Tracking a utility
Navigating the highly regulated water sector required a deep dive into Severn Trent’s brand and the broader ecosystem of customer perspectives and regulatory demands. In an environment where precision is critical, our multi-layered research—spanning customer surveys, national comparisons, and targeted outreach—helped deliver actionable insights. By tracking the evolving river pollution narrative, we’ve helped Severn Trent reshape communications, address misconceptions, and strengthen their position, ensuring they continue to make confident, well-informed decisions grounded in robust data.
Sonder is an outstanding research agency. Their team is fantastic to work with and feels like part of our own. They're passionate, clever, and truly understand our industry. Their storytelling with data is superb, producing top-notch reports and debriefs. We appreciate their early adoption of AI too.
Susie Price
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Curiosity
The water sector is far from boring. It’s a tightly regulated, non-competitive space tangled in issues like pricing, dividends, infrastructure investment, and the storm overflow debate. To do this project justice, we fully immersed ourselves — not just in Severn Trent’s brand, but in the entire ecosystem of customer perspectives and regulatory demands. Understanding the bigger picture was essential to delivering insightful results.
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Conscience
In such a regulated environment (thanks to Ofwat), the stakes are high. Our study needed to be as precise as it was impactful. Hitting regulatory requirements down to three decimal places was non-negotiable, but we never let that bog us down. Our focus stayed sharp: deliver robust, actionable insights that Severn Trent could actually use to help their customers and the environment.
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Complexity
This wasn’t a one-dimensional study. We layered three interlocking research streams, reinforced with tactical comms evaluations, to tell a richer story. First, an ongoing weekly online survey of Severn Trent customers. Then, a national survey tracking the same metrics for other water companies. And finally, a CATI survey to ensure we reached even the hardest-to-engage customers. Together, these studies gave us a comprehensive view of the sector, allowing us to dive deep into the insights.
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Conviction
Four years in, we’re still uncovering fresh insights every quarter. One standout example is our work on the evolving river pollution narrative. By tracking its impact on Severn Trent and their customers, we’ve helped reshape communications. These insights feed directly into new strategies, empowering Severn Trent to make confident, well-informed decisions grounded in solid evidence.
Case Studies
Don't take our word for it. With an averaged retained tenure of 8 years, our client work speaks for itself
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