea to create surveys to bridge the communication gap between government and constituents.

 The Hero:

Researchers at Xavier University are embarking on a very ambitious project where they will index the sentiment of Americans, in other words, measure the American Dream. Founded in 1831, Xavier University is a Jesuit, Catholic university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Xavier is recognized as one of the top 10 universities in the Midwest for the last 15 years by U.S. News & World Report, including a rank of third for 2010.

The Challenge:

Greg Smith is a professor of Management Information Systems at Xavier University and one of the primary researchers on the project. His challenge was to find a tool that his team could use to accurately measure the sentiment of a large group of people. “We are trying to do something that has never been done before,” says Smith. “We needed a tool that would allow us to create an index that measures the sentiment of Americans on a monthly basis.”

The Hero:

Reset San Francisco is an online community using the latest web 2.0 tools to bring San Franciscans together around ideas and solutions. By embracing technology, they are able to increase civic participation citywide empowering residents to discuss the city’s most important issues.

The Challenge:

Reset SF is pioneering Government 2.0 by crowdsourcing civic engagement.  Kate Maeder is an account executive at Storefront Political who manages Reset San Francisco. Her challenge is to tap the wisdom and energy of an online community. Maeder needed a way to reach out to constituents and get feedback in an organized and consistent manner.  “We are huge advocates of using technology to bridge the gap between politicians and the people and we needed a tool to do so,” says Maeder. Enter Zoomerang.

The Solution:

Last month, Zoomerang honored Earth Day with millions of people around the world to preserve the earth. To do our part, we volunteered with the Golden Gate National Parks to help restore the native habitat of the shoreline in the Presidio of San Francisco.

To spread the “green” awareness, we also hosted a sweepstakes that allowed Zoomerang customers to submit a story about their organization and what they have done to help the earth. Those who entered the sweepstakes were automatically entered into the drawing to win the Apple iPad2 – an eco-friendly product.

We love hearing from our customers, so the “Earth Day Sweepstakes” was a great opportunity for us to see how other organizations reduce their carbon footprint, become more efficient while saving the earth, and how we – the Zoomerang Team – can apply the same earth-friendly tactics in our daily routine.

The Hero:

The Wine Sisterhood was created by a group of female wine marketers, colleagues and friends, who share many years of experience in the wine industry creating successful brands. The idea was sparked by the group’s hands-on methods of research including asking strangers for their opinions on packaging, bringing a new wine to a party to see if guests liked the taste, querying servers which potential wine names they liked best, and polling taxi drivers on their favorite varietals. With the explosion of the blogosphere and the birth of social media, the sisters decided to take their more personal approach online to engage more wine consumers than ever before.  

The Hero:

The Times Square Alliance, founded in 1992, works to improve and promote Times Square - cultivating the creativity, energy and edge that have made the area an icon of entertainment, culture and urban life for over a century.

The Alliance promotes local businesses; encourages economic development and public improvements; co-coordinates numerous major events in Times Square (including the annual New Year's Eve and Broadway on Broadway celebrations); manages the Times Square Visitor Center; and advocates on behalf of its constituents with respect to a host of public policy, planning and quality-of-life issues.

The Challenge:

Lindsey Surbey has worked with The Times Square Alliance for over two years. Her challenge is to collect a wealth of information from different sources in an efficient manner. She needs a survey tool that is easy to use and customizable, with the ability to export and quickly analyze results.

The Solution: