Lorraine specialises in qualitative market research, marketing consultancy and project management within both the industrial and consumer sectors and is a Chartered Marketer, a full member of the CIM and The Association For Qualitative Research (AQR). Lorraine holds both the Diploma in Market Research and The Diploma in Marketing and has some 16 years practical experience of the total marketing mix, both on the client and agency side. She gained top level experience of the business to business market whilst working for a decade as Product Manager, then Marketing Manager, for a multinational in the UK, additionally representing the company on an international marketing group. Prior to this, she worked within the FMCG sector for a major UK foods group.

Since 1998, Lorraine has worked independently for a variety of small, medium and large sized organisations, offering a hands-on service to clients, with a view to providing practical solutions. Overall sectors of experience range from numerous consumer products and services to more specialised Construction, IT and Financial Services markets. With degree level language skills in both French and Spanish, Lorraine has personally undertaken research projects in overseas markets for clients investigating export opportunities.

The type of skills required by clients has included both marketing consultancy and, as a fully trained moderator, focus groups, face to face and telephone interviews and postal surveys. However, Lorraine is also an experienced desk researcher and freelance writer for the well known publisher, Key Note Ltd and has separately undertaken research into topics as varied as Construction, Retail Development, Housebuilding, Metal Recycling, Fitted Kitchens, Baths And Sanitaryware and Timber And Joinery.

Additionally, project management skills have been implemented and developed, throughout this extensive marketing career, in the co-ordination of innumerable market launches, involving liaison with research and creative agencies, production and other internal departments, distributor chains, end customers of the product and various media contacts. This has required both internal and external presentations to ensure a successful, timely and well-executed launch.

eFocus groups are a relatively novel research method which are ideal for reaching niche or widely dispersed audiences, which may never be able to meet in a physical forum, given time constraints or simply due to geographical boundaries.

For the participant, they have the advantage of convenience of both location and time. Not only can they reply from their own office, but they can schedule their responses throughout the duration of the group. eFocus groups therefore provide an ideal forum to exchange opinions or to brainstorm issues.

Like physical focus groups, eFocus groups are essentially qualitative in nature, with a small member base and they should be used to probe and to clarify issues in order to provide direction for the client. They are not intended to provide the statistical validity of large scale quantitative studies. However, the Durham Associates’ e-console provides the additional benefit of an online questionnaire formulated from issues discussed in the group, where participants can state their strength of agreement or disagreement with particular issues. This can therefore be used as an indicator of areas for further exploration or indeed for follow up through widespread quantitative research.