NCP National Car Parks
Back to case studies listingUsage and attitude study
NCP wanted to know what people thought of their brand and how they decided where to park their cars.
They needed us to assess the benefits of various different parking places within London (inside and outside of the Congestion Charging Zone) and to understand the customers' preferences, needs and motivations.
To fully explore usage and attitudes to parking, we tackled the research with a two-pronged attack; a large scale street survey and qualitative focus groups.
The street methodology produced a wealth of robust information and the groups provided valuable insight endorsing the findings.
Car parking is habitual and there are strong views as to what people want and expect from a car park. Tariffs are a world of mystery to customers and there is strong agreement that all parking is over priced. Different car parks attract different customers. The convenience of driving outweighs the charge of entering the Congestion Charging Zone. There are many areas to improve; the customer is discerning and considers many aspects.
Peter Mawson, NCP, Head of Marketing“Working to a tight timescale the team helped us kick start a £3.6 million investment in Central London by identifying new and clarifying perceived key customer motivations. The quantitative element of the work did the job of highlighting the features customers consider important precisely and the qualitative focus groups gave us the flavour required to back up the hard statistics. Both have helped to crystallise NCP's future approach to its business”