SOUTHAMPTON-based Lawton Communications Group has become one of the first companies in the south to employ a groundbreaking method of online market research.

The agency used innovative online focus groups to test its most recent advertising campaign for Celebrity Cruises.

The pioneering technique, developed by Salisbury-based research agency Marketing Analytics, allowed Lawton Advertising to set up an interactive online chat forum where participants discussed their reactions to Lawton's latest promotional campaign before its execution to a wider audience.

Julian Gee, Lawton director of advertising said: "Conducting focus groups electronically represents an exciting new opportunity to develop the way we undertake research and, because of the tight timescale for the Celebrity Cruises campaign, arranging traditional focus groups was not an option.

"By enlisting the expertise of Marketing Analytics to conduct focus groups online, we were able to complete our in-depth market research in the space of just one week.

"Consequently we ran our promotional campaign on deadline and within budget, with the added confidence of having tested it before going live."

Celebrity Cruises marketing director for EMEA, Gary West, said: "Online focus groups are a valuable addition to the service offered by Lawton. Because customer feedback was gathered online, the need to accommodate participants and moderators in one place was eliminated, making it an incredibly fast and convenient process for everyone involved.

"Electronic transcripts from the interviews were instantly available for analysis, so we discovered the results almost immediately and, because no special software was required, the technique worked well across corporate firewalls without the risk of corruption or viruses.

"Furthermore, we were able to view the discussion as it took place with the opportunity to send private messages to a moderator if we wished to guide the conversation towards a specific topic."