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FAQ: How we work

FT Longitude is a specialist thought leadership agency, and we regularly use research and design to help underpin our storytelling, as part of producing compelling content based on original insights. This page aims to provide specific details on how we conduct our research, and our standard operating approach for both quantitative and qualitative research inputs. In addition, we also detail our approach to creating digital and design assets.

It’s important to note upfront that we’re not a market research outfit. All of our research is explicitly focussed on providing fresh insights for the thought leadership content that we create for our clients.

GDPR and Data Privacy

Quantitative data and research

Qualitative data and interviews

Design: Bringing your content to life visually

Audio content

Video content

GDPR and Data Privacy

What is GDPR?

The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) replaces the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and was designed to harmonise data privacy laws across Europe, to protect and empower all EU citizens’ data privacy and to reshape the way organisations across the region approach data privacy.

How is GDPR applicable to FT Longitude’s quantitative research work?

GDPR applies to all companies processing and holding the personal data of data subjects residing in the European Union, regardless of the company’s location. Therefore, GDPR is applicable to organisations who collect, store, process, transfer, and / or dispose of data related to EU residents.

When it comes to conducting quantitative market research, FT Longitude does not manage personal data/personal identifiable information (IIP) of respondents residing in the EU. Instead FT Longitude employs a roster of data collection agencies who recruit participants into their networks or panels with the sole purpose of taking part in market research studies on behalf of their (fieldwork vendors’) clients. FT Longitude does not engage in any contact including soliciting, liaising, coordinating or corresponding with fieldwork vendors’ panel members.

To uphold the principles of GDPR and the ethos of ethical research, no personal data (such as name, company name, address, email address, IP address etc.) is shared with FT Longitude by our fieldwork vendors during fieldwork. In this instance, because FT Longitude is utilising summary level information from its fieldwork vendors, FT Longitude is therefore neither controlling nor processing personal data when conducting surveys on behalf of clients.

The only exception is when conducting qualitative recruitment, where specific permission and consent is obtained from our interviewees. See the section on qualitative interviews for more information on this.

How does FT Longitude ensure its fieldwork vendors are GDPR compliant?

All fieldwork vendors used by FT Longitude are engaged under contract and agree that they:

  • Ensure that no personally-identifiable information relating to its research subjects is disclosed to FT Longitude in connection with the provision of the Services and/or any Deliverable to FT Longitude, or otherwise in connection with their engagement by FT Longitude.

If they do have to process personal data, such vendors agree that they will:

  • Ensure they comply with their obligations under data protection law;
  • Ensure appropriate security measure are in place in order to protect any personal data;
  • If applicable, notify FT Longitude of any changes in its ability to transfer any personal data to FT Longitude or any other third party;
  • Notify FT Longitude of any security breaches or complaints and where necessary assist FT Longitude with rectifying such matters.

Quantitative data and research

How do FT Longitude’s fieldwork vendors identify appropriate respondents for a survey?

FT Longitude’s fieldwork partners identify suitable candidates to participate either from their existing panel or from publicly available databases. However, their suitability for participation is then qualified during the survey process by questions related to job title, role, function and decision making responsibilities. Only those respondents with the necessary qualifications will then complete the survey.

Typical sources for identifying potential respondents vary, but can include:

  1. List building: participants are recruited from B2B databases and business list providers. These databases include Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters and Dun & Bradstreet, among others.
  2. Respondent identification: potential recruits are verified via professional networking websites such as LinkedIn, or directly from corporate websites, to ensure potential respondents are credible.
  3. Respondent contact: respondents are contacted via telephone on their business numbers.

How does FT Longitude obtain consent to contact prospective sample respondents?

Whenever new or additional contacts from LinkedIn, Zoominfo, Dun & Bradstreet or other sources are approached, the fieldwork partner obtains consent and provides details on its privacy policy on the initial email, which asks whether they are interested in participating. These approaches and requests for consent are made on the grounds of legitimate business interest, due to the relevance of our research in relation to the target individual’s profile. These emails:

  • Explain how the fieldwork partner obtained their contact details;
  • Explain the purpose of the research;
  • Provides details of the privacy policy, in terms of how their personal information will be used;
  • Explains that the contact has the option to have their data removed from the fieldwork partner’s database and not to be contacted again.

How does FT Longitude select its fieldwork vendors?

We only work with a select range of fieldwork vendors who comply with our quality and process requirements, and who meet our compliance standards. All of our fieldwork vendors are engaged under contracts, which sets out, among other things, our vendor compliance requirements and expectations of them as regards data protection laws.

We have been working with most of our fieldwork vendors for many years so we have strong relationships with them, and clearly established ways of working. To support this, we seek to do annual on-site visits to all of our offshore fieldwork vendors, and more regular visits to any of our onshore UK-based fieldwork vendors.

In addition, we continually review our fieldwork vendor shortlist in conjunction with our client needs and/or changes in innovation and technology. We review their previous and current projects, we seek referrals and recommendations and we test them to ensure they can provide the type of high-calibre samples and trustworthy support that our clients need and expect. Any survey fieldwork providers that we’ve tested and who do not meet our quality bar are permanently removed from our fieldwork vendor shortlists.

What data does FT Longitude receive from its fieldwork vendors?

For quantitative research, FT Longitude’s fieldwork vendors are only allowed to share survey responses in an aggregated and anonymised form. When sharing raw data, fieldwork vendors must anonymise the data and ensure participants cannot be identified personally either through their responses or due to the features of the universe they are recruited from.

What steps does FT Longitude take to ensure high quality survey data?

FT Longitude’s quality assurance processes are handled over four distinct aspects of a typical project:

1. Survey questionnaire review:

  • At a basic level, our editorial team holds regular training on survey design, to ensure that we’re conceptualising and designing our research questionnaires to best deliver on their target outcomes. We are acutely conscious that bad design delivers bad results.
  • We review the questionnaire in relation to the underlying hypotheses being explored within the study, to ensure it is going to deliver on the overall objectives.
  • Our research operations team reviews all questionnaires to ensure that they have the correct routing, respondent instructions, scripting instructions, length of survey and quotas included in them. They also add logic checks to the questionnaire, which are designed to help screen out poor-quality respondents.
  • We hold briefing calls with all of our trusted partners who are working on a project to ensure that we are all aligned on the project and that the survey matches the project specifications.
  • Thorough link checking is conducted before we launch fieldwork.

2. Fieldwork process:

  • At the outset of fieldwork, we conduct a “soft launch” period, which is used to verify that questions and screen outs are working as intended, and that the data is in line with the expected parameters.
  • Beyond this soft launch phase, which is typically done at the 5-10% completion point, we conduct additional testing and reviews at the 25%, 50%, 75%, 90% and 100% completion points, removing any bad quality completes in terms of bad open ends, flatliners, speeders and outliers. Some of these processes are automated, whereas others are done manually.
  • We closely monitor quotas during fieldwork, to ensure that we’re reaching the desired targets and objectives.
  • We regularly check for questions where respondents are especially prone to drop offs, to ensure that questions are clear and not too onerous.
  • We monitor and update logic checks, to ensure these are performing as planned.
  • All open-ended questions are reviewed and filtered, with poor quality respondents rejected and replaced.
  • We periodically check in and listen to call records on CATI-based projects, to assess that the fieldwork is being conducted appropriately.

3. Data delivery:

  • All data tables are thoroughly checked to ensure accuracy, that they match the data processing specifications and include the correct cross-breaks, significance testing and net scores.
  • A final review of all open-end responses is conducted, along with additional checks for speeders, straight-liners, and other standard checks.

What platform does FT Longitude use to host its surveys?

Our survey data is hosted on the Forsta survey platform (also known as Decipher). A scripted link is sent to our fieldwork vendors, who in turn use this to collect respondents from their panels or outreach. This outreach process is handled outside of Forsta/Decipher to avoid sharing of any personal contact information, but all survey responses are captured and collected in Forsta/Decipher. No personal information is captured by FT Longitude (eg, IP addresses, names of respondents, company names, etc).

What devices and browsers are compatible with FT Longitude’s survey platform?

Our surveys are compatible with most common browser types, across both desktop and mobile devices. A current list of compatible browsers can be viewed here. As part of FT Longitude’s quality measures, we test all surveys prior to launch on the following browsers: Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. From a device perspective, surveys are tested on a Windows-based laptop and desktop, and on both an Android and iOS-based mobile phone and tablet.

How are surveys branded?

By default, all our surveys are FT Longitude-branded. Depending on the nature of the study and the survey type, FT Longitude can also conduct client-branded surveys. See below more input on to what extent a survey can be client-branded.

Are survey respondents aware of FT Longitude’s end-client during fieldwork?

In most cases, the respondents are not informed of the end-client to avoid bias (e.g. in case the respondents’ existing perception of the brand would influence the answers they provide). We would explain the type of organisation that has commissioned the research and the topic to recruit respondents e.g. “a specialist cloud provider is keen to your insight on the benefits of using the cloud”.

In some circumstances, providing the end-client agrees, the identity of the client is revealed at the recruitment stage to help boost the survey response rate. In this case, FT Longitude will seek written consent from the client.

Can FT Longitude reveal the identities of organisations who have completed a survey?

No, this is not legally permissible under the regulation and guidelines we operate within. To help reinforce this, FT Longitude does not have exposure to specific organisations being represented in the survey, other than for specific quality review escalations. When requested, based on the criteria, FT Longitude can share an indicative list of companies that match the profile of the target companies. There is no guarantee that any of the organisations present in the indicative list will be part of the survey.

Can indicative respondent profiles be shared for review before a survey is launched?

Yes. Before fieldwork commences, FT Longitude can share an indicative profile of expected survey respondents on request. This will always be anonymised but will have job titles as an indication to the types of respondents taking part in the survey, to help confirm the appropriate fit of the targeted audience.

How do you define C-suite, C-1 and C-2 in your survey specifications?

The majority of our surveys are targeted at senior executives within various organisations, in particular the so-called “C-suite” executives that lead companies. These roles encompass a range of positions, such as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), and so on. Depending on the focus of the theme and target companies, this upper-most rung of executives might also include Founders/Co-Founders, Managing Directors, or similar. Board Members might also be a relevant target, but would usually be defined specifically, if they are a relevant target. This group is especially well suited to comment on topics relating to strategy, key business priorities and decisions, stakeholder management, policies, leadership, and so on.

Most executive surveys aim to target these C-suite respondents along with a mix of their direct reports, or what we term “C-1”, which are considered to be very senior levels of management. Terminology can vary by region and industry, but these are typically considered to be Heads of Departments, Senior Directors or Directors, Senior Vice Presidents and Vice Presidents, and similar. This group is especially well suited to comment on issues relating to implementation of company strategy, team oversight and management, and so on.

To broaden the reach and feasibility of some surveys, and/or where it’s relevant to the theme, we often also focus one further rung down the management ladder, or what we term “C-2”. These are typically considered to be Senior Managers, and are part of the company’s strand of middle management. This group is especially well suited to comment on more granular issues within the business, such as day-to-day management, oversight of working groups, the implementation of specific changes or technologies or transformations, operational processes, and so on.

Levels of seniority below this level, such as Managers, Junior Managers, or other similar lower-level management roles, are generally considered to be part of a general workforce sample, and not usually included within a C-1 or C-2 designation. This audience is typically less suited to commenting on specific or detailed business issues, other than those that relate to the overall organisation, such as business culture, perceptions of the leadership team, and so on.

Our recommendation regarding the ideal level of respondent seniority takes into consideration who will be the most appropriate respondent for the topic being discussed, e.g. which level of respondent will have the greatest knowledge of this topic, along with other considerations such as cost and timeframe – the most senior respondents being less numerous and therefore more difficult and expensive to source for interview. We generally find that a mix of seniority levels makes for a robust sample as it ensures we get a broad perspective from across the organisations in scope.

Can FT Longitude survey the Financial Times’ readership?

Unfortunately not. An implicit part of the Financial Times’ (FT’s) commitment to its global readership (as per its Reader Charter), is to maintain the highest levels of trust, privacy and user experience. As part of this, the FT does not allow sponsors to buy access to this audience for commercial purposes, such as research surveys. Naturally, the audiences we survey have a high degree of correlation with the FT’s typical readership, but these respondents are not asked to participate as a result of their FT subscription. Naturally, surveys aside, we can provide options to distribute your content to the FT’s readership, for example, via the FT’s Partner Content advertising offerings.

Can we include questions about brand perceptions, or our products and services?

No, FT Longitude is not a market research firm. As such, we do not conduct any studies exploring brand perceptions, or what audiences think about a particular brand’s products or services. We do, however, conduct studies that seek to better understand the thinking and preferences of a particular target audience, as part of helping our clients better plan their thought leadership content campaigns. For example, we regularly do studies on how specific C-suite audiences, or executives within a particular sector, like to consume content, or what topics they want to get fresh insights about.

Can we supply our own survey questionnaire?

Yes, potentially. We would first need to review the suitability of your questions, to confirm they are appropriate for delivering solid thought leadership outcomes, before agreeing to this. Almost always, we will seek to make recommendations on how a questionnaire can be improved, in order to deliver better results (eg, ensuring questions are framed appropriately; it’s not a market research set of questions; it avoids references to products and services; and so on).

However, we appreciate that there are instances whereby a client may have been running a repeat tracker study for some time, and would like us to take this over without changing the questions. Subject to our review, this would be no problem – and we would make an appropriate reduction to the overall costs to reflect this.

What is CAWI and CATI? Which methodology does FT Longitude use?

  • CAWI stands for Computer Assisted Web Interviews. This is an online survey that is self completed by a respondent.
  • CATI stands for Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews. This is where an interviewer calls a respondent and fills in their answers into an online script.

FT Longitude makes use of either CAWI and/or CATI when sourcing its respondents to surveys, depending on the nature of the sample being targeted. CAWI respondents are typically cheaper and quicker to source, but this method can be more challenging for senior respondents, whereas CATI can be useful for targeting very specific, senior or niche respondents.

Are survey respondents incentivised?

Wherever possible, potential respondents are targeted in relation to their direct interest or experience of the topic under consideration, to ensure a good fit. However, as part of their recruitment strategy, our fieldwork vendors may sometimes incentivise potential respondents to gather responses. These incentives vary by vendor, but examples include:

  • Charitable donations on the respondent’s behalf;
  • Industry reports from the studies they take part in (with the end client’s consent) or strategic reports compiled by data collection agencies;
  • Access to digital subscriptions, such as the Financial Times;
  • Loyalty points or airmiles;
  • Invitations to events;
  • The chance to win prizes, such as electronic goods.

Note that FT Longitude would not offer incentives for any surveys being fielded to a Client’s contact list.

Can we send a copy of the final research report to the survey respondents?

Yes, if required, we can send a copy of the final research findings or report to survey participants as a PDF document or similar. This is sent via the relevant fieldwork vendor(s) used for the research, as FT Longitude does not hold any personal data with regards to the survey respondents. However, we are not able to send any other requests to this audience, such as invitations to events or webinars, or opt-in/registration links to receive further information from a third party, as our fieldwork vendors have a commitment to their respondents with regards to the nature of the information they will share with them and do not permit this.

What’s a minimum credible sample for a survey?

There are two core ways to approach minimum samples: one is to think about what is considered statistically significant for comparison (which suggests a minimum of 30 per segmentation), and the other is to consider whether your sample is a reasonable representation of the universe you’re trying to target. For example, a survey of 200 British consumers isn’t very impressive when you consider that there are nearly 67 million people in the UK. However, if this was a survey of 200 Swedish CEOs, this would be a sizable proportion of the total population of Swedish CEOs. In short, minimum sample sizes will shift in proportion to how broad or niche your target audience is.

The minimum credible sample size that we’d suggest for a B2B study is 100 respondents. This will give a basic sample for analysing data at an overall level, but it won’t be large enough to look at specific groups within this sample, e.g. regions or industries. However, unless this is a very niche audience, we would typically recommend a minimum sample size of 200-300 respondents for a B2B audience.

When comparing segmentations within a single sample, we’d suggest a minimum of 50 respondents per target segmentation. So, for example, if you wished to compare 10 countries against each other, you’d need a minimum sample size of 500 overall.

Consumer studies require higher sample sizes. A good rule of thumb for a multi-country study is to ensure at least 500-1000 consumers per country, to allow for analysis by age group, gender and regions. For a single-country study, we note that sources such as BBC News considers a UK-wide sample of 2,000 respondents to be newsworthy, so this informs our minimum recommendation on sample size.

FT Longitude will always advise clients on what we’d recommend and how to get the most out of your budget, in relation to your target outcome and desired analysis. Naturally, higher sample sizes sound more impressive, but we’re conscious that this comes at a higher cost that could also be invested in making more out of your overall thought leadership investment.

Is it possible to correlate survey results with the underlying performance of those respondents’ companies?

Yes, in particular circumstances. This can be a useful technique for helping to explore for any correlation between what a set of respondents are doing (eg, prioritising a specific strategy or approach relative to others) and some measure(s) of performance of their businesses (eg, revenue growth rate, or profitability, or similar). This outcome can be achieved in one of two ways. First, by asking survey respondents to share some insights on the overall performance of their business. Note that this may not work well when the targeted survey demographic is not necessarily close to their organisation’s specific financial performance measures or feel unsure about sharing specifics, and may thus only give a very broad or indicative sense of those metrics (eg, EBITDA, or stock price growth). Rather, we recommend focussing survey questions on more relevant measures of performance that are likely to be understood by all respondents (eg, employee engagement, productivity levels, whether people consider it to be an innovative business, or cultural norms).

Second, by gathering publicly-available financial data on a given company, which can be anonymously appended to this respondent’s overall survey results. This is a far more accurate method for hard financial metrics, but it is only feasible to collect for companies that publicly publish their financial results (eg, listed entities). It is not possible to gather this for private companies that do not publish their results.

For anyone wanting to conduct this method of analysis, there are some important considerations to bear in mind:

  1. Correlation does not suggest causality. Even if we show that companies that, say, invest more in digital transformation tend to be more profitable, this does not necessarily suggest that it was as a result of their digital transformation efforts. It’s important to be open about this, and it shouldn’t detract from it being an interesting point to report.
  2. The data supporting this kind of correlation is usually very noisy. In short, countless factors help to drive growth and profitability, or other common measures of performance. It can also be the case that highly profitable companies are also hugely inefficient (eg, due to holding a monopoly position), or for a highly efficient business to be unprofitable (eg, as a result of investing heavily for the future). At best, we’d look to establish a rough correlation between the key point(s) being explored in a study, and the performance measure(s) being compared against.
  3. Cause and effect can often be better demonstrated by making comparison on narrower and more relevant areas of performance. For example, for a study exploring strategies and priorities around HR, asking respondents to give a view on how engaged and productive they believe their colleagues are, or what morale levels are like. Regardless of position, people usually have a much better feel for these softer attributes, ahead of hard metrics, and these may well be more interesting and relevant to report on.

In what data formats can FT Longitude provide survey data? And what is included by default?

Our standard data deliverable is Excel-based data tables with approximately 5 cross breaks, typically based against the core demographic questions in the survey (eg, region, sector, company size, etc). This includes a chart for each question representing the overall topline response. We can also deliver the “raw” line-by-line respondent data in Excel, or as an SPSS file, should you wish to run further analysis in your own tools.

In addition, many of our clients request a presentation summarising the key findings of the study. This can be delivered as either a static PowerPoint presentation, or else an interactive digital presentation (using the Infogram platform).

More custom data formats and requests can be discussed on request.

What data analysis capabilities does FT Longitude offer?

FT Longitude offers a range of data analysis capabilities. We are experts at both the analysis, and at fitting the most appropriate approach to each project, ensuring the data is shaped in a way that best fits the content plan and deliverables. Depending on the nature of the study, some examples of analysis techniques we often deliver include:

  • Leader/laggard analysis – using the survey data, we identify the businesses or consumers at the leading edge (or indeed the back of the pack) for specific behaviours, solution adoption, etc. We are then able to profile these leaders and laggards to identify key characteristics and diagnose the factors behind their positioning.
  • Survey-based indexes or ranking – when conducting this type of analysis we design our questionnaire in a way that allows us to convert survey data into an index, enabling us to rank businesses or consumers on their capabilities in a particular area. This research technique is often used to drive leader/laggard analysis or create the data required for benchmark tools.
  • Personas – we conduct cluster analysis on survey data to create behavioural and attitudinal segments of businesses and consumers. This enables us to deliver pen portraits of typical segments, and bring the analysis to life
  • Barometers – we analyse our survey data, and combine it with real world metrics (e.g. Eurostat) to compare performance or behaviours across countries, regions, or other market segments. This is something we recently did for Intrum as part of our work on their European Consumer Payment report.

Learn more about our research offerings here.

Can a survey be hosted in a Client’s brand?

Where required, we can field a survey in our Client’s brand (for example, if a client wishes to survey its own contact list). To support this, we can adapt the survey in the following ways:

  • Add your logo to the survey page (we require a high-resolution image file of your logo, ideally in .PNG or .JPG format). The position of the logo is fixed to the top-left of the screen.
  • Add links to your privacy policy on the survey page footer
  • Create a link to your website from the end page
  • Change the colour of the background, text and buttons.
  • If required, we can use a custom font, but are limited to the Google font library.
  • Note that the position of questions, answer options and buttons are fixed within the system and cannot be changed.

Any other changes would require bespoke development and would be subject to an extra charge.

Can FT Longitude help survey a contact list provided by a Client?

Yes, in part. FT Longitude cannot view or engage with a client’s client data or lists, as this would be a breach of our data policies. However, we can provide you with a survey link that can be distributed to any potential respondents you plan to target (either a single dynamic link, or a series of unique links – see next question for more information on these links).

No personal data will be captured by FT Longitude within this survey, which means we would not be able to confirm which of your contacts had responded or not. FT Longitude’s exposure in this instance is only limited to scripting and data processing (through third party subcontractors). Clients that deploy a survey via unique links (see next question) could use this to determine which contacts had replied and completed the survey.

If FT Longitude has also committed to sourcing a survey sample, then any Client-sourced sample would not count towards FT Longitude’s overall target, but would instead act as a “top up” sample to increase the overall pool of responses. Note that the survey link we would provide would remain identical to the existing FT Longitude-branded survey, unless a different version has been priced in separately.

Given we are not able to review your lists or contact data, we cannot explicitly de-duplicate any repeat respondents. However, it is highly unlikely that there would be such overlap unless you carried out a major campaign around the identical target audience that FT Longitude is polling. In the unlikely event that someone does receive the link twice, it is almost certain that they would not go through the entire process of completing the same survey twice. So in practice, there is very limited risk.

For Clients that seek to deploy this survey to their contacts, FT Longitude can provide a weekly update on the response rate. For the avoidance of doubt, please note that the client is responsible for data quality of respondents sourced via a client database, and the client is also responsible for the number of completes achieved, and related timings. Note that delays on this may have a wider impact on overall project timings.

Can we test the survey link before launching fieldwork? 

Yes, if required. In order to keep project duration as tight as possible, though, we don’t plan for this step unless specifically requested. FT Longitude will provide you with a reusable test link for testing purposes. Note that feedback on the link needs to be consolidated and documented clearly in the change log provided. We ask for all feedback to be received in one batch, and within the agreed timeframe, to avoid any delay to the proposed launch date. Delays may have a wider impact on project timings as well.

The below demo link will give you a good idea of the look and feel of different question types we use, as well as how the programmed link will look overall. Demo link: https://uk.focusvision.com/survey/selfserve/21b6/201101?list=0 /a>

Qualitative data and research

Can FT Longitude help source and conduct “on the record” interviews, to be named and quoted?

Yes, this is a research input that we recommend for most of our studies, usually to help complement and bring to life the quantitative data that is often being collected in addition to this. Our editorial team regularly helps to source and conduct interviews with experts and executives, which are in turn can be quoted within any content being produced by FT Longitude on behalf of our clients. We’ve done interviews with a broad range of C-suite executives, including CEOs or CFOs, as well as a broad range of other CHROs, CIOs, CISOs, board members, heads of innovation, non-executive directors, and other senior executives. We also regularly interview and profile newer or emerging CXO functions, such as Chief Resilience Officers, Chief Digital Officers, and Chief Diversity Officers. These interviews are either sourced directly by FT Longitude, or else via our client’s contact list/network. At times, we also draw on external fieldwork vendors to help source (but not conduct) interviewees for us.

How long is a typical interview? How are they conducted? And can we help define what questions are asked? 

Our typical interviews last for about 45 minutes. Of course, some interviewees are willing to speak for up to an hour, and others request that we keep to just half an hour, all of which we are happy to comply with. Interviews are nearly always done over the phone, given the geographically dispersed nature of our studies and the experts and executives we seek to interview for these. However, some interviewees ask to submit their answers in writing, especially for people who are not native language English speakers and are thus not comfortable discussing the issues live on the phone, which we are also happy to accept. From time to time, we’re asked to conduct interviews in person (eg, for very high profile contacts of our clients), which we are also willing to do, subject to an extra charge, and relevant T&E costs.

Prior to us conducting any interviews, we will prepare a detailed interview guide with 10-15 indicative questions that we aim to cover. We will agree this guide in advance with our clients, and welcome your thoughts and input on potential questions to consider. It’s important to note that we handle all interviews in a journalistic style, rather than as a strictly structured script, in order to get the most value out of these calls. That means that if an interviewee has a particularly interesting viewpoint or issue or example they’ve raised, we’ll often seek to dive into more depth on that, potentially at the expense of other questions in our guide. Of course, we will always ensure that the fundamentally core questions for the study are covered.

What is an appropriate number of interviewees to conduct for our study?

As a rule of thumb, wherever possible, we recommend a mix of both quantitative and qualitative research inputs to help ensure a study is credible. Within this, a desirable target number of interviewees depends on a range of factors, including the purpose of the content, the desired target length, and your budget, all of which need to be taken into consideration:

  • Purpose. If your goal is to achieve PR coverage, for example, then quantitative inputs are a far more important consideration, relative to the number of qualitative interviews, so we’d recommend focussing on that. But if the purpose is to start a debate on an issue or provide an interesting perspective, then even a handful of qualitative interviews can help generate a strong viewpoint and diverse perspectives. For qualitative only research, a good target number will depend on your budget, length of target content, and the ultimate purpose of the study, but we’d recommend a minimum of 2-3 for an article, or 3-9 for a concise report, as two common types of output.
  • Length of content. As a rough rule of thumb, allowing for 1-3 interviewees per 1,000 words of content is a reasonable working assumption. So, for a 3,000 word report, anything from 3-9 interviews would be a decent target to aim for. Having significantly more interviews raises practical challenges, such as how to quote and cite all of these voices within a very limited space. Having no interviews at all raises different issues, such as how to bring the content to life and engage and interest the reader.
  • Budget. Clearly, additional interviews cost more (as does the longer content they might require), so there is always a need for balance between purpose, length of content and what purpose or outcome is being targeted. FT Longitude will always seek to recommend a fair balance between these competing objectives.

Can FT Longitude interview my clients or subject matter experts (SMEs)?

Yes, this is a regular request from our clients, and is a common input for many of the studies we conduct. For these kinds of interviewees, we expect the Client to source and provide these interviewees, as FT Longitude cannot commit to only sourcing specific companies from a client-provided list. However, we’d be happy to include and prioritise companies from a client-supplied list within our overall outreach, but we reserve the right to continue sourcing alternative companies in addition, if that is necessary in order to keep the overall project timeline on track. (Please also see our guidelines on vetoing interviewees, in relation to this).

We understand your client relationships are important – and often sensitive. To this end, we always create and share interview guides for these interviewees, which can be shared with Clients in advance, for review and refinement. This helps ensure that we focus these interviews areas of greatest relevance, and avoid any potentially sensitive topics, where necessary.

For particularly sensitive or important calls (eg, the CEO of a Tier 1 client account), it is also possible for us to conduct a pre-interview call between the interviewing editor and a relevant Client Account Lead (CAL) or relationship manager, to ensure that all parties are fully briefed on how best to tackle the interview. We also remind all interviewees that nothing will be published without their explicit permission, to ensure we’ve captured their names, job titles and quotes accurately.

Can I or another person from my firm join or listen in on an interview?

As a rule of thumb, we strongly recommend that only the FT Longitude editor join and run the call, as this encourages the interviewee to speak openly and candidly, and thus enables us to get the most out of the interview. If there’s any need to ensure that a specific set of questions are included, these can absolutely be discussed and agreed within the interviewee guide, prior to the call taking place. However, for Client-sourced interviews, where it is taking place with either your subject matter expert or client, we recognise that there are instances where a client representative would like to listen in on the call, and this can be accommodated, providing FT Longitude is still able to lead the questioning on the call. We do not, however, permit a client to join or listen in on a FT Longitude-sourced interview, as this changes the dynamic of the interview and can lead the interviewee to believe that the interview has in fact become a form of sales call.

Can FT Longitude guarantee it will source a specific interview? Will you share a long-list with us before sourcing interviews?

No, this is not possible to guarantee, as we are reliant on a company – and individual – committing to speaking on the record.

Before reaching out, we will agree broad demographic criteria for target interviewees for each study with you, confirming which sector or country or function we are seeking to interview, but cannot commit to sourcing specific companies or individuals. As a matter of course, we will update you on progress on a regular basis with regards to confirmed interviewees.

Please note that we will not provide long-lists of prospective interviewees prior to outreach, unless this has been specifically agreed (eg, for tax and audit clients who have regulatory restrictions on who can be interviewed). We will simply seek to agree and confirm the core demographic of the target audience to ensure we’re on the same page, before commencing outreach.

What is FT Longitude’s approach to interviewees with regards to diversity and inclusion?

FT Longitude strongly encourages seeking both diverse viewpoints and interviewees for qualitative interviews, and will always aim for a mix of voices in its outreach. We believe this diversity makes for better thought leadership outcomes. As such, we will always seek to secure a mix of male and female interviewees, from varying regions, races, ethnic groups and backgrounds, wherever possible. However, due to the demographic profile of the functions or roles we are typically asked to interview, there is often a sharply limited pool of diverse candidates available for consideration – put bluntly, a lot of business functions and roles we tend to target often skew strongly white and male. As two simple examples, there are few female leaders in the risk or technology functions, and few black CEOs of larger companies. As such, we unfortunately cannot commit to delivering a specific ratio or target of candidates, unless there is a sufficiently broad pool of targets (eg, simply looking for senior female business executives), or unless the topic is intrinsic to the matter (eg, diversity and inclusion).

Can we veto a proposed interviewee?

Yes, but only under certain conditions: 1) it doesn’t fit the agreed demographic criteria; or 2) the company is a direct or indirect competitor of yours; or 3) there is some clear and relevant sensitivity in relation to a proposed interviewee (eg, they are engaged in a dispute with the client, or they are an audit client that can’t be referenced, or similar). Any other concerns raised will definitely be considered with due sensitivity by the project team, but the right to veto an interviewee will be at FT Longitude’s discretion if the proposed candidate complies with all the above criteria.

Do you record all interviews? Can we get a copy of the recording or transcript?

Subject to agreement from the interviewee, we do seek to record all interviewees for note taking purposes, and to capture a detailed reference of the conversation. These recordings are transcribed to act as a reference for the project editor, to extract quotes, examples, Q&As and other content. However, to minimise any privacy risks in relation to GDPR, we are unable to share either recordings or transcripts from these interviewees, unless: a) it has been agreed in advance in the project scope, and the interviewee has given their consent to us sharing this; or b) it is an interview with a Client subject matter expert, where the purpose of the interview is to share insights more widely within the Client’s organisation.

Does FT Longitude get approval to publish quotes and other content from interviewees?

Yes, absolutely. We will not make use of an interviewee’s input, unless they have given us written approval to confirm the accuracy of their quotes and how they have been referenced. The only exception to this is for interviews with our client’s subject matter experts, where we typically rely on the client’s marketing team to confirm these. It’s worth noting that some interviewees respond, requesting to either not be named, or for the company not to be named, or for complete anonymity (despite having agreed to speak on the record earlier). This is rare, but it is usually due to them having had their PR or communications team decide against their participation in the study. FT Longitude will do all it can to avoid this outcome, and to convince the interviewee to reconsider, but this may not be possible. In this instance, the quotes would be used anonymously within the report. Alternatively, FT Longitude could seek to organise a replacement interviewee if time allows, but this would be subject to an additional charge.

What information does FT Longitude receive from its fieldwork vendors and clients in relation to qualitative interviews, and how do you ensure GDPR compliance for this?

FT Longitude sources qualitative interviews for client research projects in one of three ways:

  • Sourced by the FT Longitude team or drawn from existing in-house databases of interviewees
  • Sourced by our clients and, subject to the right permissions, handed to FT Longitude team to conduct the interview
  • Sourced from third-party fieldwork vendors with expertise and/or databases with relevant names

In all cases, FT Longitude receives only limited personal data, typically name, job title and email address. Regardless of how these interviews are sourced, FT Longitude acts as a “controller” of personal data, not a “processor”. This is because FT Longitude is the main decision-maker in the process and exercises control over the purposes and means of the processing of personal data.

In the instances where respondents are sourced from either clients or fieldwork partners, FT Longitude requires that the following steps take place:

  • Respondent’s contact information to be transferred (in compliance with GDPR procedures) to FT Longitude’s editorial team to conduct phone interviews
  • Information participants provide will be associated with their individual self or the company they are part of for the purposes of research
  • Participant responses to be quoted as part of research

To the extent that either party shares any personal data with the other party (including details of potential or actual respondents to any survey, questionnaire or interview), each party acts as data controller and promises to comply with applicable data protection law.

How long does FT Longitude keep personal information from qualitative interviews on file?

Our policy is to keep personal information – such as interviewee name and job title, as well as the overall interview transcript – for 36 months after the project has finished, at which point they are deleted. Communication with the interviewee (such as emails, etc.) is stored for seven years after the project is completed.

Can you provide us with the contact details for your interviewees, or provide an introduction to our firm? 

While we would be happy to consider and pass along reasonable and relevant requests, such as whether the interviewee would like to participate in a client’s launch event or webinar, we do not provide introductions or pass along contact details. FT Longitude approaches prospective interviewees on a journalistic basis, and in order to tap into their insights and expertise, without any commercial influence. And asking to share their details, or provide introductions, would hinder our ability to secure additional interviews with those individuals in future.

Design: bringing your content to life visually

What options and formats does FT Longitude provide with regards to designing any content created?

FT Longitude’s information design team helps create a broad range of design outputs for our clients, from interactive stories to animated videos and much more. Depending on the particular needs of our clients, we can help provide our content in a range of formats, catering for both digital and physical forms:

  • Interactive stories (for articles, reports, and content hubs). A common option for many of our clients is to create an online interactive story, which provides a digital-first experience for people to explore your content, engage with animated interactive charts, and dive into the story. These can be smaller pages for single articles, right through to in-depth content hubs to host a range of content assets.
  • Data visualisation (both static and interactive, plus narrative infographics). We specialise in bringing data to life for distribution in a range of formats, whether static or interactive, diving into the specifics of a particular question. Alternatively, the study’s key findings can also be explored in the form of a narrative infographic.
  • Social media graphics (both static and animated). A very popular complement to our campaigns is a set of social media graphics, which can highlight specific findings for social amplification. These can be done as static images, or else
  • Stakeholder decks (both digital and traditional). Most FT Longitude projects include a key findings deck, summarising the most powerful and engaging findings from our research. This can be delivered as an interactive digital deck which can be shared via a link or embedded into your website, or else as a traditional MS PowerPoint slide deck.
  • Traditional design and layout. Naturally we can provide any report or article layout as an engaging and highly visual PDF for making available for download on your site, or for physical printing.
  • No design and layout. For our clients with in-house design teams, or a dedicated design agency, we are also very happy to provide our content as an MS Word document for you to handle in-house.

See a selection of examples from our portfolio page here.

Can FT Longitude work within our brand guidelines? Are there any other branding options available?

FT Longitude’s design team is happy to work within any client brand guidelines to ensure any design output looks and feels right on brand for your organisation. The vast majority of our work is created under our client’s brand, so this is our normal way of working. At this time, we don’t offer a directly FT-branded proposition for clients.

Can FT Longitude provide the original editable design files (eg, InDesign) on design work we’ve commissioned?

Yes, we are happy to provide the original, editable design files for any static design work (eg, infographics, micrographics, report design). However, please note that it is not possible to do so for any work involving animation or motion graphics, or which requires the provision of source code (eg, animated videos, animated GIFs, interactive data visualisations, interactive stories).

For design files that are created and hosted within a digital platform, such as Foleon or Infogram, source files from these can only be provided to you if you have a license for that platform.

However, please note that it is not always possible to provide editable source files for any work involving animation or motion graphics , or which requires the provision of source code (eg, animated videos, interactive data visualizations, etc), and these requests – where feasible – would be subject to an additional charge.

What fonts can FT Longitude provide within projects?

As a default, we provide any open source Adobe or Google fonts for use in our projects, which covers a wide range of font styles. Please note that if a custom font is required, which is not part of those font libraries, we’d ask you to share a license for that font, or else cover the cost of acquiring one, if needed.

Will FT Longitude organise the licensing rights to any imagery sourced for design purposes? And can we use this imagery in other ways?

Yes, we will purchase the rights to any required imagery for the design work that has been commissioned. Note that we will only licence the rights in relation to the work that FT Longitude has been commissioned to produce. As such, any other uses of that same imagery will typically be subject to additional licensing fees, which you as the Client are responsible for purchasing. If you’d like to use the imagery purchased as part of your wider campaign, we can help by sending direct links to where the appropriate licences can be purchased. Or, if required, we can handle the purchasing on your behalf, via a change order for the project.

Can FT Longitude organise printing as well?

We unfortunately do not procure or oversee printing work for our clients. We do of course work with you to package up any printable assets and provide an optimised print-ready PDF to send to your printer with bleed and crop marks. We are also happy to review printer proof PDFs.

Can FT Longitude help to distribute or amplify our content?

Yes. The majority of our client work entails us delivering content to our clients, who in turn take responsibility for taking this content to market and distributing it. However, we do also provide a range of options in collaboration with the FT to distribute or amplify content via the FT’s global readership. You can read more about some of the basic options here or get in touch directly to learn more.

Audio content

How long is a typical audio interview?

Our typical audio interviews take between 45 minutes and an hour, inclusive of a sound check beforehand. Some interviewees may request that we keep to just 30 minutes, which is also fine.

For a standard one-on-one audio interview, we need 20–30 minutes of recorded conversation to produce a final edit that is about 10 minutes’ long. For an audio feature, we aim to capture at least 20 minutes of discussion.

Where do you carry out audio interviews?

Because our clients and campaigns are global, we usually conduct our audio interviews using our remote/virtual studio platform. We can also host in-person interviews in our two London studios (St Paul’s and King’s Cross). There is no extra charge for this, but it is subject to studio availability.

What equipment do I need? Should I buy my own or will you provide it?

 

You don’t need special equipment to record the interview, but we recommend a microphone and a pair of good headphones (not Apple AirPods, earbuds or wireless/Bluetooth headphones, because these affect sound quality).

If you do not have these, we will where possible send you a kit in advance. Depending on your location, we will need at least five business days to guarantee delivery in time for the recording session.

For interviewees who do not have any kit, our audio technician will work with you to ensure that the sound quality is up to standard. Our remote/virtual studio platform enables us to maintain sound and quality control throughout the recording session.

For those who join us for an in-person recording session at one of our two London studios, all equipment will be provided on site.

How can I ensure that the acoustics are good if I am recording from my office or home?

If you don’t have access to a studio, here are a few tips to help you select the best location:

  • Avoid rooms with lots of expansive, hard surfaces such as tiles, concrete and glass
  • Try to use a room that contains curtains and rugs or carpets
  • Avoid large rooms and rooms with large windows
  • Aim to find a space where there will be minimal noise disruption (i.e. no other people around and no outside noise)

How many people will be listening to my recording session? Can other members of my team dial in?

We strongly recommend that only the FT Longitude host and our audio producer join and run the session. This allows interviewees to speak openly and enables us to get the most out of the recording session. The recording will also be higher quality if there are fewer people in the studio.

What if I have technical issues on the day?

If you experience technical issues, please do let one of the FT Longitude audio team know as soon as possible: we are always on hand to troubleshoot. Luckily, this is not live radio and we have several back-up options and platforms should we need them.

Can I choose someone to conduct the interview?

All audio interviews are conducted by a member of the FT Longitude audio or editorial team. The editors who conduct our audio interviews all have specialist training in hosting journalistic audio and/or video interviews. This ensures that we produce audio content to the highest quality and get the most out of every recording session.

What is an appropriate number of questions for an audio interview? Can I decide on the questions?

Before we conduct an audio interview, we will prepare an interview brief with 4–6 indicative questions or talking points we aim to cover. We will agree the themes of the discussion with you in advance, and welcome your input into potential questions.

To get the most value out of these recording sessions, we handle all interviews in a journalistic and conversational style rather than as a structured script. This means that if an interviewee raises a particularly interesting viewpoint or issue, we might go into more detail on that — potentially at the expense of other questions.

Why do you record for longer than needed? Can I get a copy of the complete recording or transcript?

For a standard one-on-one audio interview, we usually need 20–30 minutes of recorded conversation to produce a final edit that is about 10 minutes’ long. Recording more conversation than we need allows us to select the most engaging sections of the recording to produce a high-quality audio edit.

To minimise any privacy risks in relation to GDPR, we are unable to share either recordings or transcripts from these interviews, unless:

  • It has been agreed in advance in the project scope, and the interviewee has given their consent to us sharing it; or
  • It is an interview with a client’s subject matter expert, where the purpose of the interview is to share insights more widely within the client’s organisation.

Can we invite qualitative interview participants to return for an audio interview? And can you interview subject matter experts/my clients?

We encourage our clients to invite qualitative interviewees to return for an audio interview. This has the benefit of ensuring we have vetted the audio interviewee prior to recording the interview — to understand their topic expertise and delivery style — and allows us to produce a more tailored interview as a result.

Where timelines are tighter and/or interviewees are more senior or higher profile (and may not have time to return for a second interview), FT Longitude may instead opt to conduct the audio interview and qualitative interview in one extended recording session that runs for 45-60 minutes. This will allow both the audio and editorial teams to extract the necessary insights from the interview without repeating content.

Our campaigns often include insights from client experts and/or their clients. We expect the client to source and provide these interviewees, because FT Longitude cannot commit to only sourcing specific companies from a client-provided list. We are happy to include and prioritise companies from a client-supplied list, but we reserve the right to also continue sourcing alternative companies in order to keep a project timeline on track. Please also see our guidelines on vetoing interviewees.

Video content

What kind of video services does FT Longitude offer?

We offer a range of video services that are tailored to suit your thought leadership campaign needs, timelines and budgets. Our production team is equipped with the capabilities to capture remote and on-location videos, interviews and discussion panels, as well as to produce animations, motion graphics and stock footage videos.

Interview videos are captured in a one-on-one studio setting, either remotely or on-location, between an FT Longitude editor or video producer and a subject matter expert. Panel discussion videos are captured in a one-to-many studio setting, either remotely or on-location, between an FT Longitude editor or department head and a panel of subject matter experts.

For all other videos, which do not require a live production element, FT Longitude will produce a high-quality piece of video thought leadership that utilises either 2D animation, stock footage or motion graphics, or a mix of these.

How long do video interviews and panel discussions typically take?

Our typical video interviews take between 45 minutes and an hour, inclusive of a sound check beforehand. Our typical panel discussion recording session run for around an hour, also inclusive of a sound check beforehand.

For a standard one-on-one video interview, we need 20–30 minutes of recorded conversation to produce a final edit that is about 3 minutes long. For a panel discussion video, we need between 30 and 45 minutes of recorded content to produce a final edit that is about 20 minutes long.

Where do you carry out video interviews? Do you offer on-location filming and interviews?

Because our clients and campaigns are global, we often record our video interviews using our remote/virtual studio platform. We can also host in-person video interviews and panel discussions in our two London studios (St Paul’s and King’s Cross). There is no extra charge for this, but it is subject to studio availability.

We are also able to film on-location in London. Any other locations would need to be discussed and charged separately to account for travel and additional resourcing needs.

What equipment do I need? Should I buy my own or will you provide it?

You don’t need special equipment to record a remote interview, but we recommend a microphone and a good quality webcam.

If you do not have these, we will where possible send you a kit in advance. Depending on your location, we will need at least five business days to guarantee delivery in time for the recording session.

For interviewees who do not have any kit, our audio technician will work with you to ensure that the sound and video quality is up to standard. Our remote/virtual studio platform enables us to maintain sound, video and quality control throughout the recording session.

For those who join us for an in-person recording session at one of our two London studios, or for those who opt to record on-location within or outside of London, all equipment will be provided on site as part of the package.

Can you provide source files for video content?

Due to the technical complexity of video work and GDPR constraints, video source files are not always able to be shared with clients at the end of video production. If it is possible to share the video source files, and should the client require them, there will be a cost for preparation and packaging. All licensed imagery and video (e.g. stock footage) should be repurchased under the client’s name for further use or we can discuss extending the licences on the client’s behalf. Alternatively, FT Longitude can scope options for creating additional versions and video edits as needed.

Can you produce videos in 4K?

We are able to produce almost all our video content in 4K, provided we are informed at the briefing stage that this is the desired output. All 4K outputs will incur an additional charge to cover the additional costs associated with producing video content at this level of quality.

In the event that the video team is not made aware of the need for a 4K output during the initial briefing stages, there is a possibility that the final video output is not compatible with a 4K output. In this instance, should it be essential to have the output in 4K format, the client would need to bear the cost of having the video produced again from the beginning in 4K.

Is it possible to have my video published on the FT? And do you offer the option to have my video produced in company branding?

In short, yes. The majority of our client work entails us delivering content to our clients, who in turn take responsibility for taking this content to market and distributing it. However, we do also provide a range of options in collaboration with the FT to distribute or amplify content via the FT’s global readership. When it is video content that is being published and distributed via the FT, these videos must adhere to the FT’s Partner Content Guidelines. You can read more about some of the basic options here or get in touch directly to learn more.

For video content that is published and promoted directly by our clients, we produce videos that are branded to align with the client’s design and/or video brand guidelines. The video production team will help to manage this as part of the production process to ensure the final video output aligns to the guidelines supplied at briefing stage.

Can we invite interview participants used for a report or other content to return for a video interview? And can you interview subject matter experts/my clients?

We encourage our clients to invite qualitative interviewees to return for a video interview. This has the benefit of ensuring we have vetted the video interviewee prior to recording the interview — to understand their topic expertise and delivery style — and allows us to produce a more tailored interview as a result.

Where timelines are tighter and/or interviewees are more senior or higher profile (and may not have time to return for a second interview), FT Longitude may instead opt to conduct the audio interview and qualitative interview in one extended recording session that runs for 45-60 minutes. This will allow both the audio and editorial teams to extract the necessary insights from the interview without repeating content.

Our campaigns often include insights from client experts and/or their clients. We expect the client to source and provide these interviewees, because FT Longitude cannot commit to only sourcing specific companies from a client-provided list. We are happy to include and prioritise companies from a client-supplied list, but we reserve the right to also continue sourcing alternative companies in order to keep a project timeline on track. Please also see our guidelines on vetoing interviewees.

How long is the final video output? Can you produce shorter or longer videos for me to use on different platforms?

The length of the final video output will be determined by the type of video being produced, the intended platform or channel of distribution and the type of inputs available. Campaign videos, for example, usually fall between 45 and 90 seconds, while an interview video is usually closer to 3 minutes in length.

For all our video products, we offer the option to add additional outputs so videos can be scaled up or down as needed to be used across a variety of channels and for a multitude of purposes. As and where possible, we ask to have an idea of how many video outputs you would like when we are in the briefing/pre-production phase of the video so the outputs can be planned and priced accordingly.

Please also see further FAQs that are relevant to video interviews:

Last updated: March 2024

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