Radial Landscape Map– A Revolution in Brand Mapping and Data Visualisation

By Massod Akhtar

Market researchers and data analysts have for many years used various visual representations of their data. Their objective has always been to ‘visualise the insight’ using a chart rather than to show rows and columns of tables.

One such chart that has been used over the years is the ‘brand perception map’.  The map is created via a multivariate statistical data reduction method known as ‘Correspondence Analysis’, which attempts to describe the relationship between a large battery of brand attributes and a number of brands*.  This has proven very useful within the market research community as often there has been a requirement to analyse competing brands against a set of descriptors that relate to, for example, individual personalities and perceptions held by customers.  In this way, correspondence analysis is an excellent technique used to tease out insights from survey data that would otherwise take hours, running and examining cross-tabulations.

Correspondence maps should help to answer the following questions:

• How is my brand viewed by the market?
• What are the perceptual attributes that distinguish the brands?
• Who are my close competitors viewed by the market?
• Which competitors do not really compete with my brand at all?
• What do the brand image attributes mean for communications strategy?

The trouble with correspondence analysis is not the process itself – it is the accompanying map that is created which attempts to show the brands and attributes. The maps below represent some of the clearer examples of what is created by a large number of practitioners – cluttered and chaotic correspondence maps where any useful insight is lost within the detail (can’t see the wood for the trees).  Consider this, – in 99% of cases the audience is non-technical and will want to answer the questions above.  It is easy to see how such maps can create confusion and misinterpretation.

Traditional brand perception maps are confusing

Introducing the Radial Landscape Map

The standard correspondence map has required an overhaul to bring about simplicity without reneging on statistical detail.

The Radial Landscape Map provides both visual clarity and analytical rigor in displaying brand attributes and corresponding brands.  Using a proprietary adaptation of multivariate correspondence analysis we are able to map out the brand attributes and more importantly the latent constructs/themes that present themselves.  The chart below is one recent example (the brands have been masked for confidential reasons)

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