Hornby Hobbies - "We would love to hear from you!"

[phil gollin]

.

 

I received an e-mail from Hornby Hobbies which has no confidentiality warnings and that DOESN'T interest me, but I thought that others would like to know about ( I have edited out;

 

We would love to hear from you!

 

We have a fantastic opportunity for you to take part in some independent market research. Hornby Hobbies has commissioned an independent agency, xxxxxx xxxxxxx, to conduct this piece of research and we would love to hear from you, our valued customers!
 

The research will be conducted as focus group discussions online (via Zoom), where there will be 4-6 people in each group.  It will be facilitated by an independent moderator who will guide the discussion and capture your feedback on some new ideas which will help shape some future projects we are working on.

Everything you say will be strictly confidential and GDPR compliant.  We will be asking each participant to sign the relevant forms ahead of taking part.

The groups will take place at the following times:
 

Monday 28th February 1200-1330 – this group is for those of you who consider yourselves to be current enthusiasts of Hornby.
 

Monday 28th February 1430-1600 – this group is for those of you who used to be enthusiasts of Hornby and/or are thinking of engaging more seriously in the future.

There are only 6 spaces in each group, so these will be filled on a first come first served basis.  If you are interested in taking part and are available at the times stated above, please send an email to xxxxxxxx   xxxxxx , xxxxx.xxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk with the following details. We will then call you to discuss your participation/whether there is still space available.
 

Your name:

Phone number:

Region you live in:

We are really excited about this piece of work and for the opportunity to hear your views and opinions.  Thank you in advance and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thanks

[Phatbob]

I had the same e-mither this morning.  What **** does "enthusiast of Hornby" actually mean?
A customer?
A rabid fan?
An avid collector?
I'm a customer, but not a 'fan' or collector.
So e-mither deleted as they didn't use language I understood.

 

[JohnR]

I've signed up out of interest. Not going to find out what they mean if we all just ignore it.

 

I've put myself in the second group, on the basis that I have liked Hornby and its products in the past, but wouldnt call myself an enthusiast now. 

 

I hope to be able to give them some constructive feedback that will benefit them, and the hobby.

[Johan DC]

I will be working, so not able to attend. It was send for Airfix, Corgy and Scalectrix as well. 

I am an Pre-war LNER enthousiast, and have some Hornby-products. They brought me (back) into the hobby, and I spend a fair amount of my 'disposable income' on their products, around 40% I think.

Am I an enthousiast? Possibly. 

What I think is the more important issue: they are willing to engage with their (potential) customers. Even with an exterior partner involved (Verity London). Might be a good idea to do the same with the shopowners, I think those might have a word or two to tell! 

 

I think it's a good idea. Now here's to hoping they will listen to the enthousiasts as well! 

[Bulleidboy100]

There are only going to be six people in each group - which is about right for a Zoom meeting. I attended a Zoom meeting recently where over one hundred attended - chaos.

Edited February 22, 2022 by Bulleidboy100
amendment

[Legend]

But is 6 a reasonable sample base ..................

Suppose they all like large LNER Pacifics ?   You havent got enough people to correct any bias 

And whats the selection criteria , there could be in built bias from that ?

 

I got the email  and one from Airfix , to be honest its interesting , but what are the chances youll get selected 

 

[Edwardian]

We would love to hear from you!

 

I seriously doubt that.

 

[ovbulleid]

21 minutes ago, Legend said:

But is 6 a reasonable sample base ..................

Suppose they all like large LNER Pacifics ?   You havent got enough people to correct any bias 

And whats the selection criteria , there could be in built bias from that ?

 

I got the email  and one from Airfix , to be honest its interesting , but what are the chances youll get selected 

 

Small groups are quite normal in customer research, it’s called ‘qual’ where the results are qualitative, rather than ‘quant’ where the results are quantitative/ % based. From my experience I’d expect this to be a chance for the thoughts of the contributors to be sent straight up Hornby’s chain of command, for that reason I’ve signed up. 

[G-BOAF]

Two groups of 6 each, on one mid-day/mid-afternoon timeslot. What a poorly designed engagement exercise. I would love to join but cannot take time out of my day then (actually already taking day off but have other plans). Why no evening slots (this is a hobby after all), or weekend options? I would suggest 4-6 'rounds' of such meetings might elicit useful engagement from a broader cross section.

Edited February 22, 2022 by G-BOAF

[Great Eastern Lady]

I received that email this morning , would love to do it, unfortunately I am at work

[Bulleidboy100]

I did respond - time makes no difference to me as I have been retired for thirteen years. I wonder how many on this forum, and others, are pensioners? 

[APOLLO]

 

Brit15

[StuAllen]

Just a thought, has anyone checked the validity of the email? Could it be a phishing attempt?

[andyman7]

1 hour ago, Legend said:

But is 6 a reasonable sample base ..................

Suppose they all like large LNER Pacifics ?   You havent got enough people to correct any bias 

And whats the selection criteria , there could be in built bias from that ?

 

I got the email  and one from Airfix , to be honest its interesting , but what are the chances youll get selected 

 

 

58 minutes ago, G-BOAF said:

Two groups of 6 each, on one mid-day/mid-afternoon timeslot. What a poorly designed engagement exercise. I would love to join but cannot take time out of my day then (actually already taking day off but have other plans). Why no evening slots (this is a hobby after all), or weekend options? I would suggest 4-6 'rounds' of such meetings might elicit useful engagement from a broader cross section.

It's a professional market research company, undertaking focus group research for a consumer products group. But no doubt the armchair experts on the forum will know how to do it better 

[Mallard60022]

I bet nobody checked its validity with Hornby?

P

[Bulleidboy100]

Well the person you had to reply too certainly works for Verity London.

Edited February 22, 2022 by Bulleidboy100
amendment

[The Stationmaster]

I hope the independent moderators have been briefed about the tier system - or are they only talking to Tier 1 customers?

[Steamport Southport]

1 hour ago, StuAllen said:

Just a thought, has anyone checked the validity of the email? Could it be a phishing attempt?

 

Nope.

 

I received four of them from the sources I would expect to - Hornby, Airfix, Scalextric, Corgi, last two probably as a result of entering the competitions over Xmas.

 

I'm quite happy for them to send me emails.

 

 

Jason

[Johan DC]

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

I hope the independent moderators have been briefed about the tier system - or are they only talking to Tier 1 customers?

According to the lady of the house over here, after consulting my bank account, I'm a Tier 1++ customer. 

Mind you, every train is a Hornby in her book. And one too many. 

[stonojnr]

4 hours ago, StuAllen said:

Just a thought, has anyone checked the validity of the email? Could it be a phishing attempt?

 

Ive spent what feels like the best part of 800 pounds on buying a model train with extra coaches that often derails, has giant capacitors on view in those coaches, that might melt or break the only power car that powers it, which isnt powerful enough to push a full train with the extra coaches, assuming its driveshafts havent fallen off in transit, and has at best a pantograph stolen from an airfix model.

 

how much more phished do I feel already by Hornby...

 

[Legend]

2 minutes ago, stonojnr said:

 

Ive spent what feels like the best part of 800 pounds on buying a model train with extra coaches that often derails, has giant capacitors on view in those coaches, that might melt or break the only power car that powers it, which isnt powerful enough to push a full train with the extra coaches, assuming its driveshafts havent fallen off in transit, and has at best a pantograph stolen from an airfix model.

 

how much more phished do I feel already by Hornby...

 

Negative vibes man !  Suspect you might not have been selected . 

[GWR-fan]

Look back a couple of years ago when a You-Tube "influencer" Intercity82 was Hornby's go to guy.  Like some other well known influencers he was like the proverbial three brass monkeys, see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil.  I do not know if these influencers receive freebies for positive reviews but I would assume that any negative comments would see them off the Christmas card list.

 

The Zoom calls are merely for show to impress someone higher up the food chain that the staff are active in promoting sales.  Hornby's predatory activity lately has shown that profits are more important than actually taking notice of what customers are saying.  The results of the independent consultations will finish up in a folder in the waste paper basket of the head honcho.  It seems that Hornby want to talk to an extremely small group of people to gauge the feelings of the entire hobby.  

[G-BOAF]

5 hours ago, andyman7 said:

 

It's a professional market research company, undertaking focus group research for a consumer products group. But no doubt the armchair experts on the forum will know how to do it better 

 

Its sloppy that's what it is! And excuse me I'm not an armchair expert on this, this is actually touching upon what I am trained to do, qualitative social science. If I were reviewing this study, I would ask the following questions simple questions (and knowing myself if I actually thought about it I would have around 10 more...):

 

Who is more likely to have responded given the time slots offered?

Who is being missed out given both the time slots and 7 days notice?

How might this skew my results?

 

I can highlight a number of problems:

Timing - you will only get people who are free during the day, or who have very flexible jobs.

notice - you will only get people who are free at relatively short notice, or at this particular week (which is also first day back after half term for a lot of the UK customer base)

Skew -  probably more retired people (who may have funds, or may be cash restricted), unlikely to get young customers (they will be at school), unlikely to get parents or working-age customers (they will be at work - and may actually be some of the most cash-rich parts of the market). This could pose a massive problem in terms of getting a representation of the company's customer base (age, wealth, era-interest and play vs modelling goals), and would, in my opinion, make the commissioned work near worthless as an engagement with a range of customer base. And only 12 people at that across two groups.

 

When I was supervising Masters students I would generally suggest that for a meaningful engagement with anyone in a qualitative sense, around 20 interviews/participants is a minimum in order to be robust and be able to triangulate results and themes across different individuals. Your sample should be designed to capture the range of stakeholders you know are part of the topic/question you are engaging with. You should map this out BEFORE you start, and think of the most strategic way to engage with them. Give generally 2-3 weeks initial notice (but be prepared to follow-up again closer to the time) and have a range of times available for respondents.

 

Hornby's question seems to be - who is around on a Monday lunchtime/afternoon who we can speak to...!

I've rejected much more thoroughly designed papers as a peer reviewer before... and not unreasonably!

Edited February 22, 2022 by G-BOAF

[andyman7]

8 minutes ago, G-BOAF said:

 

Its sloppy that's what it is! And excuse me I'm not an armchair expert on this, this is actually touching upon what I am trained to do, qualitative social science. If I were reviewing this study, I would ask the following questions simple questions (and knowing myself if I actually thought about it I would have around 10 more...):

 

Who is more likely to have responded given the time slots offered?

Who is being missed out given both the time slots and 7 days notice?

How might this skew my results?

 

I can highlight a number of problems:

Timing - you will only get people who are free during the day, or who have very flexible jobs.

notice - you will only get people who are free at relatively short notice, or at this particular week (which is also first day back after half term for a lot of the UK customer base)

Skew -  probably more retired people (who may have funds, or may be cash restricted), unlikely to get young customers (they will be at school), unlikely to get parents or working-age customers (they will be at work - and may actually be some of the most cash-rich parts of the market). This could pose a massive problem in terms of getting a representation of the company's customer base (age, wealth, era-interest and play vs modelling goals), and would, in my opinion, make the commissioned work near worthless as an engagement with a range of customer base. And only 12 people at that across two groups.

 

When I was supervising Masters students I would generally suggest that for a meaningful engagement with anyone in a qualitative sense, around 20 interviews/participants is a minimum in order to be robust and be able to triangulate results and themes across different individuals. Your sample should be designed to capture the range of stakeholders you know are part of the topic/question you are engaging with. You should map this out BEFORE you start, and think of the most strategic way to engage with them. Give generally 2-3 weeks initial notice (but be prepared to follow-up again closer to the time) and have a range of times available for respondents.

 

Hornby's question seems to be - who is around on a Monday lunchtime/afternoon who we can speak to...!

I've rejected much more thoroughly designed papers as a peer reviewer before... and not unreasonably!

All very well, but how can you possibly provide a detailed critique without actually knowing what the purpose of the exercise is? It strikes me as brand resonance exercise which does not require stratified random sampling but just needs a small subset of people. But now I'm guessing too!

[CUCKOO LINE]

1 hour ago, stonojnr said:

 

Ive spent what feels like the best part of 800 pounds on buying a model train with extra coaches that often derails, has giant capacitors on view in those coaches, that might melt or break the only power car that powers it, which isnt powerful enough to push a full train with the extra coaches, assuming its driveshafts havent fallen off in transit, and has at best a pantograph stolen from an airfix model.

 

how much more phished do I feel already by Hornby...

 

Sounds an ideal guy for the panel then !