Case Studies

Client: FinTech

Challenge: A leading digital money transfer company was facing a growing challenge: a rising number of previously active customers had stopped remitting funds from South Africa to Zimbabwe, and from Zimbabwe to key corridors including Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Zambia, and Uganda. This decline in cross-border activity was directly impacting revenue and signalling a need to re-engage core customer segments

Approach: We conducted telephonic surveys complemented by in-depth interviews, targeting lapsed customer segments to uncover the drivers of churn and identify opportunities for re-engagement.

Results: The results uncovered distinct drivers of churn across markets: financial constraints and migration in some regions, competitor switching in others, and price sensitivity elsewhere. These insights informed the development of a churn prediction model and guided targeted pricing adjustments—ultimately reducing churn by 18% and strengthening customer retention by 8%.

Client: FinTech

Challenge: A digital platform-based financial services provider sought to expand into new African markets but faced uncertainty around market demand, customer needs, and overall business viability across diverse regions. Gaining clarity on these factors was critical to inform strategic investment and ensure sustainable growth.

Approach: We conducted extensive desktop research, drawing on validated data from reputable sources including government institutions, international organizations, and independent research bodies. These insights were synthesized into a comprehensive report to inform strategic decision-making.

Results: We delivered a comprehensive report assessing the viability of each market, supported by a structured evaluation framework. This framework enabled the client to prioritize expansion opportunities based on key criteria such as market demand, competitive landscape, regulatory environment, and growth potential.

Client: Loan Providing Firm

Challenge: The client aimed to expand its loan product offering to the middle-market segment but lacked a clear understanding of this audience’s financial capacity, behavioral patterns, preferences, and specific needs—posing a risk to effective targeting and product-market fit.

Approach: We conducted secondary research using validated data from reputable sources, including government agencies, independent research institutions, and industry organizations. This enabled a robust understanding of the middle-market segment in South Africa, covering financial behavior, needs, and preferences.

Results: We uncovered critical insights into the target audience’s behavior, demographics, financial profile, digital engagement, preferences, and expectations. These findings enabled the development of a detailed customer persona, providing a strategic foundation for tailored product design, messaging, and market engagement.

Clients: Retailer, Financial Services, Telecom

Challenge: The client lacked a structured approach to measuring customer experience—both at individual touchpoints and across the broader customer relationship. As a result, they had limited visibility into customer satisfaction levels and unmet expectations. Without actionable CX metrics, they were unable to identify specific areas for improvement or prioritize initiatives to enhance the overall experience.

Approach: We leveraged CRM platforms to deliver digital surveys across the client’s operational markets to gather structured data and open-text feedback from customers. This multi-country deployment enabled scalable, real-time insights into customer experience

Result: We successfully implemented and monitored key CX metrics—including Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), and Customer Effort Score (CES)—while also analyzing the underlying drivers behind customer ratings to inform targeted experience improvements. This resulted in CSAT improving by 11%, and overall NPS gaining by 15 points to 65.

Client: Financial Services Provider

Challenge: Despite significant investment in its Refer and Earn program—including generous incentives for both referrers and referees—the client faced low conversion rates among referred users. To maximize ROI and improve program effectiveness, the client sought a comprehensive audit to evaluate performance, identify strengths and weaknesses, and uncover actionable insights for strategic refinement.

Approach: We deconstructed the Refer and Earn program into distinct customer journey stages for both referrers and referees. At each touchpoint, we gathered targeted feedback on usability, program perception, incentive appeal, motivational drivers, challenges faced, demographic profiles, and overall sentiment. This holistic diagnostic approach enabled a deep understanding of participant behavior and experience.

Result: The analysis revealed what resonated—and what fell short—across different customer segments. We identified key areas for optimization, developed detailed customer personas, and delivered actionable recommendations. As a result, referral creation increased by 30% and conversion rates improved by 19%. These insights also informed the successful design and rollout of a new Refer and Earn program in an additional market.

Client: FinTech

Challenge: The client sought to identify which value-added services (VAS) resonated most with its customer base and to understand the behavioral gap—why users were leveraging its payment platform for certain VAS offerings but not others.

Approach: We deployed a targeted customer survey to capture feedback on service preferences, usage patterns, and barriers to adoption across the VAS portfolio.

Result: The research uncovered a clear demand for bill payment as a missing VAS feature. These insights informed product development priorities and positioned the client to expand its offering in line with customer expectations.

Client: Multinational corporation

Challenge: The client’s sales team faced significant barriers to market penetration due to entrenched perceptions of the brand being associated with a specific nationality and customer segment. These biases limited broader appeal and hindered engagement with the target audience.

Approach: We conducted in-depth surveys across diverse customer segments to uncover nuanced perceptions of the brand and its product offerings. This research aimed to surface both conscious and subconscious associations influencing purchase behavior.

Result: The study revealed critical insights into how different segments viewed the brand, highlighting perception gaps and opportunities for repositioning. These findings are now actively guiding the development of targeted brand campaigns designed to broaden market relevance and drive deeper customer connection.

Client: Financial services provider

Challenge: The client lacked a cohesive and structured Voice of the Customer (VoC) program to systematically capture, analyze, and act on customer feedback. Without an integrated approach to collecting opinions, conducting social listening, and deriving strategic insights, the organization struggled to align its offerings with evolving customer expectations.

Approach: We implemented a comprehensive VoC framework combining both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. This included deploying surveys such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), and Customer Effort Score (CES), alongside in-depth customer interviews and focus groups. We also incorporated social media listening, analysis of online reviews and feedback forms, call center transcripts, chat logs, and behavioral data from digital platforms. To enhance insight generation, we integrated these data streams with AI-powered tools to perform topic-level sentiment analysis and uncover emerging themes.

Result: The VoC program delivered transformative outcomes. It enabled customer-centric innovation by aligning products and services with real user needs, facilitated root cause analysis of pain points, and significantly improved customer retention by proactively addressing friction areas. The organization gained a competitive edge through differentiated experiences and made smarter, data-driven decisions by replacing assumptions with actionable intelligence

Client: Multinational Corporation

Challenge The client lacked detailed customer personas, limiting its ability to develop a 360-degree understanding of its audience across segments. Without clear insights into customer behaviors, preferences, motivations, personalities, and attitudes, the business struggled to align its products, services, and communications with the needs of its diverse customer base.

Approach: We conducted a comprehensive research initiative using a blend of quantitative surveys, in-depth interviews, and focus groups. This enabled us to build a holistic view of customers across three distinct value segments—low, medium, and high—capturing nuanced differences in expectations, behaviors, and decision-making drivers.

Results: The engagement produced four detailed reports—one for each value segment and a consolidated overview—alongside tailored customer personas for each segment and an integrated master persona. These insights directly informed product redesign and marketing strategy refinement, resulting in a measurable reduction in churn and a notable increase in customer retention.

Client: Insurance firm

Challenge: The client sought to evaluate market appetite for a funeral cover product in Zimbabwe, aiming to determine the feasibility and potential success of introducing such a service in the local context.

Approach: We designed and deployed a targeted survey to capture consumer sentiment, preferences, and perceived value around funeral cover. The research focused on understanding demand drivers, potential barriers to adoption, and demographic nuances across income segments.

Result: The findings confirmed a clear interest in funeral cover, while also uncovering critical insights into factors that could hinder uptake—such as pricing sensitivity, trust in providers, and product design. The study identified specific customer segments and income brackets most likely to adopt the product, providing the client with a data-driven foundation for go-to-market strategy and product positioning.

Client: Multinational corporation

Challenge: The client aimed to embed a culture of customer centricity across the organization to elevate the customer experience and drive key outcomes—including increased satisfaction, loyalty, advocacy, retention, and sustainable growth. However, there was a disconnect between internal operations and the lived experiences of customers.

Approach: We partnered with every department to create a company-wide initiative that enabled all employees—regardless of role or function—to directly observe, listen to, and empathize with customers. This immersive approach helped staff internalize the customer journey and understand the emotional and functional impact of their work. In parallel, we designed a hands-on product immersion program, grounded in research showing that employees who deeply understand the products they support deliver significantly better service and experiences.

Result: The initiative led to a 26% uplift in customer satisfaction across key touchpoints. It also enhanced cross-functional understanding of the customer experience, resulting in more informed decision-making and improved alignment between internal actions and customer expectations. The organization is now better equipped to deliver consistently exceptional, customer-driven outcomes.

Client: FinTeh

Challenge: The client was facing suboptimal client onboarding experiences in both the UK and South African markets, resulting in reduced engagement and slower adoption of its products and services.

Approach: We conducted a multi-method diagnostic study involving targeted surveys, in-depth interviews, and focus groups across both regions. This approach enabled us to uncover the underlying causes of onboarding friction, while capturing market-specific nuances in customer expectations and behaviors.

Result: The research revealed distinct onboarding challenges unique to each market. In the UK, usability issues within the mobile app were a key barrier, prompting a redesign of the user experience. In South Africa, the onboarding style of sales agents was misaligned with customer preferences, leading to a strategic shift in engagement approach. These tailored interventions significantly improved onboarding effectiveness, enhanced customer satisfaction, and accelerated product adoption across both markets.

Client: FinTech

Challenge: The client lacked clarity on which types of prizes would most effectively resonate with its customer base to strengthen brand affinity, drive engagement, and enhance retention.

Approach: We conducted a comprehensive analysis combining quantitative customer surveys with in-depth desktop research to identify the most compelling and culturally relevant prize offerings within the target market. This dual-method approach ensured both statistical rigor and contextual relevance.

Result: The research produced a ranked list of high-impact prizes based on customer preference and perceived value. These insights now inform the client’s marketing campaigns, promotional strategies, and loyalty initiatives—ensuring that incentives are not only attractive but also strategically aligned with customer motivations and brand objectives.

Client: Political Campaign (Confidential)
Challenge: The client wanted to understand public sentiment across regions to refine messaging ahead of elections.
Approach: We used social listening, analyzing 50,000+ online comments and discussions across Facebook and X (Twitter) to identify key issues and tone.
Results: Insights revealed regional differences in voter concerns, helping the campaign tailor messaging.